West Ham lacked quality to take control of Eintracht Frankfurt tie – David Moyes
Posted Friday, April 29, 2022 by PA
West Ham manager David Moyes admitted his side failed to show enough quality as they slipped to a 2-1 Europa League defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt.
It was the Hammers’ first European semi-final for 46 years, but they were unable to rise to the occasion in the first leg and were left to rue defensive errors.
Eintracht stunned West Ham to take the lead inside the first minute through Ansgar Knauff’s header, although Michail Antonio levelled the tie 20 minutes later.
However, the visitors retook the lead in the second half through Daichi Kamada, with Moyes left to mull over opportunities missed, including hitting the woodwork three times.
“We’ve got a lot to do,” he said. “We’ve got to show a lot more quality than we did tonight.
“We didn’t show enough quality, especially in the final third when we had moments to do so and a couple of times we turned off, obviously for the goals.
“So, a lot of those things will need to brighten up and be better.”
He added: “Ultimately a disappointing result for us, but we’ve still got another game to play and we’ve given ourselves a chance still and hopefully we’ll play better in the second leg.”
Eintracht currently sit ninth in the Bundesliga but started the game full of confidence having knocked LaLiga giants Barcelona out in the quarter-finals.
“I think Frankfurt made it difficult which, to be fair, they’re renowned for, they’re very good at it,” added Moyes.
“We didn’t start the first half so well, nor the second half. They scored the goals in those periods.
“We started and they scored within a minute and it was a terrible start for us, but I felt after that we grew into the game, we got a goal.
“If you said to me who was more likely then I felt we were at that period of the game, but we weren’t able to take it.”
Visiting manager Oliver Glasner was proud of his side’s performance.
“I am really proud of my team, I am impressed with the way they performed,” he said.
“We did the same in Barcelona, we scored the first goal after three minutes.
“Then it was as we expected it to be. It was very physical, a lot of dead-ball situations and crosses that we had to defend.
“As manager of course I am never 100 per cent happy and the second half, we passed back the ball too often to our goalkeeper, but we were at times beyond the halfway line and then went back to the goalkeeper.
“We will need better solutions and that is what we need in the second leg as well.”
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