Carlton Cole suggested that David Moyes did the right thing by setting up so defensively against Manchester City last night, when speaking exclusively to Sky Sports.
The Hammers lost 2-0 to the reigning Premier League champions last night, and in truth, the scoreline ended up flattering the visitors.
David Moyes set up with a flat back five, three defensive midfielders sitting in front of them and Robert Robert Snodgrass supporting Michail Antonio in attack.
The West Ham fans were furious with how their side just sat back and accepted defeat. The east London outfit never looked like scoring. In fact, they probably could have played until Christmas without doing so.
Surprisingly, however, Cole lent his support to Moyes, suggesting that he did the right thing by setting up so defensively against City last night, when speaking exclusively to Sky Sports:
“I think it’s a good result to be honest, I’ve been up there when it’s been 6-0. What David Moyes set out to do is actually good. I know it’s a very negative way to look at things but I think it’s massive for the morale of the team to look forward. The goals could have been prevented, but it was a good showing. Not attacking-wise, but hopefully defensively we can go forward from there. We’re not in a good vein of form at the moment but we really need to make sure that the morale of the team doesn’t go lower than it already is.”
It is understandable what Cole is saying, but he is missing the point. West Ham just invited more pressure on themselves by lining up the way that they did.
Pep Guardiola’s side are vulnerable defensively too. And we just didn’t exploit that at all.
At the end of the day, it could have been a whole lot worse than 2-0. But sometimes you just have to go for the win. Who knows? We could have surprised City, had we gone to the Etihad with more intent.
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