West Ham’s Julen Lopetegui was absolutely correct when he said that last night’s 5-1 defeat to Liverpool was one of the Hammers’ better performances this season.
Speaking after the game, the Spaniard said: “I think we played one of our better matches, but you can’t say that when you look at the score-line. We didn’t deserve to lose by this score-line, as we had a lot of chances.”
While I would agree with pretty much all of his appraisal, aside from the VAR observation (we’ll get to that later today), it is highly concerning that one of the Hammers’ best performances has come off the back of such a thrashing.
It could also be argued that West Ham showed a plucky and spirited performance against Manchester City in a game that we lost 3-1, and therein lies the problem.
The Hammers’ head coach seems to be taking comfort from moments in games where we are outplayed by the opposition. I don’t blame him for trying to find positives in bad results, and I would even concede that at times West Ham looked good in both fixtures. However, we really are scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Ironically, I feel more positive about the weekend’s Premier League match against Brentford, largely due to some of the improved performances I saw last night at Anfield. But how bad must it have been if my main hope of victory in future matches is based on glimpses of competence from games in which West Ham has been thoroughly outclassed?
Julen Lopetegui desperately needs a win; it’s unfortunate that such a scenario has come so early in his Hammers career. However, I fear he will no longer be able to get away with taking positives from defeats.
Was there a reason given why Wan-Bissaka did not make it off the bench?
Can’t somebody gently explain to Alvarez ( in Spanish of course) that he is not meant to collect yellow and red cards for his mantlepiece .
It’s all true all course but he doesn’t so much need a win at all costs but a coherent plan and tactics that work on the pitch. Currently he seems scattergun and the result is confusion on the pitch and in the crowd.
Bang on, not a Ferrari more like a three wheeler, we need to find an extra wheel (decent striker).
Why has no one commented on what a dickhead and a liability Alvarez is ? Every single game he runs around like a bull in a China shop kicking and fouling anything that moves,gets booked every game and last night’s red card was ridiculous.
I’d fine him a months wages not a weeks,the geezer needs to learn and learn fast,I totally get why Moyes dropped him last season now,untill he sorts his head and his ways out I’d have him benched.
Got a lovely spaghetti carbonara tonight with a lovely glass of red accompanying it…cheers
Your talking out your rear end you Muppet, Alvarez puts 100 percent in every game
What is concerning is that this group of players, like last season seem happy to accept these results and have little bottle or pride in not getting 5 stuck past them.
Super Tim’s signings have added nothing to this first 11 and in some cases they are looking worse than what we let go…
Absolutely. There’s only so many “taking positives” and “learning from our mistakes” to be had so early in the season. The new players at the their current worth should be able to implement a game plan and should be able to work together and at full effort.
What matters now is getting wins against Brentford and Ipswich. If we lose those 2 games, it’s M all over again and a relegation battle.
COYI ⚒️⚒️⚒️