James Ward-Prowse admitted Sunday’s 4-1 Premier League defeat at Aston Villa was a reminder of the level West Ham United need to aspire to if they are to challenge for a top-six finish this season.
The Hammers have lost three Premier League games this season, all to teams in the European places in Manchester City, Liverpool and now Villa, conceding ten goals and scoring just three in the process. In their six other top-flight matches, the Irons have won four and drawn two, conceding just six goals and scoring 13.
It is no mystery, then, to Ward-Prowse what West Ham need to do better if they are to climb back up the standings after slipping down to ninth over the weekend.
“This Club wants to be in that region of the table challenging, and today is a realisation of what it takes to be at that level, so as long as we come away from this knowing what needs to be done to get in there, it can be a valuable day come the end of the season if we learn from it,” he reflected.
At Villa Park, West Ham did create plenty of promising opportunities of their own, but failed to make the most of them in the first half, then gave the ball away in the lead-up to each of the hosts’ first three goals.
Ward-Prowse continued: “I think it was an entertaining game for the neutral. We had a few chances but maybe didn’t make the right decision in the first half in certain moments and made a few individual errors. Collectively, as a team, we can do a lot better than that.
“It was just a bad day and one we go away and reflect on now and make sure we become hard to beat again because I think it’s in West Ham’s DNA not to be beaten easily.”
There was a time after Jarrod Bowen had halved West Ham’s arrears before the hour-mark that the visitors looked like they could turn the game around, only for Ollie Watkins to race away on the counter to slam in a clinching third for the home side.
“I think, in that moment, we should have recognised it a little bit more and been more structured and made it more difficult for them,” Ward-Prowse observed. “But I think we went chasing it at certain moments and when you give the boys they’ve got up top space in behind, they’re going to exploit it, and they did.”
The Irons regrouped regularly with a European victory following a Premier League defeat last season, and the opportunity to do so presents itself again when they travel to Greece to face Olympiacos in the UEFA Europa League in midweek.
For Ward-Prowse, for whom the experience is fresher following his summer arrival from Southampton, a trip to Athens provides a chance for West Ham to work on the mistakes that cost them so dearly in Birmingham, rebuild confidence and put one foot into the knockout stages.
The No7 concluded: “There are so many games in the season, a game every three days, so it’s important we don’t dwell on it but we do look at it and at what went wrong and ensure there is a reaction in the next game.”
