West Ham United lost 1-0 to Newcastle United on Monday night, and Graham Potter would have been really disappointed with the result.
Graham Potter looked hugely frustrated on the sidelines as his West Ham team lost to a well-drilled Newcastle outfit.
A top-half finish in the Premier League now looks like it will be incredibly difficult for the Hammers.
The London Stadium was incredibly quiet during the game, even after club captain Jarrod Bowen had pleaded with the fans to make some noise pre-match.
The result was a bitterly disappointing one because it seemed like the tide had turned over the past few weeks.
Photo by Rob Newell - CameraSport via Getty Images
Photo by Rob Newell – CameraSport via Getty Images
However, the passive manner in which the players approached the first-half was nowhere near good enough.
In spite of that, Potter spoke about the goal that ‘never should have stood’ after the game, instead of criticising his players.
Graham Potter says Alexander Isak gave the game away for Newcastle
Alexander Isak was actually nowhere near his best for the Toon against the Hammers.
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However, he still played a key role for the Magpies’ winner, but not in the way you might have expected him to.
As Harvey Barnes floated a ball into the box, Isak gave Max Kilman a slight shove in the back.
The Hammers defender went to ground and Bruno Guimaraes slotted home what turned out to be the winner.
Potter shared that he noticed Isak do something very interesting immediately after the ball hit the back of the net, as quoted by Sky Sports:
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images
Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images
“I thought it was a really committed performance from us. The game ebbed and flowed, it was quite a tight game. We’re disappointed with the goal because there are two hands on our centre-back. And you can see the reaction from their player (Isak) that they think there could have been a foul.“
That’s an interesting take from Potter. I really feel like Kilman should have done so much more to try and win the header, rather than just throw himself to the ground.
Max Kilman was weak and at fault for Newcastle goal
Now, I think Kilman was far too weak in the challenge.
Yes, Isak had both hands on the 27-year-old’s back, but the West Ham man has to be stronger there in my opinion.
He’s a 6ft 4in man mountain, and should not be going down so easily, looking for the referee to save him.
Max Kilman has been very good on the whole for West Ham, but his performance last night was extremely shaky.
He needs to toughen up if he’s ever to be considered an elite defender.
Newcastle striker Alexander Isak may have slightly touched Kilman, but it was nowhere enough contact to warrant the manner in which the West Ham defender fell to the floor.