Leeds United star's honest West Ham 'hurt' admission as focus turns to future
Ethan Ampadu was one of several below-par Leeds United players at West Ham.
Leeds United captain Ethan Ampadu hopes an ‘amazing’ 14th-place Premier League finish can be appreciated once the hurt from defeat at West Ham eases.
Ampadu and Leeds ended their top-flight return in disappointing fashion as second-half goals from Taty Castellanos, Jarrod Bowen and Callum Wilson handed West Ham a 3-0 win. It wasn’t enough to keep the Hammers up, however, with Tottenham beating Everton.
Leeds had no such final-day stress, with safety secured a fortnight prior and 47 points on the board before kick-off at the London Stadium. That tally proved enough for Daniel Farke’s side to sit comfortably in lower-mid-table, eight points above their relegated hosts.
"We prepared like it was any other game, even though we might not have anything to play for, we wanted to finish on the maximum points that we could and we wanted to finish as many wins as we could,” Ampadu told LUTV following the defeat. “We weren't good enough, and that's something that's going to hurt for a while.
“But then hopefully sooner rather than later, we can reflect on a very good season. I think to finish 14th is amazing. We had the target of just staying in the Premier League and I think we can be happy with the season we have had.”
Ampadu and most of his Leeds teammates can now rest, with all but three able to begin their summer holidays. Gabriel Gudmundsson, Noah Okafor and Ao Tanaka have to wait a little, but a World Cup is a good reason to delay the break.
Manager Farke and the Elland Road higher-ups will already be putting plans in place for a massive summer, with last year’s brilliant recruitment needing to be backed up. An incredibly tight Premier League mid-table suggests a club like Leeds could make a climb up the table with good additions.
"That's the aim," skipper Ampadu added. "As a club, every club wants to do that. You always want to achieve, you always want to strive for more and push more. I think now is time to have a break, have a reflect on the good that's come and then also the learnings we can take from this."