Did we see enough against Brentford to be encouraged about survival?
A football point! Sure, the Premier League table somehow looks worse despite a relatively positive result, but this was at least a fightback of sorts to gain a draw in west London. So, how does it sit now the dust has settled?
I've tried to remain positive about our survival hopes throughout the season, and generally I still think we create enough chances to stay up. We just need to be more clinical in front of goal.
In the first half at Old Trafford and both games against Southampton and Chelsea, we had more than enough chances to get something. And although we only had one shot on target against Brentford, I thought we were the better side throughout and deserved a point minimum.
They have lost only one of their last 15 league games and are still fighting for top six, so it was a decent result for us. I know Southampton and Everton also drew and Leeds beat Wolves, which brings them right back into it, but West Ham's game in hand is against Man City – we still have a game in hand on three teams with a decent goal difference and some very winnable fixtures to play.
I think four wins from our remaining 11 games should be enough to keep us up alongside some draws on the road. Looking at our home fixtures, we have enough quality to get those results.
Jordan Halford
I'm still convinced we are getting relegated – bottom of the league a real possibility too – but we certainly showed more against Brentford than we have in recent weeks.
Souttar (particularly), Castagne and Ndidi were my standout performers, and grit and performance from these type of players is what we’ll need more of to have any hope of staying up.
It was a very interesting call to bring Iversen in. I'd argue that us looking more solid at the back (other than the defending before the goal) comes from the defence having more confidence in their goalkeeper than they've had with Ward, so that could be very important.
I'm just not sure it's enough. I hope it is and it's something to build on, but we still only had one shot on target so I'm not sure it's the pivotal performance some people are suggesting.
Becky Taylor
The first half was troubling in the sense that not much happened at either end and we still managed to be 1-0 down. Brentford were much the brighter side, and given our second-half woes this season it felt inevitable that this would finish as another miserable defeat.
So it was very encouraging – relieving, mainly – that wasn’t the case. We flipped the game after half-time, scored a quick equaliser, defended excellently and made sure Iversen was barely required. If anyone looked likely to get a winner, it was us.
In microcosm, I was pleased with a point and performance against a good side which stops the rot – in an incredibly tight dogfight, everything matters. There is some fight in this team after all, it seems… but this next run of games will really prove what lies within
Joe Brewin
I suppose it's indicative of how far we've fallen that, actually yes, it was a good point and an encouraging performance. I did fear the worst inside the first 30 seconds when Ndidi sliced a simple clearance for a corner, but we settled down and played well for the most part – which he played a major part in.
Defensively, for the first time in ages, we didn't concede chance after chance. Going forward we had a number of good moments, although it was incredibly frustrating to see Tete subbed just as he was coming into the game. Equally frustrating was that it was the out-of-form Vardy who replaced Daka, rather than the 'in reasonable form' Iheanacho. However, Brendan finally played Iversen so I'll rejoice in that fact…
Despite the issues we have, there's no way this team should be in the position we are in. Brendan has to take a lot of the blame for that. Hopefully the seriousness of the situation has dawned on the squad now, as they did seem to be a bit more focused.
Iain Wright
