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Much has been made of Kieran McKenna’s comments after West Ham beat Ipswich 4-1 at London Stadium on Saturday. 

While it was widely considered to be West Ham’s best display under Julen Lopetegui so far and was evidence that the Spaniard’s more entertaining, attacking style of play was beginning to rub off on the players, the Ipswich boss claimed it was the Hammers’ direct style of play they struggled to cope with.

Many have taken his comments as a dig at our style, whereas its likely he was pointing more towards the moments in the pitch when we did choose to go long, as opposed to our overall approach to the game. All four of our goals did not come as a direct result of a long ball, so it’s not as if it was all we had to rely on to win the game.

Speaking after the game, McKenna referenced the direct play but also admitted that West Ham are a good side in possession overall, and that a mixture of individual errors and not being able to match West Ham’s quality was the main reason the Tractor Boys left east London empty handed.

He said: “I think we conceded poor goals at poor times.

“In general we didn’t deal with their direct play well enough. It’s the first team in the league we’ve faced where that’s been the style.

“They played a lot of direct balls to Antonio and Soucek, we didn’t deal with those well enough and we made some poor mistakes for the goals. That made the game difficult and took all the momentum away from us and gave the momentum to them, and we know they’re a good side when they’re in that phase.”

Lopetegio and McKenna

Given there has been a lot of discussion surrounding West Ham and style of play already this season, with it being one of the key reasons why the club decided to part ways with David Moyes and appoint Julen Lopetegui, it’s no surprise some fans have taken offence to McKenna’s ‘direct play’ comments.

It’s the label we’ve been so desperate to shake since Moyes left the club but the reality is, we weren’t as direct throughout the game as the Ipswich boss made out in his post-match interview.

But what have the other opposing managers said about us, our style of play or our performance against them so far this season.

Here’s a look…

Unai Emery – Aston Villa (Lost, 2-1)

The Spaniard said: “This is a very difficult place. Today we deserve it but it was a very tough match.

“I think the first 30 minutes were very good. We were in control of the game, with good positioning. We didn’t concede a corner until the 28th minute. We scored one and had a chance to get a second with Leon Bailey.

“They got a goal too, and we started the second half a bit softly. But we started controlling the game more again and deserved to win.”

Oliver Glasner – Crystal Palace (Won, 2-0)

The Palace boss said: “It’s game we don’t have to lose because the opposition is much better than we are.

“In the first half we had chances to score and we didn’t score. One against the keeper and then we hit the crossbar and the post. Then we concede two on the transition.

“In these two situations we didn’t defend very well because we had an overload on the defenders, and then you get punished.

“If you don’t use your chances for scoring, the opposing teams always have the quality. One of their goals was Jarrod Bowen, we know he can score a goal. This is what we have to accept at the moment.”

Pep Guardiola – Man City (Lost, 3-1)

Pep Guardiola and Julen Lopetegui

Guardiola said about West Ham’s second half performance: “It was open in the second half and when they can run Bowen, Kudus, Antonio and Paqueta, it’s so, so dangerous.

“I always have the sense with West Ham that they are dangerous. They can play bad or not so good but always they are dangerous. The quality they have is amazing.”

Marco Silva – Fulham (Drew, 1-1)

Silva said after Danny Ings’ 95th minute equaliser at Craven Cottage: “In the Premier League you cannot switch off for one second.

“We were aware of their quick throws and we have to keep the focus and the concentration at every single moment of the game. It was a moment, I have to say, that we should have controlled easily.

“It’s big frustration for us because before that it was a very good game from ourselves, I think we were clearly the best team on the pitch. We deserved much more from the game.”

Enzo Maresca – Chelsea (Lost, 3-0)

Maresca didn’t reference West Ham at all in his post-match comments, which is understandable given all of the questions surrounded how good they were at attacking, especially Nicolas Jackson after he scored a brace.

Thomas Frank – Brentford (Drew, 1-1)

Frank said: “I think it’s a good point for us.

“I’m always disappointed that we didn’t get three because I think there was a good opportunity to get three points today.

“I think we were the better football team for 75 minutes. West Ham had a spell at the start of the second-half for 15 minutes where they out powered us physically. The best example is the goal where they muscled their way through our defence.”

A mixed bag of comments

It’s a real mixture of comments made about West Ham so far this season. Pep Guardiola was especially complimentary of our attacking options, which is nice to hear, but overall the mixed bag of comments from opposing managers probably reflects the mixed bag of performances we’ve put in so far this season.