West Ham hold a one-goal advantage after Said Benrahma and Michail Antonio earned them a 2-1 lead from the first leg of their Europa Conference League semi-final with AZ Alkmaar; Michael Antonio and Vladimir Coufal have both travelled and are in with a chance of playing on Thursday night
Thursday 18 May 2023 19:45, UK
David Moyes hopes West Ham have learned from last season's Europa League semi-final exit as they prepare to take on AZ Alkmaar on Thursday for a place in the Europa Conference League final.
The Hammers head to Eredivisie side AZ holding a one-goal lead after winning the first leg 2-1 at the London Stadium last week.
The winner of the tie will meet either Basel or Fiorentina in the final on June 7 with West Ham aiming to go one step further than last year after seeing their Europa League dream ended by Eintracht Frankfurt.
"We took a lot away from it," said Moyes in his pre-match press conference on Wednesday. "We had to beat Sevilla and Lyon to get to Eintracht Frankfurt. We felt we had got ourselves in a really good position. Our form was good and we felt good about winning the game.
"In the end, maybe a little bit of lack of experience of being at that level of the competition might have just took its toll on us. Hopefully, we can learn from it, get a little bit better and we're all really hoping we can make another step and get to the final.
"The players are more experienced generally. You have to remember, West Ham hadn't been in Europe for I don't know how many years before last year. That was our first year and we navigated most of it in a good way. We've done very much the same this year, we've navigated very well to get to this point in the competition.
"We are now up against a difficult opponent who's played against some really good teams and knocked some very good teams out of the competition. There's no guarantee in football, you have to earn it and we'll need to earn it."
Moyes is the only manager of an English team to win at Alkmaar after leading Everton to victory in 2007 against Louis Van Gaal's side - and is expecting a tough challenge.
"Alkmaar have played very well, not just in the game against us but I've seen them in others," he said. "They are doing remarkably well in the Dutch league and have done for a few years.
"It will be a pretty open game. Alkmaar have shown when they've been behind before what they're capable of, we're unbeaten away from home in Europe. All those things added together make it an interesting game."
Michail Antonio, who missed Sunday's defeat at Brentford, and Vladamir Coufal, absent from the last three matches, have both travelled with the squad and are "in with a chance of playing".
With Premier League survival all but confirmed, a chance to reach the final and win the competition remains the last chance to qualify for Europe next season.
"It would be huge if we could make Europe again," said Moyes. "It would be three years in a row for West Ham in a league that is incredibly competitive. To do it three years in a row would be great but first of all we've got a semi-final we have to navigate. We're playing against a really good side, a good footballing team and we have to try to do the job which is required.
"I've said many times, when you're trying to build and grow a football club it doesn't always go in one direction. You have to sometimes have setbacks, it doesn't always go the way you want it to go, but being in Europe, mainly for the supporters, the club and everyone involved, it's been an incredible journey we've had, this season and last season.
"To be in a semi-final of the Europa League last year and lose to Eintracht Frankfurt was a great run for us. This year we've got ourselves in another semi-final. It takes some doing. The players have done a brilliant job over the last couple of years in doing that."
May 18: AZ Alkmaar (A) - Europa Conference League, kick-off 8pm
May 21: Leeds (H) - Premier League, kick-off 1.30pm, live on Sky Sports
May 28: Leicester City (A) - Premier League, kick-off 4.30pm
