We know what we’re about
Burnley came home from West Ham yesterday with a 3-0 win on what was a black day for the home club, and this result hasn’t helped them or their manager David Moyes as the fight to stay in the Premier League continues.
It’s a third successive game that West Ham have lost by three goals and Moyes was clear what needs to happen for them to win this on pitch battle of avoiding relegation. “What we need the club to do, the supporters and the players, is pull together,” Moyes said after the game.
“We’ve got eight games to do so and I think we’re more than capable of doing it, but now we’re going to have to prove it. I’ve told the players we are all going to stick together, we’re going to stick our chests out and go again and we’re going to get back to winning ways, and we need to do it quickly.
“We need to play better for longer period in the game and we’re certainly going to have to defend better. I think we’ve got attacking players who can score, but they didn’t score today. So we’ll get back at it and do the job.
“When I came in, I didn’t think it was going to be easy, and in the main the players have been really good, but we weren’t good enough to day. But I do believe we are good enough to stay up.”
He added: “I thought we played well in the first half, had two great chances and probably should have been in front at half time. The first goal was always going to be crucial today, whoever got it. Burnley started the second half a bit better and, when we were put under pressure, that was when we had to cope with one or two chances they came up with.
“Overall, we should have been in front with the chances we had in the first half, and we had played well. We didn’t take our chances when we got them, particularly in the first half.”
Sean Dyche agreed with Moyes, certainly in terms of the first half. “In the first half they were the better side and we weren’t at the races,” he said.
“What really kept us in it was our diligence to do the simple stuff and do the basics, all the little details in a game to just about hang in there. They had a couple of good chances, Popey’s made a couple of saves and it was a reminder to us that you can’t give anyone a moment in this division.
“And then, in the second half, I thought it was a very, very good display. We stayed calm with some interesting things going on here, unfortunately. The players stayed calm and delivered a good second half. It was a thorough second half performance.”
Regarding the situation involving the home fans during the second half, he added: “It’s not ideal. It’s not a situation everyone wants to see but frustrations sometimes run high. I prefer to concentrate on our side. Our players and staff applied themselves correctly today.”
Recently we went on a run without a win but things have changes and Dyche pointed out: “It’s that crazy thing. We were that story of not winning in eleven and now we’ve lost one in six, so you can make your own mind up about that.
“We know what we’re about and we know we’ve got a lot more to learn. We know we can’t play like we did in the first half and expect to get things out of games, but then we affected it and played very well second half.
“I spoke to the players at half-time and there was a very, very good reaction. We changed it slightly and I thought it was a very good performance. It was a great first goal, a fantastic ball from Matt Lowton, a calmness from Woody and then a fantastic strike from Ashley Barnes. All the goals were good in different ways.
“I’m delighted because that’s 43 points, the highest number of points we’ve had in the Premier League era, with eight games to play.”
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