Mauro Zarate says West Ham United ‘need to do more’ if they are to turn a recent series of draws into wins
Mauro Zarate says West Ham United ‘need to do more’ if they are to turn a recent series of draws into wins.
The Hammers have finished level in four of their previous six Barclays Premier League fixtures – losing the other two – including Saturday’s stalemate with Stoke City at the Boleyn Ground.
The Argentinian came within inches of scoring the winner in an entertaining, if goalless, clash with the Potters, but his second-half shot cannoned back off the outside of the post. Zarate also completed 30 of his 36 attempted passes - six of them key, including a number of dangerous crosses.
“I thought it was going in when I hit it and it was unlucky,” said the No10, who also hit the woodwork in a 0-0 draw at Manchester United the previous weekend. “We created many chances but we can’t score – we can’t score against Man United and we can’t score.”
While some players might have been content with another point added to the tally, Zarate is not one of them. Instead, the former Velez Sarsfield, Lazio and Internationale star insists the Hammers need to improve their performances if they are to start winning again.
A rollercoaster match saw both sides enjoy periods in the ascendancy, with West Ham creating 22 shots on goal – nine of them on target – and Stoke substitute Mame Biram Diouf twice testing Adrian when clean through late on.
Finally, James Tomkins and Cheikhou Kouyate both saw efforts cleared off the line in the final seconds, and Zarate was left to lament a draw that was ‘not enough’ to satisfy him.
“I think it’s tough on us,” he continued, “but we have to win at home. It was a good match and we did a decent match ourselves, but we have to do better if we want to win.
“They created some chances in the second and Adrian had to be really good. The zero-zero was not a normal result because they created some chances and we did our job too, but a draw is not enough for us.
“We needed that goal at the end and we needed to do more if we wanted to win.”
The Hammers have finished level in four of their previous six Barclays Premier League fixtures – losing the other two – including Saturday’s stalemate with Stoke City at the Boleyn Ground.
The Argentinian came within inches of scoring the winner in an entertaining, if goalless, clash with the Potters, but his second-half shot cannoned back off the outside of the post. Zarate also completed 30 of his 36 attempted passes - six of them key, including a number of dangerous crosses.
“I thought it was going in when I hit it and it was unlucky,” said the No10, who also hit the woodwork in a 0-0 draw at Manchester United the previous weekend. “We created many chances but we can’t score – we can’t score against Man United and we can’t score.”
While some players might have been content with another point added to the tally, Zarate is not one of them. Instead, the former Velez Sarsfield, Lazio and Internationale star insists the Hammers need to improve their performances if they are to start winning again.
A rollercoaster match saw both sides enjoy periods in the ascendancy, with West Ham creating 22 shots on goal – nine of them on target – and Stoke substitute Mame Biram Diouf twice testing Adrian when clean through late on.
Finally, James Tomkins and Cheikhou Kouyate both saw efforts cleared off the line in the final seconds, and Zarate was left to lament a draw that was ‘not enough’ to satisfy him.
“I think it’s tough on us,” he continued, “but we have to win at home. It was a good match and we did a decent match ourselves, but we have to do better if we want to win.
“They created some chances in the second and Adrian had to be really good. The zero-zero was not a normal result because they created some chances and we did our job too, but a draw is not enough for us.
“We needed that goal at the end and we needed to do more if we wanted to win.”