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West Ham midfielder Flynn Downes spoke at length about the Irons’ role in the Premier League relegation battle this season, admitting that the club’s situation is “killing everyone”.
The boyhood West Ham fan cut a despondent figure while taking to the club’s official TV channel after the Hammers’ disappointing 2-0 loss at London rivals Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
The defeat, which was West Ham’s 13th of the campaign so far, pushed the club back into the division’s bottom three and there are now just two points between David Moyes’s struggling outfit and bottom-placed Southampton.
Disappointed Downes opens up on club’s plight
24-year-old Downes found it hard to mask his disappointment about West Ham’s predicament after their loss at Spurs and he was candid about the mood around the club when talking after full time, saying:
“It’s killing me. It’s killing everyone. West Ham fan or not it’s killing everyone at the Club. We’re not in a good spot. But we know what we have to do, we have to take the fight to everyone.”
“I thought first half we played well, but in the second half we didn’t get out of the traps and when you don’t get out the traps against these sort of teams, they punish you. Two mistakes, and two goals and they put the game to bed.”
“We didn’t want to come away from home and sit off. They are a good possession team but we wanted to take it to them.
Asked if the first goal was particularly significant, Downes said: “Big time. Especially away from home, you want to silence the crowd. We had a couple of chances but it is what it is, it’s just our luck at the minute. We have got to fight now.”
Flynn Downes reflects on today’s game. pic.twitter.com/y3UgaMEfyk
— West Ham United (@WestHam) February 19, 2023
Downes says West Ham have to win on Saturday
Downes went on to discuss West Ham’s next game at Nottingham Forest and admitted that the Hammers need to turn their fortunes around fast, saying:
“There is no beating around the bush. We know what we are in for, in every game we play now we have to win and that starts Saturday. We have to win. It’s as simple as that. Pressure or not we have to win, there’s no other option.”
“We have to go out there and have it. Whether we play well or not we need to get three points and we can’t come off the pitch until we do. So that’s sort of it, everyone in the [dressing room] knows where we are at, we just have to do it now.”
West Ham’s alarming regression
Last season, West Ham finished in 7th position in the Premier League, just 12 months after they had secured sixth place under David Moyes, and after an ambitious summer window which included the captures of Lucas Paqueta, Gianluca Scamacca, Nayef Aguerd and Maxwel Cornet among others, big things were expected of the Hammers in 2022/23.
However, the Irons’ performances have waned badly this term, despite a transfer outlay of around £180m splurged between the summer and January.
West Ham have won only one of their last 11 Premier League fixtures and they could even find themselves bottom of the top-flight table if results go against them next weekend.
