West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek has leapt to the defence of under-fire manager David Moyes ahead of their must-win Europa League clash with Freiburg on Thursday.
Moyes faces an uncertain future after winning just two of 12 games this year but Soucek insists the Scot deserves more credit for their European achievements, including winning the Conference League last season.
“You can see the results, what he has done, finishing sixth and seventh in the Premier League. Now we are in Europe three times in a row for the first time in the club’s history,” said Soucek.
“The job he has done is incredible. I am so happy I could be part of that, to help to create history. The manager does an important job and I think he has done very well the last few years and this year as well.”
West Ham must overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit when Freiburg visit the London Stadium, although the return to fitness of Lucas Paqueta has seen results improve for the Hammers.
It is the same task they faced against Sevilla at the same stage last season and Moyes believes they can draw on past victories.
“We’ve got good experience from games like that, but we’ve also got lots of internationals in the team now as well,” he said.
“I think we’re all still learning with every game in this competition, and we’ll do everything we can to get through to the quarter-finals.”