West Ham boss Moyes insists Arsenal improvements down to lack of European football
David Moyes believes Arsenal are benefiting from the absence of European football this season as they target third place in the Premier League.
Moyes watched his West Ham side fall to a 2-1 defeat to their London rivals on Sunday as they juggle the demands of trying to reach the Europa League final with an overstretched squad.
It mathematically ended the Hammers’ pursuit of fourth place and Moyes insists Arsenal’s domestic resurgence after a disappointing 2020-21 campaign is partly a result of their reduced workload.
16 Conclusions: Patched-up and knackered West Ham 1-2 Arsenal set-pieces
“My goodness, it’s made a difference for them from day one,” Moyes said.
“Arsenal’s improvement this year has been incredible because probably not being involved in Europe has given them the chance to prepare correctly for games.
“They had a bit of a slow start to the season, but they’ve been in terrific form all season. It’s just as well when you have a young team and are trying to get a good enough squad together.
“Last season Arsenal got to the semi-finals of the Europa League and it became quite a difficult season for them because of that. We’re in it this year so we’re a bit the same.”
🇧🇷 Gabi x Gabi 🇧🇷#WHUARS pic.twitter.com/pq690RT5Cn
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 2, 2022
The defeat at London Stadium confirmed that West Ham can only qualify for the Champions League if they overhaul a 2-1 deficit when they travel to Eintracht Frankfurt for the decisive leg of their semi-final.
As of Sunday, Kurt Zouma was their only fit centre-back and against Arsenal even he seemed to be feeling the after-effects of a recent ankle injury.
“Of course we’ve got another chance to get into Europe a different way and we’re going to try and do that as well,” Moyes said.
“But the only thing in my head at the moment is this game and how we try to get rid of it and get ready for Thursday.
“Let’s just hope we can get those little things that are going against us at the moment to turn because we need that.”
