West Ham United defender Konstantinos Mavropanos admits he’s often thought that this team are too good to go down.
As it stands, West Ham United are on course for relegation from the Premier League, but a recent run of good results have lifted the mood here in east London somewhat.
However, Hammers fans will be all too familiar with the term “too good to go down”, given it was given to their team of 2002/03, who were famously relegated despite amassing 42 points.
Things are looking up 😍 So who are we sending down to the Championship?!
Forest? Leeds?……Spurs? 🙏
A graphic asking West Ham fans which team in the Premier League they are going to catch.
Credit: Getty Images/Rob Newell – CameraSport
To say that this particular West Ham squad is as good as that one would perhaps be unfair.
However, when looking at the quality at Nuno Espirito Santo’s disposal, Mavropanos admits he has often thought they are too good to drop into the Championship.
Speaking to Sky Sports, the Greek said: “With the quality that we have individually, you can see some players, how good they are. There are many times that I was thinking this, but when you go on the pitch you just have to show this.
“And there were moments that we couldn’t show that as we wanted, but I think the last couple of weeks we had some good results and we showed what we are capable of.”
Konstantinos Mavropanos during West Ham United v Sunderland - Premier League
Photo by Kevin Hodgson/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
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Why West Ham fans won’t want to hear this team is too good to go down
Mavropanos isn’t wrong, of course. This is a team packed with talent, although the same could be said about fellow strugglers Nottingham Forest and Tottenham.
West Ham getting relegated on 42 points is still a Premier League record and this team, on paper, should have enough quality to get at least close to that.
What chance do you give West Ham of ENDING their Liverpool hoodoo?
West Ham United's Jarrod Bowen applauds the fans at the final whistle during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Bournemouth at London Stadium on February 21, 2026 in London, United Kingdom.
The likes of Crysencio Summerville, Mateus Fernandes, Malick Diouf and Jarrod Bowen would surely be the envy of most other Premier League clubs.
Still, name alone isn’t always enough, as West Ham fans would have been made aware of all those years ago.
What happened the last time West Ham were considered “too good to go down”
The last time a West Ham squad considered too good to get relegated were actually condemned to the Championship saw a fire-sale at the club.
The summer of 2003 saw almost all of their big players leave. The likes of Trevor Sinclair, Les Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Glen Johnson and Paolo Di Canio departed.
Should the same thing happen again, it’s difficult to imagine any of the names listed earlier in this article staying around.
Though Mavropanos clearly wasn’t suggesting that this team have nothing to worry about, assuming you’re too good to be relegated can be a very dangerous thing.
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