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I’m not a massive fan of stats in football. They rarely tell the whole story, as our greater share of possession and shots on goal in defeats against Villa and Chelsea would attest.

However, in such a subjective sphere as football, where supporters routinely interpret on-pitch action quite differently, the data can be the most objective marker of performance bar the scoreline. And even in a world of lies, damn lies and statistics, there’s no denying that 2024 has been a stinker – just two home wins to date this calendar year.




An underwhelming start to life under Lopetegui – and that’s putting it mildly, especially after a galvanising summer transfer window – has seen some fans turn already. Mavropanos has been the main fall-guy for some comedy defending, a role shared quite evenly last season between him and the departed Zouma and Aguerd.

Kilman and Wan Bissaka had been bright sparks, at least until the Chelsea debacle, and a stretched defence has to be judged in light of the opposition being given the freedom of Stratford. The midfield has been largely non-existent since Declan Rice left, as illustrated by his rubbing our noses in it during the 0-6 capitulation to Arsenal... and the 5-2 thrashing at Palace... 5-0 at Stamford Bridge... take your pick!

Guido Rodríguez was supposedly brought in to provide a shield but has been branded a waste of space, not helped by the manager hooking him for the widely derided Tomas Soucek in the 38th minute; surely a teammate of Lionel Messi in Argentina’s 2022 World Cup, 2021 and 2024 Copa America-winning squads has more to offer than we’ve seen so far?

Rodríguez’s early substitution on Saturday seemed as much an admission from Lopetegui that he’d got his organisation badly wrong as it was a reflection on the Argentinian midfielder’s skillset. Assuming his set-up was at fault, at least the new manager showed a willingness to change things. And it made not a jot of difference! Change of manager, change of personnel, same results.

Which brings us to the common denominators. Soucek is an effective but limited footballer who thrived with the right partner but has looked a fish out of water since Rice’s departure. For that, he has taken an unreasonable amount of flak. Meanwhile, Rice’s ostensible replacement - Edson Alvarez – has somehow become a fan favourite, on account of the perception that he ‘gets stuck in’.

I once opined of Michael Carrick that he floated about in front of the back four without ever putting his foot in. I think Carrick suffered from not having a bit of Alvarez’s ‘in yer face’ attitude. His passing, on the other hand, was light years ahead of the Mexican’s. And positionally, he might not have strayed far but he was dependable.

It’s been said of both Carrick and, more famously, Bobby Moore that they never got their shorts dirty because they never had to. By contrast, the sliding tackle is an Alvarez trademark, with 13 yellow cards to his name a testament to his timing, or lack of.




The Match of the Day pundits queried the wisdom of his man-marking assignment on Nicolas Jackson when there was an obvious disparity in pace. Indeed, a puffing, red-faced Alvarez is my abiding image from an embarrassing 3-0 reverse. In this instance, yes, blame resides with the tactician but also, it’s not rocket science on the player’s part to know that charging into space and allowing the fleet-footed attacker to spin away from him was not the wisest move.

I really want to see what some of our other supporters see in Alvarez, just as I want to see the best in all our players, but I’m struggling to make a case for him being any more effective than big Tom. Our enforcer goes missing too often for my liking.

Another player that we feared we’d be missing but has instead been a mainstay of our woeful performances, and therefore has to be considered equally culpable, is Lucas Paqueta. Our Brazilian magician is the epitome of a fantasy footballer. He created our best moments against the Blues – sublime passes that led to Summerville’s penalty appeal and Kudus’s offside goal – yet he also adheres to the stereotype of such players as ‘luxuries’.

We can’t expect creative players who try to make things happen to have 100% pass success rates. If Paqueta loses the ball in the final third attempting an eye-of-the-needle pass then so be it. But far too often the ball is given away cheaply in his own half. The idea that Pep Guardiola was prepared to pay £85m for somebody so ill-disciplined seems inexplicable. Even given the benefit of the doubt that all those bookings were not part of a betting scam, they were at best lazy and/or petulant.

At least with Paqueta we’ll always have that through-ball to Bowen in Prague. Answers on a postcard (or in comments below) for Alvarez’s best moment in a West Ham shirt.

Don’t get me wrong, even if I come across as hyper-critical, I’ll be getting behind both players and wanting them to succeed every time they pull on the claret and blue. Just as David Moyes retained my support, albeit by the end I considered a parting of the ways mutually beneficial.

Lopetegui now needs to justify that by finding a midfield balance between enforcer and playmaker. My fear is that it would take a £100m player – annoyingly someone like, say, Declan Rice – to tie everything together and make those either side of them look like the ballers we hoped they were.


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