Gary Lineker gives his four-word assessment of West Ham United, and every MOTD pundit concurs.

Gary Lineker and Danny Murphy both concur that West Ham is having a strong season despite losing to Manchester City 3-1.

The Hammers’ unbeaten run came to an end against the Premier League champions on Saturday (16 September) at the London Stadium, despite the fact that James Ward-Prowse gave them the lead early on.

Lineker and Murphy agreed that the Hammers had a strong start to the season and thought it would be unfair to judge any team solely on how they played against Pep Guardiola’s team, even though defeat is never going to garner too much plaudits.

On September 16 at 04:30 on Match of the Day, Lineker observed, “You can’t really judge teams against Manchester City, but West Ham look sound.”

In response, Murphy expressed his agreement and said, “Good start to the season, lots of positives, with the new signings settling in. With the addition of (Mohammed) Kudus, the club will move on with a little more flare.

“Even today, they played well at times. With what they’ve seen thus far, I believe West Ham fans will be beyond pleased.

More than happy

West Ham’s strong start to the season may have made it tough to remember, but Moyes’ team has yet to face a truly straightforward challenge. But that is the essence of the Premier League today, particularly if you’re aiming for European spots.

The fact that the Hammers lost for the first time this season in such a fashion should not have a significant negative impact on the morale of both supporters and players because they gave Guardiola’s squad a better test than most would this season. Very few clubs manage to take a point, much alone three, off of Manchester City.

The fact that the team dropped points against the best team in Europe and possibly the world more than makes up for it with victories over Chelsea and Brighton as well as three points against Luton Town in their maiden Premier League encounter at Kenilworth Road.

Kudus is poised to have an impact on English football in the upcoming weeks, as Murphy noted, so there is yet more to come from Moyes’ team. It was inevitable that the unbeaten streak would come to an end at some point, and while the majority of supporters would have preferred a few more weeks, there is no shame in falling short against City.

To soften the blow, the Hammers get a return to European football next week and the London Stadium will likely be rocking.