That good ol' West Ham way

So what is it, the West Ham way? Were West Ham ever this slick, great passing side that many of our fans believe we are? Is it a myth? Or are we living in a parallel footballing universe?

Will the introduction of Sam Allardyce see an end to it or just a massive improvement by getting back to basics? The media has West Ham as the bookies favourite to be promoted which is massively at odds with the performances of Avram Grant's team of last season. So where are we going stylistically as a football team?

There are two major factors which arrived with the signing of Sam Allardyce as manager of West Ham. Fear and organisation. Two elements that could hardly have been applied to facing the Hammers last season or to be expected had Avram Grant been retained as manager this season.

If the West Ham way is supposedly quality football and skill, then it was sorely missing last season. In fact it has been missing for a few seasons. Or is it the case that it was simply not a regular occurrence and only something we aspired to but rarely actually achieved over the last 30 years or more?

The media commentators often refer to West Ham as a great 'footballing' side. Yet I have so rarely seen this in action. Last season West Ham were barely capable of completing any passes, let alone assists which made opportunities on goal. Those goalscoring opportunities were largely wasted and meanwhile at the back, the defence seemed inept and disorganised.

The team as a whole were prone to only being fit for 70 minutes of a match and often relented to any kind of pressure and often gave away their lead in matches where they should have finished the opposition off. Whether West Ham fans like it or not, the club needs a big shake up in the team, management and back room staff.

So what has changed so far apart from releasing a number of players with the squad currently down to 26 players and with some top players possibly still to leave? Where are the bookies and the media getting this renewed optimism for West Ham from? The back room staff is being drastically changed with few not being replaced. And then there is the manager. Whether you like him or not, the likelihood is that he is the right man for the job.

West Ham fans only needed to watch the Champions League final to realise what great football is when seeing Barcelona. If that is what West Ham aspire to then great, but is it achievable on our budget? No. It could also be argued whether West Ham ever consistently played that way. In my own lifetime I have only ever seen West Ham play that brand of football for around six seasons and the rest of the time they have been pretty dire and have deservedly yo-yo'd between leagues.

The fact is that football has moved on. Even in the '60s under Ron Greenwood and with three World Cup winners in the side, West Ham still struggled. They had brief periods in the last 30 years when some classy football was played but often, ironically, in a lower league.

Barcelona, Manchester United and all the top clubs don't play great football purely because of a great manager. They can afford great players, we can't. This simple fact means that other clubs have gotten better than us at playing decent football and funds dictate that we can no longer compete in obtaining skillful players.

As much as we would like to think that we can get hold of a manager who can miraculously gel Academy players into a slick unit who can compete at the top level, it simply isn't going to happen. It's also been the situation for many years that if West Ham produce anyone of any quality that they are soon snapped up.

The most valuable man at West Ham for the last nearly 40 years is Tony Carr who has helped develop players who we can sell, many times in order to keep the club afloat. If we don't, or will never consistently, have these skillful players then West Ham need to accept the fact that they are going to have to change their style of play, get back to basics and get simpler and tougher. But that doesn't necessarily mean that fans will be devoid of watching any stylish play.

It really is a fallacy that Sam Allardyce's teams only play route one and aerial football. They do a lot of the time but not always. West Ham fans need to change their perspective of what they require. If they still solely want 'the West Ham way' then the future of the club could seriously be in jeopardy because the team simply cannot compete playing that way any more.

It's a choice between trying to play nice football but losing and having fewer and fewer seasons of being able to compete playing that style. Or for now, playing a simpler game, achieving the basics and winning a larger number of matches but having the occasional match of great attractive football.

Teams like Bolton under Allardyce used to stuff us home and away. Yes they were rougher and tougher but we couldn't handle it, but they also did play some really decent football at times but we don't like to admit it through our claret and blue specs. It wasn't all route one and they often scored some great goals. Let's face it, we feared them, as did many other sides. They were also always very organised.

If this shake-up is successful, West Ham gain promotion, maintain a Premier League status for around five years and the Olympic Stadium repays the club the dividends it potentially could do, THEN, West Ham fans can start talking about the West Ham way again, once the club has enough funds to compete at the highest level.

Until then, it's time to win matches, as Allardyce has said, by whatever style is necessary. It's time to win ugly not lose prettily. Then when some cosmetic surgery is required, we'll get it done when we can afford to do it.

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