Women's expert wants 'ruthless' edge added to West Ham United
We’re delighted to welcome Michelle Irons as our exclusive West Ham Women expert. Each week she’ll be giving her views on the biggest talking points at Victoria Road…
West Ham United Women’s expert Michelle Irons believes Paul Konchesky’s side must be more “ruthless” after the Hammers’ 2-1 WSL defeat to Aston Villa.
Carla Ward’s side returned to the West Midlands with all three points and inflicted a third straight league defeat on the Hammers.
Irons was pleased with West Ham’s “cohesion” but rued missed opportunities during the defeat to the Villans.
“The game started quickly with a lot of ball possession in midfield with Hayashi attempting to get on the ball but having to contend with the dynamic partnership of Daly/Dali,” Irons exclusively told West Ham Zone.
“Unfortunately, she was booked early for a really weak foul on Daly. I think that took the wind out of her sails and she never really got going after that.
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“West Ham were content with slow build-up play from the midfield and that showed when Vivi dropped deep into her half. She is so effective when she is central. When she moves out to the wing she loses a bit of momentum.
“This game was easily matched in midfield but a miss hit from Fisk fell perfectly to Daly and she hit from distance, it was a piece of quality from the England international.
“Again the game was well matched in midfield and Villa just showed too much quality. Hayashi missed a low block only for Nobbs to place it well past Arnold for a 2-0 lead.
“Approaching the closing stages we really needed to find that extra push and try and upset Villa. Asseyi was pushing the Villa defence to its limit. She works so hard on and off the ball and she headed in a perfectly weighted cross by Dagny.
“This game ended 2-1 to Villa and another really disappointing result for us at home, however, I noticed some tactical time-wasting from Villa in this game which is never nice to see.
“The team does some things really well and has a nice cohesion in its play, however, as the players have said we need to be more ruthless in our play.”