David Moyes acknowledged that West Ham being one step away from the Europa League final may have stunned most, including himself, last season.
West Ham qualified for UEFA's secondary club football competition by finishing sixth in the 2020-21 Premier League and have adapted well to European football.
The Hammers also emerged as early contenders to qualify for the Champions League this season, but now sit seventh – eight points behind fourth-placed Arsenal having played a game more – with their focus seemingly on Europe.
West Ham defeated Europa League specialists Sevilla and Lyon to reach the final four, where they will meet Eintracht Frankfurt, who defeated Barcelona at the quarter-final stage.
Indeed, it will be West Ham's first semi-final in a major competition since 2013-14, when they lost 9-0 on aggregate against Manchester City in the EFL Cup.
While Moyes expressed his surprise that his side had made it this far in their first year in Europe since falling in the 2016-17 Europa League play-off to Astra Giurgiu, the Scotsman remains confident.
"It's good to be nervous," Moyes told reporters at a pre-match news conference on Wednesday ahead of the first leg at home to Eintracht on Thursday.
"It makes you realise the level of the game, but you want the players to play with confidence and do a lot of things naturally in the game – but I think nerves are really important for the players to understand the level we're at.
"It's a great game. We're hugely excited by it. The thrill of qualifying for Europe last year was great.
"If you'd have said to us in May last year 'you're going to be in the semi-finals of the Europa League, with the chance of getting to the final,' I think we'd have all said, 'you're joking'.
"We're in a really good place and I think we're worthy of it. Beating Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea at home shows that on our home patch, on our day, we can be a good match for just about any team."
Central to the success of West Ham has been the presence of England international Declan Rice and the scoring form of Jarrod Bowen, who has 17 direct goal involvements in the Premier League this season.
Only Mason Mount (19) and Harry Kane (20) can boast more among English players in the Premier League, leading to calls for Bowen to feature in Gareth Southgate's World Cup squad at Qatar 2022.
Moyes cited former Hull City forward Bowen and Czech Republic duo Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek as vital for the upturn in West Ham's fortunes.
"When I first returned, I honestly thought if I could get it going, I'd get a team challenging around the top of the league. That's what I planned," Moyes added.
"I think for most of my career, I've been closer to that than the bottom, even though I've come back a couple of times to take over a team near the bottom, but I always felt if I could get a chance to get it done...
"On that journey, you need to make sure your recruitment is good. We signed a couple of Czech boys on the journey who have been brilliant for us, and we took Jarrod Bowen from the Championship, whose gone on to do great things. Sometimes you need bits of that for all those things to happen.
"Is it by luck, by plan or design? I hope it's a bit of both. Sometimes it doesn't always go right when you're a manager, and for the majority of managers it's very difficult, but I always felt that if I could get it going here, I could get a team challenging."
It will be Moyes' first semi-final since 2013-14, when his Manchester United side were defeated by Sunderland in the EFL Cup, while he is the first Scottish manager to reach the semi-final stage of the UEFA Cup or Europa League since 2007-08.
But Moyes appreciates the job is not completed as his side prepare to meet Eintracht in European competition for just the second time, West Ham previously eliminating the German side at the semi-final stage of the 1975-76 Cup Winners' Cup.
"I've still got a long way to go. I've got to win a two-legged semi-final and then I would need to, if I was good enough to do that, try to win a final – so from my point of view, there's still a long way to go," he said.
"To bring West Ham from where it's been, to where we are today, is huge.
"People who know West Ham far better than I do will tell you that to get to the semi-final of a European competition and give ourselves a real chance of getting to a final is something really special. It's not easy to do.
"I think when the tournament started, people were asking me if I thought we were favourites in the tournament, and I said: 'No, what a load of rubbish.' All the Champions League team were still to drop in.
"We did a really good job in the group – the whole squad did a brilliant job winning the group – and then we've had two huge ties, which all the teams are going to have.
"We're now in a semi-final. You would always like the second leg at home, but we're at home in the first leg, so we have to deal with that, but I think we're in a good place and we have to try to challenge to get to the final."
Keith Watson keen to highlight Ross County’s form as they fight for survival
Keith Watson is adamant relegation-threatened Ross County can take heart from their own recent form as they bid to topple free-scoring Championship promotion hopefuls Partick Thistle in this week’s Premiership play-off.
The Staggies must defeat the Jags over two legs to survive in the top flight for a fifth consecutive season after defeat in their final match at Kilmarnock on Sunday consigned them to 11th place.
Much has been made of the fact Partick have scored an impressive 16 goals in their four play-off matches so far against Queen’s Park and Ayr.
But Watson was keen to point out that his own side have been in good enough form to move off the foot of the Premiership table over the past month despite being four points adrift and seemingly doomed to bottom spot with five games to play.
“They are obviously on a decent run, because they have had to win games to get to the final,” the County captain said when asked whether Partick’s momentum might give them an edge.
“But going into the split we were four points adrift at the bottom and we just fell short on the last day, so I don’t think we are on poor form by any means.
“We have been picking up results recently, it’s not as if we have not been playing very well.
“The boys know what’s at stake. We need to try and keep as upbeat as we can, we can’t dwell on (finishing second bottom) too much.
“Anything can happen, and we want to make sure we stay in this league.
Although he admits Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at Killie was “a sore one”, Watson believes the form and “fight” his team have shown recently will stand them in good stead for the play-offs, with the first leg at Firhill this Thursday.
“Going into the split we were four points adrift, and maybe a lot of people wrote us off a wee bit,” said the Staggies defender.
“But we just keep on fighting. We don’t know when we are down and we don’t know when we are beaten.
“We showed that against St Johnstone when we were 2-0 down and we came back (to draw 3-3 last Wednesday).
“There is plenty fight and effort in the team. We’ve just got to make sure we take that into the last two games and show the same effort and fight we have shown to get back involved again.
“We’ve got a few days to prepare and do our work on Partick. The boys are disappointed, but we are not down. We have got two games to stay in the league.
“We will be going into that first leg on Thursday really looking forward to it. We’ve got two games to save our season, and we will be giving it everything we’ve got.”
Kyle Vassell believes Kilmarnock are ready to make their presence felt at the “right end of the table” next season after they secured their cinch Premiership survival on the last day of a challenging first season back in the top flight.
The 30-year-old has loved his time at Killie since initially joining in January on a short-term deal, so much so that he recently agreed to a two-year contract extension keeping him at Rugby Park until 2025.
Vassell is hugely excited about the future after notching his sixth goal of the campaign in Sunday’s campaign-ending 3-1 win over relegation rivals Ross County in front of a buoyant home support.
“I have two more years of this and hopefully we can get better as a club and get up the other end of the league next season,” said the striker.
“I knew we had what it takes to stay up, but you never know in football. They say it averages out over the season and the teams that are down there and the ones up the top deserve to be where they are.
“But you get games like St Johnstone, where we had a goal disallowed for something I’d never seen before then we had a penalty not given.
“I genuinely believe we never had much luck for a few months, but we got through it and made sure we didn’t rely on luck and that our performances were there.
“We got a great win last Wednesday at Dundee United and another one against Ross County.”
Asked if he expected Kilmarnock to kick on under Derek McInnes next term, Vassell said: “Absolutely. That’s why I’m staying, because I believe in what he’s trying to build. I want to be part of what he’s building.
“You see the fans, they were amazing against Ross County, from the start. The second half was probably one of the most enjoyable, even after their goal, because the fans were singing everyone’s name and the atmosphere was so good for us as players.
“If we can get as many of them in the stadium next season we will kick on. A day like that gives you a glimpse of what can happen but it’s on us. We have to play well to make them want to come. We have to get them in the stand.
“If we take that on board in pre-season and into the beginning of the season and make sure we’re at the right end of the table, I’m sure even more will come because the fans are there.”
Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag says Harry Maguire has decision to make on his future
Erik ten Hag has hinted that Harry Maguire may leave Manchester United this summer if the defender decides he is not happy with a lack of playing time.
The club captain played only 16 Premier League games this season and has been culpable of a number of high-profile errors, most recently in last month’s Europa League exit to Sevilla.
Ten Hag has consistently praised the influence of the 30-year-old – who joined in 2018 from Leicester for £80million, a world-record fee for a defender, and is under contract until 2025 – around Old Trafford, even when he has endured long spells out of the team.
When fit, Lisandro Martinez and Raphael Varane have been the preferred central-defensive partnership in the former Ajax boss’s first campaign, with Luke Shaw sometimes filling in, as the team racked up 17 top-flight clean sheets – the most of any side in the division.
Now the manager has made the strongest suggestion yet that Maguire’s time at United could be coming to an end.
“No-one would be happy with this situation,” Ten Hag said in an interview with The Times. “He is not as well. He trains always on best levels, so with 100 per cent effort.
“So he handles that situation well and he’s in that manner and in his captaincy he’s important for the squad.
“But he has high competition there (at centre-back) with Raphael Varane, who’s fantastic.”
He added: “Let’s say I’m happy he’s here and when we needed him he did his job. But it’s also a decision he has to make.”
Ten Hag also said that David De Gea, who himself has made costly mistakes including in Seville and in the recent defeat to West Ham, will remain at the club, though may not be guaranteed a place in the team.
The team finished with the third best defensive record in the Premier League with 43 goals conceded, bettered only by Newcastle and champions Manchester City. De Gea was ever-present and collected the Golden Glove for the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets.
Asked if the 32-year-old would still be at United next season, Ten Hag replied: “Yes, but I will not say he will always be my number one because in a club like United there must be competition in all positions.”
United face City at Wembley on Saturday in the first all-Manchester FA Cup final, looking to foil their city rivals’ bid the match the Treble won by Sir Alex Ferguson’s team in 1999.
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