Hammers Briefing: Christmas Seaside Shuffle, Late Drama and A Lost Season

West Ham kicked off their three match seaside shuffle by sharing the points in an entertaining Monday night encounter at Bournemouth’s Vitality Stadium. After that, their south coast adventures continue by hosting the Seagulls of Brighton in a rare Saturday 3 PM start before travelling back down to Southampton on Boxing Day.

Although the Christmas programme is nowhere near as congested as it once was, the Hammers still face eight games between now and the end of January 2025. As we are routinely reminded the games come ‘thick and fast‘ – certainly thick in West Ham’s case if not always fast. There’s not even time to fit in an international break.

The final match of 2024 will be a visit to Anfield on 29 December where West Ham will be seeking to avoid setting a new Premier League for the most goals conceded in any calendar year. The current record, set by Newcastle in 2021, stands at 80 goals – West Ham have conceded 73 so far with those three games remaining. Looks touch and go given past performances against Liverpool.

The point gained at Bournemouth provided few clues on the future of Julen Lopetegui and the latest ‘three games to save his job’ cliffhanger. A quick look at the bottom of the league table suggests that, unless something drastic happens, the survival threshold this season will be be well below the magical 40 points – maybe even as low as 30 to 32. With West Ham having already scrambled 19 points, the likelihood of getting dragged into the mire of a relegation battle is extremely remote.

Perhaps a different record for the club to target is for the most consecutive weeks spent in the same league position. Having moved into 14^th on 2 November they have become so settled that they might be planning to give the place a lick of paint and replace the curtains. What are the chances of staying put right until the end of the season?  Limping along to reach a disappointing on-target total of 45 points by the end of May.

It feels increasingly likely that Loppy will see out the rest of the season. I don’t suppose the Board are happy with their return on investment, but they appear not to look too far beyond preserving Premier League status in any given season. Why pay out more compensation than you need in the circumstances?That an underwhelming bottom half finish might lead to an exodus of any players who are frustrated by the club’s apparent lack of ambition is a problem for another day – and a boost to the summer revenues. Is it not now time for the UK’s new head postman, Daniel Kretinsky, to deliver at the London Stadium?

West Ham’s performance at Bournemouth was arguably one of their better efforts of 2024/25. For long periods in the first half there was a distinct impression of a slick one-touch passing team revelling in the possession they were allowed to enjoy. It was a call back to the Newcastle display, demonstrating that when given time and space the Hammer’s do have it in them to play attractive football. Unable to turn that dominance into advantage, an open and entertaining half remained goalless at the break.

The second-half took on a very different complexion as Bournemouth came out with far greater purpose and energy. Whether they were weighed down by too many half-time hobnobs or bemused by the half-time team talk, the visitors were soon on the back foot and a succession of smart saves by Lukasz Fabianski were needed in the opening five minutes to keep the scores level. With space now at a premium, West Ham struggled to get their passes together.

The game looked to be heading to a scoreless draw as it entered the final minutes. Lopetegui had made some of the strangest substitutions since Tesco sent me a can of peaches in place of a frozen pizza. The result was an assortment of eleven players (including three full backs) with no apparent formation looking uncertain as to what they were supposed to do. There was some logic to replacing Carlos Soler and Edson Alvarez with both players on yellow cards, but not Mohammed Kudus who had been the main attacking outlet and is always a potential source of inspiration. There was encouragement in seeing a couple of youth players finally make it onto the pitch, even if Kaelan Casey’s introduction was purely symbolic in order to waste a few more added time minutes. Oliver Scarles had a mixed Premier League debut, looking nervous in defence but putting in one delightful cross towards the far post.

While most of us were holding heads in hands when Niclas Fullkrug’s point blank header hit the Cherries goalkeeper, good old VAR was busy checking the potential handball that would lead to a West Ham penalty. Should it have been a penalty? If the rules were applied according to common sense, probably not. But under the current interpretation determined by the wise men of PGMOL then not awarding it would have been inconsistent. The priorities of PGMOL have long been a mystery to the average football supporter. More than happy with the growing trend of handing out meaningless cards to managers and coaches but making no attempt to address the blatant cheating and play acting that blights the game such as Kyle Walker’s exaggerated collapse in the Manchester derby.

I am always a little nervous with Lucas Paqueta’s penalty technique, but the kick was accomplished with aplomb. And interesting to see him make a beeline for Lopetegui to celebrate. All that was now required was to hold out for a further three minutes plus stoppage time and three points would be added to the stick of seaside rock for the journey back to London. Sadly, it was not to be, and Bournemouth conjured up a deserved equaliser in the time remaining.

It has become customary for some supporters to blame Dinos Mavripanos for every goal West Ham concede. Granted it was an unnecessary challenge to make in the circumstances but is the type that defenders make multiple times during a game. The resulting free kick was well (rather than spectacularly) struck by Unal, but Fabianski’s positioning had provided an open invitation to aim anywhere in that area of the net. In the end, a fair result.

Next up is the visit of Brighton on Saturday. One of the league’s form teams a few weeks back, the Seagull’s fortunes have dropped off in recent weeks and are without a win in four. They are unbeaten in seven Premier League encounters at the London Stadium having earned two wins and five draws. Adding one more to the draw tally would be no surprise.

Frankly, it’s all rather depressing to believe that a season that is not yet half completed offers so little in terms of hope. Oh well, it is a cross all West Ham fans must bear. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. COYI (or Allez les fers!)