David Moyes insists he has ‘no regrets’ about West Ham’s defensive play against Manchester United
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David Moyes has doubled-down on the defensive tactics that led to a turgid display and a damaging result for West Ham’s Champions League dreams on Sunday.
Manchester United dominated possession and Dean Henderson was given an easy ride as Craig Dawson’s own-goal was enough for the hosts to win 1-0 at Old Trafford.
The Hammers’ barely created a scoring chance and lacked energy in United loanee Jesse Lingard’s absence, as the Londoners begin to show some cracks after a sensational turnaround from relegation favourites to top-four contenders this season.
West Ham put in a lifeless display at Manchester United to lose 1-0 at Old Trafford on Sunday
Centre back Craig Dawson’s own-goal proved to be the difference between the two sides
Hammers boss David Moyes has defended his pre-match plan to play a defensive game
Asked by Sky Sports whether he would alter his tactics in hindsight, Moyes said: ‘No. I’m disappointed that we’ve lost but we had parts of the game where we played OK. Other parts we didn’t.
‘Bits of the first-half weren’t good, maybe the way we set up didn’t quite work. We changed it later on and we did improve a little bit.
‘We played much better but Manchester United had a one-goal lead then and also got on the counter which they’re very good at.
United now appear to be all-but out of reach, leaving the Hammers’ top-four hopes in doubt
‘We never got out. We broke several times and our breaks were really poor. It left it a bit more open, we played a bit better, the substitutes came on and hurt them. The last 15-20 minutes, we did quite well.’
Barring a Leicester collapse similar to last season’s and something even more disastrous from United, the Hammers’ final chance of a top-four spot looks to be overhauling London rivals Chelsea.
The Blues are just three points ahead of Moyes’ men in fifth – and have played one extra game – but under Thomas Tuchel they are still unbeaten and look unlikely to slow down.
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