West Ham manager David Moyes admitted his side might “not have the quality” required to play in a game the size of the Europa League semi-finals.
The Hammers were stunned by Frankfurt in the opening stages of Thursday’s first leg at the London Stadium. A cross which found its way to Ansgar Knauff hit the back of their net within the first minute.
West Ham were chasing the game from that point, and struggled to get a foothold. They equalised in the first half, through Michail Antonio’s second goal of the season in Europe.
But Moyes’ side conceded another early goal in the second half. This time Daichi Kamada slotted home after some good Frankfurt play.
Moyes was realistic about his side’s performance following the game, as well as expectations for the second leg.
“Not what we wanted – we didn’t play well enough to get a result tonight but it’s still there, it’s not gone,” he told BT Sport.
“We’ll go to the second leg probably not fancied and do what we can to still make it.”
West Ham are not likely to just roll over, especially after coming so close to levelling things in the first leg.
Moyes admitted that his side might not be at the level required to play in a game of the Europa League semi final’s magnitude, though.
“Maybe we don’t have the quality at times required to be at this level. Tonight we didn’t show it. We have to play better,” he said.
Moyes clear on second-leg ambitions
The manager seems aware that his side should have made more of their possession. He also appears crystal clear on his ambitions for next week, if West Ham are to make the final.
“I think we missed an awful lot of opportunities to create chances, we should’ve made more, we had chances to cross the ball better and didn’t take them, we missed big chances in the box,” he said.
“We’ll have to make more next week.”
The Scot also praised Antonio for his first goal in all competitions in over a month.
“I hope it will do him good, he works hard for the team, we need some quality up front. We need everybody to try and take their chances when they come.”
Antonio, and the rest of the side being on their games for the second leg will be crucial for West Ham’s hopes.
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