Defender Maximilian Kilman believes West Ham United were guilty of taking too long to work themselves into the game as they fell to a narrow 1-0 defeat at the hands of his former club Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux.
In their first match for 17 days, the Hammers found themselves behind by the 21st minute, as Jorgen Strand Larsen’s shot from just inside the box deflected off Kilman and past Alphonse Areola, after a mazy run by João Gomes.
The hosts could have been further in front, when Marshall Munetsi hit the crossbar five minutes later, but after making three changes at the break - with Carlos Soler, Edson Álvarez and Niclas Füllkrug coming on - West Ham improved in the second half.
German forward Füllkrug himself hit the bar with a header, in his first appearance since January, while fellow substitutes Emerson and Tomáš Souček hit the side netting late on, and at full-time Kilman was frustrated his team hadn’t emerged with any share of the spoils.
“We definitely improved in the second half,” the 27-year-old said. “We had some good chances towards the end, but we didn’t start well enough in the first half and we conceded the goal, which meant we were always chasing the game from then on.
“There were a couple of good moments, with Niclas and Tom. We had chances at different points of the game, and I think a draw would probably have been a fair reflection of the game.
“But, it is what it is and we’ve got to recover quickly now. We’ve got another big game on Saturday at home, against [AFC] Bournemouth, so we need to make sure we’re ready to start on the front foot and win that match.”
The clash under the lights in the West Midlands marked Kilman’s first back at Wolves since he left the club to sign for West Ham last summer. In total, he scored three goals in 151 games for the Old Gold between 2018 and 2024, after being picked up from Maidenhead United in non-league.
Though he was ultimately disappointed with the result on his return, he enjoyed being reunited with some familiar faces, as well as the competitive nature of a hard-fought contest that produced plenty of hard challenges and a few comings-together between the players.
Kilman, who has started each of West Ham’s 33 matches in all competitions so far in 2024/25, added: “It was strange coming back for the first time, after having been at Wolves for so long.
“Of course, it was great to see everyone, but my main focus was on performing for West Ham, and it’s disappointing with the way it’s gone tonight.
“Some games are more aggressive than others - that’s just football. Wolves had lots of fight, but that’s what you have to expect in the Premier League, because there’s so much at stake.
“We’ve got eight games left now, and we want to make sure we fight for maximum points in each of them.”
