David Moyes has called on his West Ham United players to up their standards following Sunday’s goalless Premier League draw at Burnley.
Moyes’ side was shut out for just the third time in 16 top-flight matches this season by a resilient and determined Burnley side at Turf Moor, but the manager felt it was his own team’s inability to make the most of their opportunities in the final third that ultimately cost them a victory.
West Ham remain fourth in the table, but the gap behind them has now been closed to just a single point by Manchester United, with this Wednesday’s opponents Arsenal a further point back and Tottenham Hotspur three points behind, but with two games in hand on the Hammers.
While 28 points – West Ham’s best return from 16 top-flight matches since 1983/84 – and a +9 goal difference are welcome Premier League returns so far, Moyes is demanding even more from his squad as he plots a sustained challenge for European qualification for the second successive season.
And he knows his players need to be more ruthless in front of goal on a consistent basis if that target is going to be achieved, having tested Burnley goalkeeper with just three of the 16 goal attempts they created at Burnley.
We had plenty of opportunities to maybe have got a goal, but Burnley make it difficult for you and don’t concede many, so we had to work hard.
We just didn’t quite have the quality in the final third when we needed it today. We got in enough times to do so, but we couldn’t make a goal from it.
First and foremost, you have to make sure you’re able to deal with a lot of what Burnley do and we had done most of that.
We played very well here last year and there were signs that our football was good, but we just couldn’t quite get that final bit, that last pass or cross which would have made the difference.
The players are in really good spirits because they know they’re in a good position, but once you set high standards, as a lot of them have, you want to see how high you can get to.
I think some of them have played below it and they need to get back up to the high standards they’d set if we’re going to remain in this position.
I’d rather tell them that than not, because there is no point in me just pussy footing around and not saying anything, so I want to win, I want to play better and a few of them can certainly do that.
I think everyone knows that the games in the Premier League are so tough, coupled with the European games that we’ve had, and that does make it difficult, but that’s the League that we play in and we know what’s coming.
I do think there has been a big load of injuries because of the Euros in the summer and players coming back after little time off, so unfortunately like everybody else we have picked up a few injuries.
I do believe it’s been tougher for players and it is for managers and coaches, having to prepare nearly every three days for a game.
In days gone by, yes, footballers would have played every three days and I’m well aware of that, and I was probably one of the players who used to play like that and quite enjoyed it, but I just think the way the game has changed, it’s much harder to get the players turned around and get them back out again quickly two or three days later on.