Moyes does not lean back towards AZ: ‘Young players exceptionally good’
NOS Football–
Tomorrow night AZ will play West Ham United in London in the Conference League semifinals. For West Ham coach David Moyes it will be a reunion with the club from Alkmaar. In 2007, the Scot also played against AZ with Everton. Then Everton won 2-3.
Last year, West Ham also reached the semifinals of the third European competition. Due to a defeat against Frankfurt, the club missed out on the final. So this year a new chance for the Londoners. Last weekend, West Ham had a good preparation by winning against Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United.
According to Moyes, reaching the final would be “fantastic. “Getting to a final is something big for every team. Everyone wants to be successful, which is very difficult. Getting to the semifinals last year was great. Now we hope we can take it a step further and make the final.”
West Ham coach Moyes praises approach to AZ: ‘Model with interesting young players’
Respect for AZ
Moyes would not name West Ham as favorites for the match against Pascal Jansen’s team. “I wouldn’t say that because I have a lot of respect for AZ and the way they play. They’re having a great season and it’s a difficult opponent. Any Dutch team you play against is good. They are good football-wise and they are well coached. It’s going to be a tough match.”
The good performance of the young players did not escape Moyes. “I knew the way they are building the club. They have a lot of young players, and have a model that suits the club well. They have talented players doing exceptionally well, as they won the Youth League. They are building for the future, but they also have a good team now.”
The Scotland coach is impressed with the Dutch talent school anyway. “The Dutch have always been good at developing young players. The young teams always do very well.”
