Moyes admits West Ham ‘dream’ and reveals motivation for success

David Moyes is keeping his and his players’ feet on the ground but admits all at West Ham are dreaming of playing in Europe next season.

Moyes, 57, has engineered a remarkable turnaround at the London Stadium. From relegation candidates last season, they currently sit fifth in the top-flight standings. The Hammers have won 14 and drawn seven of their 29 top-flight games and trail fourth-placed Chelsea by two points. A spot in the Champions League is well within their grasp although there are several clubs vying for the top four.

Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool and Everton are all battling with West Ham for what looks like one place on offer. Moyes is desperate to lead the club into Europe but knows it would be folly to make predictions just yet.

“I’d love to come on here and say: ‘West Ham supporters, get your vaccinations done and get your passport ’cause we’re all going on holiday next year’ but we can’t do that quite yet and I’m not daft enough to do that,” he told CNN.

“I dream it. I want it. What I will say, I was at Everton for 11 years and I only finished once in the top four in 11 years. I’ve only been at West Ham 18 months and we’re challenging for top four this year. But anything even with the title of European football would be an incredible success for us.”

Moyes driven by past failures

Moyes made his name at Everton before leaving for Manchester United in July 2013. The Scot lasted just nine month at Old Trafford before being sacked.

The job was seen as the proverbial poisoned chalice for the first person to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson. He then tried his luck overseas but an unsuccessful spell in charge of Real Sociedad ended after 12 months.

It was the same story at Sunderland and West Ham first time around. The Glaswegian was unable to stamp his authority on the club and left before establishing himself.

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But, given a second chance in the East End, he has taken the club to new heights this term. And it seems as though he has been spurred on by events that have occurred since leaving Goodison Park.

“Yeah, I did [want to prove people wrong],” he added. “I think I’ve had a point to prove for quite a while in management, I went away and retrained if you want to call it that.

“I’ve done everything possible to keep myself updated, modern, try and be ready as the right opportunity came around again.

“I have always been ready and always been capable. Sometimes you need people to give you an opportunity in life and I’ve had a lot of really good opportunities and chances in life.

“But the biggest one came when the West Ham owners, after not keeping me the first time, came back and offered me the job again.”

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