There were signs of us being us
For the second time Manuel Pellegrini came to Turf Moor and left with nothing as his West Ham team were beaten 2-0 by Burnley.
Pellegrini thought his team’s performance today was down to the tough month they’ve had and the fact that they played in midweek one day later than us. “It’s frustrating because we wanted to win this game,” Pellegrini said. “It was a good opportunity to go to seventh position in the table, but I think we lacked the energy to win it.
“In defending, in possession, in creating, in attacking, the complete thing was a lack of energy. We improved a little bit after half time, but we only had one clear chance and that was from the head of Andy Carroll.
“I was happy until 2 o’clock today. At 4:15 I am not feeling happy because we didn’t get the points. Burnley were in a very bad moment, but they played with a lot of intensity. I never try to give excuses, but they recovered more than our team because they played 30 hours before us.”
Sean Dyche made five changes and got the result we so needed with this 2-0 win. “One manager, once upon a time, once called it bouncebackability,” he said.
“I had to make a tough decision today because Joe has been very good for us on numerous occasions this season, but the facts are the facts. We’ve conceded a lot of goals and I’ve looked at changing shape and personnel and eventually, unfortunately, you have to look at the keeper too. I must say, great credit to Joe because he was the first one to jump off the bench when Tom made an important save at the end, so there is a great respect and a great professionalism there.
“Equally, Tom’s professionalism because he hasn’t played for a while, but he keeps himself sharp and he got his payback today. I’ve got three England goalkeepers to choose from because Nick Pope isn’t far away, and I knew this moment would come. I knew all along and I’ve probably been holding on and holding on because I am known to be loyal and trustworthy to players for as long as I possibly can. I just felt in this occasion it was the right timing and I am pleased for Tom because he is a fantastic lad and a fantastic professional and he proved that today.”
Tom Heaton returning was one of five changes, and another saw Dwight McNeil get his second Premier League start. Dyche said: “Equally, as big a call, if not bigger was Dwight coming in at 19-years-old. That is a massive call and I am pleased with it. We were debating it because we know he can offer us something, but we weren’t sure when. We’ve been waiting to get out of this position and get a few wins to give him a bit of a chance because we think he’s a real player, but in the end I thought ‘no, I’m going to play him’. He delivered and he and his family can be very proud tonight.”
He added: “In all I had to make five different calls and that’s not easy, but I was pleased in the end today because we were a team who looked like a team. I don’t want to be over dramatic because there’s a long way to go, but there were signs of us being us. We had a solid, defensive feel and equally we mixed out play and were effective in attack. My only tiny little gripe is that we had some golden chances and the game should have been put out of sight.
“I must mention the fans too because they helped massively. They have stood by this team and myself for a long time, through ups and downs and they are really important. For all the questions, they are behind the team and that’s going to be really important going forward. You could sense the energy before the game and the players responded and it all worked out well in the end.”
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