Alphonse Areola inspired West Ham’s comeback victory over Everton on Saturday, then warned their European rivals: “We’ve got a taste for silverware.”
The Hammers resume their Europa League campaign at Freiburg on Thursday night, and do so buoyed by back-to-back Premier League wins that have put the brakes on their alarming mid-season slide.
David Moyes’s side began 2024 with a run of eight matches without a victory, but followed last Monday’s win over Brentford with a 3-1 success at Goodison Park to confirm a timely return to form ahead of the first leg of their last-16 tie.
“We’re European champions, so when you taste that feeling of lifting a trophy you just want to lift more and more,” the Frenchman said. “It will be tough, really tough. There are good teams still in there but we’ll compete to the maximum we can and really enjoy the competition.”
Stoppage-time strikes from Tomas Soucek and Edson Alvarez took the Hammers back into the top seven. Areola, though, was West Ham’s hero, producing arguably his best performance for the club, a first-half stop from Beto’s penalty one of nine saves.
“We’ve been through a tough moment and now we’re in a good position in our heads to compete in Europe,” he said. “We’re here for that — to try to reach another European competition next year, and to try to win the one we’re in this year.”
Moyes has a big a decision to make over who plays in goal in Germany. Areola was West Ham’s cup keeper during his first two seasons at the club, but his promotion to Premier League No1 this term saw Lukasz Fabianski given the nod through most of the Europa League group stage.
