West Ham United’s showing in the 3-1 defeat by Brighton and Hove Albion didn’t warrant winning any points, according to manager David Moyes.
Despite a sixth Premier League goal of the season from Chicharito the Hammers were bettered by Albion in Saturday’s match, as finishes from Glenn Murray, Jose Izquierdo and Pascal Gross handed the Irons a first league defeat in 2018.
Although two of the goals from Brighton were of real quality, Moyes didn’t look to shy away from what he felt was a disappointing showing from his players.
“Today wasn’t very good,” Moyes honestly said. “Our performance didn’t merit a result. Brighton were the better team in the end. At half-time we had fought our way back into the game but they scored a worldy to make it 2-1, which made it very difficult. I think prior to that we hadn’t done enough anyway.
Our performance didn't merit a result. Brighton were the better team in the end.
David Moyes
“I’m disappointed with the defeat. We’ve been on a really good run recently and we’ve picked up points and we’ve stuck at games. But we were never really in the game today. Right from the start, I never felt it. We gave the first one away, we gave the third one away and, actually, I think we should have dealt with the ball from the corner before the second goal.”
The Hammers named the same starting XI from the side that drew 1-1 with Crystal Palace in the week, and Moyes admits having to use the same players in such a short space of time could have had an impact on his team’s performance.
But the manager refused to lay any blame on the injuries his squad is currently experiencing, saying there can’t be any excuses for the loss.
“Maybe to have to play the same team again, could have been the case,” Moyes said when asked if his selection had a role in the defeat.
“We put out a team on Tuesday and got a result, albeit it wasn’t three points, but we got a result from the game. It was always going to be tough today to do that and I think it showed in the players today.
“But Brighton played in midweek as well, so there’s no excuse from it, and we’re not going to look for excuses because we’ve got injured players. Every club has got injured players and the quicker we get them back, it will help us.”
Moyes believes the defeat on Saturday was ultimately down to his own side’s mistakes, and is now looking to the coming fixtures for the opportunity to put things right and collect more points.
“I’ve said for a while that any given team on any day could beat each other in the bottom half of the league, but on another day, there will be draws and points taken off of each other. It’s going to be tight.
“We’re all working hard together. We’re in a difficult position and we’ve got to make sure we stay away from the bottom end.”