One of the big takeaways from yesterday’s [2-0 loss to Aston Villa](https://www.claretandhugh.info/aston-villa-2-0-west-ham-player-ratings-hammers-get-everything-wrong/) was the collective lack of effort and desire from the team.
To put it bluntly, the Midlanders just seemed to want it more than West Ham — and that’s not something we’ve been able to say too often in recent weeks. Even in defeats to Chelsea and Liverpool, Nuno’s side showed fight, intensity and a real willingness to compete. That simply wasn’t there this time, with the exception of Konstantinos Mavropanos.
Another major concern is West Ham’s growing reliance on Crysencio Summerville to provide any sort of cutting edge in attack. Without him, the forward line looked blunt. [Jarrod Bowen](https://www.claretandhugh.info/jarrod-bowen-bio/), Pablo Felipe and Taty Castellanos were far too easily marshalled and caused Unai Emery’s defence very few problems.
Nuno Admits West Ham Were Second Best
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Perhaps most worrying of all were Nuno Espírito Santo’s comments after the game, openly admitting his players came off second best individually.
“We have to improve. I can’t keep repeating myself because today we lost individual battles and duels, we arrived late, we were not comfortable with the ball, so it’s worrying.”
Winning your individual battles is so fundamental that almost any other shortcoming can be forgiven — but not a lack of desire. Not wanting it more than your direct opponent is simply unacceptable at this stage of the season.
The last time I can remember a performance like this was against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Oddly, that gives me a bit of hope. On that occasion, it felt like neither the team nor the manager had the answers — yet what followed was a strong run of results and performances.
West Ham can turn it around. But we’ll need to do it quickly — because right now, relegation is starting to feel very real.