McAvennie claims ‘Man United were there for the beating’ for West Ham – Exclusive
We’re delighted to welcome former West Ham United striker Frank McAvennie as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the London Stadium…
Frank McAvennie is disappointed by West Ham’s failure to beat Manchester United in the FA Cup fifth round on Tuesday night.
Scott McTominay scored the only goal of the game in extra time to see Man United earn their spot in the quarter-finals of the competition.
West Ham’s sole focus for the rest of the season will now be on the Premier League, where they currently sit sixth, just one point behind fourth-placed Liverpool.
McAvennie is delighted by how David Moyes’ men have performed in the league this term but is gutted they were dumped out of the FA Cup in a match he felt was winnable.
“I’m not going to complain about anybody because I’m delighted with where West Ham are in the league now,” McAvennie told West Ham Zone.
“In the other two FA Cup games, David did brilliantly but I thought he could have had a go at Man United a bit more.
“It just shows you when Antonio’s not playing, we’ve got nothing up front. For me, it was a priority to get someone else in up front but it never happened.
“We did it against Liverpool. Teams have had a go at them and beat them but we sat off them and tried to defend. This is not the Liverpool from last season, this is the Liverpool of now when they’ve got no defenders. I’d have had a right go at them.
“It’s a wee pop at David but in a good way because he’s not done much wrong this season. We could have had more of a go at Liverpool and I thought Man United were there for the beating.”
There’s no denying West Ham could have made more a game against Man United.
Stats by Wyscout show the Irons mustered just one shot on target throughout the 120 minutes and had only three attempts at goal in total.
They generated an xG of just 0.11 and their possession figure was 37.37 per cent when their season average is 45.27 per cent.
West Ham underperformed and, as a result, failed to deliver against Man United but all is not lost because the side is still going well in the league.
If they continue to impress in the Premier League then Moyes could be taking the Irons on a rare venture into Europe and that will more than make up for the disappointing performance at Old Trafford this week.
In other West Ham news, Moyes was proud of his players despite their defeat to Man United in the FA Cup.