#PLStories- West Ham’s David Moyes on Crystal Palace defeat, Gianluca Scamacca and Lucas Paqueta #WHUFC
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David Moyes
What did you make of the result?
It was gutting, but we didn’t deserve to win. There was always a chance we could lose it and that’s what happened in the end.
How did you think you performed in the first half?
Really disappointed with how we played in the first half. we went a goal ahead which was probably against the run of play and then we gave away a terrible goal. It could have made a big difference going in 1-0 at half time but nevertheless we hadn’t played well and it was still even at half time.
Why did you take Gianluca Scamacca off at half-time?
I didn’t think he had offered us enough at the time and I needed to try and do something different.
What did you make about the boos when taking off Said Benrahma and the sarcastic cheers at Tomas Soucek coming off?
I don’t know about that. I think if you are watching the game from there, I actually think we get better. I thought our football was better and we controlled a bit more of the game. I thought we looked more likely to score at that period of the game as well. You wouldn’t see it, Said [Benrahma] was badly strapped up on his knee and was touch and go for the game. It was about 60 minutes and I didn’t think he was moving as free as what he could do. Overall, we made the choice and I actually thought at that period we got slightly better. Unlucky that we lose a goal in the last second.
Is it tough because the performances have largely been better than your recent league results?
It is tough because the performances have given us confidence, for long periods at Old Trafford. We have had some great results at home, so we have come into the game and the players were full of confidence, but I have to say Crystal Palace played well. Sometimes you have to look at the opposition. They made it difficult for us. We tried to solve it and got better as it went on. But overall, we weren’t quite at our best.
How crucial is it to beat Leicester City next week in the last league game before the World Cup?
We are doing okay. We could do better but we are doing okay. Hopefully we can take that into next week’s game in the same sort of positive frame of mind, but we are going to have to play much better.
Were you frustrated with the way you conceded the second goal, having been through on goal?
For all of the things where I thought Crystal Palace played well today, I didn’t think their good play got anything from it. I thought our bad play got them the first goal and the second one, you could call it bad play as well if you want. They counter attacked very quickly, made the right choice and the boy had a good finish, took a bit of a deflection to be fair. That was just the way it was.
Did you have any complaints over Michail Antonio’s penalty being overruled?
My staff said to me that it was very soft, they’d be surprised if it was going to be given. The minute he went to the monitor, that’s where we thought it would probably be chalked off.
How important is it to have Lucas Paqueta back?
He’s played better than he played but he’s really important to what we’re doing as well because he’s a key player. We could have taken him off earlier but I just felt if anybody was maybe going to help us create or craft us a goal late in the game, it was probably going to be Lucas [Paqueta]. We stuck with him, you could see he had a bit of cramp or whatnot at the end of the game.
Was he okay?
I think it was mainly cramping up but I’ve not checked to be honest.
Do you think the boos onSaidBenrahma’s exit sum up his importance to the team?
I thought he scored a good goal, I don’t know if he had much of an impact after. There’s a lot of people, a lot of experts out there isn’t there? You have to make the decisions how you think gets you the best chance and today, you can decide what they were or how they were. I felt we probably improved in the last 20 minutes of the game with the ball and gave ourselves one or two opportunities.
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