Premier LeagueNottingham Forest 3-0 West Ham United
Saturday, 2nd November 2024
by Chris Wilkerson
Julen Lopetegui's West Ham United faltered once more as Nottingham Forest beat them 3-0 with ease at the County Ground.
Reduced to 10-men on the stroke of half-time, the manager couldn't follow another appalling first half with a group of game changing substitutes during the break to lift his side's performance. A goal down when the Mexican Edson Alvarez collected a frankly stupid second booking, West Ham were equally as impotent as their hosts eventually extended their lead and then added a flourish to send West Ham to defeat.West Ham shuffled the pack once more, this time bringing in Mavropanos and Summerville as their manager tried a back five to solve the issues he's created in this team.
It fixed the problem of consistently being caught with balls behind the full backs, although a deeper starting position also helped, but meant his side looked even worse going forward than they have for the most of this season, the midfield far too functional with one less attacking player in the team to add any creativity.
By the end of the afternoon, it was hard to remember what West Ham had done other than take a red card with their comfortable defeat.
With a quarter of the season completed, a good half against the worst Manchester United team in Premier League history seems to be all to hang onto for a manager who looks somewhere between second season Bilic and the horrors of Avram Grant.
Lacking discipline, midfield structure and any spark in attack, it's hard to see what the Spaniard is trying to do other than create space for Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Whilst the change in defence made his team more solid, West Ham still found themselves outplayed from the off by a Forest team whose fantastic start to the season had still only seen them win once at home prior to the arrival of these sacrificial corderos.
And they could have been behind inside three minutes as Hudson-Odoi had a chance. After Elanga found space down the right side of the area, he passed across the box to Hudson-Odoi on the other side. It was behind the former Chelsea winger, but he moved back to hit first time, seeing his low drive fizz wide.
It took the visitors about 10 minutes into the game, and the tease of the Lopetegui era was in this 5-10 minute spell. The passing can be crisp. The movement up top looks smarter, more fluid. But it wasn't and rarely has been sustained.
Clearly, the changes at the back were also an issue for the attack. There was just one player less, and the work through the middle was always lacking the craft from a genuine creative talent. Rodriguez and Alvarez have their strengths, but neither is a deft or subtle passer and mover of the ball.
Any promise came crashing down with a bruising Rodriguez challenge on Gibbs-White on the edge of the West Ham box that the Argentinian midfielder was possibly lucky to only be booked for, smashing his foot down onto his opponents ankle.
What had been a relatively level game was changed in the 27th-minute as that man Chris Wood put his stamp on the game.
And it was far too easy for the West Ham defence to again be exposed.
This time, the left back Moreno got into the box down the left and squared up Mavropanos. Suddenly, Moreno shifted it to his left foot, burst to 10 yards to the byline and clipped a cross into the six-yard box. The Greek defender was easily beaten, and Todibo had drifted to the front post to defend the cross, leaving the dangerous Wood free.
The cross found his head and made it very easy for the Kiwi to power his header down and into the back of the net as Fabianski was beaten from close range.
It's even harder to take when you consider that both of the Nottingham Forest strikers are better than what West Ham have in comparison, and both have been readily available whilst The Hammers look for more glamorous targets.
Lopetegui's side fell apart. Those passes that had found their target with speed and accuracy were now going loose, touches were poor, nobody could find a teammate. Now Paqueta was up front and Bowen on the right as the manager again searched for something that would work.
It looked like his team would escape to half time, but then things went mad.
Into stoppage time, The Hammers had their first shot of the half and came as close as they would come all game.
A corner was headed away, but back to Bowen. He took it away from goal and delivered from a different angle, where this time it was only slightly cleared away. It fell to Paqueta just inside the box, and the Brazilian did very well to hit first time on his weaker foot. The effort bounced and dribbled quickly at goal, beating Sels, but not beating the sliding intervention of Chris Wood, who was now proving himself the best player in either box.
It was flicked away for a corner, but this time when Forest cleared, they countered.
They flew forward at pace, led by Elanga, but as the winger pushed down the right flank, around the box, the closest four players were all from West Ham.
That didn't stop Alvarez, who had picked up a yellow card with a pull to halt a counter earlier in the half, sending himself at Elanga with a lunging slide tackle. He got nowhere near the ball, wiping out the Swedish forward.
You know what comes next, and it came with little delay as the referee strode over and produced a second yellow card for the hapless Mexican.
Salt was nearly rubbed into those very fresh wounds as the freekick was delivered, cleared, and returned back before falling to Dominguez 10 yards from goal, only for his effort to be blasted over.
A poor half had ended with what felt a killer blow, this team again needing to find something more, something different at half time. But now, the inspiration had to take a red card into account.
The manager's choice was drastic, with Rodriguez and Summerville sacrificed and a new midfield constructed as Soler and Antonio came on. The centre of the pitch went from Rodriguez and Alvarez to a new role for Todibo alongside Soler, putting Paqueta on the left and Bowen back to the right.
It didn't work. Unsurprisingly, a sudden and unplanned shift from five at the back with two holding midfielders to a back four and no actual central midfielders was not the genius move it never sounded.
There was little to compliment. In fact, of the notes taken for this match report, there are three positive mentions in the second half for West Ham. One came from strong defending in the box by Paqueta, who stood strong and defended manfully as a loose ball spilled into the box and towards a sea of red. For all he's criticised, he never lacks bottle.
The other two were good saves by Fabianski, whose return is about the only move made by Lopetegui in a month that has worked. And there's the thing, even his best move is one forced upon him. As with the second half performances that look so much better after a triple substitution to save the day, even these simple moves like recalling Fabianski come due to failure from Plan A.
The game opened up, which encouraged West Ham forward. With the lack of any game sense they've shown for months, they gleefully tried to flood forward. Forest, with a man extra, were happy to allow West Ham's naive ambitions, the home side comfortable with numbers at the back and flying forward into the spaces left.
20 minutes after the restart, the lead was doubled.
Epitomising the dropped standards from old to new, and understanding that not everything can be a Moyes comparison, this goal never happens under the Scot.
And that's because it was just the shoddy failure of basics. Forest had a freekick down the left-hand side of the box and, rather than delivered at the huddled masses waiting, the ball was instead rolled to Hudson-Odoi on the corner. The winger had time to take a touch and curl an effort at goal without much pressure on him at all, left unmarked as he was.
Curling to the far post, the ball skimmed off the head of the unfortunate Mavropanos just in front of Fabianski, flicking the ball over the hands of the goalkeeper and on into the back of the net.
There were flashes at goal from Moreno and Milenkovic before the inevitable third.
This one came from the full back Ola Aina, a West Ham target of years gone by. The right back pushed down the wing and then cut inside towards the edge of the box. He looked like he'd lost possession, but for some inexplicable reason, Todibo used his challenge to try and flick it over his opponent's head.
It failed, hitting Aina and rolling ahead of him, the full back taking a touch and then letting fly with his weaker left, and his reward was to see it sail past a diving Fabianski to make it 3-0.
The home side eased down, finding a gear low enough to play football without effort or determination, but not one so low as to make Lopetegui's side look competent.
They'd have had more were it not for Fabianski and the assistant referee.
Twice more was Fabianski forced into excellence, sandwiched around a goal confirmed as offside after a lengthy VAR check.
First he thwarted Milenkovic, who was standing in space in the middle of the box on a Forest attack but could only hit an effort tipped over by Fabianski.
Then the former Fiorentina player, probably enjoying the mildest retribution since that final, looked to have an assist as he headed a freekick down for Yates to stab home, only to see a flag raised.
As Fabianski palmed away a Sosa effort, the referee blew the whistle to put West Ham out of their misery.
This week, the incompetence of Manchester United wasn't there to save him. One suspects it'll be the incompetence of David Sullivan that saves him this time.
Manager's Rating
Julen Lopetegui: DUD This team are not being managed, so it's hard to rate him. The red card ruins plans, but not only were those initial plans wrong again, but a lack of discipline falls at his door. Let him go.
Want to submit your match reports to KUMB.com? More details here ...
Click to view all West Ham United vs Nottingham Forest match reports Click to view all match reports by Chris Wilkerson Like to share your thoughts on this article? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.Player Ratings
Substitutes
Match Facts
West Ham United: , , , , , , , , , , .Goals: None.
Booked: None booked. .
Sent Off: None sent off. .
Nottingham Forest: .
Subs not used: .
Goals: .
Booked: None booked..
Sent off: None.
Referee: .
Attendance: 0.
Man of the Match: .