Tomas Soucek makes 'ashamed' West Ham United admission after what happened v Brentford
West Ham star Tomas Soucek said he was "ashamed" after West Ham conceded inside 60 seconds against Brentford on Saturday (28 September).
Speaking post-match following a 1-1 draw in West London, Soucek bemoaned the Irons' inability to deal with a threat they were well aware of, as Brentford scored within a minute for the third game running.
Soucek popped up to equalise for the Hammers nine minutes into the second half, but was critical of himself and his team-mates giving themselves an uphill battle right from the get-go.
In quotes reported by the Daily Mirror's football pull-out (30 September, page 13), Soucek said: "I feel ashamed to concede that goal. We knew they could do that.
"We were all prepared for it but still we concede in the first minute. They've done it three times now.
"Then for the next 90 minutes, we're chasing the result."
West Ham United need to build on second-half Brentford rally
While a 1-1 draw against a mid-table London rival won't have stirred the pulses of many Hammers fans, fighting back to record a point does provide some positives following a dismal week for the Irons.
Conceding to Bryan Mbeumo just 60 seconds into the contest was the ninth goal Julen Lopetegui's side had shipped in little over two matches, after 3-0 and 5-1 defeats to Chelsea and Liverpool respectively.
No semblance of a rallying cry came in either of those two matches, and therefore Lopetegui will take some encouragement from the second-half showing, which saw his Hammers seal a point.
The Irons' previous away league match also saw them rescue a draw via Danny Ings' last-gasp equaliser at Fulham, but Lopetegui must cut out his side's slow starts to give themselves a better chance of victory.
With just five points after six matches – all of which have been won in second-halves – it's clear that for the Hammers to move up the table, their first-period performances need to see a massive improvement.
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