David Moyes has opened up on how close the Premier League has become with West Ham United, Brentford and Brighton all taking ‘big strides’ in recent years and fighting for European spots.
David Moyes said: “Being here twice and avoiding relegation twice was a huge job, certainly the second time and then taking it into a team who qualifies for Europe. We are seeing a superb Brentford team this year and a really strong Brighton team who haven’t always been at the top. There are years you can make big strides and we did it two years ago. We have tried to hang on to it which we did for the majority of last season with a European semi-final and last game of the season we were a second half away from finishing sixth in the Premier League for the second year in a row. That’s how close it has been. Sometimes you drop out and seventh doesn’t sound as good but we have had two fantastic years. We know this year… I hear Jurgen Klopp and he talks really well and cleverly about not talking about the past. I understand that for Liverpool but here at West Ham we are still trying to build. Liverpool have an incredible history. We have one here but not a recent history. The last couple of years there has been a bit where people may say: ‘By the way, that’s better, that’s not bad’. We tried to do something this year and it is not the way we would absolutely like it to be done. I would have liked to have been in the League Cup final or FA Cup final. But to make a European final it would be sensational and trying to avoid the wrong end of the table.”