Leeds and Burnley are licking their lips at Graham Potter’s West Ham mission impossible says Paul Merson in a damning forecast for next season.
Graham Potter said he wanted West Ham to end the season on a high to build some momentum and optimism for next term after a miserable campaign.
But for the most part against Forest it was nothing more than a damp squib in yet another defeat.
Leeds United and Burnley will be joining the Hammers in the Premier League next season.
The only reason Leeds and the Clarets are not trading places with West Ham is because this year’s bottom three were so unbelievably poor.
West Ham fail to ignite hope for next season under Potter
Sheffield United and Sunderland will now battle it out to decide who joins Leeds and Burnley in the big time.
Those three teams will arrive back in the Premier League full of enthusiasm and hope.
West Ham meanwhile have been nothing short of hopeless for the last 18 months – and particularly since Potter’s arrival.
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Defeat to Forest means the Hammers have now won just four of the Englishman’s 18 games in charge.
Potter has the worst win ratio since Avram Grant.
Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images
Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images
Merson: Leeds and Burnley licking their lips at Potter’s West Ham
Guardian journalist Jacob Steinberg warned West Ham will be relegation candidates under Potter next season.
Leeds have a talented young side and have made it clear they’re going to be spending big this summer.
Burnley also have a young team and have broken all manner of defensive records this season, proving they are going to be no pushovers.
After two consecutive seasons of all three promoted clubs being sent straight back down, many have predicted that is set to change.
Now Leeds and Burnley will be licking their lips at Potter’s West Ham mission impossible, says Paul Merson.
Assessing Potter’s tenure and West Ham’s hopes for next season, Merson believes there is no easy fix.
Merson says Potter facing mission impossible at West Ham
The pundit states that Leeds and Burnley will be targeting West Ham in a bid to finish above Potter’s side.
And Merson believes the 49-year-old will need as many as FOUR OR FIVE years to turn the Hammers around.
“You’ve got to have the players to play a certain way of football and who he brings in I don’t know at the moment,” Merson said on Sky Sports.
"I think he should get a four or five-year contract" 📝
Paul Merson believes Graham Potter needs a lot of time at West Ham to get it right ⏳ pic.twitter.com/f1lmotVSNj
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“I think if you’re a Leeds United or a Burnley and whoever comes up in the play-offs, I’m afraid to say they’ll be highlighting West Ham.
“They’ll be looking at West Ham and going ‘They’re one of the teams I think we could try and finish in front of’. Because if you look at all the players that are going, I mean that will bring the average age down to about 12 or 13! I mean that’s an old age group.
“But experience is priceless. When that experience goes that’s when you start to struggle. It’s alright bringing in a lorry load of youngsters but it’s a hard one.
Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images
Photo by Steve Bardens/Getty Images
Why Merson thinks West Ham will take five years to turn around
“I think West Ham is a hard job, I think it’s a big club but I just think it’s a hard, hard job that. Someone needs a lot of time, there’s a lot to be done there. I think he should be given a four or five year contract to get it right.
“Because he’ll go and then someone else will come in and it will never get going.
“And sooner or later it does catch up with you and someone gets relegated.”
An ominous warning if ever there was one for West Ham.
It’s hard to disagree with anything Merson says.
Former three-time Hammer of the Year Scott Parker and Daniel Farke have put together really strong teams at Burnley and Leeds.
With the emphasis on the word ‘team’.
They look certain to be stronger than the sides who have struggled so badly over the last two seasons.
If West Ham continue along the path they’ve been treading since Potter’s arrival, it will lead to one destination – the Championship.
That is why so much is riding on this summer’s transfer window.
And that in itself won’t be easy for the Hammers or Potter with PSR a major issue dictating the club must sell to buy.