Do not underestimate the power of Europa League hangovers, even if David Moyes argued yesterday afternoon that West Ham have had a "great record" this season. This was their fifth defeat in the nine games to follow Thursday night action.
Two of the losses have come against Brentford and while it is fair to contextualise that record with narrow losses against Manchester United and Manchester City in addition to last month’s defeat away to Tottenham Hotspur, their points per game average is 1.11 from those nine matches, compared to 1.78 per game in the 23 Premier League fixtures not preceded by a European fixture.
With the margins in the pursuit of a top six finish so fine, a minor struggle for a small squad to deal with the Thursday-Sunday-Thursday treadmill appears potentially decisive. Moyes is right to repeatedly remind everyone that when weighing this squad up against the other top-six rivals it would be "a monumental" achievement to be in Europe against next season but another loss next weekend at home to Burnley would be grave.
