Disappointment In Victory Over Leeds Shows West Ham’s Growth

West Ham moved back up to 5th in the Premier League table last night after dispatching Leeds United 2-0. Goals from loan duo Jesse Lingard and Craig Dawson rectified the club’s Champions League push. Despite the win, many of the team members were still disappointed with themselves and their performance. Declan Rice, who helped dominate the midfield alongside Tomas Soucek, was a loud critic of the team’s performance. The pitch captain was unhappy to see the levels of the

team’s performance

drop so much from the loss against Manchester City.

"“Speaking honestly, I’m disappointed with the performance. Yes, we won 2-0 and scored two goals, but if you compare the two performances from Manchester City last weekend and tonight, at Man City we were brave in taking the ball and we created loads of chances.”“Tonight, Leeds caused us problems, they came out really sharp in the first ten minutes and had two disallowed goals. As players, you need to wake yourselves up and get into the game.”“Once that first goal came, it settled us down and now we’re starting to learn how to win ugly. We didn’t play at our best but we’re grinding out these results, we’ve got a real solidity about us and long may that continue.”Declan Rice on West Ham’s win over Leeds."

West Ham lost 2-1 to the Citizens at the Etihad Stadium. The Hammers, however, were praised for their brave performance and arguably deserved at least a point in that game. Rice’s suggestion would be that his team should have battered Leeds.

David Moyes has disagreed with the West Ham board and suggests Declan Rice is worth ‘a lot more’ that £100 million.

Rice was not the only unhappy Hammer. Goalscorer Jesse Lingard also thought the team should have played better. The 28-year-old suggest the whole team were not happy with their outing against the Yorkshire side. Lingard was key to the victory, winning the penalty before converting it at the second attempt.

"“The players are really disappointed with how they played. We didn’t reach the standard we’ve set this season,” Lingard on reaching standards"

This shift in mentality is massive for West Ham. David Moyes has instilled a

winning attitude

in his players. It is not long ago that the Hammers would have been satisfied with a win over anyone despite the performance. Now the club wants to play better and win better. West Ham fans were jubilant with the win over Leeds. The three points mean that the hammers have kept their dreams of a European tour alive for another week. With each game week that West Ham manage this feat, the more likely it becomes, a couple more wins, and the Europa League will look like certainty.

If Rice and Lingard can motivate the team to play at the level they expect, then Europa League should be considered a fallback. The levels the midfielders expect could be enough to see West Ham qualify for the coveted Champions League.