I’ll admit it. Despite the relegation, losing some players I liked, the supplemental squad additions being fashionably late, I still in utmost untypical West Ham fashion came into this season with confidence. Not just normal confidence but sky high levels.
Post-Christmas form in the top flight was on the up. Jarrod Bowen had committed to the club. Retention was high. The snakes were being shown the door. Positive change in the hierarchy was taking hold. 50,000+ like minded souls were motivated to back the team.Until 75 minutes into the first game of the season at Turf Moor, I was still a believer. The first half after a sticky opening had gone well. At half time, the enigmatic Pablo departed with a knock. Despite a reinvigorated Burnley and a rejigged West Ham struggling to come to terms with the alteration in shape we were two up.
But this is West Ham. Of course a two-goal lead is something that doesn’t always get seen out safely. And thus we set the tone of the season, unbeaten but a sense of demoralisation as Burnley notched two late goals.
Then along comes the red, red Robins. A first home league outing. A first defeat. The manner of which was frustrating as ever, at times as bewildering as it was predictable. Fortress E20 breached far too easily.
Technically our squad is way ahead of what we see elsewhere in this division. Sadly tactically, physically and mentally we are way off target.
Charlton were disciplined, hard working and diligent in their mindset. They, like most if not all teams visiting us this season, will treat it like a cup final. Big ground, big crowds, big reputations to be shot down and silenced. Allow them to get a foothold in games and from there problems arise.
While we huff, puff, ponder and wander, they’ll stay in shape, battle and show the kind of fight we don’t seem to possess. Still lacking someone to unpick defences, to compete physically, to be able to dictate midfield. To exploit naivety and lax thinking.
In Bowen and Castellanos we should forwards capable of notching 20 goals apiece. Piroe comes with a great track record at this level. Mavropanos and Kilman are in theory a centre half pairing that’s the best in the league. We have players of real calibre.
But as we saw Saturday we need to up our levels in terms of attitude and application. Conceding early on, we never really got cohesion or control of the midfield.
Bowen and Soloman being carefully watched on the flanks should have meant space developing centrally. But Kante, bucking the trend, whilst being the archetypal modern midfield specimen, displayed the poise and ability of a cat chasing a laser pen, with slightly less intelligence.
Defensively we look to have reverted back to confusion rather than confidence. Without Disasi the basic errors have crept back. All round the park, hands were being thrown in exasperation, rather than organisation,. When clear thinking and leadership were needed both were lacking in abundance. Players with experience were lax in thinking and execution.
There seems an air of complacency. That merely being West Ham, being a Premier League outfit for 15 years is enough. It’s not. But Championship campaigns aren’t built on mete ability. Nuno should know that, having steered Wolves to a successful title campaign not so long ago.
Though the component parts are there, we need augmenting with players of character, tenacity and gumption. Every game we are there to be shot at. The ability to match the opponent in terms of work rate, attitude and discipline needs to be met.
We have to dismantle the entitled outlook and knuckle down. Departures are expected this week, so hopefully we’ll be looking to add to the squad to help offset these. We have enough artisans, we need the grafters, organisers and big characters to haul ourselves through periods when pure technical ability is not enough.
We need the team to inspire the crowd . A siege mentality did the whole club a big favour last season. To address that this time around we need to adopt a similar attitude both on and off the pitch.
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