West Ham United are in the final of the Europe Conference League – The opponent today is AC Fiorentina (from 9 p.m., live in the ticker on the sports show). After a mixed season in the domestic Premier League, the season for the Londoners could still come to a happy end.
Ambitions were high when West Ham United started this season. The club from east London invested the equivalent of almost 200 million euros in a total of twelve new players.
Only two Premier League clubs spent more this summer. In addition, Declan Rice already had a world-class leader in the ranks of the “hammers“.
Moyes wanted to ‘take the next step’ with West Ham
The contrast to this young, wild team on the pitch is the man in the dugout. David Moyes (60), an experienced and highly respected man in English football, has led West Ham from relegation battles to European places in recent years.
His chair is shaking: David Moyes (60) needs a win in the final of the Europa Conference League today.
Now they will take the next step together, they were sure at the beginning of the season. There was even talk of a place in the top four. But things turned out differently.
Coaching style and approaches – they don’t go together
As it quickly turned out, contrary to expectations, many of the additions were not the right answers to the questions asked in the summer. Some players just couldn’t handle Moyes’ raid-style playstyle at all.
Realistically speaking, the Champions League places they were aiming for were out of reach just seven games into the season. Instead of the European places, it was now against relegation.
Still undefeated in the Conference League
only in the Europe Conference League the Moyes-Elf could make positive headlines. Here, the Londoners clinched one victory after the other. To date not a single game has been lost.
West Ham’s Michail Antonio (l) celebrates his goal in the Quarterfinals of the Conference League.
In a season in which you could never really live up to your own expectations, the third-highest club competition in Europe remained the only constant.
Unrest about Moyes – the finale can save him
For coach David Moyes, who has been on the touchline at West Ham United since 2019, the air has never been thinner than it is today. Without the resounding success in the second edition of the Conference League, the Scot would have lost his job long ago, it is assumed in England. Today’s final could even be a double for the 60-year-old.
However, Moyes himself does not want to know anything about all these speculations at the moment. “I’m just concentrating now on winning the game and giving the best possible performance. I certainly won’t worry about the time after that” he clarified. “Being in a cup final is something very special. Especially for West Ham considering how long ago that was.“
West Ham want to make a successful season out of a mess
Indeed, the last time West Ham United lifted a European title was in 1965. Back then, they sat down in the final of the European Cup Winners’ Cup – the predecessor of the Europe League – 2-0 against TSV 1860 Munich. So tonight, after almost 58 years of abstinence, it’s once again possible to write a European success story in East London.
The finale begins at 9 p.m Europe Conference League (Live on TV/Stream on RTL+). Then West Ham and coaches David Moyes the chance to turn a messed-up season into a very successful one.