West Ham payers look dejected after Chelsea’s fourth goal.
West Ham payers look dejected after Chelsea’s fourth goal. Photograph: Peter Cziborra/Action Images/Reuters
This was Graham Potter finding out what a broken club looks like. It is the London Stadium emptying out long before full-time, patience worn thin by the latest in a long line of humiliations. It is fans reacting with sarcastic applause when your new £15m goalkeeper saves a shot with the game already dead and, perhaps more than anything, it is one poor lad mounting a solo pitch invasion after seeing Chelsea go 5-1 up thanks to West Ham’s latest failure to defend a set-piece.
Potter, whose job is surely under threat now, left Chelsea bruised by the experience but this was something else.
West Ham, who have conceded eight goals in their first two matches, are a shambles. They are massive relegation candidates and had no way of coping with the quality of Chelsea’s depth, which was summed up by the 18-year-old Brazilian teenager Estêvão Willian rising to the occasion on his first start after Cole Palmer pulled out of the game just before kick-off.
The theory that fatigue will be one of the biggest challenges for Chelsea to overcome after their extended summer in the US was given further strength when they lost Palmer to injury during the warm-up. Enzo Maresca was forced to rejig his attack, the introduction of Estêvão on the right seeing João Pedro redeployed as a No 10 and Pedro Neto moved to the left, and the late alterations initially had West Ham thinking that their luck was about to turn after their dreadful performance at Sunderland on the opening weekend.
Things being as they are in east London, though, the optimism soon faded. There was an early goal for West Ham in this battle of Brazilian forwards, Lucas Paquetá briefly upstaging João Pedro and Estêvão when he brilliantly made it 1-0 in the sixth minute, only for Chelsea to respond in the manner expected of world champions. João Pedro levelled within 10 minutes and the game had completely run away from the hosts by the time Estêvão offered a flash of his vast potential, skating through a series of challenges before drilling in a cross for Enzo Fernández to make it 3-1 in the 33rd minute.
This was painful for Potter, who came into this reunion with the club who sacked him after seven brutal months under pressure to prove that he can help West Ham rediscover their soul at home. Doing so, though, is far from straightforward when there is such a lack of pace running through the spine of the team. Midfield reinforcements cannot arrive quickly enough, although Potter will also look at his back five and wonder if there is a fix for the ineptitude that saw West Ham concede three in one half for the second successive game.
There were no leaders out there. West Ham react to setbacks by crumbling. The writing was on the wall when the equaliser arrived, João Pedro outmuscling Aaron Wan-Bissaka to meet Marc Cucurella’s flick from Neto’s corner. The positivity generated by Paquetá’s goal, bent viciously beyond Robert Sánchez from 25 yards, disappeared. There was an escape for Chelsea when Niclas Füllkrug had a goal disallowed for offside but they were in front when Paquetá lost possession to Trevoh Chalobah and João Pedro crossed for Neto to convert from close range.
Estêvão in action for Chelsea.
Estêvão inspired Chelsea on his first start. Photograph: Chris Lee/Chelsea FC/Getty Images
West Ham unravelled, James Ward-Prowse and Tomas Soucek proving no match for Moisés Caicedo and Fernández in midfield. Chelsea were stronger, sharper, slicker. Next came a burst from Estêvão, slight but strong, his speed and trickery too much for El Hadji Malick Diouf and Nayef Aguerd.
This is one special talent. For a moment it seemed Estêvão had taken too many touches; instead there was a little shuffle of the hips as he reached the byline, then a cutback for Fernández to score an easy goal.
The camera cut to David Sullivan, West Ham’s largest shareholder. There were jeers at half-time, although the mood felt apathetic rather than angry.
Supporters are zoning out. Many have lost patience with Sullivan after an uninspired transfer window, blaming him for the club’s shoddy recruitment. Patience is wearing thin. There were more boos when the 33-year-old Callum Wilson replaced the 32-year-old Füllkrug.
It got worse. Mads Hermansen flapped at a corner and gifted a fourth goal to Caicedo. Chelsea, who started João Pedro and Liam Delap in the same attack were running riot. Their next attack saw Delap drop off and feed Estêvão, who won a corner. Another delivery led to more confusion, Hermansen bullied before Chalobah made it 5-1.
Now it turned ugly. Fans near the dugout aimed furious gestures at Potter and one young supporter ran on the pitch. Attempts to tackle the boy were complicated by an older fan breaking through security and confronting stewards , capping off a night off utter embarrassment for West Ham.