Sam Allardyce says Leeds 'have a long way to go' after West Ham defeat

‘I may be being unkind to them’: Sam Allardyce says that if his side ‘do miraculously stay in the league, they have a LONG way to go in terms of quality’ as Leeds fall into precarious position after West Ham defeat

• Sam Allardyce has said his Leeds side have ‘a long way to go in terms of quality’ 
• RECAP: Leeds stay in the bottom three as West Ham triumph 3-1 in London 
• He also said his side ‘only have themselves to blame’ after the disappointing loss 

Sam Allardyce has given a critical assessment of Leeds squad this year claiming that his side ‘have a long way to go’ after they were swept aside 3-1 by West Ham on Sunday. 

Fresh from their Europa Conference League win against AZ Alkmaar on Thursday, West Ham appeared to be a little lethargic following their midweek trip and started the slower of the two sides, succumbing to goal from Rodrigo inside 17 minutes.

And what a goal it was, with the Spaniard rifling in a stunning volley from a long throw-in from Weston McKennie to put the away side a goal up. 

But Leeds were unable to extend their lead, with Declan Rice netting an equaliser 15 minutes later, in what could be his final game at the London Stadium for the Hammers, before Jarrod Bowen and Manuel Lanzini followed up with second-half goals. 

The loss was made even more brutal for Leeds after they lost Patrick Bamford just before half time, who was seen clutching his hamstring and walking down the tunnel after he was substituted for Wilfried Gnonto. 

With his side now in serious jeopardy of going down, sitting top of the relegation places, two-points from safety, Allardyce was not making any excuses for his side’s performance after the match.       

‘Obviously very disappointing,’ he told Sky Sports when reflecting on the game. ‘There were lots of things that suggested we had opportunities to get three points in the first half but unfortunately failings in the final third let us down.

‘The second half was a bit of a battle, a bit of a struggle and then whatever we tried in terms of changes didn’t improve the situation for us.

‘First half opportunities galore but not enough quality. Second half we needed to defend better and wait for our opportunities to take but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. The West Ham players showed better ability in the final third than we did.

‘We have to look at ourselves and say if we do win next week and do miraculously stay in the league, we have a long way to go in terms of quality for the squad. 

‘The first XI really showed up there but when we need that squad these days they haven’t quite shown the impact in the short period of time. I may be being unkind to them but it is only what my very experienced eyes are seeing at the moment.’

Leeds still have a fighting chance of avoiding the drop though. But they will have to secure a big win at home against Tottenham next week, while also hoping Bournemouth take points off Everton, who sit above them with a two point buffer. 

Yerry Mina rescued a dramatic late equaliser for the Toffees against Wovles at Molineux yesterday, to edge them further away from the bottom three. 

But while the Leeds boss, who urged his players to ‘hold their nerve’ before their game against West Ham, he also said his team need to accept criticism in order to improve, before accepting that his side ‘only have themselves to blame’.

‘We have to keep going, we have to lift the spirits for next week, they have to accept the criticism, it is constructive criticism,’ the 68-year-old said.

‘We should show a bit more of what we did against Newcastle and perhaps get a win because Tottenham are not the best at the moment, so we will try and take advantage of that.

‘We only have ourselves to blame. We are responsible and we have to lift everyone up to give that last performance in front of our own crowd.’

After his sides win in the semi-final of the Europa Conference week this week, David Moyes admitted after the match that Leeds’ first goal was the shock to the system they needed. 

‘I was a bit weary after the game on Thursday night, the celebrations, how much we put into the game and the emotions that came with it,’ he told Sky Sports. 

‘But I have to say we knuckled down and we were a bit sloppy in the opening 15-20 minutes. And I thought after that we got pretty good control and thankfully we got a good victory.’

Putting his finger on what caused that sloppiness, Moyes said: ‘Yeah winning a semi-final and getting to a final on Thursday night when you’ve got a game on the Sunday. 

When asked what clicked his side into gear, he said: ‘I thought maybe them getting the goal, maybe just brought us to life a little bit more. We got control of the game a little bit more.

‘Lucas Paqueta played really well today on the ball and helped us play really well. We did a lot of good things today, had a lot of chances and could have scored two or three more goals.’ 

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