‘Mistakes cost us a lot’ – Guarino reflects on West Ham’s defeat at Manchester City

‘Mistakes cost us a lot’ – Guarino reflects on West Ham’s defeat at Manchester City West Ham United head coach Rita Guarino shared her frustrations after watching her side fall to a 5-o defeat to Manchester City at The Joie Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The Hammers were in the game for most of the first half before the hosts took a strong grip on the proceedings. Speaking to the media after the match, West Ham United boss Guarino shared her thoughts on her side’s performance. “Obviously frustrating,” Guarino said. “In the first half, we were able to stay within our game plan; being more compact and defending. We created a couple of chances, but they scored from our positional mistakes. In the second half, when they scored the second [goal], we lost the confidence to keep going. I think the mistakes cost us a lot in terms of the result. “When you come here, you know that you are faced with the champions in the league. When you go down 2-0, 3-0, the confidence is completely down. With the quality they have, you can’t concede easy goals as we’ve done. You lose the momentum and confidence.” Summer signing Kelly Gago was again tasked with leading the attacking line for The Hammers. Guarino said that the player needs more service to provide benefits for the team. She said “Kelly is an important player for us. We need to help her to receive more passes, more crosses because she can be more dangerous in the box.” A tough game against Charlton Athletic is up next for West Ham United. Guarino spoke about the challenge that lies ahead. She said “It’s a very important game. We need to use this game to work more on what we need to improve and prepare and focus on the next game. That is very important and we need to have our usual focus.” West Ham United’s upcoming Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Charlton Athletic takes place at The Chigwell Construction Stadium next Sunday.