New boys need time
The weekend’s defeat as caused by a number of individual mistakes, rather than a poor team performance. Unfortunately, the majority of those mistakes came from the club’s summer signings – an indication that the new boys on the block need time to adjust to their new surroundings and life as a West Ham player.
Marko Arnautovic’s reckless elbow on Jack Stephens and his subsequent red card cannot be excused, but as a player with a reputation for the rash, the Austrian will need to learn to control his passion and channel it in more useful ways.
Joe Hart, while not totally to blame, should have saved Dusan Tadic’s weak penalty just before half time.
Pablo Zabaleta’s clumsy foul on Maya Yoshida late on after being caught out of position ultimately cost West Ham a point, with Charlie Austin cooly converting the subsequent penalty. Not one for mistakes at former club City, the Argentine is going to need to adjust to playing alongside players not quite at the calibre of those at the Etihad if he is to succeed.
