Manuel Pellegrini admitted to having mixed feelings after watching his team claim a 1-1 draw against Premier League leaders Liverpool on Monday night.
The West Ham United boss was delighted with his team’s display in coming back from conceding the opener to Sadio Mane, by levelling through Michail Antonio and then creating chances to go on and claim all three points.
Indeed, Pellegrini was rueful that the Hammers did not go on to claim all three points and inflict just a second league defeat of the season on Jurgen Klopp’s men after returning to the kind of form he wants to see on a regular basis.
He explained: “I was pleased with the performance because I thought we played a very good game, but I’m disappointed with the result because they scored a goal which was clearly offside.
“We missed three or four chances, especially in the first 35 minutes, which could have finished the game. We missed those opportunities so we had a draw in a game which we could have won.
“We played with the pace we had shown in other games again. In the Premier League you can’t play against anyone if you don’t play at a high pace.
“If you give time and space to players, they will make good decisions and score goals. We worked similarly tonight to we did against Arsenal, but we created more chances today. We then lost three games away from home but I think the team we saw tonight is the team we must see from now until the end of the season.”
The Hammers were particularly effective from set pieces against the Reds, with Antonio’s goal and a clear chance for Declan Rice coming from Felipe Anderson’s free-kicks, but Pellegrini said it has not been any less of a focus for his team in previous games.
“We always work hard on the set pieces, but it depends on the taker and the finisher,” he added. “You must believe me that we worked on set pieces exactly as much as we did against Bournemouth, against Wimbledon, against every team.”