West Ham United boss David Moyes had been dubbed the Tartan Simeone by fans and now his side have been compared to Atletico Madrid.
Fans spot something about Declan Rice after pictures show star back in first team training
The Hammers lost a crucial European place six-pointer against Chelsea 1-0 on Saturday to leave their Champions League dream in the balance.
West Ham are now effectively four points off fourth place – given Chelsea’s superior goal difference – with five games to play.
Battling Hammers suffer back-to-back defeats but go down fighting
Realistically 67 points will be needed to secure fourth spot, as has been the case in 15 of the last 25 years.
So West Ham need to win four of the last five to stand a chance.
Given West Ham’s fixtures and Chelsea’s run-in that is not impossible.
West Ham managed to compete with Chelsea despite missing a host of key players including their two most important stars Declan Rice and Michail Antonio.
A superb season has been built on hard work, togetherness, organisation and team spirit.
Moyes dubbed the Tartan Simeone and now West Ham are compared to Atletico by Tuchel
Moyes has worked wonders with West Ham and a limited squad. And some fans have affectionately dubbed him the Tartan Simeone in reference to Atletico boss Diego.
There were some groans that Moyes has set West Ham up too defensively in back-to-back defeats.
And for many, the image of Atletico Madrid is dour defensive football.
So when Thomas Tuchel compared West Ham to Atletico following Chelsea’s win at the London Stadium, it could have been read as a dig (Sky Sports).
But make no mistake it was a huge compliment given Chelsea have just beaten the La Liga title favourites in the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
Chelsea boss makes huge claim about Hammers and it was a compliment not a dig
“Honestly, it (playing West Ham) reminded me of Atletico when we played in Atletico,” Tuchel told Sky Sports.
“Very tough to play, you can win ball possession yes, but to really hurt them (West Ham) with ball possession is hard.
“You have to really earn your chances, you have to be very smart. On the lowest level of crucial mistakes in midfield – you cannot afford to do easy mistakes.
“You have to be very patient and at the same time you have to be very aggressive. So we had a good mix between passing and counter-pressing and after ball losses we were brave in closing the spaces to close the counter-attacks.
“That was the key and it reminded me a bit of the Atletico games because there is a lot of quality and, you saw, once you lose a bit of intensity or distance they have the individual quality and the physical quality to hurt you.”
This was far from a dig or a polite way of saying West Ham parked the bus.
West Ham have come such a long way. And as painful as it may be to see the chance of a lifetime potentially slipping away due to injuries – there is still hope and plenty to play for with five games to go.
Atletico may not play football in the traditional West Ham way. But if West Ham keep being compared to them they won’t be going far wrong.
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