Prowse not proud about Palace shock
WEST Ham midfielder James Ward-Prowse vowed his side would bounce back from their “embarrassing” 5-2 Premier League drubbing at Crystal Palace when they host Liverpool on Saturday.
The hosts were 3-0 up inside the first 20 minutes at Selhurst Park – in part thanks to an Emerson own goal – before Jean-Philippe Mateta made it four in the 31st minute.
Just one of the Irons’ goals – scored by Antonio late in the first period – could be rightfully claimed by the visitors, who benefitted by a late second-half own goal by Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson.
A seething David Moyes did not mince his words after the contest, branding his side’s display as one of the worst he had witnessed in his career and, while Ward-Prowse was more measured than his boss, he was no less dismayed.
Aggression
Ward-Prowse admitted: “It was nowhere near good enough out on the pitch. It was embarrassing on our part.
“We had a fantastic night in the week (Europa League), albeit we didn’t get through, but we showed what I believe a West Ham team should look like.
“We were front-footed, aggressive.
“You can talk about the way you play with the ball and stuff, but I think out of possession, we didn’t show anywhere near enough aggression or togetherness and I think that ultimately cost us in the game.”
Eighth-placed West Ham, who sit 12 points below Tottenham in the Europa League place, even before the Palace defeat already looked to require a near-perfect end to their season if they had any hope of securing another season of European football.
Moyes’ men impressed in their 1-1 Europa League quarter-final second-leg draw with Bundesliga leaders Leverkusen on Thursday night, but like his manager, Ward-Prowse refused to use the turnaround as an excuse for Sunday’s poor performance.
He said: “If we want to be a top team and be real contenders for European places, you can’t perform like that against one of the best teams in the world (Leverkusen) and then come here and get beat in the way that we did.
“We have to consider what sort of team and what sort of players we want to be at this club, whether we want to be real European contenders or not.”
The Hammers next host title-chasing Liverpool, another side made acutely aware of Palace’s capability to throw a wrench in a club’s ambitions after their own 1-0 loss to the Eagles at Anfield the previous week.
Ward-Prowse added: “There’s still lots of football to play for and this is the business end of the season, so we know every game is magnified in that way, but I think it’s a fantastic game to bounce back and hopefully give the fans something to cheer about.”