Hammers 'Made Poor Decisions' In Comeback Win Versus Silkeborg
David Moyes flew to Denmark with a short to-do list: win and avoid injuries.
West Ham’s comeback victory over Silkeborg IF ticked both boxes, with Manuel Lanzini, Gianluca Scamacca, and Craig Dawson firing the away side to a 3-2 victory in the Europa Conference League.
But there wasn’t much for the Hammers to shout about at JYSK Park – they produced a nervous, uninspiring performance against the Danish Superliga’s fourth-place club and scuttle back to London fortunate to have retained their perfect record on the continent.
Kent Nielsen’s side made West Ham sweat in the final minutes and were desperately unlucky to have a first-half header disallowed for a foul on Alphonse Areola. If not for an officiating error, the match would have finished level.
“Their style was very good, which we were well aware of before we came here and we tried our best to stop,” said Moyes at full-time. “I have to give them credit, but it should’ve been comfortable when it was 3-1 – we had chances to score a fourth or fifth. We didn’t take them and that was always going to make it nervy.”
Declan Rice, who was substituted midway through the second-half, added: “We moved the ball well after the first goal, but the manager won’t be happy about the two we conceded. It was tough [on the plastic pitch] and it was about managing the game in the end.”
Moyes must take responsibility for his team’s disappointing display.
West Ham spent the entire match on a defensive footing, with Dawson anchoring a five-player defence, and lost all momentum after Rice, Scamacca, and Lucas Paquetá were hooked shortly after the hour-mark.
“We made poor decisions [in the closing stages],” said the 59-year-old. “We missed two chances to slip each other in for goals, which I’m annoyed about. It’s really important that you try to make goals for your teammates but we made poor decisions on the counterattack and made a couple of defensive mistakes as well.”
The Hammers’ performance was full of individual and tactical mistakes. Instructing his team to play with the handbrake applied in a 5-2-1-2 was a blunder from Moyes.
West Ham lacked defensive chemistry in key moments, with Thilo Kehrer caught ball-watching before the opener. Offensively, they enjoyed flashes of brilliance. Lanzini, Paquetá, and Scamacca combined on a handful of impressive plays before the break but were held back by a lack of width in the final third.
Areola’s performance was also concerning. He was left flat-footed by Kasper Kusk in the fifth minute and was bailed out by the referee just before the interval. Again, the Frenchman’s aerial shakiness proved to be problematic.
But he wasn’t alone: it was a poor night for West Ham across the pitch. Emerson, Aaron Cresswell, and Saïd Benrahma struggled, too.
They cannot afford to be so haphazard against Everton on Sunday [18 September]. It’s time for the Hammers to click into gear.