Graham Potter addressed the media after West Ham United lost 1-0 to Newcastle United on Monday night.
West Ham missed out on the chance to make it three Premier League wins in a row against Newcastle at the London Stadium, and it was a fairly drab all-round performance from the team.
Graham Potter said West Ham were unlucky to lose to Newcastle after the final whistle, following Alexander Isak’s push on Max Kilman just before Bruno Guimaraes scored for the visitors.
In my opinion, Potter made a few poor decisions on the night.
The starting XI that he selected was questionable and his decision to bring Danny Ings on for the final 10 minutes was a truly bizarre one.
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
The Hammers are capable of so much more than what they showed against the Toon on Monday night.
West Ham fans have to realise that positive change will not happen overnight though…
Graham Potter sends apology to West Ham fans
Potter has forged a big reputation in the game as a manger who implements a really easy-on-the-eye brand of football.
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We’ve seen some good stuff in patches, but the consistency definitely needs to improve.
I personally didn’t like how passive we were in the first-half against Newcastle, and I’m sure Potter didn’t deep down either.
Things will improve, I’m convinced of that, but it will take time for Potter’s ideas and philosophies on the game to bed in properly.
The Hammers head coach spoke to reporters after the Newcastle defeat, and actually apologised to the West Ham fans, as quoted by WHUFC.com:
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images
“I apologise if things aren’t happening quicker than we want them to be, but I think when you see the players give everything, that [commitment] is there.“
Potter has got it all wrong
Here’s the thing, there’s absolutely no need for an apology.
Anyone with even a small understanding of the game won’t be expecting Potter to work miracles and have us playing like prime Barcelona overnight.
These things take time, and Potter’s system is an incredibly intricate one.
It will take six months at the very least before muscle memory kicks in for the Hammers players, so to speak.
The other key issue here is that the squad at his disposal simply isn’t good enough.
Graham Potter needs a proper centre-forward, a powerful box-to-box central midfielder and a ball-playing centre-back at West Ham, in order for his system to thrive.
It could be argued that he needs to bring in a goalkeeper who’s comfortable with the ball at his feet as well.
He doesn’t need to apologise to us at all. The true test for him will begin at the start of the 2025/26 season.