- West Ham lost 2-0 to Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon
- Nuno Espirito Santo admitted his team were not good enough
- The Hammers boss says he knows they will bounce-back
West Ham United fell to a 2-0 loss to Aston Villa on Sunday afternoon on a day where nothing went well for the Hammers. Whilst Nuno Espirito Santo’s team were not good enough in the game, the Irons have to see this as a missed opportunity to get out of the bottom three.
Ollie Watkins and John McGinn scored the goals for the home team as West Ham had their worst performance since early January, with shot stopper Mads Hermansen even making an uncharacteristic mistake for the second goal.
Speaking after the game, Hammers boss Nuno has admitted that his team just were not good enough on the day.
“We lost against a good team. That’s a fact, but we were not good enough today.
“Our performance was not good and in the first half we didn’t play good. We arrived late in the duels. We didn’t press as well as we should have done. We were never comfortable in the game.
“We improved slightly in the second half, but not enough to change the dynamic of the game. We’ve been performing well and you can see the fans, they were there and today we disappointed them and that is what hurts us the most.
“We have to realise that we have to do much better. We have to improve in a lot of aspects in our game. So, it’s a moment to reflect.
“We wish that the international players return healthy so we can regroup and become stronger and better.”
Setbacks not an excuse for the West Ham manager
Prior to kick-off, Nuno had named an unchanged side from the team that drew 1-1 with Manchester City. Unfortunately, Jean-Clair Todibo picked up an injury in the warm-up, forcing a change in personnel and game plan.
Despite this, Nuno is not having it as an excuse for today’s performance, or any going forward.
“It’s always a problem when you lose a player in the warm-up, so the preparation on the week [is lost], but we try to adjust and try to fix it to a different situation, to a different shape but like I said, the first half was [not good enough].
“To concede from a distraction, a set piece, it’s always something really, really painful.
“We have to improve. I can’t keep repeating myself because today we lost individual battles and duels, we arrived late, we were not comfortable with the ball, so it’s worrying.
“It’s worrying, but at the same time international break time to regroup and improve.
“The players go to their national teams and we really hope they return healthy because we need them all of them and us that we have to work.
“We have to prepare because we have a big challenge ahead of us. We are in a fight, but we have to do better like we have done before. I’m positive that we can bounce back.”
