West Ham United’s new manager Graham Potter, admitted that there were positives to pick from the team’s performance despite their 2-1 loss to Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round on Friday night.
Potter, who was taking charge of his first game since replacing former manager Julen Lopetegui earlier this week, was also disappointed with the final results as he made a losing debut on his return to management, insisting his side will improve in subsequent games.
“The start of the game was really good, really positive. We had good organisation, offered a threat, reduced Villa to not too much. First half was really good.
Second half, they stepped up and pushed us back a little bit too much. Losing Fullkrug and Summerville influenced our attacking part of the game. It was more pressure rather than big chances”, the former Chelsea boss told reporters after the game.
The Hammers made a brilliant start as Brazil playmaker Lucas Paqueta, opened the scoring at the Villa Park in the ninth minute.
Amadou Onana scored a controversial equalizer, which might have been ruled out with if VAR was in use, in the 71st minute before the in-form Morgan Rogers scored the decisive goal in the tie, five minutes later as Unai Emery’s side marched on to the next round.
“The players, for the last two days, have been really good. Preparation was really good into the game and we have to hang onto the positives. It’s the game and it’s the two days. The attitude of the players, the application, understanding and intensity was good”, he continued.
“Overall, we’re disappointed to go out but there’s a lot of positives from the game. The players gave everything, young Ollie (Scarles) was really good, but we’re really disappointed to go out.”
Potter will expect to bounce back and claim a first win when he leads his side against high-flying Fulham in the Premier League next Tuesday.
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