Δευτέρα 9 Φεβρουαρίου 2015

Draw disappoints Blind after 'battle' at West Ham

Daley Blind praised Manchester United's battling qualities but was unhappy with their overall display in Sunday's 1-1 Barclays Premier League draw at West Ham United.
The Netherlands international clinched a point for Man Utd when he drilled home an equaliser two minutes into stoppage time, cancelling out Cheikhou Kouyate's superb 49th-minute opener.

The midfielder conceded that Louis van Gaal's team struggled to combat a battling West Ham side, especially during a frustrating goalless first half at the Boleyn Ground.

"It's a reward for not giving up but of course you want more," Blind told Sky Sports. "The first half was a real battle. We couldn't really play the ball how we want, we couldn't play possession.

"The second half we started well but then they got the early goal and after that we had to fight again for the good moments. We picked it up well and showed we are capable of fighting but, of course, we are not happy with the draw."

Kouyate twice flicked the ball up in the penalty area before turning and volleying in after the visitors had failed to clear a Mark Noble free-kick, one of several occasions on Sunday when Van Gaal's men struggled under West Ham's set-piece threat. Blind acknowledged that the physical edge to the hosts' game posed persistent problems.

"Especially [in the] first half, they were winning a lot," he said. "In the second half we did it better, winning some second balls and creating some danger from that.

"We could have done more to win the second balls but they have strong strikers and strong midfielders - it's difficult."
De Gea saves Man Utd's spoils

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce believes goalkeeper David de Gea was chiefly responsible for ensuring Manchester United left east London with a point, after a number of stops to keep Van Gaal’s men in the match.

"They had David de Gea to thank more than the goalscorer so that shows how well we've played," Allardyce said.

We had many opportunities. It was just a great shame that we conceded the goal as late as we did, which wasn't the normal goal you concede against Man United. It was just a punt up the middle and it was actually our player [Carl Jenkinson] that headed it, so it wasn't really any great play at all.

"It's a great shame that we didn't hold out, but I just think Man United have David de Gea to thank for keeping in the game that long, with the amount of saves that he had to make."

While disappointed to see two points snatched away late on, Allardyce took heart from West Ham's display.

"It's a fantastic performance, not the result we deserved or wanted, but we're back to a level that we know we can play at, which has been difficult to get to over the Christmas and New Year period with injuries, the African Nations Cup and so on and so forth," he said. "We still had our injuries today but the 11 players [that started] and Matt Jarvis, who was on for a while, did a terrific job, gave a terrific performance and they really should be very satisfied and very proud of what they've done.

"We really restricted the quality of Man United, which was pleasing for me, out of possession. We have to give the players credit for how well they defended as well as how well they played in possession. It was almost the perfect performance."

source: http://www.premierleague.com/

Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:

Δημοσίευση σχολίου