Tag: #WHUBRE

Hammers Are Bee-witched, Bothered and Bee-wildered in London Stadium Buzz Kill

Nuno’s winless run continues at West Ham as the Hammers pass on the opportunity to break their London Stadium losing streak. They remain forlornly anchored in the relegation places with the leagues worst goal difference.

The question has to be asked. What in the name of the holy spirit was Nuno thinking last night? I’d expected to see the back of the not as clever as he thinks he is school of coaching once Graham Potter departed. But here we are again – baffling team selections, incomprehensible formations, snail-paced midfielders, bizarre substitutions, and random square pegs failing to fit into assorted round holes. Two weeks on the training ground and this is what they come up with.

I suppose it’s just possible that underlapping full-backs and false 9’s can be useful tactical options in the cerebral coach’s toolkit. But relegation dogfights are not the right time and place for overthought grandiose experiments. Let’s get back to basics and keeping it simple in a way that everyone understands. Stick to the plan. Anticipate, don’t improvise. Trust no one. Never yield an advantage. Fight only the battle you’re paid to fight.

If I was of a cynical disposition, I might recognise a repeating trend emerging here. A new boss has an encouraging start in a game he had little chance to prepare for, and then everything goes downhill afterwards. Recency bias always plays a part when making comparisons, but a very long memory is needed to remember a worse West Ham performance than what was served up yesterday. The only positive was that the deficit could have been far, far worse. And this against a team who had lost their manager and main strikers during the summer and were forecast to struggle under the fledgling leadership of a former set-piece coach. The difference in class and preparation was frightening.

It is, of course, still early days from Nuno. But he screwed up massively last night. It should have been the winnable game that finally put an end to a woeful run at the London Stadium. Four straight home defeats at the start of the season setting a new all-time record for the club. The anticipated breath of fresh air has yet to make any difference to the stench of decay and despair haunting the club for two years or more. Nuno must learn quickly from his mistakes to find a system (hopefully a traditional 4-3-) that adequately aligns with the strengths of those at his disposal. The alternative is remaining rooted in the relegation places and losing touch with those immediately above us. No surprise that the betting markets see West Ham as one of the firm favourites for the drop.

You don’t need to have watched too many recent West Ham games to realise that Lucas Paqueta is a waste of time and space as a False 9. That Tomas Soucek is far too slow and cumbersome to operate in the frenetic heart of midfield. Or that Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo lack the strength, determination and presence to form an effective central defensive partnership – especially against big, powerful opponents. Does something happen on the training ground that convinces the coaching staff differently?

In many ways the dreadful team selection was compounded by strange half-time substitutions. Being forced to make three changes at the interval is a clear admission that you got the original selection wrong. But why not give the full backs an opportunity to switch to their preferred sides, at least for 15 minutes or so? And why replace Mateus Fernandes rather than Soucek or Andy Irving? Although bringing on Dinos Mavropanos did kind of make sense – the once weakest link has (by default rather than excellence) suddenly become the most effective choice in central defence – did it really require a change of shape to accompany it?

While past goal scoring exploits can make a case for Soucek being included in the matchday squad, no such reasoning can be applied to Guido Rodriguez. There are far better, younger and agile alternatives available. That he replaced Soucek at the time when a goal was desperately needed was close to perverse.

The greatest puzzle, however, surrounds Nuno’s refusal to use Callum Wilson. In my mind, Wilson should have been the obvious choice to start the game as the club’s only senior striker. Failing that he should have been first in the frame as a half-time replacement; not left to stew on the bench. Is there something personal going on here? Or is it a cost saving measure related to his pay as you play contract? He may be only one fall, stretch or tackle away from a long term injury layoff but he is easily the best striking option at the club.

It is telling that having previously lost Toney, Mbeumo and Wissa, Brentford are still able to field a functioning striker in the shape of Igor Thiago. Why then have West Ham struggled to fill that position since forever? I heard at the weekend that after Nottingham Forest striker, Taiwo Awoniyi, was badly injured last season, he was placed in an induced coma for treatment. I wondered if the same had been happening in the Rush Green treatment room, only they forget to wake them up again afterwards.     

We now move on to another relegation six pointer at Elland Road on Friday night. A massive change of approach and attitude will be needed to come away with a point or more at one of the league’s most intimidating venues. Over to you, Nuno. COYI!

Can Nuno secure a second win over Brentford this season when the Bees visit West Ham in the Monday night match?

I have long been critical of the frequent international breaks which come thick and fast at the start of each football season as they disrupt the momentum after only a handful of Premier League matches. Traditionally three breaks occur in the months of September, October and November with just eleven games of the season having elapsed when the third one occurs. However in 2026 the two week October break will disappear as part of a move that will see the September one extended to three weeks which will add an additional week for domestic football in the calendar.

The game on Monday night when Brentford visit the London Stadium marks the end of the second international break in 2025-26 with only seven games played so far. It has been a terrible start to the season with just one win and one draw and five defeats. We have four points and sit in 19th place with the most goals conceded and the worst goal difference. And of course we have a new manager.

We are now two games into the Nuno Espirito Santo era and despite losing to Arsenal in which the team failed to register a shot on target, overall things seem relatively positive compared to how they seemed before he was appointed. And despite my previous comments regarding my dislike of the international breaks this early in the season perhaps this break has come at the perfect time for West Ham. We have already seen some signs of improvement in our performances since Nuno’s arrival but having two solid weeks to work with his players without the distraction of having to prepare for games has been vital in ensuring he gets his message across effectively.

Of course a number of key first team players have been away with their respective national teams, but at least the ‘non-internationals’ remaining behind will have had time with the new manager to work, learn and adapt to yet another new tactical approach. Additionally the fact that our game is the last one in this matchday as it is being played on Monday night gives the returning ‘internationals’ more time to recover and spend some time with the rest of the squad and especially Nuno to prepare for the game.

With fixtures against Brentford and Leeds United up next, we have an opportunity to start securing some much-needed points on the board and start climbing the Premier League table. Although no Premier League games are easy, these fixtures are more favourable than those coming up in November when we face Newcastle, Burnley, Bournemouth and Liverpool – even though three of these are at home. It’s about time our home record improved, because if it does not we could then be in serious trouble.

On the evidence of Nuno’s first two games alone, there is increased optimism that we may go into the next two with greater hopes than we had before his appointment. However failure to win either of them might lead to further panic and despair so soon after yet another managerial change. This is a pivotal period coming up. No wins out of these next two games and things will be beginning to look bleak for our prospects of continuing in the top flight. But success, or perhaps at least four points, would mean that we could perhaps start to look forward with renewed hope.

Brentford were promoted to the Premier League in the 2020-2021 season finishing third in the league and coming up via the play-offs together with Norwich and Watford who were automatically promoted. Unlike the other two (who are now languishing back in the Championship) Brentford have consolidated their place under Thomas Frank, one of the best managers around (in my opinion). As a result he moved on to Tottenham who have made a big improvement this season compared to last. It remains to be seen if Keith Andrews can do as well as Frank. Brentford have seven points from their opening seven fixtures with two wins (Manchester United & Aston Villa) and a draw against Chelsea. They sit in 16th but we can match their points tally if we can win. But even a win can’t take us out of the bottom three unless it is by four goals or more (unlikely!). Nevertheless it is important to start picking up points sooner rather than later if we want to avoid a gap forming ahead of the relegation zone.

In the four seasons since their promotion we have a poor record against them. Although we won an FA Cup tie on their ground we have only beaten them once in the league, drawing once, and losing six times. Our sole victory was a 4-2 win the season before last which included a Jarrod Bowen hat-trick. Our captain has scored five of the eight goals we’ve scored against them in those eight league games, but we have conceded fifteen.

Current form is against us, and recent history of games against Brentford is against us, but nonetheless bookmakers still make us favourites, albeit slight, to win the game. Perhaps they sense the improvement under our new manager, or perhaps it’s because Brentford haven’t picked up a single point away from home, losing 2-1 at Sunderland, 3-1 at Forest (with Nuno as the manager) and 3-1 at Fulham. Can Nuno secure a second win over Brentford this season?

I Can’t Believe It’s Not Potter

The Hammers are once again utterly beatable as Brentford slice through their defences like a hot knife. Has the chronic West Ham self-harm syndrome spread too widely for a simple cure?

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!

A poem which asks if the positive signs of progress under Potter can translate into results and a climb up the table as West Ham face Brentford.

It seems like ages since we last did play,
But with injuries plaguing, it’s been good to delay.
I’m fed up with hearing of Tottenham’s plight,
All clubs have unavailable players in the fight!

With a poorly balanced squad, it’s clear,
Injuries hit hard, that’s cost us dear.
Hopefully, some will return to the scene,
With Ferguson up front, a future bright and keen.

Out of the cups, fifteenth we stand,
No Europe to chase, but survival’s in hand.
Ten points clear of relegation’s call,
A calamitous run needed for us to fall.

With Potter in charge, progress we see,
Looking to next season, that’s the key.
Performances to cherish, up the table we’d love,
Maybe the top half, or ninth or above?

Facing Arsenal and Newcastle, tough matches ahead,
Brentford and Leicester, we could win those instead?
Brentford’s away record, second worst we know,
A chance to get closer with a victory to show.

Talent abounds, no doubt in my mind,
Ferguson, Kudus, Summerville, Bowen combined.
Paqueta, Ward-Prowse, Soler, and Soucek too,
There’s goals in that talent, oppositions will rue.

Ferguson’s arrival is a welcome sight,
Though later than hoped, it still feels just right.
Potter knows him well, a debut at Brighton,
But a straight loan deal, not sure that’s the right’un!

If he succeeds, Brighton may gain,
But West Ham’s joy will not be in vain.
Ward-Prowse’s return, I do cheer,
Goals and assists, he’ll surely bring here.

Irving’s emergence, a joy to behold,
Opportunities given, stories unfold.
Potter’s guidance, a thoughtful touch,
Fourteen games left, we expect much.

I like how Potter’s seen the light,
In academy talents, he’s got it right.
Scarles and Orford have joined in the dance,
Hopeful others too will be given their chance.

Criticism’s been made on the squad’s age,
With Potter in charge we’ll turn a new page.
Guilherme had a run out, a glimpse to see,
Skill and speed, he might just be?

The Chelsea game, we were unlucky indeed,
Bowen fouled, and offside we plead.
VAR took ages, goal two a deflection,
Our play restricted them but not quite perfection.

Defensively stronger, Potter’s made his mark,
Coufal and Cresswell a surprise renewed spark?
Kilman’s happier? Todibo’s next test,
Encouraged by Potter, can he show his best?

Tim Steidten’s departure, inevitable it seems,
Kyle Macaulay arrived with new dreams.
Sullivan’s control is recruitment’s fate,
Steidten’s reputation is now of late.

Brentford’s away record, once awful to see,
Five games were lost, but now two victories.
Last February, Bowen’s three silenced the din,
Six goals were shared in a 4-2 win.

Earlier this season, a draw we did claim,
Soucek’s equaliser to match Brentford’s game.
It’s looking much brighter so is there a reason
With Potter in charge a good end to the season?

West Ham face Brentford at the London Stadium. Can the positive signs of progress under Potter translate into results and a climb up the table?

It seems like ages since we last played. Perhaps that’s a good thing with all our injuries. I get fed up listening to all the woes surrounding Tottenham’s injury list. All clubs including ourselves have players unavailable all the time. With a poorly balanced squad this can be quite a problem as we have found out with, for example, injuries to our attacking players this season. Hopefully some of our injured players will be back and, with the addition of Ferguson up front I’m looking forward to the final fourteen games of the season.

In some ways there’s not a lot to play for as we are out of the cup competitions, we sit fifteenth in the league with no prospect of challenging for a European place, and we are ten points clear of the relegation zone so there are minimal fears of a battle against the drop. It would take a calamitous run of poor results from here in to get sucked into trouble and fall much further down the table.

But despite the results since he took over, with Graham Potter in charge there appear to be positive signs of progress. He can start to look forward to next season and with a lack of anything too much to play for perhaps the team can provide us with some performances to give us a more memorable finish to the season, pushing us as far up the table as possible, perhaps even into the top half, or even bettering last season’s finishing position of ninth, although this would be an unlikely achievement as we are probably too far behind.

The immediate future won’t be easy with both in-form Arsenal and Newcastle coming up in our next four games, so the visits of Brentford this weekend and Leicester at the end of the month will be important for our chances of moving upwards. Only Southampton have a worse record than Brentford away from home (although to be fair Brentford have won their last two) so this is an early opportunity to make inroads into gaining on the teams that are catchable. Brentford are just four points ahead at the moment and sit in eleventh.

It may be unbalanced but there is no doubt in my mind that we have a lot of talented footballers in our squad, especially in an attacking sense. With Ferguson, Kudus, Summerville, Bowen, Paqueta, Ward-Prowse, Soler, Irving and Soucek there are players of quality who can present problems to opposition defences.

It’s a shame that Ferguson didn’t arrive sooner in the transfer window but his arrival is very welcome. Potter knows him well, giving him his debut as a sixteen year old at Brighton, but many are unhappy that a straight loan without an option or obligation to buy means that if he is a success we will be developing him for Brighton’s benefit, and he will head back there to add to their attack or be sold at a huge fee. I’d like to think that if he is the centre forward we’ve been looking for we would be in for him at that point, but we can’t realistically look that far ahead. All we can hope for is that he loves it here so much that he is successful and somehow becomes a West Ham player permanently.

We had the chance to buy him outright it appears but declined the opportunity to do so. That could turn out to be either a blessing or a huge error, but we can’t worry about that now. With our past record of buying strikers let’s hope there is a happy ending. Over the years we have bought so many strikers with big names and huge expectations who just did not fit into the system that the manager at the time wanted to play. Surely Potter wanted him because he knew he would fit into the system he wanted to play, even if it is just for the next fourteen days.

I love the fact that we have recalled James Ward Prowse too. I know I am in the minority here and so many of our fanbase will disagree with me, but I am a fan and don’t believe he should have been loaned out to be replaced by Rodriguez or Soler in our midfield. I know my fellow writer Geoff has reservations regarding his return, but he does have an end product in terms of goals and assists. In 2023-4 only Bowen (16) and Kudus (8) exceeded his seven goals in league games, and nobody exceeded his seven assists. He won’t necessarily be a starter but will be more than useful in the squad and I’d like to think Potter wanted him back because he feels he can get the best out of him. I believe he could flourish now he is back.

There are a number of positives since the arrival of Graham Potter in addition to the acquisition of Ferguson and the return of Ward-Prowse. The emergence of Irving is one – it was good to see him getting the opportunity to start in our last game. To me he always looked good with his tiny cameos and he put in a very mature performance with his first outing in the starting line-up. Again, another who may not be a regular starter but one who I’m sure will be more than useful if given the opportunities.

I also like the way Potter seems to have realised the potential of using some of our talented academy players. Scarles and Orford have already been given chances in his brief time in charge and I am hopeful that others will too. There has been so much criticism about the age of the squad and this is a step in the right direction.

He also gave Guilherme a run out in the Chelsea game, and whilst you can’t make too much of his limited appearance he did show a couple of examples of skill and speed that perhaps will mean he will come good in the future. We paid £25 million for him and then he never got a chance (possibly for internal political reasons?). Let’s hope there is another one here who can be added to our attacking talent.

I thought we were massively unlucky to lose the last game at Chelsea. Bowen was undoubtedly fouled in the build up to their equalising goal in my opinion, and there was almost certainly an offside decision missed (that VAR took an age to consider) too. The winning goal was a lucky deflection. I thought that Chelsea’s performance was restricted by the way we played and were set up by the manager. We were well organised and closed out the spaces in midfield. With our influential players missing it was a really pleasing performance.  

One thing that has surprised me a little is how good we have been (or perhaps will become) defensively under Potter. Coufal and Cresswell, despite their limitations, seem to have got a renewed lease of life at the back, Kilman seems happier and I hope he can get the best out of Todibo too. If it is true that top European clubs wanted him then hopefully Potter can encourage him to demonstrate why.  

The departure of technical director Tim Steidten was inevitable once Kyle Macaulay arrived as head of recruitment. His days were numbered, he didn’t have a good relationship with either Moyes or Lopetegui, and Potter wanted his own man. His position became untenable. He came from Germany with a massive reputation and was lauded for some of his transfer dealings but in the end it was inevitable he would go. With Sullivan at the helm, nobody will ever have full control of recruitment at the club.  

Up until a year ago we had an appalling head to head record against Brentford losing the first five games against them after their promotion to the top flight in 2021. We finally put that right last February when we beat them 4-2 which included a Jarrod Bowen hat-trick, bringing his total to five goals scored against them. The game earlier this season at the Gtech Community Stadium ended in a 1-1 draw with Soucek’s second half equaliser cancelling out Brentford’s first minute goal, which is one of their specialities.

Were you there the last time West Ham beat Brentford in a league match?

This was how I began last week’s article prior to the game against Nottingham Forest:

“Once again Geoff hit the nail on the head with his article published on Thursday. Week after week we seem to be writing the same thing about the current state of the team, and the ongoing debate concerning the manager. The longer the winless run continues the further the pendulum will swing towards Moyes Out, especially with catastrophic performances like the one we witnessed last Sunday.”

For Sunday read Saturday but otherwise the same applies this week. We are slowly making our way down the Premier League for the second time this season. We began the campaign with ten points from four games and held second place in the table despite three of those four games being played away from home. The first slide began at that point with just one win and one draw in the next seven games seeing a descent into twelfth following the defeat at the hands of Monday’s opponents Brentford.

The revival began then with the next eleven league games producing six wins, four draws and just the solitary defeat (5-0 at Fulham). Somehow, despite some very average performances, we picked up 22 points from 11 games. Can you imagine us keeping that up for a whole season and finishing on 76 points from 38 games? No, nor can I. Of course there have been three defeats to follow that ‘eleven game run’.

At the turn of the year, after 19 games, at the halfway point in the season we sat in sixth. The three draws to begin 2024 meant that we stayed sixth but the teams below were catching up. Week by week we lost a place falling to seventh, eighth and currently ninth. As Geoff pointed out in his article by the time the Brentford game gets underway on Monday evening we will probably be tenth with Wolves likely to go past us (they are at home to Sheffield United on Sunday). If Chelsea had a league game rather than contesting the Carabao Cup Final against Liverpool on Sunday then we might have even been down in the bottom half once again as we were in early November.

Apart from Chelsea and Wolves we have a seven-point cushion above the team in twelfth, Fulham, so we are unlikely to fall any further in the near future. Our winless run since the start of 2024 in the league now stands at six games with three points from three draws in those games. Only one team in the Premier League has a worse record than that – Burnley have only collected two. Even bottom club Sheffield United have four!

The winless run in all competitions to begin the year 2024 has now reached eight after last week’s loss to Forest, equalling the winless record of Redknapp’s team at the beginning of 1997, and that of the team at the start of 1922, more than one hundred years ago. Failure to beat Brentford on Monday will create a new (unwanted) record of nine consecutive winless games.

Our current form doesn’t suggest that we can beat Brentford on Monday. Since they beat Forest 3-2 on 20th January (as we did last November) they have had a tough run of fixtures, losing 3-2 at Tottenham, and also to Liverpool and Manchester City (twice), the last game a narrow 1-0 defeat on Tuesday this week. They did also beat Wolves so they have collected six points in 2024.

Our record against Brentford since they came into the Premier League in 2021 makes for depressing reading. We have faced them five times in league games, two at home and three away losing all five games 2-0, 2-1, 2-0, 2-0, and 3-2. We did beat them 1-0 on their ground in the third round of the FA Cup a little over a year ago. Five defeats, and they scored at least twice in all five games. In the reverse fixture at the Gtech Community Stadium in November we were 1-0 down, led 2-1 (Bowen and Kudus) before losing 3-2.

If we do lose the game then we will equal another record. In the whole history of the top-flight in English football apparently only three teams have a 100% record involving more matches against a single opponent – 6 games. They are Manchester City (v Bournemouth), Arsenal (v Reading), and Nottingham Forest (v Portsmouth). That would be another unwanted record heading our way in this poor run.

Losing our last three games 6-0, 3-0 and 2-0 means it is now over 300 minutes since we scored a league goal (the Ward-Prowse penalty v Bournemouth). We haven’t failed to score and lost the game in four consecutive league games since Alan Pardew was in charge when the run extended to five in September / October 2006. Less than two months later he was gone. In the six winless league games of 2024 we have scored only one goal in open play in 540 minutes (9 hours!) – Cornet’s goal v Sheffield United.

Are you depressed yet? I’ll continue to look for ways that we might possibly win this game. Perhaps the return of Paqueta? Is he fit yet? His wife said he was fit weeks ago. He has started 18 out of our 25 league games this season. All 10 of our wins have come in those games. In the 7 games he has missed we have failed to win any of them. Also we have scored an average of 1.7 goals per game in the games he has started, and 0.7 goals per game in the games he has missed. It seems we can only win when he plays. Surely he has to start even if he is not 100% fit yet?

Do you know when we last beat Brentford in a league game? How far back does your memory go? It was over 30 years ago. It was the very first season of the Premier League but we weren’t in it following relegation at the end of 1991/92. We were in the second tier (ridiculously called Division One at the time!). In April 1993 we beat them 4-0 at Upton Park with goals from Kevin Keen, Trevor Morley, Martin Allen and Peter Butler. I was there on that Saturday afternoon with 16,000 others for that game. Following the match we were third in the league pushing for promotion (only two went up automatically then). We still had three games to play.

The following Saturday (again only 16,000) we beat Bristol Rovers (Julian Dicks penalty and David Speedie). I remember great humour from the Bristol Rovers away fans that day who were singing “we’re going down in a minute” as the match was drawing to a close. They were applauded by the whole stadium. We were still third. A week later we played on the Sunday away at Swindon and won 3-1 (Clive Allen, Kenny Brown and Trevor Morley).

The final game of the season was at home to Cambridge. We needed to win to ensure automatic promotion. Over 27,000 of us were there that day (I should think so too!), a record attendance at Upton Park that season. I can remember the tension being unbearable as we failed to score in the first half and went in 0-0 at the break. Fortunately goals from David Speedie and Clive Allen sealed a 2-0 win and we were in the Premier League for the first time! We were level on 88 points with Portsmouth in second but our goal difference was 40 (81-41) and theirs was 34 (80-46). Great memories and great entertainment too!

To put current attendance levels into perspective the biggest league crowd at Upton Park in in our first season in the Premier League (1993-94) was the 28,832 of us who turned up for the visit of Manchester United. We hardly managed to exceed 21,000 for most games with that figure only exceeded three times with a low of just above 15,000. I mention the Manchester United game specifically as that was played on February 26th1994, exactly thirty years to the day before the game against Brentford on Monday. We drew 2-2 that day (Lee Chapman and Trevor Morley). That season Manchester United finished as Champions and also we saw the end of terraces at Upton Park. We were all-seater for the beginning of the next season.

“You’ve Never Had It So Good” Claims SuperJock As West Ham Continue Their Slide Down The Table

With managerial chaos and uncertainty dominating the narrative at the London Stadium, West Ham must prepare for their customary defeat to Thomas Frank’s Brentford

It is almost impossible to imagine a scenario where David Moyes is offered a new contract by West Ham at the end of the season. Only a madman could conclude that another term of Moyesball is the right and sensible option for the club. The Board may see Moyes as ‘the devil they know’ but there is far too much antipathy from supporters for it to work – and they are unlikely to take two or more years of misery lightly. Would a business owner knowingly sign-up for that – an extended period of guaranteed toxicity?

Although the owners will have their major focus on revenues, they cannot be impervious to the cause of fan unrest – a style of football that will bore the pants off from anyone paying more than casual attention. With 60% of the club’s income originating from Broadcasting (including prize money) the past three seasons may well have served them handsomely. But with the recent slide down the table and the prospect of further European participation fading by the week, there will already be a hit to revenues – without risking a season ticket holders revolt.

By the time West Ham kick-off against Brentford on Monday night they will most likely be down to tenth in the table. Had it not been for the Carabao cup final distracting Chelsea, they would probably have slipped into the bottom half. And history doesn’t offer much hope that the long eight game winless run will come to an end against the Bees.

If anyone had been looking for a reaction to the Arsenal slaughter during last Saturday’s visit to Nottingham, they were sadly disappointed. With Lucas Paqueta still absent through injury and Forest doubling up on Mohammed Kudus the lack of creativity on show was painfully obvious. The return of Michail Antonio should have been a positive but served only to reinforce the obsession with route-one football. When presented with the Hammers only realistic goal opportunity of the afternoon he fluffed his lines as often happens when allowed too much time. West Ham may have enjoyed more possession than is usual in games, but were slow and predictable with their possession. The long misdirected cross-field representing the go-to tactic. The hosts had the lion’s share of goalscoring attempts and could easily have doubled their final tally.

Rather than taking the opportunity in his post-match comments to apologise for yet another abject and depressing performance, Moyes opted for tetchy distraction with tales of his winning genius. It convinced no-one and served only to widen the divide between manager and fans. Perhaps if you add in three seasons of Euro group games against teams from third tier continental leagues then his win percentage still looks healthy. But in the Premier League, it is now just 27 wins from the last 81 games. Hardly genius level.

The uncertainty over Moyes future has been a godsend for the clickbait websites who on a single day can carry stories that he is about to sign a new contract, that he has x games to save his job, and that West Ham have drawn up a shortlist of managerial replacements. A list that bizarrely has Steve Cooper’s name included on it – possibly as a diversity candidate.

None of us know what is actually going on, or how the various board members view the situation. The vacuum of uncertainty exists because I believe they intend to limp along until the end of the season under the current regime. Allowing Moyes contract to run down avoids accusations from the punditocracy that they have treated their pal harshly.

While most pundits continue to implore us to “be careful what we wish for” – is the collective noun a predictability of pundits – a few have started to break ranks and suggest that fans are right to want better. That anyone can believe the manager has what it takes to turn things around or lead the club forward is magical thinking. The tendency for casual observers is to confuse results with performances – but to the supporter they are very different. There have been very few notable performances this season even if impressive results against Brighton, Spurs, and Arsenal have been recorded. They were more a case of opponents not taking chances, riding your luck and benefiting from individual moments of brilliance from Paqueta, Kudus or Jarrod Bowen. A style of play based around the low block might turn up trumps once in a while, but it is not a recipe for long term sustainable success in any competition higher in quality than the Europa Conference.

And if results aren’t quite as brilliant as they have been presented, the negligence in running down the size and quality of the squad could be considered a sacking offence in its own right. And this despite large sums of money being invested in the transfer market. It has left us short on experience, with precious few options from the bench, and is the reason why so many end up playing out of position. Equally, the manager has no track record of improving or developing players – apart from trying to shoehorn them into his rigid system. It cannot be an attractive proposition for potential signings and it’s hard to imagine the existing playing staff being at all happy with it.

I fully expect the winless run to continue into next month when we play Burnley. Thomas Frank has had the measure of Moyes tactics from the very start and there’s nothing to suggest that Monday will be the time to take a first Premier League point from Brentford. The only hope is that Paqueta finally returns to deliver a stroke of inspiration – for without him the team is impotent. With Kalvin Phillips suspended there will be a recall for Tomas Soucek – providing another chance to see the 1970’s tactic of goal kicks lofted towards the touchline for Soucek to head on. It’s the beauty of Moyesball. With a guarantee that Ivan Toney will pick up at least one goal, the Hammers will need to break their three game duck if they are going to put an end to the Brentford whitewash. COYI!

West Ham Play Host Brentford: Will David Moyes Finally Reveal A Plan Bee?

Episode 2 of David Moyes Turns The Season Around sees an increasingly sluggish West Ham attempt to resist the boisterous Bees of Brentford

Today’s football news has been dominated by the sad passing of Pele, one of the greatest players and ambassadors to have ever graced the beautiful game. It is futile to compare players across generations where the game has changed so much, but he was right up there with the finest – the very best in the eyes of some. His was a different era – one of robust shuddering tackles, hefty laced-up footballs, ploughed field playing surfaces – and Brylcreem. May he rest in peace!

The Christmas period also saw the demise of yet another of England’s 1966 World Cup heroes with the farewell of George Cohen. It was interesting to read some of the comments in his obituary where he shared the advice received from his first ever manager at Fulham in 1957. It included several gems that are particularly pertinent in the context of the stodgy fare currently being served up at West Ham: “Football is a game of movement, it’s about width and depth”; “… he taught me how to run on to balls, keeping the game fluid, rather than waiting to receive the ball.” Such ancient wisdom is enough to leave us scratching our heads!

Meanwhile, the David Moyes Doomsday clock has ticked ever closer to midnight following his team’s defeat to Arsenal on Boxing Day. He’s now the cartoon character clinging on to the edge of a sheer cliff as the rocks and dead branches in his grasp fall way one by one. It’s only a matter of time. Even the owners must recognise no attempt has been made to improve or change the style of play, despite the huge investment they have made. It must be obvious they have a manager who, despite the relative success of the past two seasons, is no more than a one hit wonder.

It would be considered madness for any manager to carry on peddling the same tired, predictable style once it has been rumbled by every one of his opponents. The shortcomings have been obvious to supporters for many, many months and even the band of backslapping pundits are finally waking up to it. It may have worked for a while but is now well past its best before date. If there had ever been a master plan to develop a more possession based game, there is no evidence that it has left the drawing board.

Moyes may well highlight the failure of the expensive summer recruits to impress at the London Stadium, but equally there is a huge disconnect between the players signed and the style of football served up. If Lucas Paqueta’s first touch defence splitting through balls are meant to be our salvation, was the less than pacy Gianluca Scamacca the ideal striker to be on the receiving end of them? Even if Moyes is capable of change, he has left it too late.

One of the names routinely touted as a future Moyes replacement, until he signed a new contract, was Thomas Frank, manager of today’s opponents, Brentford.

Frank is unusual in managerial circles in that he did not have a professional career as a player. He has done a tremendous job keeping his low budget team competitive since its promotion to the Premier League. Alongside Brighton, Brentford have demonstrated the type of admirable, far-sighted recruitment strategy that West Ham can only dream of.

Personally, I’m less sure that Frank would the right man for a team like ours – one that theoretically has aspirations to be regularly knocking on the door of European competition. He’s better than what we’ve got but not the long-term answer, for me. Maybe I do him a mis-service and he is more than capable of adapting to circumstances and handling teams with greater resources.

There is a romantic halo effect that surrounds plucky Brentford, especially after their recent heroic win at Manchester City. Yet their reality is an aggressive and muscular outfit which favours aerial dominance, long balls, rapid pressing and set piece mastery. There’s a hint of Stoke City about their physical approach except they are more attack minded than the Potters ever were – spearheaded by the excellent pairing of Toney & Mbeumo up front. I was banking on Toney serving a lengthy ban for his betting misdemeanours by now, but it was not to be.

There’s a real possibility that the Brentford front two will rip the Hammers sluggish rear-guard to pieces with their pace, power, strength and running; and that the West Ham midfield will be overwhelmed by the Bees aggressive pressing. It worked a treat against Tottenham last week until they ran out of steam and had to settle for a share of the points.

Going into the game, West Ham have lost five of their last six league games and badly need to stop the rot. It’s impossible to second guess what the dithering Moyes will do given his reluctance to change what hasn’t worked in the past. Another slow and cautious start to a game could be fatal. I have long advocated a style of 4-3-3 where the front three are closer together, more fluid and not over burdened with defensive duties. The midfield three (e.g, Flynn Downes, Declan Rice and Paqueta) must take on the responsibility for cutting off the supply to the Brentford front-men. Unfortunately, the back four, whatever selections are made in the absence of Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd, will continue to have a rickety makeshift look to it. Is it now also time for Alphonse Areola to come into the side?

As we reach the final match of the season all we can look back at is a very unsatisfactory year in league matches. The record for 2022 to date is P 35, W11, D6, L18, GF 39, GA 46 – earning only 39 points. Slightly ahead of relegation form but on a downward spiral. Away from home the record is particularly disturbing. Just 4 wins, 2 draws, 11 points and 13 goals from 17 games – with 4 of those goals coming in a single game against relegated Norwich City. Depressing stuff all round.

The year started with a win, so can it end with one?  I feel we might end up with a point apiece, allowing the managerial can to be kicked down the road a little further. Prolonging the misery and uncertainty for a week or two more. All I can offer is COYI and wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year!

The (not quite) Half Term Review for West Ham United

In a normal season around this time of year, Christmas / New Year, we would be at the halfway point of the Premier League campaign. Of course this is not a normal season with interruptions to the fixture list following the death of the Queen and a World Cup played in our winter as opposed to the summer.

As we go into the final fixture of 2022 at home to Brentford we still have three league games to play before the halfway point is reached. Following Brentford we have away games at Leeds (4 Jan), and Wolves (14 Jan), with a third round FA Cup tie at Brentford in between (7 Jan).

In a normal season we would play all the other 19 teams first before embarking upon the reverse fixtures in the second half, but this time around it will not be quite like that, as our 19th fixture at Wolves will be the second time we have faced them. We haven’t yet faced high flying Newcastle as that game was postponed in Matchweek 7.

After 16 Premier League games we have lost 10, winning just 4 and drawing 2. That means we have 14 points and sit in 16th place in the table, just ahead of Everton based on goals scored (we are level on points and goal difference with them). Any team that is averaging a point a game or less is involved in a relegation situation. We are most definitely involved. Although Declan Rice believes the current position is just “a bump in the road.”

Everton are one of just three teams to have scored fewer goals than us. We have 13, Everton 12, Forest 11, and Wolves 10. Conversely our goals conceded record is much better with only Newcastle, Everton, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool having conceded fewer goals than us. That demonstrates where the problem lies. We are not scoring enough goals, especially away from home where we have managed just four and never more than once in any game.

At home we have 10 points from our 8 games with 3 wins by two goal margins, 2-0 v Wolves, 3-1 v Fulham and 2-0 v Bournemouth, and a 1-1 draw v Tottenham. Four home games have been lost conceding two goals in each, 0-2 v Manchester City, 0-2 v Brighton, 1-2 v Palace and 0-2 v Leicester.

Away from home this week’s 1-3 reverse at Arsenal was the first time we have been beaten by more than a single goal, with four 0-1 losses at Forest, Everton, Liverpool and Manchester United and a 1-2 reverse at Chelsea. The four points we have picked up on our travels are from a 1-0 win at Villa and a 1-1 draw at bottom club Southampton.

Current form is woeful with four league defeats in a row (the same as Southampton who have recently sacked their manager); our last win was 2-0 at home to Bournemouth (24 Oct). Said Benrahma is our leading league goalscorer with 3 (2 of which were penalties). In fact he has scored our last three league goals. The last time any other player has scored a goal was when Zouma scored (a controversial?) header just before half time in the win over Bournemouth.

Bowen, Scamacca and Antonio haven’t scored since 9 October when they all scored in the 3-1 win over Fulham. Bowen’s goal was a penalty in that game; he subsequently missed one at Liverpool on 19 October. They have each scored just twice this season.

The 14 points we have amassed from our first 16 games is exactly half of what we had achieved after 16 games last season when we had 28 points from 8 wins, 4 draws and just 4 defeats, and sat in 4th place in the table. This highlights our decline since then with the final 22 games from last term and the first 16 from this one (a full season’s worth of 38 games) producing just 42 points.

The only real positive from this season has been our 8 wins from 8 games in the Europa Conference League. You can only beat what is in front of you but these victories say more about the quality of the opposition in those games than anything else.

The pressure is building on David Moyes as we have lost four games in a row, the ten defeats are equally the most in the top flight, and we are just one point and two places above the bottom three. The next three games to the halfway point of the season are crucial.

  • Can we win all three to move on to 23 points from 19 games and mid-table?
  • If we lose all three and / or fall into the relegation places will David Moyes still be the manager? Or will two top seven finishes in the last two seasons, reaching the Europa Cup semi-final last time, and qualification for the round of 16 in the Europa Conference League this season buy him more time?
  • If he goes, who might replace him?
  • Will we still be in the FA Cup after the third round matches?

The mood on fan groups on the internet certainly seems to have shifted. The numbers calling for the manager to be replaced are growing, and the number of fans supporting him seems to be diminishing rapidly. That will escalate if the current slump does not get turned round quickly.

The list of complaints about him include:

  • losing the dressing room,
  • picking his favourites however poorly they seem to be playing,
  • a lack of tactical ideas,
  • no plan B or C,
  • setting up to not lose or to hold on for a win if we do get in front,
  • making strange substitutions,
  • making substitutions too late,
  • an inferiority complex especially regarding the top teams,
  • giving too much respect to the top teams especially when we are away (he has a poor managerial record against some top clubs never having beaten them away after numerous efforts),
  • turning good players into average ones,
  • buying players not suited to the club, the Premier League or his playing style,
  • opposition teams have now found us out and he has failed to adapt or recognise this,
  • failure to give academy players a chance

Those are just a random selection – there may be more.   

He was well supported in terms of finance in the summer but the newcomers have not (yet?) proved to be a success. Aguerd has been injured (is he injury prone – time will tell?), Paqueta is obviously a good player but does not seem to be suited to playing in the Premier League, Scamacca is Haller mark 2 and not suited to our style of play, Emerson is Masuaku mark 2, Cornet seems to be injury prone, Kehrer seems to make a lot of mistakes for a current German international defender, and Downes looks a good player  but doesn’t get selected.

This evening’s game against Brentford is vital if we are going to start to recover from this disappointing start to the season. We haven’t beaten them for almost 30 years, although we have only played them twice in that time when they did the double over us last season. Despite our recent form, bookmakers still have us as evens favourites to win the game. What are the chances?

West Ham Will Be Buzzing: But Can They Bring The Bees To Their Knees?

The Hammers first meeting of the season with one of the newly promoted sides. The bees will surely be flying higher than either the hornets or canaries.

Today sees a first ever top tier clash between West Ham and Brentford, and the first in any competition since the 1992/93 season. Although the Bees had enjoyed one previous spell in the old First Division – a war interrupted run between 1935/ 36 and 1946/47 – the Hammers were languishing in midtable Division 2 obscurity at the time.  

Among many pundits pre-season favourites for the relegation places, Brentford have equipped themselves well so far. Showing the determination and resilience necessary to make a go of it in the Premier League, and following in Leeds footsteps as the season’s surprise package. Prior to last weekend they had conceded just two times, but it was their refusal to be overawed by Liverpool, and to come from behind twice in a 3-3 draw, that rightfully earned the plaudits.

For the Hammers, today is the second instalment of the Sunday after the Thursday before schedule that will run until Christmas. A routine victory against Rapid Vienna in the week left them sitting comfortably at the top of Group H. That it has been achieved with a largely second-string selection is a bonus and all the more satisfying. Considerably reducing the risk of fatigue and injury from having to play twice per week.

The Europa League game saw another man of the match performance from Declan Rice. What a top class player he has become. I will admit to being one of those who initially thought he could only ever make it as a centre back – how wrong was that? It is not only his commanding performances on the pitch that would be missed but also his obvious role in encouraging the superb team spirit that currently surrounds the club.  

It is unlikely there will be any surprises in the West Ham starting line-up for the game. The only uncertainty is at right back where both Vladimir Coufal and Ryan Fredericks may be unavailable. Fortunately, Ben Johnson can provide sound defensive cover, even if he still needs to offer more going forward. It was interesting to see that Brentford had targeted Alexander-Arnold as the weak link in Liverpool’s defence last week and I wonder if Thomas Frank sees any similar point of weakness in the Hammer’s backline. Both full-backs may need strong support from their respective midfield partners.

As last year’s set-piece kings, West Ham have carried much less of a threat this time around. One of the highlights in midweek was seeing Craig Dawson really attacking the ball at corner kicks. Dawson and Tomas Soucek were a handful for defences last season and corners were a productive source of goals. Kurt Zouma is the better defender than Dawson (and has a reasonable goal-scoring record of his own) but we have yet to see any aggression from him in the opposition box.

The Rice/ Soucek dynamic also looks in need of tweaking. The desire to get Rice forward more is understandable, particularly now he has started to weigh-in with a few important goals. But it does appear to have dampened Soucek’s party piece of arriving late in the box with purpose. There were signs of the old Soucek in the second half at Leeds and hopefully the manager and coaches are working on getting the right balance between the two.

A win today could move West Ham up to third or fourth place, depending on the scale of victory and what happens in the subsequent Liverpool-Manchester City clash. Not that victory is assured against a side who are as well organised and hard working as Brentford. Breaking down compact and organised defences is something we still seem to struggle with. Excellent counter-attacking has become a West ham core competency but that extra touch of magic to unlock packed defences remains elusive.

How Brentford approach the game will be fascinating. Last weekend’s barnstorming game with Liverpool was something of an anomaly for them, deviating from the cautious, disciplined style that had gone before and earned them three clean sheets – no doubt polycotton ones at a 50% saving in the Brentford Nylons great autumn sale, not arf!

Not knowing what to expect makes this game difficult to call. Surprisingly West Ham supporters have suddenly become accustomed to winning games, particularly at the London Stadium. But against an athletic, all-action opponent who don’t know when they are beaten, it will be a tough test.

In the past this fixture has thrown up some crazy score-lines including 7-4, 8-3 and 7-2. I’ve a feeling this one will be a tighter affair. I can see it being edge of the seats stuff right to the final whistle, with the Hammers finally winning out by the odd goal. COYI!