West Ham United signing Niclas Füllkrug has insisted there were plenty of positives to take from the opening game defeat to Aston Villa.
The striker has been speaking to German media, relayed by Sky Sport Austria, after the game on Sunday.
West Ham had been hoping to get off to a flying start under new manager Julen Lopetegui but were unable to do so as Aston Villa run out 2-1 winners.
The game proved to be a tight affair in general, with Amadou Onana opening the scoring early on before Lucas Paqueta levelled from the penalty spot.
Jhon Duran then bagged the winner in the 79th minute, side footing home from inside the penalty area after a smart move passing move from the Villans.
That can be seen as a positive for West Ham, who went toe-to-toe with Unai Emery’s side, who will be competing in the Champions League this season.
Niclas Füllkrug certainly sees it that way and believes there is plenty for him and his teammates to build on moving forwards.
“Before the game, we talked a lot about Villa. Analysed the opponent well. And you could see that they played a very, very good season from what we analysed,” he said.
“But I thought that we were at least on eye level today. That’s the good thing about it all. We have things that we can build on.
“We have things that we can improve. And that’s a good approach to start the season. But of course, you must not forget that this is a bit of a project.
“That’s a process that you have to build on. And that the whole thing takes a bit of time and patience until the team works perfectly. I think it’s clear.”
