David Moyes says West Ham United need to stick together to ensure they do not drop back into the Premier League relegation zone.
The Hammers lost for just the second time in ten top-flight matches at Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday, where Chicharito’s fine goal was not enough to stave off a 3-1 defeat.
Moyes admitted his team had not played well enough at the Amex, particularly in the second half, and will need to perform much better when they face Watford at home next weekend.
“I think, for us, it was a poor game,” said the Scot. “We didn’t play with any real quality. We had periods in the first half when it looked as if we were going to get back into the game but, in the end, the second half was a disappointing period for us.
“We move on. We’ve won a lot of games, we’ve drawn a few games, we got ourselves out of an initially difficult situation and we need to make sure we don’t go back into it.”
I know that everyone being together gives us the best chance of making sure we’re a Premier League team
David Moyes
Moyes has been welcomed warmly by the Claret and Blue Army and asked the Hammers fans to stick behind him and his players over the final 12 games of a challenging season
“I’m not an expert on West Ham, as I haven’t been here long enough, but I know that everyone being together gives us the best chance of making sure we’re a Premier League team, and we’re going to need that.
“The support here is tremendous, in as much as the numbers they travel in and we’d like to have given them another performance like we did at Huddersfield or Stoke City, but we didn’t, and we’ll go away and try and correct and fix that.
“They’ve been great at London Stadium and I’m going to ask them to stick with the team and the players, and we’ll do everything we possibly can to get us results.”
One player who will be vital to West Ham’s chances of staying clear of the bottom three will be Chicharito, who scored his sixth goal of the season with a fine run and finish at Brighton.
With Marko Arnautovic, Manuel Lanzini and Andy Carroll on the sidelines, the Mexican’s role will be vital over the closing weeks and months of the campaign.
“His goals will give him confidence and make him feel much better. His goal was typical of him. He was in the box, showed quick feet to get a yard and got a shot away. It was a really good finish in the end.”