David Moyes rejoices in ‘brilliant achievement’ of West Ham’s journey from relegation strugglers to European regulars as Hammers cruise to Europa League quarter-finals
- The Hammers boss praised his side’s stunning Europa League victory on Thursday
- West Ham has qualified for their third European quarter-final in three years
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David Moyes has praised West Ham’s journey from relegation candidates to European contenders after his side rose to their third quarter-final in three years.
Goals from Lucas Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen, Aaron Cresswell and a brace from Mohammed Kudus saw the Hammers overturn a 1-0 deficit to beat German side SC Freiburg in the second leg of their last-16 tie.
West Ham were 17th in the Premier League when Moyes took charge in December 2019, but he will now lead the club to a third successive quarter-final in Europe. The Hammers reached the semi-finals of this competition in 2022 before winning the Europa Conference League last season.
“It’s a fantastic achievement to be in the quarter-finals again,” Moyes said.
‘From where we come from, a team that avoided relegation to actually make it to Europe, then did it a second year and won a trophy.
David Moyes has praised West Ham’s journey from relegation candidates to European contenders
The Hammers advanced to the quarter-finals of the Europa League after defeating Freiburg
‘The club has made so much progress in the last three years. It’s hard to say how good it has been because it hasn’t been in the strongest position for a long time and we want to try to make it better if we can.
“When I came in, I said I don’t want to lead a team that is at the bottom of the league, I want to lead a team that challenges higher up. Broadly speaking, we have been. We’ve had our moments.
Moyes was delighted with the emergence of Jarrod Bowen at West Ham and became a regular in the England squad
‘I’m really happy that I was able to give something to West Ham. We have brought in good players. For example, when the audience sees Kudus’ performance tonight, everyone will know what Paqueta can do.
‘Also Bowen, who came from lower division clubs in England and is now an England international.
“If you look at that journey, and I know European football is probably the focus tonight, there have been an awful lot of good things that have happened at West Ham over the last few years.”
The draw for the quarter- and semi-finals of the Europa League will take place on Friday.