West Ham United’s vice-captain Aaron Cresswell is keen to avenge last season’s Europa League heartbreak in this season’s Europa Conference League.
The 33-year-old was an integral part of West Ham’s run to the Europa League’s semi-finals in the 2021/22 campaign, with appearances in nine of David Moyes’ side’s 12 matches in the competition, getting knocked out by eventual winners Eintracht Frankfurt.
However, in West Ham’s second leg defeat, their most recent match in a European knockout round tie, Cresswell was sent off after just 19 minutes, his second red card in three European games, having also been dismissed in the first leg of the quarter-final win over Olympique Lyonnais.
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Having won all eight of their matches in the Europa Conference League this season, West Ham are back in the knockout rounds of a European tournament and will take on Cypriot side AEK Larnaca in the round of 16, with a place in the quarter-finals up for grabs, with the first leg taking place in Cyrpus on Thursday night.
Cresswell, one of the senior players in the West Ham squad, admits that night in Frankfurt was tough but aims to use that experience to help the Hammers this time around.
"It was tough. I'm experienced enough to understand football and how it works and sometimes it's not your night,” said the left-back. "You put these things behind you and move on and stay positive and look forward. Certainly that's what I want to do from my personal experience from it but also the team.
“We've got to take the positives and look at how far we progressed as a club. It's been long overdue. We've had two fantastic seasons and we want to do it again this season and go as far as we can.”
West Ham’s back-to-back seasons in Europe looked a long way away just a few seasons ago, although playing in Europe has become something they have gotten used to since the start of last season, with the first leg against Larnaca being West Ham’s 21st European match since the start of last season, 14 of which have ended in victory.
Prior to then, West Ham had not qualified for the full rounds of a European competition since reaching the 2006/07 UEFA Cup, where they were knocked out in the first round by Italian side Palermo.
For as long as West Ham are still playing in Europe, Cresswell, who has 317 club appearances to his name, wants to go as far as possible in the competition.
"Not just from my point of view, but as a club, it's been a long time since we had these European nights,” Cresswell explained.
“We'd like to play in the biggest competitions. That's what the fans want. Us as players, you want to play in the best stadiums, against the best players in the world, and test yourself, that's what we want to do.”
While in Europe, West Ham are just seven games away from a major European trophy, in the Premier League, it has been a season with nothing to celebrate.
West Ham currently sit in 16th and a point clear of the relegation zone, arriving in Cyprus off the back of a 4-0 defeat to Brighton and Hove Albion on Saturday, their heaviest loss in all competitions this season.
The nature of that loss has led to external pressure being put back on Moyes as well as his players.
Cresswell has said that not only are they playing for the manager who has led the club to plenty of success in his second stint at the London Stadium, but also for themselves, who have had a rather sub-par campaign to date.
“Of course. It's not just the gaffer that's under pressure. It's the players as well,” added Cresswell.
“The 11 that goes out and the boys on the bench, we're all there to perform. It's not just the gaffer who is under pressure, it's the players. We know the situation we're in. We've got to try to drag ourselves out of it.
“We've had a couple days' training, keep going, keep progressing, stay positive and stick together.”
West Ham however could find themselves more equipped for European football this season after spending around £180million on nine new signings, eight in the summer and the £12million acquisition of striker Danny Ings from Aston Villa.
Cresswell has said that the influx of players could make the schedule easier to deal with, as well as trying to achieve their dreams in Europe, but admits that while the club are in a transition period, the entire squad remain committed to the fight.
“You could arguably say that, we’ve bought in a lot of fantastic players but we’re in a period of transition and the eight/nine/ten players or however many came through the door, it’s never easy for that to settle straight away,” Cresswell told football.london .
“There’s some fantastic players, we’ve got to stick together and keep believing, keep believing we can win as a game, always look at it with a positive mindset and I’m sure it will be alright.
"There’s not one player in that dressing room that’s not pulling their weight and fighting and wanting the best for the team and the best for the lads.
“As a group of players, that’s what we have to do, we have to stick together at times like this because we will be stronger as a group rather than individuals and certainly from my point of view as a senior player who has been at the club for a long time, if there’s one player that’s pulling their weight, I’m sure we’ll tell them.”
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