Graham Potter is gone and the stats make grim studying for his reign. However huge issues stay at West Ham.
The top coach’s time appeared to be up as quickly as West Ham followers joined Crystal Palace supporters in a rendition of ‘sacked within the morning’ as their neighbours inflicted one other London Stadium loss on their aspect final Saturday.
With a winless run at house stretching to eight video games, simply six victories to shout about in a complete of 23 Premier League matches and a group taking part in uninteresting, passive soccer, Potter had misplaced the backing of the Hammers trustworthy.
However those self same followers who’ve referred to as for Potter to go and booed their gamers off this season have additionally voiced their unhappiness with the membership’s board.
That was reiterated on Monday when a press release beforehand delivered to vice-chairman Karen Brady was launched. In it, the followers said they haven’t any confidence in Brady or chairman David Sullivan, having chanted ‘sack the board’ throughout the defeat to Palace.
“The current leadership has overseen repeated failures – in financial planning, football strategy, governance, and fan relations,” the assertion learn. “These failures are holding West Ham back at a time when we should be moving forward.”
The supporters have referred to as for a clearer construction on the prime of soccer operations, with a chief govt and director of soccer, in addition to commitments to future plans for the membership, each financially and on the pitch.
A supervisor change, after all, is extra simple.
Potter is the ninth supervisor dismissed within the 15 years because the present possession took cost. There have been solely 11 managers within the 110 years earlier than that.
The upcoming journey to David Moyes’ Everton for Monday Night time Soccer is a reminder of the steadiness and success the Scot dropped at the membership throughout his second spell in cost.
In some unspecified time in the future, the chopping and altering must cease and wider points addressed.
Declan Rice and David Moyes have a good time West Ham’s Convention League win in 2023
After all, the excessive level of that Moyes tenure was the Convention League win in 2023. It was Declan Rice’s closing recreation for the membership earlier than his £105m transfer to Arsenal. Downhill since then? Broadly talking.
Squad constructing with these funds led West Ham down a path to a degree the place Potter was working with a bunch missing in high quality and, at occasions, extra worryingly, software.
“On paper, when I look at them, I’m not thinking they’re a top-half side,” Sky Sports activities’ Tim Sherwood mentioned on Monday. “Recruitment has been bang average.”
That opinion is backed up by transfermarkt’s squad worth calculations, which put West Ham 14th amongst Premier League golf equipment.
This can be a group in transition – they’d the oldest squad final season and there was a transparent plan to deliver that common age down this summer season – however are they stronger for his or her switch window shake-up?
Mohammed Kudus, Aaron Cresswell, Vladimir Coufal, Lukasz Fabianski, Danny Ings, Kurt Zouma and Michail Antonio left. Mateus Fernandes, El Hadji Malick Diouf, Mads Hermansen, Soungoutou Magassa, Callum Wilson, Kyle Walker-Peters and Igor Julio have been signed, with Jean-Clair Todibo’s mortgage made everlasting.
Whether or not these are upgrades might be debated however a scarcity of depth has been clear.
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Potter mentioned on Friday that managing a group within the Premier League is ‘actually troublesome’ however was eager to alter the dynamic on the membership to reverse their fortunes
It might be a bodily difficulty in midfield, the place the older legs of Tomas Soucek and James Ward-Prowse have been nonetheless most well-liked by Potter, however in West Ham’s personal penalty space, lacking conviction has been expensive.
“When your players are defending like that, you have no chance,” mentioned Sky Sports activities’ Jamie Redknapp when assessing the efforts of West Ham gamers throughout the thrashing by Chelsea.
Captain Jarrod Bowen and playmaker Lucas Paqueta stand aside – however these two shining lights want way more assist from team-mates than they’re presently getting.
Potter’s West Ham was a group which allowed the opposition extra passes earlier than intervening than some other aspect within the prime flight – after which ranked third-bottom for direct assaults up the pitch after they had it. It was actually not edge-of-your-seat stuff.
The true motion occurred when West Ham needed to defend crosses or corners and their vulnerability in these conditions raised questions on training-ground work achieved by Potter and his teaching employees to organize for these moments.
However can the following supervisor – which seems to be set to be Nuno Espirito Santo – make significant change with out extra substantial alterations to how the membership is run? Greater issues at West Ham transcend that job remit.
