MOYES HAMMERS HOME EMOTIONS
DAVID MOYES admits fighting relegation while trying to conquer Europe is his toughest balancing act – but warned West Ham this is no time for “vanilla” players.
The Hammers boss turns 60 later this month, and the Eastenders’ away contingent against KAA Gent in the Europa Conference League quarter-finals will include his father David, brother Kenny, son David and daughter Lauren.
Moyes is walking a high wire trying to keep West Ham safe from the Premier League trapdoor while plotting a route to a second European semi-final in as many seasons.
But he is keen to fill the only gap in his 1,083 games as a manager – a trophy – and he called for his players to control their emotions.
Last year, his dream of Europa League glory slipped away in the dying moments against Eintracht Frankfurt and skipper Declan Rice was banned for comments about the standard of officials in Germany.
Moyes said: “Emotions are something where you never know what’s going to happen, and looking back we were right up against it on occasions.
“But we’ve got to make sure we are better disciplined and calmer.
“We still want the players to be emotional, we want them to understand what it means, we want them to be motivated and eager to impress.
“But we don’t want ‘vanilla’ players who are not going to tackle, challenge, run hard and be competitive.
“We have to learn where we can draw the line. We were so close last year.
“A couple of us, me included, made mistakes, and got caught up in it and we were a goal down in the first leg before the game had even started.
“To be in a semi-final last year was great – I wish it had been the final.
“My next objective, can I get to another semi-final? We’ll do everything we can to achieve that.
“To be at this stage, this far in Europe, is still a big achievement for West Ham.”
WEST HAM (4-2-3-1): Areola; Coufal, Johnson, Aguerd, Emerson; Downes, Paqueta; Fornals, Cornet, Bowen; Ings.