The Roar's A-League Men tips and predictions: Round 26 - the jostle for finals positions is on in earnest
Here is the way the Roar expert panel sees all the action unfolding across the final weekend of play prior to the semi-finals.
Manager Sam Allardyce says West Ham’s new, more expansive style is still a work in progress after the English Premier League team on Saturday fell to their second defeat in three days in New Zealand.
Sydney FC punished West Ham’s defensive lapses with a 3-1 win in Wellington, after the Phoenix edged the Hammers 2-1 in Auckland on Wednesday.
Allardyce says while the losses were disappointing, they were a fair reflection of the game.
“The football was not good enough to get results, but we’re experimenting and working on more open attacking play and it hasn’t worked well from a defensive point of view.”
Allardyce says West Ham are missing the cohesion in defence which marked their game last season.
“We just lost the defensive resilience that we had last season with 14 clean sheets,” he said.
“Today we got caught on the break twice in the first half – because we’re trying to open play more; we’ve left too many spaces.”
West Ham skipper and All Whites defender Winston Reid says while the losses are disappointing, he wasn’t surprised at the standard of play shown by both the Phoenix and the Sky Blues.
“I knew what to expect from the players who play in our national team – a lot of them play in the A-League and they’re not bad players at all.
“We came down here and we expected to do well and we didn’t. We’ll go back home and work on some things.”
With the new English Premier League season just three weeks away, Allardyce was left counting the cost on his squad’s fitness.
Striker Andy Carroll needs surgery and could be out for four months after injuring an ankle soon after arriving in New Zealand, while Guy Demel, James Tomkins and Cheikhou Kouyate have all picked up injuries.
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Here is the way the Roar expert panel sees all the action unfolding across the final weekend of play prior to the semi-finals.
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