There is a lingering feeling of stagnation at West Ham as small clubs progress
Brighton and Bournemouth have shown how a clear strategy can lead to success
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By JAMES SHARPE
Published: 17:30 EST, 20 December 2024 | Updated: 17:31 EST, 20 December 2024
Fifteen years ago this weekend, an Alessandro Diamanti penalty earned West Ham a point at home to Premier League leaders Chelsea and another one, on Boxing Day, helped the Hammers secure a 2-0 win over Portsmouth.
Brighton, meanwhile, followed up a defeat at Swindon that left them in the League One relegation zone with a goalless draw at home to Leyton Orient and, even further down the pyramid, League Two Bournemouth were still reeling from a 5-0 defeat at Morecambe.
A decade and a half later, West Ham welcome Brighton to the London Stadium on Saturday knowing they are underdogs. The bookies say they are anyway. They went to the Vitality Stadium on Monday night knowing the same.
This is a club, let’s not forget, that won a European trophy last year under David Moyes, reached the Europa League semi-finals, and finished in the top 10 in three of the last four seasons.
And yet there’s still a lingering feeling of stagnation, of a team not fulfilling their potential while smaller sides progress further and faster with fewer resources.
In the latest set of accounts, only the Big Six and Saudi-backed Newcastle raked in more revenue than West Ham’s £237million and yet in the Premier League table they sit behind Nottingham Forest, Bournemouth, Fulham, Brighton and Brentford.
There is a lingering feeling of stagnation at West Ham, while smaller sides progress faster
The Hammers were underdogs heading into Monday night's match away against Bournemouth
Brighton will also start as the favourites against West Ham when they meet on Saturday
Brighton brought in £204m in the 2022-23 accounts, ahead of Fulham’s £182m. Brentford earned £166.5m, Forest £155m and Bournemouth £141m.
These days budget and, to borrow a phrase from Jose Mourinho, football heritage is simply not enough.
‘The thing that sets us apart is the cohesion,’ a senior figure at a smaller Premier League club tells Mail Sport. ‘From recruitment to operations, to coaching, to medical, to sports science, everyone is aligned. It sounds naff but that’s it. We have a strategy of how we want to play and the players we want who can play that way.
‘You need the right players, not only mature personalities but technically good enough for their specific roles on the pitch. The profile of players signed by bigger clubs, like West Ham and others, would be scattergun at best.’
Nicolas Fullkrug may still ignite West Ham’s season — and save Julen Lopetegui’s job — but you wonder whether teams such as Brighton or Bournemouth would have spent £27m on a 31-year-old striker with no resale value.
Those clubs spent £40m on forwards Georginio Rutter and Evanilson respectively, yet both are in their early 20s with bags of potential and if things go well the clubs will get a fair chunk in return if and when they sell them.
West Ham, meanwhile, are believed to be in the market for another striker in January. Since David Sullivan took over in 2010, the Hammers have spent in excess of £300m on more than 50 forwards and, on Monday night at Bournemouth they played winger Jarrod Bowen up front.
West Ham spent £120m in the summer. Fullkrug has been blighted by a three-month injury lay-off, one the striker has labelled ‘catastrophic’. Brazilian winger Luis Guilherme, 18, has only played 11 minutes in the league. Crysencio Summerville has bags of potential, while £40m centre back Max Kilman has started every game.
West Ham forked out £27m on Niclas Fullkrug, a 31-year-old striker with no resale value
Brighton opted to spend more on Georginio Rutter and could recoup more if he reaches his potential
Bournemouth put their faith in Evanilson, another forward with bags of potential
West Ham are in the market for another striker with Jarrod Bowen forced to play up front
The question is, how much do they fit into a clear system? Were they bought as specific pieces of the puzzle? That’s what Brighton do, that’s what Bournemouth do, that’s what Fulham do. They have a set style, set roles, and they sign players to fit them.
Those players will move on but they have already planned for who comes next.
For that to work, everyone from the manager to the analysts to the academy to the directors to the owners needs to be singing from the same hymn sheet. By contrast, Moyes banned West Ham’s technical director Tim Steidten from the dressing room.
At Bournemouth, Andoni Iraola was brought in because the Cherries, led by technical director Richard Hughes, now at Liverpool, believed he fitted the style they wanted to play and would take the club forward.
The same with Brighton. Graham Potter, then Roberto De Zerbi, and now Fabian Hurzeler have kept Brighton progressing. They all have their different quirks, but they share an understanding of how they want their teams to play. These are clubs, from top to bottom, with a vision.
Lopetegui’s appointment by West Ham was driven by co-owner David Sullivan; Steidten would have preferred a more dynamic coach. They considered Ruben Amorim, though club sources have always insisted Lopetegui was their first choice.
And so we’re left, five months into the season, with a team brimming with attacking talent like Bowen, Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta but still lacking an identity or a clear style of play — one with neither the style they craved nor the substance Moyes provided — and a manager who is perennially a game or two away from the sack.
Just the other week, after back-to-back defeats by Arsenal and Leicester, there was the ridiculous scenario of club bosses discussing whether to fire Lopetegui as he took training. Everyone, those inside the club and the reporters who cover them, were braced for an announcement. It never came.
Julen Lopetegui's future has been the source of speculation ahead of West Ham matches
Lopetegui’s appointment as West Ham manager was driven by co-owner David Sullivan
A few hours later, it emerged Lopetegui would be given one more game, against Wolves. There was an understanding around the club that, had West Ham lost that game, Lopetegui would be gone. But they didn’t, they won.
And so he remained for the draw at Bournemouth and will be in charge against Brighton. What if they lose that? There is the sense this a can which can’t be booted down the road forever.
Sullivan is not an owner who has often been willing to dish out severance pay mid-season, but even people inside the club talk about a feeling of inevitability over Lopetegui’s fate.
Lopetegui is clearly not getting the best out of his players. He has had bust-ups with Kudus and Jean-Clair Todibo but Paqueta ran over to embrace his manager when he scored his late penalty at Bournemouth in a welcome show of support.
Against Bournemouth, Lopetegui gave minutes to two promising academy players, Oliver Scarles and Kaelan Casey. The lack of chances for West Ham’s homegrown talent has been a source of frustration, so if Lopetegui can start to tip the balance, that will only help his cause.
It is not just West Ham. Again, this is a club with recent European success and strong Premier League finishes. And the same criticisms can be applied to Manchester United, Tottenham and other established sides.
Lopetegui has had a bust-up with Mohammed Kudus
Jean-Clair Todibo has also clashed with the manager
Lucas Paqueta celebrated scoring at Bournemouth with Lopetegui in a show of support
It is a trait of the traditional giants, who act — and spend — as they always have and expect to achieve when other, less affluent teams show what can be done if everyone pulls together with a clear plan from top to bottom.
‘We’re pleased bigger clubs, like West Ham, make so many bad decisions because that it is what makes it competitive,’ the senior smaller-club source added.
‘With their popularity and money they have coming in, they should all dominate everything all the time, but they don’t because of their business. If they were better at it, it would be much more boring.’
Like Bournemouth beforehand and Brighton this afternoon, West Ham welcome a side who should remind them, and others, of a lesson they never seem to learn: what happens off the pitch so often defines what happens on it.