Reserve-team manager Alex Dyer was in philosophical mood after watching his side open the 2009/10 season with a 2-1 loss at Aston Villa.
Goals from Nathan Delfouneso and Gary Gardner condemned West Ham United, who scored through a James Collins own-goal, to defeat by the defending Barclays Premier Reserve League South champions at Villa Park.
Hammers boss Dyer particularly found positives in the performances of youngsters Jordan Brown and Eoin Wearen, along with goalkeeper Peter Kurucz.
"I was pleased with certain aspects of the performance, but I thought the goals we gave away were quite sloppy. There were some good parts to it, when we got the ball down and played it worked quite well.
"It was a physical game and a good place to come. It was always going to be difficult, as they have won the league two years in a row. I came here with a very decent side that competed well, but lacked that cutting edge."
While left-back Brown's mistake allowed Villa winger Marc Albrighton to set-up Delfouneso's fourth-minute opener, Dyer was impressed with the 17-year-old's ability to put the error to the back of his mind.
Republic of Ireland Under-17 midfielder Wearen, 16, who appeared as a first-half substitute after Andrea Zola suffered a facial injury, also demonstrated his potential with a strong display.
"There were some promising performances out there. The young lad Jordan Brown did very well after starting a bit nervy. The first goal was down to him a little bit, but after that he settled down and showed good character and showed why he is at this football club. He bounced back after his initial mistake and worked hard and showed some good quality.
"I was forced to make a change early on when young Zola had to come off, and young Eoin came on and played very well. He looked like he could start up to that regularly and he is only 16, so that was very good. They were two good plusses.
"Peter made some very good saves too, so overall, there were some good points. It was our first game and we need to sharpen up on a few things. I came away thinking we'd done a few good things, but we've got to do better."
While Frank Nouble, Zavon Hines and Anthony Edgar all worked hard, Dyer believes his frontmen need to be more careful in possession of the ball in future fixtures.
"We worked it well up to the final third but could not retain the ball. We came forward and it bounced back and put our defence and midfield under pressure. We obviously need to work on that and on the front-three retaining the ball in good areas.
"When we get the ball in and around the box, we need to get the ball into the forward's feet and retain it and get shots off and set people up. We didn't that enough against Aston Villa."