“You’re nothing special, we lose every week.”
West Ham followers have been in full gallows humour mode on the Amex Stadium and the above chant was heard – and applauded by the house followers – when Yasan Ayari gave Brighton the lead together with his stunning, curled shot previous Alphonse Areola.
Many of the chanting by the travelling West Ham followers was about Niclas Fullkrug. The primary music was about how they’ve an enormous German. The second was about wanting him on the pitch – and the third one turned to his current, scathing interview about on-field performances.
The followers agreed with the massive German, who “says what he wants” concerning his evaluation of their performances. With three objectives and one scathing post-match interview to his identify, the ‘Large German’ has turn into a cult hero.
It can have made uncomfortable listening for head coach Graham Potter, sitting not removed from Fullkrug, on the benches of the membership he used to handle.
“They’re entitled to sing whatever they want. That’s it,” Potter stated in a reasonably spiky post-match media convention.
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Potter reacts to West Ham’s dramatic 3-2 defeat to his former aspect Brighton on the Amex Stadium
The West Ham boss launched Fullkrug at half-time and the change appeared to have labored. It allowed Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus to function in large areas and gave West Ham an attacking point of interest.
From the fitting, Bowen created two probabilities that noticed West Ham main 2-1 with minutes to go, just for Brighton to show the sport on its head with two late objectives.
In isolation, a late defeat would have triggered few headlines – but it surely got here every week after they’d conceded an injury-time equaliser to Southampton. That’s one level taken the place six have been very a lot up for grabs, and West Ham can be 14th above David Moyes’ Everton, Manchester United and Spurs, who they face on Sunday.
As an alternative, they’re seventeenth, three locations beneath the place Julen Lopetegui left them.
It won’t be solely the league positioning, chants about Germans and late objectives that will likely be making Potter uncomfortable. He has been within the function lengthy sufficient now – because the FA Cup defeat to Aston Villa in early January – to have a physique of labor that’s price evaluating to his ill-fated predecessor.
Potter has gained three (21 per cent) of his 14 video games in cost. Lopetegui gained six (30 per cent) of his 20 Premier League matches. Lopetegui’s group scored 24 objectives in that point at 1.2 objectives per sport in opposition to 15 from Potter at 1.07.
It has been clear although that Potter determined to start out his tenure by attempting to make West Ham more durable to beat. Whereas they’ve misplaced seven of these 14 matches, which eclipses Lopetegui’s 45 per cent document, it’s within the goals-conceded column the place Potter has succeeded.
West Ham’s opponents have scored at a mean of 1.09 since Potter’s arrival, in comparison with the 39 they shipped in Lopetegui’s tenure at practically two per sport. Solely Southampton, Leicester and Wolves had conceded extra at that time within the season – two of them are already consigned to the Championship subsequent season.
Brighton’s winner on the weekend was the primary time West Ham had conceded three since Lopetegui left, whereas underneath the Spaniard they shipped three or extra in 9 of 20 Premier League matches.
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Highlights from the Premier League match between Brighton and West Ham
These video games included letting in 5 in opposition to Arsenal and Liverpool. The brand new Premier League champions additionally put 5 extra previous them within the Carabao Cup.
What has underpinned that defensive transformation has been a change of system to accompany Potter’s need to make West Ham more durable to beat.
The Hammers have adopted a again 5, or again three with wing-backs in 10 of Potter’s 14 matches, whereas Lopetegui used it solely twice in 20 matches.
Below Potter with a again 5, objectives conceded drops to 0.9 per match in opposition to 1.5 with a again 4.
Halving their objectives conceded from practically two per sport to 1.3, although, has not introduced the wins and factors that West Ham and their followers need.
The stats present, maybe surprisingly to West Ham followers, that their group seem extra more likely to rating when taking part in as a 5, however warmth maps from the newest defeat to Brighton additionally trace to one of many issues they discuss.
Within the first half, when working with no striker, Bowen and Kudus typically discovered themselves taking part in in the identical channel, by the center and proper of West Ham’s assault.
After the introduction of Fullkrug, Kudus noticed extra ball on the left for West Ham, and Bowen created the objectives for Kudus and Tomas Soucek on the fitting. Each gamers noticed extra touches within the second half.
Potter has talked about needing to seek out the fitting steadiness between defence and assault, and if he’s to succeed, that’s the answer he wants to seek out. A stingier defence is just a part of the answer.
As Potter stated post-Brighton: “There are lots of positives, but no one wants to hear positives. Doesn’t matter. [I’m] sick of talking about positives.”
Till the positives flip into factors, he’s more likely to proceed to listen to the uncomfortable chants a couple of huge German.
