Jeff Stelling apologises over West Ham United comment live on talkSPORT
Jeff Stelling apologised to West Ham United regarding a comment on their start to the season following the 3-1 defeat to Manchester City.
Julen Lopetegui has had a tough start to life in East London and suffered his second loss in three Premier League matches courtesy of a hat-trick from Erling Haaland.
Stelling was called out on talkSPORT [2 September] for claiming the home side got off to a slow start to their season, given they performed well against Man City and defeated Crystal Palace the week before, following on from a narrow 2-1 loss to Aston Villa.
He said: “I didn’t say West Ham have started slowly, but I apologise if I did. I didn’t think you were brilliant against Manchester City, but played ‘okay’.”
West Ham United faced an impossible task against Manchester City
The Hammers were fortunate to find themselves on the scoresheet on Saturday [31 August] with a Ruben Dias own goal levelling the tie in the first half.
Lopetegui has suffered consecutive Premier League defeats at the London Stadium as his wait for a league win at home continues.
West Ham supporters will never demand their side to beat the English champions, especially this early into the Lopetegui era. However, they can be pleasantly surprised with the performance against Pep Guardiola’s juggernauts.
The Irons remained competitive throughout the 90 minutes and, while they didn’t necessarily go toe-to-toe with Man City, the performance was a significant improvement compared to their outing last season when David Moyes’ side surrendered a one-goal lead and slumped to an identical result at the London Stadium.
Jarrod Bowen was the only forward to have an impact on proceedings. His ball into the box forced Dias to put it into his own net. Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta were surprisingly off the pace, with the latter losing the ball in his defensive third to allow Haaland to open the scoring.
There are signs the West Ham project is heading in the right direction. The loss to Man City was inevitable given the circumstances but the Hammers will have the international break for their new signings to adapt to life in East London and will surely be ready to kickstart their aspirations of a European finish with a trip to Fulham.
In other West Ham news, Carlos Soler shares what Pablo Fornals told him about the Hammers.
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