West Ham United made an exciting start to their Europa Conference League campaign last week against Romanian outfit FCSB.
The Hammers clawed their way to victory with three goals in the last twenty minutes following a shock 1-0 deficit at halftime.
But it is still early days in the Irons’ European tour, with the east London side looking to seize their second consecutive win on the continent against Danish club Silkeborg tonight at the JYSK Park.
David Moyes spoke to the media ahead of his sides’ fixture tonight, providing updates on his players’ fitness, learning from their recent in-game mistakes and West Ham’s special connection to the Queen following her passing last Thursday.
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Injury Update
West Ham can boast high-quality squad depth this season, an edge which they will need this season with the added European fixtures and the seemingly never-ending delays in fixtures.
Moyes provided an update on the injury list in his squad which has a few key absences preceding tonight’s fixture.
“Craig Dawson and Aaron Cresswell have travelled. Ben Johnson hasn’t travelled”.
Ben Johnson has been out of West Ham’s squad since sustaining a hamstring injury against Aston Villa, with the Hammers boss giving no indication on when he’s likely to return.
“We’ll have a look at Craig and Aaron”, continues Moyes, “and check out what’s best for them with the surface and everything. They have done a bit of training”.
Silkeborg’s home ground has an artificial surface so will provide an extra hurdle for West Ham to jump tonight.
The Premier League side is relatively inexperienced with Astro turf in competitive matches, so such a surface may make it even more difficult for the players, especially players without full fitness such as Dawson and Cresswell.
Moyes also provided an update on new summer signing Maxwell Cornet, who picked up a knock in West Ham’s last outing against FCSB.
However, the former Burnley star seemingly has a good chance of making an appearance tonight:
“He felt it more in his neck, it wasn’t his head. He felt it a bit, but he’s trained since and is okay.”
A similar story too for one of the Hammers’ key players Tomáš Soucek who picked up a foot injury in their VAR-tainted loss against Chelsea
“Tomáš is ok. He had a kick on the foot and hadn’t trained for most of the week and would have been a doubt for Newcastle had that gone ahead. But he has been training since and is ok.”
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Learning From Mistakes
West Ham’s performances this season have been patchy at best.
While the Hammers have provided fans with some convincing displays, their lack of consistency has seen them gasping for air at the top of the relegation zone six games into the new season.
David Moyes will no doubt be looking to change this, and their defiant comeback in their last fixture may be the needed spark to truly kick-start their season.
Moyes reflected on his sides’ first half against FCSB and hopes to use that experience to avoid a similar situation tonight, especially in regards to West Hams’ frequent wastefulness in the final third.
"We didn’t enjoy how we were in the first half at all. We picked up, but we’ve watched it back and we missed a lot of chances in the first half which would have made a difference.
“We did actually play some good stuff before half time but missed chances. We changed it up in the second half and what we’ve got now is a stronger group who can do that”.
Moyes again touched on the extra quality in depth through signings Thilo Kehrer,, Emerson and Lucas Paqueta, all of which can be the difference makers for their side this season.
“All the games last year had a real level of difficulty. We took some risks last year and we will have to continue to do that at times this year because of the level of the Premier League and what’s required at the weekend.
“But we learned a lot last year about the level in European games and if you’re not at it you won’t get the result”.
West Ham will look to use their European experience from last season, where they reached the Europa League semi-final, in order to progress as far as possible.
In a competition where they’re among the favourites to win, the Irons will no doubt look to secure their first major honour since their FA Cup triumph in 1980.
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Moyes’ Tactical Edge
In elite-level football, finding that little bit of cutting edge over your opponent can go a long way.
Moyes himself claims to be familiar with Danish football, so could his knowledge of the domestic league help him and his team secure victory tonight?
“I've been to Copenhagen” notes Moyes, “I used to go regularly to watch games in Copenhagen and always enjoyed a beer in Copenhagen. It was always very nice, so I've really enjoyed it!
“I've got to say, we were here a few weeks ago and this is a lovely part of the world where we are just now, and it feels really peaceful, and it looks a really nice place to live”.
While Moyes enjoys the tranquillity of this part of south Scandinavia, him and his boys will be looking to disturb the peace tonight.
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West Ham’s Ode to the Queen
West Ham’s clash against FCSB was played just hours after the announcement of the death of The Queen’s passing in Balmoral.
Fans across the London Stadium that night bellowed the national anthem before kick-off following a minutes silence in support of the monarch who reigned for over seventy-years (perhaps a more appropriate method of tribute than cancelling every domestic fixture).
“I thought it was a really difficult night and it probably showed.
"The Club did a brilliant job in doing everything correctly. West Ham is a very British club and because of that we supported our Queen, and I thought the Club and our supporters did a very good job”.
All league matched were cancelled last weekend during the national mourning period following the Queen’s passing, adding to the Premier League’s and continental football’s growing problem of fixture congestion.
This issue will harm clubs like West Ham even more due to their added European fixtures compared to most other Premier League clubs.
West Ham United will face off in Denmark against Silkeborg tonight at 8pm and will look to keep themselves on top of their Conference League group.