West Ham have some very good players, and nothing will convince me otherwise. Jarrod Bowen remains one of the most efficient finishers in the league, and from what I’ve seen so far, Mateus Fernandes looks an astute signing.
Despite the club’s poor start to the season, Kyle Walker-Peters and Malick Diouf have shown promise, and aside from yesterday’s game against Tottenham, Lucas Paquetá has also started the campaign in fine form.
Clearly, much is wrong at boardroom level—as has been covered extensively over the past fortnight—but sometimes it simply comes down to coaching. That was laid bare at the London Stadium, where Thomas Frank completely outwitted Graham Potter.
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Tottenham found it easy against West Ham
Frank showed his tactical nous, and the longer the game went on, the more puzzles he set for Potter. Sadly, the West Ham boss failed to influence the contest at all, and the longer it went on, the worse we became.
Bowen, Paquetá, Fernandes, Summerville, Diouf, and Walker-Peters all declined as the match progressed. Yet at half-time there were no changes from Potter, and when substitutions finally arrived, it was too little, too late.
Too little too late from Potter
Bizarrely, no striker was introduced until the game was beyond saving. Worse still, the wrong players were withdrawn while Graham Potter’s favoured midfielder James Ward-Prowse remained on the pitch well past his sell-by date. Spurs duly tightened the screw.
In many respects, the 3-0 scoreline was a let-off. Frank rotated heavily and wound the game down ahead of Tottenham’s Champions League tie in midweek. Potter should be grateful, because West Ham already have the joint-worst goal difference in the Premier League and find themselves firmly in the relegation zone.
It’s a stark contrast from last season, when we hovered just above the drop as the “worst of the rest.” This year, we may have to face up to the grim reality that West Ham could be the worst of the worst.