Down in autumnal Sussex, the Hammers recent unbeaten run of four games, in all competitions, didn’t get extended to five games.
A solitary goal, from Glenn Murray, was enough to ensure the Hammers returned to East London contemplating a defeat they didn’t perhaps deserve.
Indeed, on another night the result could have been quite different if only those who were presented with chances were a bit more clinical.
For some strange reason, West Ham didn’t get off to the start they hoped for, with Brighton having the upper hand, something Manuel Pellegrini mentioned in his post-match interview, as reported by the BBC, with the Chilean remarking:
“The first 35 minutes we were not at the pace needed, especially to fight for the second balls.”
Was it a case of the unfamiliar kick-off time perhaps? After all, when was the last time the Hammers
kicked off at 20:00 hours, on a Friday night?
But returning to the fact that on another night the result could have been so different, Pellegrini added:
“I am frustrated because I think we do the things to win the game. We had three clear chances to score and didn’t. They had one chance in the first half and then defended. We deserved more.”
But, that’s often the case, over the years teams have learned, very effectively, to get numbers behind the ball and frustrate the opposition, perhaps it is something we could be far cuter at.
However, in finishing his assessment, Pellegrini hit the nail on the head perfectly when he further added:
“The team is in progress. We didn’t play a bad game, we were better than Brighton, but with eight games played we don’t have too many points. We must continue improving.”
Yes, it is a bit of a concern that with eight games played we’ve only accumulated seven points, an average of less than one a game, or as some might say, it equates to less than the magical forty points team strive for to preserve their Premier League status, but am I concerned, in a word no!
Recent performances have shown that we are far better than our current position and the points harvested will increase dramatically over the coming weeks, starting with our next game when Tottenham come to our humble abode.
COYI’s
