David Moyes has praised his team’s performance against Manchester United in the FA Cup. West Ham exited the competition after conceding an extra-time winner to Scott McTominay. For most of the game, the Hammers were very defensive and were inviting pressure on themselves.
West Ham were without key forward Michail Antonio. This meant that Andriy Yarmolenko was given the responsibility of leading the line. It did not work for the Ukrainian, who was substituted before the hour mark with a suspected knee ligament injury. The Hammers struggled to maintain any attacking threat, managing only one shot on target in the 120 minutes.
The Hammers boss, however, was positive about the team’s performance. Moyes was happy to see the team compete with one of the ‘bigger sides’ in the Premier League. The main negative that Moyes saw the poor showing in the first half but suggested the side got better as the game went on.
West Ham suffered defeat in the FA Cup to Manchester United and could also have lost a couple of players to injury.
"“The boys did a great job, we didn’t perform particularly well in the first half, but we did perform well as it went on. I feel that the result is a bit harsh. I don’t think we deserved to lose the game; I think we warranted the chance to go to penalty kicks for the work the players they put in.”“We’re challenging a lot of the so-called bigger teams so we have to keep playing at that standard and giving ourselves a chance of winning these games.”Moyes on West Ham’s performance against Manchester United."
The manager did lament the issues concerning the club’s current injury problems. Michail Antonio missed the game due to ‘fatigue’. The absence of Antonio was evident as the attack lacked movement. This meant when the ball was cleared, it was usually coming straight back at the team. Moyes is hopeful that injuries won’t affect the teams season for too long.
"“We came up against injuries and different things which made us change and I just hope they don’t have a lasting effect on us. Angelo had an ankle injury, Issa got a bump on the head and we felt the right thing to do was change him.”Moyes on injuries"
Moyes will be concerned over the injuries of Angelo Ogbonna and Yarmolenko. The two were withdrawn from action after picking up knocks. Ogbonna has been immense this season, and Yarmolenko is the clubs only other senior striking option to Antonio.
If Yarmolenko and Antonio are out, then it will mean the next striker in line for the position is 18-year-old Ademipo Obudeko. The youngster played for an hour against United but was largely muscled out of the game in an unforgiving performance.