Ray Parlour tips West Ham for Europa League and gushes over David Moyes

Ray Parlour has said West Ham are the clear favourites for the Europa League; and backed manager David Moyes to take them even higher.

The Irons won 3-0 away at Lyon on Thursday night to book a semi-final showdown with Frankfurt, who knocked out Barcelona.

Paris, 49, was waxing lyrical about Moyes for talkSPORT, and suggested with the right support he could mould them into regular challengers at the upper end of the Premier League.

“Who is the favourite to win? It’s got to be West Ham. But you’ve still got a lot of work to do to get to that final and obviously win it so David Moyes is doing exactly what he’s got to do,” Parlour said this morning (15th April).

“If you’re the owners of West Ham now… if David Moyes wants three players in the summer, let’s go get those players and we can compete for the top four.

“It’s a big club he’s got 60,000 fans every week why can’t they be one of the big players in the Premier League?”

Massive Strides

To even be mentioning West Ham’s name as potential winners for European trophies is a testament to the stellar job Moyes has done since his return.

Winning the Europa League would be a huge achievement and just reward for a man who’s had to face much mockery for his failed spell at Manchester United.

But as Parlour points out, European runs aside the sharp uptake in form and results is an opportunity that the club must look to build upon.

The London Stadium is a more-than-adequate venue for a club competing at the upper echelons of the game, and the squad is already sprinkled with top-class talent, namely in the figure of academy graduate Declan Rice.

West Ham

Keeping hold of the 23-year-old and building the side around him is the first key step for the Hammers, and they have to be ambitious in the transfer market to ensure this isn’t just a flash in the pan.

If that happens and Moyes continues the fine work he is doing, there’s no reason why West Ham can’t establish themselves as a regular European outfit.

In other West Ham news, this BBC pundit wasn’t impressed by these Irons players during the game against Lyon.

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