West Ham United head coach Rehanne Skinner was disappointed with the manner of the three goals conceded in her side’s 3-2 defeat to Bristol City at The Chigwell Construction Stadium this afternoon.
West Ham United took the lead courtesy of Viviane Asseyi’s penalty but Bristol City turned the game on its head thanks to quick-fire goals from Amalie Thestrup and Ella Powell. Riko Ueki levelled matters for the home side before Brooke Aspin headed in the winner for Bristol City in the second half.
When speaking to WSL Full-Time after the match, West Ham United boss Skinner said that there were good and bad points to the performance but the manner of the goals conceded frustrated her the most.
“There were positives and negatives,” Skinner said. “From a possession perspective, the way that we moved the ball, played through them and got in-behind was pleasing. We got ourselves into great situations where we were putting balls across the box but I don’t think we got balls into the right areas of the box and I don’t think we broke them down in and around that area as much as we could have. They were putting bodies on the line when we were doing pullbacks. We were trying to get into the right areas but I just thought that they defended well.
“From our side of things, I’m disappointed with all three goals. They are cheap goals that could have been affected in a number of ways before they got to that situation. That’s something that we need to look at and just being more aggressive in and around the box, making sure that we don’t concede goals like that.”
Approximately half of the West Ham United squad are aged 23 or under. Head coach Skinner agrees that her squad needs more experience and she will be working hard in the coming weeks to put plans in place for business in the January transfer window.
She said “That’s exactly where we are, that’s the focus area for January. We definitely need more leaders and experience in the squad in the second half of the season for sure.
“I came in quite late, so the transfer window was a bit of a challenge this time around. Certainly, we have got some talented young players but we also need some leaders to show them how it’s done when circumstances are difficult like today.
“It is where we are but there are plenty of positives to take from it. There’s a lot of potential in the young players but we just need a little bit of experience to keep us moving forward.”
West Ham United are back in action next Sunday when they travel to Manchester United in the Barclays Women’s Super League.
About The Author
