Danny Murphy offers sympathetic West Ham United verdict after ‘disappointing’ loss v Everton
Danny Murphy has been sympathetic to West Ham United following their defeat to Everton, despite believing the Irons have been “disappointing” recently.
David Moyes’ side made it four matches in all competitions without a win when they lost 1-0 to Sean Dyche’s Toffees on Sunday (29 October) with Dominic Calvert-Lewin scoring the only goal in the match at the London Stadium.
After an impressive start to the season, West Ham’s recent form has tailed off somewhat, but Murphy was quick to sympathise with the Hammers’ current situation, pointing out the difficult run of fixtures and European commitments that Moyes’ side have faced.
Speaking on BBC Match of the Day 2 (29 October) he said: “The most disappointing thing today for David Moyes and supporters was the lack of creativity and chances. In some of the games they’ve lost recently against top opposition, they’ve actually been in the games and played well.
“But if you look at their start overall they’ve had a really tough opening ten games, a lot of those games against the top six, seven teams from last year, so I think they can be disappointed, but not worried. There are lots of positives for West Ham, the signings are good.
“They’re playing in Europe let’s not forget. It’s tough to play Thursday, Sunday, Thursday, Sunday. They just looked a bit leggy, they went to Greece on Thursday. Difficult, four or five-hour flight that one, coming back and then trying to be up for it today.
“Credit Everton but West Ham not at it today.”
Tough start
It has perhaps been overshadowed by recent results but the Hammers have had an incredibly difficult start to the season domestically and it just seems as though their early season exploits have caught up with them sooner than expected in recent weeks.
Moyes doesn’t exactly have the biggest playing squad and he is relying on several players to play almost every minute in the Premier League and Europe, that workload is starting to show as the Hammers have taken their foot off the gas ever so slightly.
As Murphy said, there have been plenty of positives in the Irons’ recent displays, but for whatever reason they just haven’t been able to get over the line with the all-important results. The quick turnaround between the trip to Greece and Sunday’s clash won’t have helped matters, especially given the longer-than-usual flight.
But something needs to change sooner rather than later as currently West Ham are struggling creatively and don’t appear to have enough quality to find three points. Moyes will need to find a way to get the Hammers over the line and start picking up points quickly otherwise pressure will begin to mount on the Scotsman.
In other West Ham news, Stuart Pearce has shared a new Europa League prediction for the Hammers after recent results