Mark Noble was in philosophical mood following West Ham United’s Premier League Asia Trophy semi-final defeat by Manchester City in China.
The Irons fell 4-1 to the domestic treble winners in a hot and humid Nanjing, where the weather conditions added to the challenge of stopping Pep Guardiola’s side.
Noble opened the scoring from the penalty spot during a bright first-half performance from the Hammers, who arguably should have been more than one goal in front when City hit them with a two-goal salvo just after the half-hour mark.
As it was, the champions grabbed the lead through David Silva’s strike and a Lukas Nmecha penalty before substitute Raheem Sterling added two goals of his own after the break to put the game beyond the Londoners.
And the captain admitted missed chances, defensive errors, the testing conditions and the quality of the opposition all combined to make things difficult for the Londoners.
In the first half, I thought we put them under a lot of pressure and we should have probably had more than one goal
Mark Noble
“It was very hot, you sweat a lot and the ball moves a lot quicker than it does normally, but I think the first half, we played some really good stuff and looked really dangerous on the counter-attack,” he observed.
“In the first half, I thought we put them under a lot of pressure and we should have probably had more than one goal, but it’s only our second or third week in training so let’s hope our shooting boots get a little bit better!
“We conceded a couple of sloppy goals and whether their second was a penalty I don’t know, but this is what preseason is for. We have lost the game, but if you are going to make mistakes, then preseason is when you want to do it.
“It’s only our second game and a lot of the lads had only played 45 minutes before, and it was City’s first game as well. We play them again in a month’s time and there is a long way to go, but it gave us a little taste of what they’re about.”