Geoff Hopkins

Five Takeaways As Hope Of A West Ham Revival Crashes and Burns

Despite the pre-match hopes the inevitability of another tame defeat at Goodison Park is visited on the Hammers.

The Green Shoots Of Recovery

Well the green shoots of recovery that were seen last Friday didn’t survive very long and it is back to the drawing board and back to square one for David Moyes and the Hammers. Once again the attitude of the players, particularly in the first half, has been rightly criticised. Tails should have been well and truly up from a good second period against Leicester and after witnessing Everton’s troubles at Southampton. Fast out of the blocks and putting their players under immediate pressure from the off was what was required. As it was the hosts were allowed to play themselves into the game as West Ham sat back and took it easy. Surely, that could not have been the team orders, could it? If we thought we were rid of one Everton bogeyman in Lukaku then Rooney was afforded every opportunity to replace him as West Ham’s nemesis. Why does it so often need a half time bollocking to get any response from our players? It is far too early to lay the blame on the new manager but how long can we wait for signs of improvement if the worst nightmare is not to become reality?

Line Up Conundrums

There were certainly reservations about the line-up. In the absence of Andy Carroll the decision to start with Andre Ayew as his replacement rather than Diafra Sakho was a strange one. Is Moyes falling in to the old West Ham manager trap of having a preferred list of players and selecting them in turn when an opening arises regardless of which position is vacant? Is it the lack of options that has bred complacency in the squad? Collectively the defence has looked weak all season and we continue not to provide enough defensive support from midfield. Right now we need at least two players in midfield whose priority is to defend. None of Obiang, Kouyate or Noble is good enough on their own and Kouyate seems to have a remit to get forward as much as possible increasing the fragility. The slow and ageing back-line needs far more support. Once again Joe Hart failed to impress and, if there was a chance to get back in the game at 2-0, it was scuppered by his dreadful attempt at a clearance that fell to Rooney’s feet. It is difficult to understand why Hart (especially as an on loan player) is preferred over Adrian.

The A Team

It has been apparent for some time that being the record signing at West Ham has resulted in little success for the players concerned. Andy, Andre and Arnie have all failed to impress in terms of both attitude and aptitude, and the winners in each of those deals has been the selling club. Their overall contribution has barely repaid the first instalments on the combined £50+ million transfer fees and whatever wages are involved. Player recruitment and the reliance on agents rather than scouting continues to blight the club. There was a welcome return to match-day action for that other A-man, Michail Antonio who is needed back at his sharpest and fittest without delay. Those of us around for the Roeder relegation season will remember the season’s oft-repeated lament of “if only Kanoute had scored that penalty against Arsenal”; if things continue as they are we might soon be hearing the regular refrain of “if only Antonio had taken the ball to the corner flag against Palace”.

Penalty Posers

There has been a lot of debate about the penalties awarded in the game yesterday. It seems quite difficult to articulate what the exact law is nowadays but, within the current interpretation of what is and isn’t a penalty, it was no surprise that both were given by Michael Oliver. The danger is that this interpretation is moving football even further towards being a non-contact sport, particularly anywhere in the area, which is to the ultimate detriment of the game.

What Next

Things look bad. The three games where points were meant to be available before the run of games against Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal have yielded just the one point. The return of points on games played to date would give us only 27 points if projected to the end of the season. It may seem obvious but, when looking for the likeliest relegation candidates, the teams with the worst goal difference are always at greatest risk; evidence as it is of problems at both ends of the pitch. At the moment West Ham, Palace and Huddersfield have the weakest goal differences and with the prospect of a double figure defeat at the weekend it might get a lot worse. For those interested in the record books we are closing in on Everton’s current position as having lost the most Premier League games since its foundation. We are just three defeats behind despite having played four fewer seasons.

Matchday: West Ham To Break Away Duck At Everton?

Looking forward to the Hammers securing their first on the road win of the season.

The battle for the club in greatest disarray enters a new phase today as West Ham travel to the usually unproductive north-west to fight it out with embattled Everton. There was a period where the Hammers looked likely to overtake early season pace setters Crystal Palace in the shambolic stakes but after the weekend results Everton have dramatically claimed pole position.

If Burnley and Watford are the two surprise teams of the season so far (in a positive sense) then West Ham and Everton are their mirror image. Everton in particular, after a healthy finish in 2016/17 and a heavy investment in the squad which gave the look of a good balance between youth and experience, have performed woefully. In the same way that West Ham’s swagger in Slaven Bilic’s inaugural season relied heavily on the exploits of the moody French free-kick specialist, it seems that Everton’s fortunes were largely courtesy of the steady supply of Lukaku goals. Failure to replace the prolific Belgian cost Ronald Koeman his job and Everton’s failure to replace Koeman is costing them dearly. Caretaker boss David Unsworth, briefly a Hammer whose family couldn’t settle in that London and who seems to have eaten too many of his homesick wife’s pies, is experiencing a torrid time in his fifteen minutes of managerial fame. Tonight could well be his last hurrah and it is up to West Ham to take the initiative and expoit the turmoil that exists at his club. Who dares wins!

The return of David Moyes to Goodison Park adds a further ingredient to the contest. Moyes built a solid reputation while at Everton only for his stock to be devalued significantly since his departure. His new charges showed fleeting moments of recovery in last Friday’s home game against Leicester and he will be hoping that the improvement can be continued at his former home tonight.

Head to Head

No doubt that Everton are something of an historic bogey team. The Toffees have won exactly half of the one hundred and thirty six games played, to West Ham’s uninspiring thirty-one. Of the last twelve West Ham have won only once; the late, late comeback show two seasons ago.

Goodison Park (along with the majority of north-western venues) has never been a happy hunting ground with the Hammers winning just eleven and drawing twelve of sixty-four. Prior to 2015/16 the most recent win was in December 2005.

Team News

I would expect Moyes to start with a similar eleven that took to the field last Friday meaning another chance for Andy Carroll to prove that he can earn his keep. He wil need to up his game considerably.

Everton were appalling at Southampton. They were disorganised at the back, ponderous in midfield and lightweight up front and may well be tempted to give Rooney a start given that he likes a goal against West Ham.

The Man in The Middle

Tonight’s referee is Michael Oliver from Northumberland. Oliver took charge of the home defeat by Tottenham earlier in the season, as well as two West Ham games last season: cup defeat by Manchester City and the drawn league game with West Bromwich Albion. In fourteen outings this season he has flourished fifty eight yellow cards and two red ones.

Predictions

Merson is going for a 2-0 Everton victory while Lawro sees the Hammers winning 1-0. For me, all the omens are good and in a rare display of optimism I am looking forward to West Ham returning to London with all three points from a comfortable 2-0 win.

Five Takeaways From West Ham’s Weekend

An early set back, a spirited response and a passionate crowd sees highly paid Hammers settle for a Premier League point.

What a Difference a Crowd Makes

Without doubt the crowd played a massive part in lifting the gloom that had surrounded the club in recent weeks and proved that if the players are putting in a shift then the supporters will get behind the team. There remains a lot of animosity towards the Board but venting that anger and frustration without it affecting the team performance is a dilemma. I guess the best way to grab the owner’s attention is through their pockets rather than by match-day protests or Twitter rants. David Moyes would not be the first choice of many supporters but together with his coaching staff deserves the opportunity to prove his worth and show that he can steer the team towards safety. It is not his fault we find ourselves rooted in the bottom three and there was, at least, an indication of improved attitude, energy and spirit during last Friday’s match.

Another Bad Goal Conceded

Going a goal behind after only eight minutes was far from ideal and once again it was the result of a gift from the West Ham defence rather than earned by the guile and ingenuity of Leicester’s players. Inexplicably, Zabaletta had gone walk-about (something he did repeatedly during the course of the game), Reid allowed Vardy too much space to cross and Ogbonna failed to deal with what should have been a routine clearance. Apart from that early glitch the defence look reasonably sound although they were not really tested and it was to the team’s credit that they did not crumble after the early reverse.

Getting The Balance Right

Looking through the squad, even if all the players are fit and available, it is difficult to select an obvious effective starting eleven, such is the imbalance with the players and skills available. While playing three centre backs might look attractive do we have wing-backs competent to both attack and defend? When playing as a back four can we provide adequate defensive cover in midfield? If we play with a lone striker how do we prevent him from becoming isolated? If we play two up front how to avoid being over-run in midfield? In the two Moyes matches to date it looks like Kouyate has been under orders to get forward more to support the striker with Arnautovic also getting into more central positions as his defensive responsibilities allow – in fact Kouyate and Arnautovic have taken up more dangerous positions than Carroll who has preferred to lurk out towards the edge of the area well away from where any crosses are aimed. There were signs on Friday that improved fitness had led to better organization but there is still a long way to go in improving quality; maybe that can come with confidence.

The Wages Explosion

There were reports over the weekend that West Ham were among the top twenty clubs in the world as far as wages paid are concerned. When you look at what has been served up on the pitch over the past year or so you can only conclude that we have been done! Yet the club are likely to present this astonishing fact as something to be proud of. My personal view is that claims that the owners are penny pinching is exaggerated but they really don’t spend their money wisely. A strategy based on players with Premier League experience (any who are likely to be attracted to a mid-table or worse club at that) is always going to be short term and expensive. More money on wages means less money on transfers. The lack of planning at West Ham continues to scupper any notion of continued improvement. A much better scouting network is required to unearth value which is what most other teams at our level try to do. Improving this requires David Sullivan to step away from his de facto role as Director of Football and bring in someone who really knows the game.

Paying The Penalty

What is and what isn’t a penalty continues to bemuse me. At what stage does ‘there wasn’t much contact’ become ‘he was entitled to go down’. And does attempting to stay on your feet mean that it cannot be a penalty? Diving is cheating and one of the curses of the modern game but it seems if you want to get a penalty you must end up on the floor for the referee to award it – and so referees are in effect encouraging it provided the player passes the entitled test. The recent rule of retrospective bans in situations where the referee has been conned is unlikely to make much of a difference.

The Latest Must Win Game As West Ham Take On Leicester

Following a shambolic managerial debut can Moyes rally the troops in his first game at the London Stadium?

Right now it is difficult to see how things could get any worse at West Ham but tonight we have another opportunity to find out if it is possible. If everything we read is to be believed supporters, players, management, in-the-know bloggers and probably even Doris the tea lady are verbally slugging it out with each other and amongst themselves. Have the Hammers reached their darkest hour or will there be the faintest glimmer of light to sustain us over the weekend. Unity has been called for but appears a distant, forlorn hope at the moment and it won’t need much more than a slow, nervy start for the Friday night London Stadium atmosphere to descend to an all too familiar toxicity.

Towards the end of the 2014/15 season, West Ham visited the King Power stadium with Leicester languishing at the foot of the table and looking odds-on for relegation. The Foxes famously won, their first victory in nine, and went on to record seven more wins in their last nine games to preserve their Premier League status. The following season they were Champions. Can history repeat itself but in reverse? Yes, I was only joking ……… but taking something from the game, if not quite essential for survival, would be a major lift before that dreadful run of fixtures in December.

Leicester were never going to repeat their heroics of the 2015/16 season as most teams, with the exception of West Ham, got wise to the primary tactic of the ball over the top for Vardy to chase. They did well to keep the majority of that squad together (despite losing the influential Kante and later Drinkwater) but what appeared to be a productive transfer window last summer has yet to bear fruit as they hover around mid-table (but only four points better than ourselves). It is a surprise that they have already changed managers twice since their dream season and also that they saw enough quality in Claude Puel to bring him in as Shakespeare’s replacement. Puel’s previous Southampton side did, of course, stroll to a 3-0 victory at the London Stadium in September last year.

Head to Head

West Ham’s record against Leicester goes back to 1919 and stands evenly balanced with the Hammers having won fifty-one, lost forty-eight with thirty drawn games. In the last twelve encounters West Ham have won four and lost five.

Leicester are looking for a hat-trick of straight wins against the Hammers in London despite West Ham having won eight of the last twelve home clashes.

Team News

It appears that Marko Arnautovic has miraculously recovered from the near death sore thumb trauma and is available for selection along with Andre Ayew who has shaken off his illness. According to reports Michail Antonio, Javier Hernandez, James Collins and Sam Byram are all still out.

Changes are certainly required from the team that failed to impress at Watford; not just because almost every player was hopeless but also because the team was so unbalanced.

I would like to see Arthur Masuaku start but in a midfield role as he and Aaron Cresswell would prove a handful on the left hand side. Maybe give Arnautovic another run out on the right with Manuel Lanzini moving to an attacking central midfield role where he is best suited and can cause more damage. That would leave a choice of two out of Noble/ Obiang and Kouyate in the centre of midfield. In the striker role I would like to see Diafra Sakho start in preference to Andy Carroll and would also prefer to see Adrian between the sticks. Defensive options look to be limited (I am assuming that Moyes will stick with a back four) and it is unlikely that he will be brave enough to give a start to Declan Rice – I am not convinced that Rice is the answer to the midfield frailties.

Leicester have no injury concerns other than the continued absence of the Neanderthal Robert Huth. The main threats will continue to come from the Vardy/ Mahrez combination but hopefully we will at last have woken up to the ball over the top of the defence tactic. The other concern is a reckless Ogbonna tackle on Vardy in the area to concede a needless penalty.

Man in the Middle

Today sees Martin Atkinson of West Yorkshire take charge of his third West Ham game of the season having previously officiated in defeats away at Manchester United and at home to Brighton. Will he finally get to award a West Ham goal? In eight games this season he has shown nineteen yellows and one red cards.

Predictions

Lawro from the BBC sees this as a 1-1 draw while Sky’s Merson predicts a sound 1-3 away win. It will be interesting to see how West Ham approach this game. They badly need something from it and cannot afford a slow and ponderous backwards-sideways start if they want to keep the crowd on side. Will they have finally learned how to stop Vardy exploiting space behind the central defenders? Can they keep the ball long enough to put any sustained pressure on the Leicester defence?

Moyes will not want to lose but cannot afford to set up not to lose as he did at Watford. Puel seems to be from the same unadventurous school of football management. It could be a cagey game but as always a goal can change everything. It has the look of low scoring draw about it to me.

Five Takeaways: Humdrum Hammers Stung By Hornets

There is no new manager bounce as West Ham once again meekly surrender the points, this time away at Watford.

Nobody Said It Would Be Easy

There was no new manager bounce on show at Vicarage Road and David Moyes will now have a much better idea of the challenge that lies ahead of him. Looking at the immediate fixture list, Moyes must have pencilled this in as one as of the easier games to pick up points from between now and the end of the year, but it was not to be. If there was any discernible difference between this performance and West Ham’s other attempts away from home over the last twelve or so months it was difficult to detect. An energetic, forthright opening frenzy petered out after the first twenty minutes and by then the Hammers had found themselves a goal down courtesy of typically sloppy defending that allowed Watford to get their noses in front. With players absent over the past two weeks on international duty, injuries and a low starting threshold there was little evidence of the new training intensity being translated into something positive on the pitch. Whether it was stamina, confidence or attitude the team looked completely spent beyond the hour mark. It is far too early to finger for Moyes & Co for the poor performance but improvements cannot be too long coming if there is to be any chance of disaster being averted.

Missed Chances and Opportunities

The game plan was very much a safety first one which was clearly undone by the early goal. Watford looked far more comfortable in possession and their familiarity with each other and the ball far exceeded our own efforts and understanding. Even so, the hosts didn’t appear to carry a huge goal threat. Although West Ham had offered nothing going forward, the first half ended with the Hammers squandering two excellent goal scoring opportunities. First Kouyate fluffed his lines from Noble’s fine through ball and then Arnautovic brought a smart save out of Gomes only then to lack conviction in trying to convert the rebound. My mood at half time was (foolishly) optimistic with an expectation that a stiff half time talking-to would galvanise the players enough to drag themselves back into the game. As it turned out West Ham were even worse in the second period allowing Watford to dominate proceedings at their leisure. In the long period of play when Sakho was waiting to replace Carroll (and which ended with Watford scoring their second goal) the ball refused to go out of play as the Hammers collectively demonstrated some of their finest ball watching. For me, it was a clear hand ball in the build up to Richarlison’s goal but that didn’t excuse the halfhearted attempts to prevent it being scored. Ironically, West Ham also had two more gilt edged chances to score in the second half with Kouyate blasting wildly over and Lanzini’s shot lacking both power and accuracy.

Big Reputations

In his post-match comments, Moyes took aim at big reputation players who had failed to deliver. It is a fairly widely held belief that West Ham have a better squad (on paper) than at least half of the other teams in the Premier League. That belief is largely built on the reputations of the players (the fact that they are well known names) rather than any performances that they have been putting in for the last season and a half. Although there were no names mentioned the comment could have been aimed at almost all of the team that turned out yesterday. If level of reputation is synonymous with size of wage packet then the likes of Carroll, Arnautovic, Noble, Reid (and others) might need to take a good long look at themselves. I have to say I am also not convinced by Hart, who despite a very good game at Palace, looks no better than Adrian; he appears rooted to his line (Randolph style) most of the time and is often slow to get down, as he was for the second Watford goal.

Arnie: Will He Be Back?

After Arnautovic’s injury I was half expecting to wake up this morning to news of his obituary. I admit to never having broken (or fractured) a thumb but I have played in matches where much worse has happened and the injured player has never gone into full body convulsions. Maybe it hurts more than I imagine but I can’t help thinking of Stuart Pearce trying to play on with a broken leg. That moment of over acting aside, Arnautovic did get more involved than in most of his previous appearances although much of his work was deep in his own half. He could, and should, have got his name on the score-sheet and also set up the second of Kouyate’s missed chances; a tally which may well have doubled his statistical contribution for the entire season. The introduction of Masuaku, following his departure, was one of the few positives in the whole match for me where he demonstrated nifty footwork and put in some decent crosses during his twenty minute cameo. Masuaku is something of an enigma in that he can flip between top class and pub team player from one week to the next. In truth, he is probably a very decent wide midfield player but not cut out to play at full back.

Whatever Next?

Getting the excuses in early our unfit squad has only five days to improve and prepare before the next time out against Leicester at the London Stadium on Friday night. Perhaps each small, incremental step up in fitness will add some value but the immediate challenge is how to assemble the odds and sods of the squad into a competent, functioning unit in the meantime; we are like a pack of self-assembly furniture where many of the pieces are missing and the instructions are only available in Croatian. The formation that Moyes employed at Watford (or at least the way that it was executed) failed to address the many long standing problems with the lopsided squad that has been put together. Carroll or whoever plays lone striker is isolated, there is no width or penetration in attacking positions, there is little creative influence with Lanzini wasted stranded out on the wing, midfield players do not do enough to support the defence and passing decisions and execution are poor. There is much to improve before a difficult game on Friday.

Yet Another West Ham Era Kicks Off at Vicarage Road

Can David Moyes celebrate his 500th Premier League game and his first at West Ham with a much needed victory?

The stop-start Premier League season returns with West Ham deservedly languishing in the relegation zone with just under a third of matches played. The poor fitness and energy levels shown be the Hammers, which were so obvious for so long to many supporters, were eventually backed up by pundits and statistics and so they go into today’s fixture under the guidance of the club’s sixteenth full-time manager (ten of whom have managed in the Premier League era).

The new buzzword around Rush Green is intensity and initial impressions are that preparation has a more professional and serious look about it than the casual approach employed by the previous regime. Not that fitness is the only area of improvement required to raise the bar of performances to a level more consistent with the talent available within the squad. Only time will tell whether improved fitness will translate to greater movement and cohesion allowing the team to keep and make better use of the ball. To be a decent passing side also needs to have players who are moving into space, ready and willing to receive, in addition to the skilled execution of the pass itself. I am hoping for improvement but not expecting overnight miracles to happen.

Today will be David Moyes’ first game as West Ham manager but his 500^th in the Premier League and he should be given every opportunity to start with the same clean slate from the fans as the one he has offered to his squad.

The players have been really committed to what we’ve asked them to do, they’ve grasped it and got on with it, and I think they’ve embraced it too. We’ve tried to put an awful lot of work into them over the past five or six days.

– David Moyes

Our hosts today were fast out of the new season blocks, under much admired manager Marco Silva, but have fallen away recently with a run of three defeats; a run that included one of the most entertaining games I have seen for a while when Watford had several chances to bury Chelsea at Stamford Bridge but ended up losing 4-2.

Head to Head

Ignoring meetings in the Southern League and war-time cups, fixtures between West Ham and Watford are a relatively recent phenomenon starting with a Division 2 encounter in 1979. Since then the Hammers have generally called the shots winning twenty-four and losing ten of the forty-two games played. More recent history has the balance tilted slightly in favour of the Hornets who have won five and lost four of the last twelve.

On the road West Ham have won six (lost two) of the last twelve visits to Vicarage Road.

Team News

Probable absentees for the Hammers are Javier Hernandez, Michail Antonio, Jose Fonte, Sam Byram and James Collins. It would be no surprise if Winston Reid also missed out following his epic air-miles earning trip to New Zealand and Peru during the international break.

I would expect a conservative team selection for Moyes’ first game in charge with the usual familiar faces although that may include Declan Rice if Reid is considered not to have recovered from his travels. Otherwise there are unlikely to be any surprises with Andy Carroll most probably leading the line. It will be interesting, if slates have truly been wiped clean, to see how players such as Marko Arnautovic, Diafra Sakho and Andre Ayew respond to the reported new intensity and discipline injected into training and behaviour.

He (Moyes) can change everything. It is the first game and he can change. We respect the team and they have a lot of individual quality in their players. We know what we need to do to win the game.

– Marco Silva

Watford are without the long-term injured Chalobah, Success and Cathcart, the suspended Deeney and have doubts about Kabasele, Pereyra, Prodl and Kaboul. It would be a bonus not having to face Pereyra as he and Richarlison are the type of quick, clever players that typically cause West Ham major problems. At the other end it would be a shame if the accident prone Kaboul doesn’t play.

Man in the Middle

A first West Ham outing this season for Andre Marriner from the West Midlands. Marriner’s five Hammer’s games last term saw a win at Swansea, defeats to Manchester City and Chelsea and draws with Stoke and Sunderland. In eleven games this season he has shown one red and twenty-four yellow cards.

Predictions

Lawro and Merson are firmly on the fence with 1-1 draws; a conclusion which look reasonable in the circumstances. Watford can be dangerous in attack but fragile at the back with a defence that has conceded almost as many goals as the Hammers. We are likely to see a cautious approach from Moyes, seeking to frustrate rather than entertain in a situation where picking up points before December’s run of death has to be the overriding priority. If West Ham can keep it tight in defence and in central midfield then they have the potential to hurt Watford on the break and from set pieces; thus I will stick my neck out and go for an encouraging 2-1 victory.

Don’t Throw Your Moyes Out Of The Pram

It is hardly the most welcome appointment in history as West Ham look to bring in David Moyes as Slaven Bilic’s replacement.

In true West Ham style the eviction of Slaven Bilic from the manager’s office at the London Stadium turned out to be a long drawn out affair. By the time the axe finally fell anyone who had been even remotely following the dramawould have been fully aware that Slaven was on his way and that his apparent successor would be David Moyes.

Having resisted the temptation to dismiss Bilic in the summer, when time and options were more plentiful, the owners had effectively painted themselves into a corner by tolerating increasingly desperate performances until even they must have known that the team were certain relegation candidates unless immediate changes were made. Although by the end most were in tune with Bilic’s departure (no matter how much of a nice guy he was) it would be difficult (or should that be impossible) to find any supporters who would have had Moyes at the top of their wish list for replacements.

The options at this stage of the season are clearly limited and the attractiveness of the task to anyone already in a job was not worth breaking a contract for. I don’t subscribe to the view that cheap was the key criteria although would dismiss talk of sounding out names such as Ancelloti, Mancini or even Mario Silva as the same fanciful pipe-dreaming that we hear about alleged top striker targets during each transfer window.

West Ham has always liked to represent itself as a family club but increasingly it has the look and feel of one of the many dysfunctional families that regularly turn up in Albert Square; at least if you take notice of the angry brigade that dominate social media. If what we read is true there now exists the perfect storm of disgruntlement on the Twitterverse that encompasses owners, stadium, players and both outgoing and incoming managers.

During my time supporting West Ham I don’t recall there ever being owners that were loved or respected by the majority of supporters. Maybe there have been brief periods of optimism such as the start of the Icelandic Age; but we all know how badly that ended, eventually creating the conditions that allowed Gold and Sullivan to ride in as our ‘saviours’. The club is no doubt in better shape financially under the stewardship of the two Dave’s but it is no more professional on the footballing side that it has ever been; very much stuck in the last century. Although it may not necessarily be for the better but the game has changed immensely over the years. Stumbling along from season to season and crisis to crisis (with the occasional relegation) is not an option for a club hoping to sustain a 50,000 plus stadium no matter how loyal its fan base.

The greatest negligence at the club is in failing to create a structure that provides continuity between the frequent changes of managers/ coaches (which have become inevitable) and to deliver an infrastructure, in the form of competitive and professional training facilities, which will attract and get the best out of their players. West Ham have been left badly behind in both areas. David Sullivan playing at Director of Football is a nonsense and Rush Green is way behind what should be expected at one of the world’s top twenty football clubs.

Despite the shortcomings (!) of the owners, the terrible performances on the pitch were clearly down the manager. Anyone who has regularly watched over the past year and a half must have observed the problems with fitness, tactics, team selection, formations, application and motivation. I don’t profess to understand how our transfer business works but the assumption has to be that the manager has the final say before any player puts pen to paper (even if the board are not prepared to pay the asking price for some of those at the top of his wish list). Working within a budget is a reality for almost all managers and I don’t go along with the view that Bilic was starved of cash, or that he was undermined during his time at the club. It is unfortunate that money has been wasted in paying over the top on wages rather than making that money available for transfer fees. A focus on recruiting experienced (e.g. old) players, an inability to discover young talent from lower leagues and a reluctance to develop youth have all played their part in assembling a squad that, although theoretically talented, is unbalanced and poorly deployed.

What impact Moyes can have (assuming he is the chosen one) is anyone’s guess. Many seem to want him to fail before he has started which is difficult to understand even if he does come across as a miserable bugger. After successful stints at Preston and Everton his career has taken a decidedly downward turn over recent years. The time spent at Manchester United, as Ferguson’s chosen successor, was always going to be a difficult gig and it was a relative failure rather than an absolute one. He was dismissed from Real Sociedad for being average rather than terrible but it was his spell at Sunderland which is the greatest cause for concern. He seemed to make little impression at the Stadium of Light where his apparent defeatist and morose attitude guided the Black Cats to a tame bottom placed finish. The only possible mitigation is that Sunderland was and is a club in massive disarray and irreversible decline; a look at the current Championship table would appear to confirm this.

If West Ham get the Everton era Moyes then he will bring far better organisation and greater levels of fitness to the team. It may not be brilliant to watch but it should be good enough. There is an old joke about two hunters being attacked by a bear where one stops to put on his running shoes. “You can’t outrun a bear” say his partner. “I don’t have to” he replies “I only have to outrun you!” Likewise our task is not necessarily to storm up the league but to do enough to finish above three other sides. In fact, those not wanting a long term engagement with Moyes might prefer our escape to be as narrow as possible so that no contract extension is triggered. For me, anyone who is hoping for failure and relegation (and I have seen some comments to that effect) has a rather twisted outlook; even if the motivation is to bring about a change of ownership.

At the time of writing the other rumour doing the rounds is the possibility of Stuart Pearce coming in as a coach to support Moyes. I don’t have a strong impression for Pearce as manager material but he could have a strong impact in delivering the much needed rocket up the player’s collective backsides. Pretty much anything has to be an upgrade on Bilic surrounding himself with his mates to a point where there was no viable caretaker to step in even on a temporary basis

It looks like Moyes is going to be appointed today and it is only right that he should start with a clean slate whatever the reservations. Can he work wonders in the next three games before we embark on the December of death? It will be a tall order but he deserves our backing and support until experience proves otherwise.

Five Takeaways: West Ham’s Shambolic Self Destruction Against Liverpool

Surely the latest is a series of spineless, self-inflicted surrenders will spell the end of Slaven Bilic’s tenure at West Ham.

The Shots Statistics In Full

Shots Off Target = 5; Shots On Target = 1; Shots Into Own Foot = 4
It was a bright enough opening. West Ham got past the opening fifteen minutes where no-one seems to want to score in a Premier League game these days with some ease and had, in fact, come closest to scoring when Ayew’s shot, from Lanzini’s deflected pass, hit the outside of the post. When the Hammers won a corner and our three centre backs all sauntered up-field I am sure that the gaps they left behind would have been visible from space. A quick Liverpool break resulting with three against Cresswell and it was one-nil. A few moments later it looked like game over as Noble supplied his first assist on the season to set Liverpool up for their second. The briefest glimmer of hope, early in the second half, from a smartly taken Lanzini goal was quickly extinguished by another rush of gung-ho defending that left keeper Hart grounded with a resigned WTF look on his face. The final goal was purely academic but was again the result of shambolic defensive organisation that involved lots of pointing but little positioning. It was just lucky that Liverpool themselves had an off-day and barely needed to break sweat.

The Lost Art of Preparation and Coaching

For once it was not a lack of fitness or effort that caused the Hammer’s downfall but it was disturbing at just how quickly heads dropped after the opening goal. Defensive suspensions and injuries hadn’t helped in selections but the defence has hardly been a strong point even with a fully fit and available squad to choose from. Who could have imagined that Fernandes would do a job at wing back against the returning Mane? It is plainly obvious that preparation and attention to detail is not a core competence in the current coaching set-up. Rather than it being form that is poor it is discipline and organisation that is missing. I can only describe Bilic’s style of play as anarchic (or anarchico as it really needs to have an Italian name) where players are allowed to do what they want, when they want. The notion that players do not need to be tightly coached and expertly drilled, given the small margins at play in top level sport, is beyond belief. Although it is always tempting to focus on individual errors those apparent errors are more often than not caused by collective disorganisation.

Were There Any Positives?

The only West Ham player who looked like he belonged in the Premier League on the strength of yesterday’s performance was Manuel Lanzini. It is not difficult to imagine him in a Liverpool shirt by the start of next season (but hopefully not that aberration of a third kit sported yesterday as if it was a goalkeeper’s fancy dress party!) Lanzini aside the best performance of the evening was from the Bugler who topped anything else I have witnessed from the Remembrance observations over the last two weekends. There was one thing that I heard on a commentary that amused me laugh when it was suggested that Slaven Bilic was making use of all his offensive tools. That I found the idea of Carroll and Sakho described as offensive tools to be one of the match highlights shows how starved we have become of entertainment.

Has Anyone Thrown The Towel In Yet?

I was fully expecting an announcement that the axe had fallen on Slaven Bilic’s reign at the London Stadium before this article was ready for publication. Surely it is now simply a question of timing. The image of our manager looking forlorn and lost on the touchline, like Bambi after his mother had been shot, and you sense that putting him out of his misery is the kindest thing all round. The International Break at least provides breathing space for someone to try to re-arrange the current shambles into the semblance of a football team. Sticking for a moment longer with Bilic suggests certain relegation to me. It is not too late for someone to come in and knock what should be a mid-table squad into shape. Assuming that we take no points off the top six clubs then our target is to pick a point and a half per game against the rest for safety (over the course of a season.) Currently we are just three points behind that target and so all is not yet lost provided action is taken.

Jobs For The Moyes

The strong media speculation and bookmakers seem to point to David Moyes taking over, possibly with a contract to the end of the season. He would not be my first choice as a next level manager but beggars can’t be choosers and the better opportunity for change was missed in the summer. It is difficult to know how to assess Moyes. He had a good record at Everton, picked up something of a poison chalice at Old Trafford (despite being recommended by Sir Alex) and was woeful at Sunderland. My big fear is that there are too many parallels between ourselves and Sunderland where a big shiny stadium is expected by those in charge to guarantee success. With Moyes it won’t be pretty but, in my opinion, it should be effective enough, at least for the remainder of the season. As a longer term solution I am not excited either by his dour demeanour and how that is reflected on the pitch. Equally, I wouldn’t be happy with the return of Allardyce or Pardew. Perhaps some exciting young coaches working alongside the manager could help freshen things up and avoid a repeat of what we have now where the manager has surrounded himself with his mates leaving no caretaker option available.

West Ham against Liverpool: A Preview to a Kill

Can our beleaguered manager and depleted squad extinguish the disturbing memories from last season?

Once again a West Ham game is over-shadowed by the ongoing speculation over the future of manager Slaven Bilic. Having survived the supposed two-games-to-save-his-job ultimatum he now faces a lose-this-one-badly-and-you’re-history challenge with the visit of Liverpool to the London Stadium for the Saturday late kick-off. The situation really has become quite ludicrous and I doubt there can many left who don’t believe it is only a matter of time before the axe finally falls. The only uncertainty is how far through the season Bilic will cling on for and how deep West Ham are in the brown stuff when that time eventually comes.

A string of names have been put forward as potential managerial replacements although the majority of these are currently in gainful employment and may not regard now as the appropriate time to accept the poison chalice form Messrs.’ Gold and Sullivan; or perhaps they believe a better is in the offing from Everton. There are, of course, a number of managerial merry-go-round managers who are currently kicking their heels in pundit-land including former bosses Pardew and Allardyce; a return for either of those would madness in my eyes – and there is also the discarded Ronald Koeman. It is unfortunate that our predicament will almost force the hand into the realms of another ‘survival’ manager when what is really needed at the club is one capable of building a team for the future. I wonder what Terry Venables and George Graham are doing at the moment?

The manager of today’s visitors, Liverpool, seems to divide opinion. Personally, I like him as he brings some much needed colour into the game. If he were not managing the pantomime villains from Merseyside, I think he would be getting more credit for what he has tried to do at a club that lives as much in the past as our own. Given time (and a realisation that you have to defend as well as attack) and I am certain he will be able to guide his side to regular third and fourth place finishes; only a huge injection of cash will now be able to split the Manchester domination.

Head to Head

I doubt that there is a team in the league that we have a worse record against than Liverpool. In 135 previous meetings we have won only twenty-eight (20%) and lost a whopping seventy (52%). In recent history the Hammers have fared relatively better having won four and lost five of the last twelve encounters between the two clubs.

A victory today would give the Hammers equilibrium on home turf by making it twenty-five wins apiece from sixty-seven matches. The last twelve home games have seen five West Ham wins and seven defeats and you would need to go further back to December 2001 for the most recent home stalemate. Liverpool have a 100% record at the London Stadium.

Team News

Pablo Zabaleta misses the game due to a one match ban while the Hammers are also said to be also without defenders Sam Byram, James Collins (and potentially) Winston Reid, Jose Fonte and Aaron Cresswell. Michail Antonio is also missing with a bout of acute embarrassment. Unless some particularly efficacious white horse oil can be found to treat the walking wounded prior to the match the defence will have an even more makeshift look about it than usual.

The silver lining in the cloud of defensive woes is a probable further outing for the impressive Declan Rice; but with the majority of attacking players reporting for duty the calls for the inclusion of academy stars Toni Martinez and Nathan Holland will likely go unheeded. A flurry of goals from Andre Ayew seem to have elevated his status to automatic starter for most supporters but he still needs to deliver more and on a consistent basis to justify his price tag in my view. It is ironic that his best position seems to be exactly the same as the one Little Pea wants to play.

Today’s visitors also have a string of injuries to contend with as Mane, Lallana and Clyne are reported as definitely out while Coutinho, Wijnaldum and Lovren are major doubts. Given the importance of Mane and Coutinho to the way that Liverpool play this news must be music to Slaven’s part-time rock star ears.

The Man in The Middle

Today’s referee is Preston supporter Neil Swarbrick from close to Merseyside. As well as being in charge of West Ham’s defeat at Newcastle earlier this season he was also the ref of this corresponding fixture last year. He also took charge of home games against Middlesbrough and Palace last term. In eight games this season he has yet to issue a red card and has twenty-two yellows to his name. In case you are interested his performance can be seem live on Refcam.

Predictions

No surprise that Lawro is true to form and predicting a Liverpool win (0-2). Merson also agrees but is forecasting a 3-1 score-line in the visitor’s favour. If Liverpool had Coutinho and Mane available my fear would have been something even worse than last season’s 0-4 capitulation, they are just the type of team who would have a filed day running at the West Ham defence and causing all sorts of problems. As it is there is only Salah to worry about and he looks to be rather inconsistent. Thus, there is just a glimmer of hope and I am going to buck the historic trend by predicting a repeat of last week’s 2-2 score. In truth, I would take a heavy defeat if it guaranteed a conclusion to the Bilic debacle.

Five Takeaways: West Ham’s Lack of Intent and Professionalism at Crystal Palace

No turn-around as West Ham deliver another dreadful display in letting slip a two goal half time advantage

Where Was The Big Performance?

In the build up to the game our manager was promising a big performance. What we go was a big disappointment. When the manager said he wanted the midweek heroics at Wembley to be the benchmark for the rest of the season on-one believed that it was throwing away a two goal lead that he was talking about. The sad truth, however, is that, although losing two points with the last kick of the match to the team bottom of the table, was disappointing it does not really come as a surprise to many West Ham supporters. Conceding at least two goals has become the norm in our Premier League games and all too frequently these happen as the result of naivety, stupidity or a lack of concentration. The performance, in fact, had far more in common with the defeat against Brighton than it did with the unexpected Wembley win.

Turning Things Around – Nothing Has Changed

Whether the ‘two games to save his job’ was truly an ultimatum from the owners or a mere media invention we will never know. West Ham avoided defeat in those two games but where does it now leave us? In the quarter final of a competition which we are most unlikely to win given the nature of the subsequent cup draw and on the brink of a relegation dogfight; having in the last two games lost at home to a hot relegation favourite and scraped a lucky point against the bottom placed side – and with a tough run of games now to face through to Christmas. Nothing has changed and there is no sign of any turnaround. The underlying issues with lack of fitness, movement, organisation, tactics, structure, understanding, intelligence and leadership remain, with no evidence to suggest that the manager and coaching staff have any clue as to how to improve matters. On the current trajectory relegation is a distinct possibility.

A Tale of Two Goals – And Little Else

There were few moments of West Ham quality and, once again, few players came out of the game with any real credit. Joe Hart possibly had his best game in a West Ham shirt and without his intervention it could easily have been a comfortable Palace victory – although could he have done better for the equaliser? Standing out in an otherwise dreadful performance were the two West Ham goals whose execution were totally out of character from the rest of the afternoon. The first, the result of a delightful quick passing move involving Lanzini, Ayew and Cresswell and finished with predatory panache by Hernandez. The second, a splendid individual run and strike by Ayew after Fernandes forced an error in the Palace midfield. It was an all too brief glimpse of the type of football that we all yearn for.

Where Were The Tactics – And The Senators?

The two goals aside, the first half was a disjointed and disappointing affair. Palace were very poor and only looked to carry any threat from set pieces. Bilic had spoken pre-match about his senior players being ‘senators’ who would inspire the team to achieve great things; but if that group included the likes of Noble, Fonte, Zabaleta and Ogbonna then they failed to deliver big time. Bilic claimed that his second half tactics were to get his team to exploit the space behind Palace as they pushed forward and adopted a more direct approach. Palace improved immeasurably after the break but mainly because West Ham’s negativity allowed them to do so. Giving away the early pointless penalty didn’t help but as a response there was no intent by our side to pose any further threat to the Palace goal. As usual our passing and ball retention were woeful with the only tactic being to give the ball away cheaply whenever in possession. Against the team bottom of the table we offered nothing but an open invitation for them to come at us.

What Has Happened to All-Action Antonio?

As needless as the penalty was, the last minute equaliser was the epitome of a lack of professionalism. Deep into the last minute of added time, Antonio in possession, unchallenged and alone by the corner flag, with three colleagues in the middle marked by only one defender. Keep the ball where it is and the clock runs safely down. There is a chance of a killer goal if he can be sure to pick out the right pass (although we hadn’t tried to score for the rest of the half) but by chipping the ball aimlessly into the centre merely conceded the possession that led to the goal – and having committed players forward we are now outnumbered in Palace’s last push. Whatever was he thinking -or didn’t he care? In truth, a change in attitude by Antonio has been evident for a while now. Gone is the all action, full of running, happy to be in the Premier League player to be replaced by a more moody and sullen one. Is this personal to him or a reflection of a deeper discontent within the squad? Whatever the reason it is deeply disturbing with a player who has been one of the few successes over the past eighteen months or so.