Moyes inspired by Mourinho as West Ham seek European final

10.05.2023 - 15:03 channelnewsasia.com

LONDON : David Moyes insists that if winning the Europa Conference League is good enough for Jose Mourinho then it is good enough for him as he prepares to try to lead West Ham United to their first European final for 47 years.The Scot has taken the London club to a European semi-final for the second successive season and hopes to go one better this time by getting past Dutch club AZ Alkmaar.West Ham have had a disappointing season in the Premier League and are not mathematically safe from relegation, but excitement is building ahead of Thursday's home clash with AZ."To get to a European final, it could be my best one," Moyes told reporters when asked where it would stand in his career if West Ham reach the final in Prague."In the past I've got to a Champions League quarter-final with Manchester United, lost on penalties in the quarter-final of the Europa League with Everton and last year we reached a semi-final (of the Europa League) here at West Ham."I want to try and take it a couple of steps further, and I would refer back to the serial winner Jose Mourinho - who found winning this trophy so special for him and his football club."Mourinho, who has won sack loads of much more prestigious silverware including the Champions League, won Europe's third-most-important club competition with AS Roma last season.West Ham, who were beaten by Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League semi-finals last season, will be favourites to reach the final, although Moyes is wary of an AZ side who are fourth in the Dutch standings."I think they are having an amazing season and we have a really tough opponent.

Any Dutch team will be good. They play good football and are well coached," Moyes said.West Ham are likely to still be without

Football as Jose Mourinho David Moyes West Ham Manchester Netherlands Scotland Prague

West Ham are increasingly likely to keep David Moyes as their manager and will back him by targeting Fulham’s João Palhinha and Leicester City’s Harvey Barnes this summer.

West Ham’s European adventure leaves them with a David Moyes dilemma

The message coming out of West Ham at the start of the week was there would be no decision on David Moyes’s future until the end of the season. Yet by the time Pablo Fornals was beating two AZ Alkmaar defenders and running through to score in the 94th minute at the AFAS Stadion on Thursday night, it seemed absurd that anyone could possibly want to replace Moyes.

West Ham beat AZ Alkmaar to reach Europa Conference League final

ALKMAAR, Netherlands :West Ham United substitute Pablo Fornals scored a breakaway goal in stoppage time as the visitors secured a 1-0 win at AZ Alkmaar on Thursday and a place in the Europa Conference League final after a 3-1 aggregate triumph.

West Ham's Moyes thrilled to reach his first European final

David Moyes said he was thrilled to reach the first European final of his 25-year managerial career after guiding West Ham United to the Europa Conference League title decider with a 3-1 aggregate win over AZ Alkmaar on Thursday.

Europa Conference League: Joe Cole hails 'special day' for West Ham as club make history by reaching final

West Ham have made it through to a European final for the first time in 47 years after beating AZ Alkmaar 3-0 on aggregate in the Europa Conference League and the sense of achievement wasn't lost on BT Sport expert Joe Cole, who labelled it a «special day». David Moyes' side won the second leg 1-0 thanks to Pablo Fornals' goal in added-time to set up a showpiece final against Fiorentina in Prague on June 7, and The Hammers can now look forward to their first final in European competition since 1975-76, when they were Cup Winners' Cup runners-up.

West Ham into Conference League final after Fornals finishes off AZ Alkmaar

When it was over most of the statistics pointed to a night of AZ Alkmaar dominance. They had more possession, more shots, more territory and more corners. Yet what AZ lacked was a way of making any of it count and, as hard as they tried to find a way through, it never seemed they were capable of stopping a dogged and professional West Ham from reaching their first European final in 47 years.