David Moyes has West Ham United on a par with Real Madrid after European progress
West Ham secured their place in the knockout rounds of the Europa League thanks to a late 1-0 win at Serbian side Back Topola.
Tomas Soucek scored in the dying embers – not for the first time for club and country in recent weeks – as the Irons got the job done on Thursday (30 November).
It means West Ham can look forward to post-Christmas football in Europe for the third successive campaign – each of those under Moyes.
The Irons have been remarkably consistent on the continent, having lost just one of their past 19 such matches, winning all but one of those.
Indeed, since the start of the 2021-22 campaign, West Ham have won 22 matches in European competition – a tally only Real Madrid can match.
That, remarkably so in the eyes of many, puts Moyes on a par with arguably the greatest of all time in Carlo Ancelotti.
While it must be factored in that Madrid’s wins have almost exclusively come in the Champions League, it is still quite the achievement for Moyes.
The Scotsman will continue to have his future questioned until the day he leaves London Stadium, which could be sooner rather than later.
Moyes is expected to hold talks with the club early in the new year as his current deal is due to expire at the end of the campaign.
If Moyes plans on persuading the board to offer him fresh terms, his European record will surely be the first topic of discussion.
United may have endured some mixed results over the past couple of Premier League campaigns, but our form in Europe cannot be questioned.
Moyes would love to now build on last season’s Conference League success by going all the way in the Europa League.
Should he manage that, surely nobody would begrudge him another year in charge?
In other West Ham news, the Irons could now sanction a player exit in January after Moyes’ recent brutal call.