WHUTOT – Under The Hammers

Should He Stay Or Should He Go: Pellegrini’s Time Surely Up After Spurs Clash?

If he stays there could be trouble, but if he goes will there be double? Is there any way we can rely on the owners to make a sensible decision?

Shattered Dreams

I don’t pretend to speak for all West Ham fans, but would like to think that what most of us are looking for is a club that we can feel rightfully proud of. One that attempts to entertain but even when that doesn’t come off, a team that goes into every match with 100% commitment. So that, whoever the opposition, they know that they have been given a game. It’s not much to ask and, if we are really lucky, there might also be the faintest whiff of success in one of the cup competitions. There are a collection of probable causes at to why we don’t have such a team. Owners who prioritise committing just enough to protect their asset over ambition: who have failed to invest sufficiently in both playing staff depth and infrastructure (such as training facilities, academy and scouting); who have no credible long-term footballing strategy. A manager and coaching staff who are unable to motivate, prepare and organise the team in a way that Premier League football now demands; who have recruited too many players that are unsuitable in meeting those physical and athletic demands. A squad of players who may have technical ability but lack the appropriate level of personal pride – a few notable exceptions aside.

Mark Noble says that if we are not careful, we will be in a relegation scrap. Have I got news for you, Mark – we are already knees-deep in one. At the current trajectory (two points from seven games) and a high probability of three defeats in the next three games, it is not a wild stretch of the imagination to envisage West Ham being rock bottom by Christmas.

If We Only Had A Heart (Or A Nerve)

Saturday’s game was a virtual re-run of the previous home fixture against Newcastle. A late flurry providing an undeserved air of respectability to what could easily have been a rout. Roberto may be the worst player ever to have pulled on a pair of Premier League goalie gloves for West Ham (and I’m including Julian Dicks and Carl Jenkinson in that definition) but he wasn’t the sole reason for such an undignified defeat. Once again, it was a team without plan or shape: too slow in possession; giving the ball away far too cheaply; and creating no space for themselves while allowing acres of it to the opposition. That West Ham relied so heavily on the heroics of Lukasz Fabianski’s for many of their points last season should have been a massive red flag. Skimping on the wages of a backup keeper in the hope that he wouldn’t be called into action was an act of gross irresponsibility. And what sort of cunning plan is it to hope that everything will be OK again once Fabianski returns?

On The Road To Nowhere

Apart from counting down the weeks until the return of Fabianski, the remainder of the current master plan is to “work harder”, “buck our ideas up” and “turn things around”. No need to worry then, everything is all in hand! If anyone can look at the displays served up over the course of the past month or so and conclude that all we need is a bit more effort, then they are fooling themselves. Of course, the players should be putting in a shift but the overriding reality is that the team are a disjointed and stuttering shambles. No-one seems to have a clue as to their respective roles and responsibilities. The captain was also reported on the Official West Ham site as saying the game has not changed in the 15 years that he has playing. I make him absolutely wrong on that score – it is much more team focused game now built around structure and cohesion (almost to a micro-managed level.) Individual flair and expression can still be encouraged but it has to be incorporated into the whole – just look how hard Salah, Mane and Firmino work at Liverpool. Pellegrini’s style belongs to the past. He has no roadmap or project for building a lasting legacy at West Ham. When we needed a unit constructed on solid foundations he wasted all the budget on soft furnishings. Pellegrini has to go and go now. There is no point giving him more time just to repeat the same old mistakes – he has no credible plan. The player’s morale and body language is at a record low and suggests an absence of belief. No player has improved as a result of his coaching – Diop, Balbuena, Anderson, Yarmolenko and others have all gone backwards since their encouraging arrivals. Although all of the other problems at the club will still need addressing, they are are longer term fixes. The only way I can see to avoid a devastating relegation is to replace the manager. Act now and let the new man can assess the strengths and weaknesses in the squad in advance of the transfer window.

Who Comes Next?

If the club should take the sensible decision and switch manager, the big question is who comes in as replacement? As ever, the usual suspects have been banded about in the media. I have no particular insight but would prefer a younger manager; one open to fresh ideas, who can also introduce far stricter discipline – like it or not, the players need it. Some may not want to believe it, but managing West Ham has to be seen as a top job – clearly it is not as glamourous as some others but the club are still top twenty in terms of world football revenues. There should be no shortage of interest. I can’t believe that Chris Hughton is a serious or genuine candidate (we may as well go for Mark Hughes or Tony Pulis) and can see Rafael Benitez want to hold out for the Everton job. To my mind bringing Benitez back form China would risk repeating the mistake of Pellegrini – an older manager looking for his final payday. I don’t see why a new manager has to be British but, would be quite happy if the right candidate was home grown. Sean Dyche, Eddie Howe and Scott Parker would each be interesting options, in their own ways. There are sure to be exciting younger overseas coaches in the European leagues of the right calibre – if our scouting reach extends that far. What we don’t need is a new manager who can do no more than steady the ship – a team builder is required. The worry in all of this, however, is that it will be the limited imagination of David Sullivan making the final decision.

Player Ratings: Roberto (2), Fredericks (4), Ogbonna (6), Diop (4), Cresswell (4), Rice (6), Noble (5), Yarmolenko (3), Snodgrass (6), Anderson (3), Haller (4). Subs: Antonio (8), Fornals (4), Sanchez (4)

Something Better Change: Dippy Dave’s Dither As Daniel Presses The Panic Button

Stick or Twist? What will win the day, West Ham continued indecision or Tottenham’s panicked recruitment of faded box-office star?

Just a week ago today’s game was billed as the South American manager death-match beat-down. A last tango in Stratford elimination contest where the victor lived to fight another day and defeated was cast out into wilderness, P45 in hand. It was all change, however, when pantomime Bond villain, Daniel Levy, sent his manager sliding into the metaphorical shark tank. A preemptive move that denied the Argentinian the perfect symmetry of starting and ending his Tottenham career with a game against West Ham – who can forget that injury time Eric Dier (yes, I know) winner that decided his opener?

Levy’s action has the hallmarks of a Terry Brown/ Harry Redknapp style spat rather than being a considered footballing decision. On this occasion the Glenn Roeder role is to be played by none other than Jose Mourinho. Yesterday’s man he might be, but Mourinho remains good box office and in the increasingly showbiz world of Premier League football, he is guaranteed to generate media attention. The Levy/ Mourinho dynamic and its inevitable meltdown should prove compelling viewing over the coming months. Meanwhile, Pochettino can take a short rest before picking up the reins at Old Trafford in the new year.

Meanwhile back in east end, the Two Daves find themselves once again firmly stuck in dither mode. For them, being driven the wrong way down the motorway, by a confused elderly driver, who is baffled by the controls and refuses to change gear, would not constitute a major problem. Unless there is immediate danger of head on collision, they are prepared to chug along to the next Services and hope the driver can turn things around.

With Christmas fast approaching, all the old chestnuts are still being banded about – ‘we must work harder’, ‘we need to sort things out’. Unfortunately, it has got to a stage where much more than platitudes are needed. We can only hope that Manuel Pellegrini, his staff and the players have used the international break to good effect. The squad and the injuries are what they are; it is the manager’s responsibility to organise and motivate those available in the best possible way – that is what he is paid big money to do. We are frequently reminded that Pellegrini is vastly experienced, so time to see some evidence of that. At least he has the advantage that this is one fixture the players are usually up for.

According to the joint-chairman’s statement issued yesterday, it is not only the aforementioned hard work that we have up our sleeves as a cunning plan. Today will see the Hammers unleash the ‘power of unity’. This is easily dismissed as meaningless mumbo-jumbo, but it does sounds very new age and mysterious. Maybe the scattering of healing crystals around the dressing room will help. Or perhaps appeasing the gods by sacrificing a goat in the centre circle at half-time.

But enough of the negativity. There has been some good news in the week in that both Mark Noble and Michail Antonio have been passed fit for selection. Although, Noble has struggled for much of the season, he is still the best available as a more defensive minded midfielder alongside Declan Rice. The thought of Carlos Sanchez (or the laughable suggestion of Pablo Zabaletta) stepping into the role would be enough to trigger a panic attack in the most balanced individual.

When players are out for an extended period, their abilities tend to become exaggerated to mythical proportions. Even so, I look forward to the return of Antionio. He offers pace, muscle and a directness that is not apparent elsewhere in the squad. I hope Pellegrini uses him wisely and that Antonio can provide an antidote to our slow ponderous build up. We desperately need to see some change in formation and cohesion. Something to suggest that this is a professional outfit rather than a bunch of blokes that have turned up for a kickabout over the park. I am a long- time advocate of giving 3-5-2 a try but don’t see the manager getting that radical. Let the wing backs provide the width and get those wrong-footed wingers off the flanks. Could there be any chance of a little imagination in the bench selection?

The elephant in the room is, of course, the goalkeeper situation. You don’t need to be a special one to know that Roberto is suspect under physical aerial threat. Any team (well maybe not ours) will know that and will plan to exploit that. Can David Martin provide a better option? Probably not, but his weaknesses might not be such common knowledge. Perhaps he and Roberto could play some form of three-and-in (or should that be three-and-out) keeper rotation. Is rush-goalie allowed?

Tottenham are nothing like the threat they were a few years back. Most of the players they have brought in have been a downgrade from those leaving or fading away – the exception being Lucas Moura. Having Harry Winks at the heart of midfield has slowed everything down to the extent that it is almost as torpid as ours. WInks is almost Noblesque in his short, back and sideways passing. Anyway, he went down in my estimation when he spurned the ’40 Winks’ squad number – watching him on a regular basis would certainly send me to sleep.

Today’s refereeing dream team are Northumberland based Michael Oliver, on the pitch, and Andre Marriner, at VAR mission control. It could be a feisty afternoon and with the north London diving team out in force, let’s hope they have all their wits about them.

Pundit-wise, Lawro has reverted to his default 1-1 prediction while Charlie Nicholas envisages the new manager bounce giving the visitors the edge with a 2-1 away win. I never like to predict a West Ham defeat, even more so against Tottenham. But it is difficult to call it any other way. The straw to clutch at is the hope that the players will for once find an acceptable level of commitment to make a game of it – provided that it doesn’t boil over into reckless card worthy challenges (Noble, Snodgrass – I am looking at you).

I really want to believe, but Santa Claus is looking the more believable option right now.

Pellegrini’s West Ham v “The Special One’s” Tottenham – who would have predicted that?

A season which began with high hopes for both teams appears to have gone wrong for both West Ham and Tottenham as they approach Matchday 13. By the end of this London derby, one third of the season will have been completed. Prior to the game the teams occupy 16^th and 14^th places in the Premier League, not what was expected of either when the campaign began. But whereas Manuel Pellegrini will, according to reports, apparently be given time to turn round the club’s alarming slump in form, the same is not true for our unpopular North London neighbours, who sensationally sacked Mauricio Pochettino as manager on Tuesday. Jose Mourinho was appointed as his replacement almost before the Argentinian had cleared his desk, so we face a team with a new manager on Saturday lunchtime.

Despite occupying such lowly positions in the Premier League table, both teams can take comfort in the fact that with 13 points (West Ham) and 14 points (Tottenham), they are not far points-wise behind the team who surprisingly are currently fifth in the table (Sheffield United) who have 17 points. A good run could see a rapid climb up the table. With the exception of the teams at the very top and bottom the Premier League is a tight affair at the moment. Liverpool at the summit are eight points clear of the second team, and Manchester City in fourth are eight points clear of the fifth placed team. You would get long odds against the teams in the top four not being the ones to claim the Champions League places at the end of the season.

It is less than six months since Pochettino took Spurs to the final of the Champions League, and he will be coveted by many of the top teams in the world. In my opinion he performed miracles in his five seasons in North London, with four top four finishes in the last four seasons following a fifth place in his first season at the helm. Before his arrival Tottenham had finished in the top four just twice in the previous 24 campaigns. He did this without the spending power of his rivals in the elite six of the Premier League. However, Tottenham have slumped in 2019, and have been beaten 18 times in the calendar year. The board under chairman Daniel Levy obviously felt that a change was necessary and have appointed Mourinho, a proven winner, but I see this as a backward step. Not that I am concerned about our North London neighbours going backwards, and I will be interested to see if my view is borne out. Mourinho has had a lot of success and won trophies at all the clubs he has been at, but only when given a lot of money to spend. I wonder if Mr Levy has promised the “Special One” a big kitty to strengthen the team and squad?

Looking at our own form though, the manager is obviously under scrutiny following a disastrous run which has seen us pick up just one point in our last five games, a comparable figure to Norwich and Southampton at the foot of the table. Even Watford, currently occupying the third relegation slot, have collected six points from the last five games, and look as though they are potentially ready to climb out of trouble.

In the opinion of the writers of this blog, the reasons behind our decline in recent games have been well documented in the last few articles, and we can only hope that the manager has used the enforced two week international break to try to work out for himself what the problems are, and how they can be remedied, given the shortcomings of the squad at his disposal. My main gripe is his inability to make changes to either tactics or personnel when things are obviously going badly wrong. One thing is for certain though, and that is a continuation of recent form will soon see us embroiled in a relegation dogfight when a few weeks ago we were being touted as possible top six contenders. The manager himself was quoted after the miserable loss at Burnley as saying that we must improve, as he was angry and upset and the performance was unacceptable. As fans we all felt the same way, and in my view it was just a case of him stating the bleeding obvious. He is one of the most highly paid managers around and he is paid to sort problems such as the ones he is facing. It remains to be seen if he can.

Based on recent performances the long term injury to Lanzini, whilst being a blow to him personally after his long lay-off, will not be a big loss to the team, as he was performing well below the standards he reached prior to the injury, when he was selected as part of the Argentinian national squad. The loss of Fabianski, and the poor judgement in failing to recruit a suitable back-up keeper have been instrumental in recent results. Apart from the obvious errors, Roberto seems to have lost any confidence that he may have had, and worse than that, the rest of the team would appear to lack confidence in him too. I doubt that David Martin is of sufficient quality to replace him, so we must hope for the speedy return of Fabianski, and the purchase of an experienced keeper of the necessary quality in the transfer window to come in if he gets injured again. Saving some money by not doing so could have dire consequences if Fabianski is out of the team for an extended period.

Personally I am hoping that Antonio gets back sooner rather than later. We must get somebody to play alongside (or at least much closer to) Haller as he continues to be an isolated figure so far detached from the rest of the team. Our Development Squad has been in terrific form this season with several players catching the eye of seasoned observers. Whilst I accept that you can’t just throw in a load of youngsters is one go, I am amazed at the reluctance of the manager to even try to blood one or two by finding places on the bench and getting them used to being part of the first team squad. I despair at seeing Sanchez in the squad every week, and if none of the youngsters are considered good enough then what is the point of the Development Squad? I’d like to see Diangana recalled from his loan spell at West Brom too, where he has been performing well. We can then see if the loan experience has helped to turn him into a player of sufficient quality for our first team.

The important thing is that when things have been as bad as they have been in recent games the manager has to try something new. If I turn up to the game Saturday lunchtime and see the same group of players in the 18 with no attempt at trying something new, then I will not be in the least surprised to see a poorly performing Tottenham team beat us. And unless results start to improve, and we have a relatively tough set of fixtures coming up, then I can see Mr Pellegrini on his way through the exit door. I seem to recall the owners being very keen on Rafa Benitez in the past, and after his none too successful start in China, I wonder if they would want to try to tempt him back for another go as a Premier League manager? Money is of course the big issue in these moves, but unless the situation is turned around soon I fear the worst.

As I’ve written before, I love surprises. I just hope the manager can surprise me with some new ideas, and that the team can surprise me by beating Tottenham on Saturday.