David Moyes hopes West Ham’s run in the Europa League will see him end his wait for the first major trophy of his managerial career.
The former Everton manager, who began his managerial career with Preston North End in 1998, has battled to rebuild his reputation during his second spell at West Ham, who are 2-1 down on aggregate before the second leg of their semi-final against Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday and the Scot knows this could be a defining moment in his career.
“As a manager there are other big things, like to win a game at Preston North End to get to a play-off final,” Moyes said. “Then we played Bolton and lost. Throughout your career when you get to a big one you think it’s big. But there’s lots of big games. It’s hard to be a winner all the time because everyone is fighting for that prize. But when you get this close you are thinking: ‘Is this my turn, my chance?’ I hope this is my turn.”
West Ham’s hopes of reaching the final rest on them raising their level when they face Eintracht at the Deutsche Bank Arena, though Moyes said the pressure will also be on the Bundesliga side.
“We have to chase the game because we’re a goal down, but not necessarily from minute one,” Moyes said. “We need to manage the game correctly. Frankfurt are a goal up and need to manage it correctly – sometimes that’s a worry as well.”
Moyes, who urged Michail Antonio to rediscover his scoring touch, pointed out that West Ham have come a long way in the last two years. But he will keep pushing his players and hopes that his captain, Declan Rice, can inspire the team.
“The climb has probably been a bit fast,” Moyes said. “But the biggest thing is the mentality change in the players. I tell Declan every day to drive them on. He plays with the best players for England and has to bring it to the other boys.
“We also mustn’t put too much on the boy’s shoulders but he’s such a quality player. I challenge him a lot. We need to get a whole team performance. We need Dec to drive us on but play with a steady head.”
Ben Johnson is available after the right-back missed West Ham’s defeat against Arsenal with a thigh strain. Angelo Ogbonna is out.
• A group of West Ham United fans were attacked and one was taken to hospital with slight injuries, German police said on Wednesday. A statement said that two vans stopped outside a pub where West Ham fans had gathered in the early hours of Wednesday and attacked the group of British supporters.
