I Can’t Believe It’s Not Potter

Two brain teasers for you to start the day.

Question 1. If Team B (let’s call them Brentford) are adept at scoring early goals and Team A (West Ham, say) are prone to conceding them, what do you think might happen? Could it be that Team B race into an early lead which they are then easily able to defend?

Question 2. If Team B are known for playing on the front foot, with a high press and fast, direct attacks, how should Team A lineup against them? Would it be by deploying a slow as molasses double pivot and with no discernible attacking creativity or focus? Answers please on a post card.

The early FA Cup elimination had given the Hammers coaching staff just short of two weeks to prepare for Saturday’s game. A set of circumstances that makes their attempts at finding a solution all the more baffling. I would love to have a look at their workings. Even if the Rush Green VHS recorder had been on the blink, it is easy enough to google how Brentford setup to play every week.

Graham Potter still has a healthy balance of goodwill in the bank. He is personable, articulate, prepared to give young players an opportunity – and he is not Julen Lopetegui. Most supporters have been positive about his impact on and off the pitch although much of that is a sense of relief over what had been endured before. While it is still early days, the improvement in optics has yet to manifest itself as better results on the pitch. In fact, the opposite is true as a quick glance at the Under The Hammers New-Gafferometer (league games only) clearly demonstrates.

The Potter reign got off to a spirited, yet rather fortunate winning Premier League start with a victory over Fulham. Since then, the better, more committed, performances have been on the road. The last two home games – London derbys againsy Crystal Palace and Brentford – have been especially disappointing; and for large parts, no better than what had been witnessed earlier in the season. The first half on Saturday could easily have been mistaken for the typical chaotic Lopetegui lineup and performance.

I can’t be the only one who finds the Evan Ferguson situation a little weird. An emergency loan who apparently will need careful handling due to past injuries when there are only 14 games of the season left to play. He did show several decent touches when he came on at half-time and his first significant contribution really should have been an assist for a Mohammed Kudus equaliser had the opportunity not been squandered through a rush of blood to the head. I don’t doubt Ferguson’s potential but a ‘dry’ loan for an injured player is just so West Ham.

The half time change of shape allowed West Ham to dominate the ball for much of the second period. James Ward-Prowse provided the control and direction in a way that the excruciatingly slow Tomas Soucek is never able to. Take away his goal threat and the big Czech is largely anonymous. Yet, not quite as anonymous as Carlos Soler on the left wing who would have been more gainfully employed if given a flag and asked to run the line.

The Brentford goal illustrated perfectly why West Ham have one of the worst defensive records in the league. It all began from a West Ham corner on the right. Emerson went across to take, with the big men coming into the box as targets. The corner came to nothing. Brentford cleared to Damsgaard; Edson Alvarez attempted to close him down, but he was able to play a simple pass to Wissa whose run had not been tracked by Soucek. Even at that point though, West Ham had five players (Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Max Kilman, Dinos Mavropanos, Emerson and Jarrod Bowen) between ball and goal to Brentford’s two (Mbeumo and Schade.)

Wissa’s pass over the top was simple, Wan-Bissaka and Bowen stood and watched, Dinos was slow getting back in position, with Kilman the wrong side of Mbeumo. Emerson’s aerial challenge with Mbeumo was not strong enough leaving Schade unmarked to pick up the loose ball and score at the second attempt. A collective Sunday league failure to deal with a sraightforward counterattack.

The visitors dominated the remainder of the first half and there could have been no complaints had they gone into the break with a two or three goal cushion. The two ‘goals’ were rightly disallowed for offside but at least one of them might have stood had it been scored in the VAR-less FA Cup the previous weekend.

Although, the improved second half performance boosted the numbers for the unimportant statistics (possession, pass accuracy, number of corners) West Ham created few clear goalscoring opportunities. The glaring miss by Kudus and a blocked goal-bound effort from Ollie Scarles being the most notable. Flekken in the Brentford goal – who has been the Premier Leagues most overworked keeper all season – is unlikely to have enjoyed a more comfortable ninety minutes. The Hammers doing nothing to dispel the shot-shy reputation that Potter brings with him from Brighton and Chelsea.

It’s tempting to simply write the season off with a shrug – “we are where we are, and it is what it is” – but that risks throwing away a significant portion of the campaign. It is so very dispiriting. It’s not Potter’s fault that he has inherited a slow, ageing, unbalanced squad but he needs to find a way of at least creating some interest in the final months of the season – a reason to look forward to matchdays – or else it’s all just a waste of time and effort. If the players are incapable of playing the way the coach wants them to, then he needs to find a system that does suit. Surely, there is some way of harnessing the potential attacking talent available. Without that all that’s left is a team that appears to be going through the motions. Defeat we can live with; limp and effortless displays are unacceptable.

Next up is Arsenal. Hopefully, it won’t turn out to be as painful as I fear. COYI!