West Ham midfielder Pablo Fornals is proud of the way the team played against Manchester City but felt that they were unlucky to leave the game with nothing. The game saw Fornals give one of his best performances for the last couple of months as he showed why David Moyes rates him so highly.
The Spaniard joined West Ham during Manuel Pellegrini’s reign and has shown flashes of his ability, which has brought him some criticism from corners of the fan base. One thing that can never be questioned is Fornals’ work ethic for the team.
The citizens won the game thanks to goals from Ruben Dias and John Stones. Michail Antonio had equalised, but it did not affect the result in the end. Despite losing the game Fornals believes that the team should be happy with the way they played and can take a lot of pride away from Manchester.
"“We’re disappointed because we did a lot of good things up to the key, last pass. But, as a Hammer, I think all of our supporters have to be proud of this team, for how we played against the best team in the Premier League right now.“Of course we are upset with the result, but happy with how we played – we tried to do our best, and I think we did, and I think we were unlucky to lose.”Pablo Fornals on City match"
Pablo Fornals has had a good season for West Ham, but a change of position could see him produce better performances for the club.
Against City, Fornals not only produced a good attacking display but also put in the hard yards defensively, helping Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek protect the backline. One reason for this improvement to Fornals’ game was the fact he was played in the middle of the pitch.
This positioning gave the 24-year-old a lot more freedom to drift across the midfield and contribute to more areas on the pitch. Usually, Fornals is deployed on the left-wing and helps protect Aaron Cresswell, but his forward play can be impacted with the extra defensive work.
The Hammers are back in action on Monday and will welcome Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United to the London Stadium. Fornals will be looking forward to the battle against the Yorkshire side and will want to return to winning ways.
West Ham currently sit in the Champions League places after some favourable results on the weekend. However, when they take on Leeds, they could be fighting to get back into the top four if Chelsea and Liverpool win their games.