Moving on, quickly

  • by Staff Writer
  • Monday, 12th August 2019

Felipe Anderson believes that West Ham "weren't where we wanted to be" when capitulating against reigning league champions Manchester City at the LOS on Saturday.

Anderson was one of a number of players whose performance was not of the standard expected during the 5-0 drubbing and was withdrawn midway through the second half with a minor injury.

However the Brazilian maintained that the result was just a minor blip - and one not entirely unexpected against one of the strongest teams ever to feature in the Premier League.

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"We were happy before the game because we were playing in front of our people and that’s always a pleasure, but we weren’t where we wanted to be," he told whufc.com.

"For sure we expected to do better. The team felt prepared and we hoped we could get a better result playing at home, but it was hard because they are an excellent side who played a fantastic match.

"We need to keep on fine tuning things in order to be where we want to be. We have the quality to do much more, but we will keep on working and I’m sure things will be better soon."

Meanwhile team mate Jack Wilshere, who was similarly replaced during the second half after feeling a knock insisted that the squad need to concentrate "on the positives" - even though few would argue there were many to take from Saturday's demoralising reversal.

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"We knew it was going to be difficult," the midfielder added. "Of course we didn’t want to lose 5-0 but we need to regroup, have a look at it on Monday and then get ready for Brighton - as that’s now when our season starts.

"We did compete - for me - with the best team in the league for the first 30 minutes. We were a bit unlucky to concede that first goal and then it’s difficult when you’re chasing the game against a team like that.

"It’ll be a different game at Brighton on Saturday and we have to prepare for that. We’ve got a strong spirit, so we put a line under it and go again."

KUMB match reporter Chris Wilkerson awarded Anderson a 4/10 for his performance against the Citizens, stating: "His desire to stand about 40 yards from goal and saunter forward, followed by a lay-off to someone moving or attempting an ambitious pass, is a very frustrating habit."

Meanwhile Wilshere fared slightly better, scoring a 6, with Wilkerson impressed by his distribution. "He got up and down the pitch well," he wrote, "and seemed to be leading the effort to press and moved with the ball well".

West Ham face Brighton at the Amex Community Stadium this coming Saturday. The Seagulls got their 2019/20 campaign off to a perfect start at Watford at the weekend, where they won 3-0 thanks to goals from Florin Andone, new record signing Neil Maupay and an own goal by Abdoulaye Doucoure.

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