Carlos Soler has played in enough big games against top teams to know that if the major moments do not go your way, you get punished.
And that was exactly what happened to West Ham United in Wednesday’s 5-1 Carabao Cup third-round defeat at Liverpool, where the Irons took the lead, played well for an hour, but ultimately were left wondering what might have been as the Reds powered to victory late on.
Making his full debut, Soler caught the eye with his neat and tidy passing, ability to find space and pop up in goalscoring positions, seeing one shot well saved by Caoimhin Kelleher and another fly narrowly past the angle of post and crossbar as the Hammers sought a second-half equaliser after falling 2-1 behind due to two Diogo Jota goals.
The Irons also had two penalty appeals for handball turned down before conceding a third to Mohamed Salah, having Edson Álvarez sent-off and being punished by two Cody Gakpo strikes in the closing minutes.
Spain international Soler was naturally disappointed to end on the losing side, but believes the quality he has seen on the training pitch since arriving on loan from Paris Saint-Germain on deadline day means there are real reasons for optimism going forward.
“I think the first half we were a very good team and deserved to be level,” he told West Ham TV. “I think we didn't deserve this result - to lose 5-1. I think that didn't show what we have done in the match. The competition is coming again on Saturday, and we have to put all our focus into Brentford to win there.
“When you play against these squads with a lot of good players, they punish you and the rest of the final result shows you that. We didn’t deserve this result, so we have to put our focus on good things. I think we did very good things, but we have to change a lot of things too. I've been here for less than one month with my teammates and I'm happy to be here. I think we train well, we do good things and we are going to improve. I trust this team for sure.
“I'm here to help my teammates, to help the Club to be better, and that's what I want. I always want the best for me and for the Club. I want to help, and now I'm a West Ham player, so I'm really happy with this.”
Soler’s encouraging performance will not have gone unnoticed by the Claret and Blue Army, who turned out in their thousands and gave their team vociferous support on Merseyside - support the No4 thanked the fans for afterwards.
“For me, the West Ham fans were incredible here at Anfield,” he observed. “I think just below 6,000 people came here tonight to support us, and after the match they showed respect for us because they know that we have done a good job. It's difficult to say that with a 5-1 defeat, but we are going to give our all to them.”
