Chris Woods says West Ham United did all the right things again to score a 2-0 Barclays Premier League victory over bottom club Aston Villa
Chris Woods says West Ham United did all the right things again to score a 2-0 Barclays Premier League victory over bottom club Aston Villa.
The strugglers made a bright start under the Boleyn Ground floodlights, but that all changed when Jordan Ayew was sent-off after catching Aaron Cresswell with a flailing left arm after 17 minutes.
Villa initially resisted the Hammers, but an upping of the tempo after half-time led to Michail Antonio nodding Mark Noble’s diagonal pass into the net on 58, followed by a trademark counter-attack led by Enner Valencia and finished by Cheikhou Kouyate five minutes from full-time.
“Obviously the result was what we needed and it’s always difficult to break down ten men,” said Woods. “We stuck at it, kept playing the ball around and eventually we got our breakthrough.
“Aston Villa started fairly brightly. I have not seen the red card incident back since it happened, but it certainly changed the game after that, so you just have to take everything as it comes and play accordingly.
“We just wanted to up tempo a little bit and the lads did that and we got forward a bit more in the second half and it paid dividends.”
Captain Noble was outstanding all night and got his reward when Antonio latched onto his superb ball and expertly steered it into the far corner with his forehead.
Then, late on, the Hammers cleared a Villa corner to Dimitri Payet, who sprung Valencia clear. The No11 kept his head and played an inch-perfect pass for Kouyate to lift past the advancing Bunn.
“Mark got forward a bit more in the second half and it was a great pass and a brilliant header from Michail and that’s what we wanted,” observed Woods.
“It set us on our way and we got a breakaway for the second goal there, but we were full of running towards the end of the game and that’s credit to all the players.
“It is important that everyone is chipping in with goals, because it means we’re not having to rely on our centre forwards to be our goalscorers. I would just like Adrian to chip in with one!”
The goalkeeper coach has been impressed by his charges in recent games, with Darren Randolph excelling in the Emirates FA Cup fourth round at Liverpool, and new father Adrian keeping a clean sheet in Tuesday’s win over the Villans.
“I was really proud of Darren on Saturday,” he confirmed. “I said to him that the highest compliment I can pay to him is that he looks like he’s been playing week-in, week-out.
“He comes in and all credit to him because he trains and is a pleasure to work with and he reaps his rewards when he plays like that. He goes out on the pitch and puts in a performance like that.
“Adrian was so pleased and so happy but obviously he came back and got down to work. I said to him that those games are probably the more difficult games because you have to concentrate, make sure you keep on top of it and keep talking.
“He has one or two things to deal with and he did them as he should do, so I was really pleased with him.”
Whoever is in goal going forward, Woods agreed that these are exciting times for West Ham in both league and cup, but that nobody will be getting carried away.
“It’s an old footballer’s cliché that you take one game at a time but, of course, we have got ourselves in a position and we have to look forward and keep performing like we’re performing and who knows what could happen!”
The strugglers made a bright start under the Boleyn Ground floodlights, but that all changed when Jordan Ayew was sent-off after catching Aaron Cresswell with a flailing left arm after 17 minutes.
Villa initially resisted the Hammers, but an upping of the tempo after half-time led to Michail Antonio nodding Mark Noble’s diagonal pass into the net on 58, followed by a trademark counter-attack led by Enner Valencia and finished by Cheikhou Kouyate five minutes from full-time.
“Obviously the result was what we needed and it’s always difficult to break down ten men,” said Woods. “We stuck at it, kept playing the ball around and eventually we got our breakthrough.
“Aston Villa started fairly brightly. I have not seen the red card incident back since it happened, but it certainly changed the game after that, so you just have to take everything as it comes and play accordingly.
“We just wanted to up tempo a little bit and the lads did that and we got forward a bit more in the second half and it paid dividends.”
Captain Noble was outstanding all night and got his reward when Antonio latched onto his superb ball and expertly steered it into the far corner with his forehead.
Then, late on, the Hammers cleared a Villa corner to Dimitri Payet, who sprung Valencia clear. The No11 kept his head and played an inch-perfect pass for Kouyate to lift past the advancing Bunn.
“Mark got forward a bit more in the second half and it was a great pass and a brilliant header from Michail and that’s what we wanted,” observed Woods.
“It set us on our way and we got a breakaway for the second goal there, but we were full of running towards the end of the game and that’s credit to all the players.
“It is important that everyone is chipping in with goals, because it means we’re not having to rely on our centre forwards to be our goalscorers. I would just like Adrian to chip in with one!”
The goalkeeper coach has been impressed by his charges in recent games, with Darren Randolph excelling in the Emirates FA Cup fourth round at Liverpool, and new father Adrian keeping a clean sheet in Tuesday’s win over the Villans.
“I was really proud of Darren on Saturday,” he confirmed. “I said to him that the highest compliment I can pay to him is that he looks like he’s been playing week-in, week-out.
“He comes in and all credit to him because he trains and is a pleasure to work with and he reaps his rewards when he plays like that. He goes out on the pitch and puts in a performance like that.
“Adrian was so pleased and so happy but obviously he came back and got down to work. I said to him that those games are probably the more difficult games because you have to concentrate, make sure you keep on top of it and keep talking.
“He has one or two things to deal with and he did them as he should do, so I was really pleased with him.”
Whoever is in goal going forward, Woods agreed that these are exciting times for West Ham in both league and cup, but that nobody will be getting carried away.
“It’s an old footballer’s cliché that you take one game at a time but, of course, we have got ourselves in a position and we have to look forward and keep performing like we’re performing and who knows what could happen!”