West Ham manager Sam Allardyce was not surprised by his side's 6-0
defeat to Manchester City due to the quality of their opponents.
Just three days after being dumped out of
the FA Cup with a 5-0 loss at Nottingham
Forest, West Ham shipped six at the Etihad
Stadium in the first leg of their League Cup
semi-final on Wednesday.
The result leaves the Londoners needing a
miracle to reach the final at Wembley, but
Allardyce claimed there was little his side
could do against the talent that City have in
their ranks.
"We knew that they had to have an off night
and we had to have a really good night from
our point of view," he told Sky Sports.
"Manchester City's finishing was just
outstanding – never mind the build-up play –
and (we have) got a struggling defensive unit
at the moment, because of our injuries.
"We're in a bit of a hole at the moment and
we have to dig ourselves out.
"It's not like they haven't done it to anyone
else. We tried our best but it wasn't good
enough against a side that have outstanding
players because they spend outstanding
money."
Allardyce, who received a vote of confidence
from his co-chairmen following the defeat
to Championship outfit Forest, is without the
likes of Andy Carroll, Winston Reid, James
Tomkins and James Collins due to injury.
And with such absences, Allardyce said he
had little choice but to "take it on the chin".
"Lads who are free transfers were playing
against lads who have been paid hundreds of
hundreds of millions (in transfer fees) and
hundreds of hundreds in wages," he added.
"Sometimes you've got to take it on the
chin. Face the facts – they have got a miles
better squad than us.
"We want our best team out on the field but
we haven't got that at the moment."
