Jason Cundy shares ‘failure’ view if West Ham don’t win Europa League
Jason Cundy has claimed it will “feel like failure” if West Ham do not win the Europa League as they prepare for their semi-final clash v Eintracht Frankfurt.
David Moyes’ side breezed past Lyon 4-1 on aggregate in the quarter-final stage after beating the most successful team in the competition’s history in the round of 16.
With just three games standing in the Irons’ way of the trophy, Cundy has put the onus on the Hammers to finish their impressive European campaign with silverware.
He told talkSPORT: “It was a remarkable game, a remarkable win, but now they’ve got to win it.
“They can’t get to the semi-final and come this far and not win it.
“There are four teams left and for me there is no reason why West Ham can’t win this. And if you don’t, if they don’t go on and win it now, it will feel like failure.
“I know how far they’ve come, but they’ve got to win it now. You can’t get to the semi-final against Frankfurt – everybody thought they were going to play Barcelona, one of the biggest sides in world football – but you haven’t got them, you’ve got Frankfurt. They can turn Frankfurt over.
“On the other side of the draw, Rangers will feel the same. You can’t get this far now and not win it. You can almost taste it, you can almost taste what lifting that European trophy will feel like.
“You’ve got to win.”
No pressure
West Ham would have never believed they could have won the competition had you asked them at the start of the season. They would have been happy with simply getting out of the group.
Each stage of the competition has seen Moyes’ side go from strength to strength, relentlessly growing in confidence after every win.
They have had an easy run to the semi-final and their journey is set to get a lot harder as they prepare to face Frankfurt but if the Irons want to be the best, they have to beat the best.
It would be very disappointing if the east London outfit doesn’t go on to win the Europa League with them now being in touching distance but it would hardly be a failure as Cundy stated.
This season has seen Moyes and the players punching well above their weight in every competition and it will go down in history regardless of what happens at the end. The most important thing is building on this momentum.
In other West Ham news, Declan Rice has taken aim at Lyon’s Twitter admin.
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