Nigel Reo-Coker makes strong West Ham admission after loss v Manchester United
West Ham lost 1-0 against Manchester United in the Premier League on Sunday (30 October) at Old Trafford, and Nigel Reo-Coker was far from impressed.
The former Hammers player told BBC Football Daily podcast that David Moyes’s side showed too much respect to the home side.
He suggests that they should have followed the example of Leeds who defeated Liverpool at Anfield last week, where Cry Summerville scored the winner towards the end.
“I really didn’t think West Ham gave a go at it. Towards the end, in the last 15 mins West Ham really had a go at it, if they had that approach at the start of the game, it could have been a different game,” said Reo-Coker on BBC Sport.
“They are showing so-called bigger clubs too much respect. You look at Leeds yesterday, how they had a go at Liverpool, they weren’t scared or intimated. Leeds were rewarded just because they were positive.”
Mentality
To a certain extent, Reo-Coker is right. The Hammers spent big in the summer and they have assembled a very good squad.
Moyes has done an incredible job at the club, but to take the Hammers to the next level, you need more than players to be a top club.
The mentality needs to change. At the moment, the Hammers are a tough team to beat at home, but they don’t always play with confidence away from home.
Against the so-called big teams, they tend to struggle, and that was evident at Old Trafford. In the last 15-20 minutes, the club played with a lot of positive intent, and one cannot help but wonder why they didn’t maintain the same tempo throughout.
West Ham do have enough quality in their ranks to challenge for the top six or maybe the top four, but they have been very inconsistent with their results so far.
They kept the game tight at Old Trafford but should have played with more aggression throughout the game.