West Ham head coach Julen Lopetegui was clearly delighted with the defensive performance of his Hammers team against Ipswich, but things could have been very different.
It would be fair to assume that this West Ham side’s confidence is currently paper-thin. At best, the start to the season has been one step forward and one step back, and even though the campaign is in its infancy, the side has produced some pretty shoddy defensive displays.
Therefore, it would have been completely understandable if heads had dropped and shoulders slumped following Ipswich Town’s early equaliser at the London Stadium. The Irons went into an unexpected early lead within the first minute, but the Tractor Boys drew level almost immediately.
The West Ham players would surely have been forgiven for thinking, “Oh no, not again,” because I know I certainly did. It would have been easy at that point to reflect on some of the bad performances and worse results this season, but this team appears to be made of tougher stuff.
West Ham’s resilience
Rather than feel sorry for themselves about Liam Delap’s completely avoidable equaliser, Lopetegui’s boys puffed out their chests and went about winning the game. There was a determination to carry out the game plan and treat the opposition’s raid on Alphonse Areola’s goal as nothing more than an inconvenience.
Lopetegui himself appeared to concur by saying, “We started very well but suffered a very early equalising goal. I think after that we had a very good mentality, we kept strong, and we deserved to score before we did get the second. In the last chance of the half, we did score, and we kept going in the second half. We kept looking for goals, and in the end, we achieved a good victory.”
The Hammers’ gaffer was completely bang-on in his appraisal. The whole display was as much about mentality as it was about footballing ability. It was clear that the team as a whole believed in the tactics and the system and was determined to deploy them irrespective of any bumps in the road.