Alan Shearer believes West Ham United were “too good” for Ipswich after they beat Kieran McKenna’s men 4-1 at the London Stadium on Saturday.
The Hammers finally broke their poor run of form and boosted their ranking from 14th to 12th in the Premier League table.
McKenna, however, thought the opposite and believed the Hammers played a lot of direct balls to their attackers which the Tractor Boys didn’t deal with well enough.
Speaking to Match of the Day after the game (5 October) McKenna shared his thoughts on the clash.
“We were competitive in the game for large, large spells of the first half,” McKenna said.
“I think we conceded poor goals at poor times, it’s the first team in the league that we’ve faced with that style really.
“They played a lot of direct balls to Antonio and Soucek, we didn’t deal with those well enough and we made some poor mistakes for the goals that made the game difficult”.
Shearer’s opinion didn’t match this, resulting in the BBC pundit hitting back at the Ipswich boss.
“I didn’t quite agree with Kieran McKenna, I thought West Ham were a lot better than he thought they were,” he said.
“I thought they played some really good stuff, particularly in forward positions, they were just too good for Ipswich.
“Their passing, their movement, when they got balls into the box they wanted it more than Ipswich did and that was a regular thing”.
West Ham United could re-find their form after Ipswich win
West Ham have performed well below-par since the start of the season. The club have been given a lot of stick for their performances but their game against Ipswich has likely changed the thoughts of some doubters.
The Hammers had a strong transfer window with Max Kilman arriving to help bolster their defensive ranks.
Since his arrival, the defender has helped solidify their defence alongside his new partner, Jean Clair-Todibo.
And, Kilman’s impact had been made well aware by the poor performance of his former club, Wolves who currently find themselves rock bottom of the Premier League with just one point to their name.
Of course, one victory doesn’t mean everything is now solved but the fact that West Ham have managed to get a positive result is a step in the right direction.
Although it has recently emerged that Tim Steidten is becoming unhappy with the Hammers board [Sun on Sunday, 6 October, page 54] overruling his decision-making, he may be thankful that Lopetegui was the one chosen to be at the helm come the end of the season.
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