David Moyes said the Hammers were not good enough against Freiburg and was very disappointed with the goal we conceded. He didn’t blame Edson Alvarez for the Germans’ fortuitous goal, but he was quick to admit that we hadn’t performed well and was dissatisfied with the players at halftime.
Of course, by the conclusion of the game, the guys appeared to have left their shooting boots at Goodison Park after Bowen, Paqueta, and Mavropanos squandered good chances but failed to capitalise on a night when one could have been followed by two or three more.
He stated that the squad had worked hard to ensure that we got a great result to take back to the London Stadium, and I felt that was going to be the case for a long time, but now we face a second leg that is expected to be much closer.
He addressed the post-match press conference, “We’ve squandered opportunities. Jarrod missed an opportunity in the first half when Mo played him, Paquetá had a header at the back post, and the custodian made a tremendous stop on Jarrod, so we had plenty of chances tonight. Then we had a penalty claim at the end, which on other days would have worked in our favour, but not tonight.
We’ll have to perform better next week than we did tonight. I was surprised we didn’t meet the requirements, and several of the players performed below expectations. We handed the ball away far too many times, and recovering it is more difficult in Europe.
We played much better in the second half, creating opportunities and finding stuff, but the goal was a disappointment to say the least.
I’m hoping we can use the penalty decision as motivation next week. If it had been used against us, we would have thought it was harsh, but ultimately, I have to ask, what are you doing with your hands above your head?
