West Ham can target European places after strong start to season, says Pablo Fornals

The Spanish midfielder has been in fine form this season and is dreaming of Europe once more.
Looking up | Pablo Fornals says West Ham can dream of Europe if they keep strong start going
POOL/AFP via Getty Images
Jack Rosser @JackRosser_16 November 2020

Pablo Fornals says West Ham can target a Europa League place this season after a fine start to the season.

The Hammers claimed impressive and unexpected wins over Wolves and Leicester before taking a point from both Tottenham and Manchester City.

Manager David Moyes has been pushing his squad to shun their inconsistent nature of the past and make good in the money pumped into the squad by the owners in recent years.

Under the former Everton boss, whose decision to switch to a back three sparked their upturn in form, the Hammers look to be comfortably clear from a relegation scrap this season, and Fornals says there is no reason they shouldn't be looking to push for European places.

“I think we made a step up, fighting with unbelievable teams in the last few games and for that reason we are in a comfortable position, but we have enough quality and belief to keep going up the table,” said Fornals.

“When I played in Villarreal, in my first season there we qualified for the UEFA Europa League and it’s an incredible feeling to play in European competition and try to fight for some trophies, so of course after the last few years we’ve had, we first need to get to 40 points as soon as possible but after this we have to dream.

“We have to keep dreaming, to keep fighting and working as we are doing, we can arrive in a good position come the end of the season.”

Despite missing a couple of golden chances this season, Fornals has been in fine form. Playing on the left of a front three, with Arthur Masuaku and Aaron Cresswell covering behind him, the Spaniard has the licence to roam and cause problems in various areas going forward, something he is relishing.

“I’m feeling more comfortable because, with Arthur and Cressy playing down the left-hand side, I can go into the middle a little bit,” Fornals told the club website. “It’s a strange position to explain because sometimes I am defending like a winger, at other times I’m up with the striker and at other times I’m in the midfield – it depends on the flow of the game and how the boss thinks we can hurt the other team more. It depends on a lot of things.

“Both before and during the game, the manager changes our positions and sometimes we play 2-1-2 or other times I play wide. It depends how the boss and the coaches watch the game. They are trying to make a new and competitive team and I think they’re doing it.”

After going into the international break with a narrow win over London rivals Fulham, the Hammers resume their Premier League campaign at Sheffield United on Sunday.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in