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West Ham were handed their second successive Premier League defeat by Chelsea, who thumped them 5-1 at London Stadium on Friday, as they sit rock-bottom in the standings having lost last week to Sunderland as well by a 3-0 margin.
The fixture against Chelsea was particularly one-sided as fans started emptying the stadium within the first half itself as the Blues went 3-1 up at half-time, then added a couple more in the second half, after the Hammers had gone 1-0 up earlier on.
Graham Potter was asked for his thoughts on the game and revealed that everybody in the dressing room was gutted as he said the following (via official West Ham website),
“I know the supporters, obviously, they’re gutted after a game like this, but I assure you, we’re all feeling the same. But that’s sport. That’s sport at the highest level. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We have to dust ourselves down. We have to go again. It’s as simple as that.”
Early pressure on Potter
Graham Potter is under tremendous pressure very early on in the season and has now got the least number of points than any of the club’s previous managers in their first 20 league matches.
To add to that, West Ham have already conceded eight times in their first two Premier League fixtures this season, with three coming in an embarrassing 3-0 defeat against newly-promoted Sunderland.
In both the outings, they have looked poorly coached and slow on the ball, and in spite of having five defenders in the line-up versus Chelsea, their structure was far from compact, thus allowing the Blues to dismantle them on the transitions.
West Ham are up against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the EFL Cup on Tuesday, before taking on Nottingham Forest away from home on matchday three of the Premier League next weekend before the international break.
The next two matches will be vital as far as Potter’s future is concerned as the fortnight-long break after the Nottingham game would provide enough time to the board to fire him and hire a replacement, if that thought has already crossed their mind.