The enigma that is West Ham United

[FootballHQ]

Anyone got a clue how to explain them?

Started off the season pretty well, were in top 6 with Haller scoring and Anderson and Yarmolenko in good form.

Last seen getting 1 point from home games v Palace, Newcastle and Sheffield United which isn't great and so sliding down the league now given they don't win many away games.

Way I see their team I think a front 4 of Haller-Anderson-Lanzini-Yarmolenko is potentially great but it dosen't seem to click all that often. You then have Rice in midfield who most rave about and then solid players like Diop at the back.

Guess Fabianski out injured for months has really hurt them at the back as the number 2 is nowhere near the standard.

Every season it seems West Ham spend loads in the market, start off o.k and then go on to achieve nothing but have a flirt with relegation.

Should they not be looking at Leicester and thinking there's not much between the two clubs yet Leicester look well set for top 4. It's not like they even have a poor manager, Pellegrini has done very good jobs at likes of Villareal and Malaga.

If you look at their last 30 years they have finished TWICE in the top 6 since the early 80s. As much as people give likes of Villa, Newcastle and Everton stick for not doing much recently, we've all finished multiple times in top 6 and played in europe far more recently. Leicester could easily finish top 6 twice in four seasons.

Just seems a strange strange club that get incredible levels of coverage for being London based. And winning a World cup.

 

[cjj]

They're up there for teams whose fans have high opinions of "where they belong", despite barely winning anything ever (4 trophies in 125 years)

 

[giorno]

They're awful. A case of results catching up to their performances

 

[dev1l]

Their first 11 are very good with players who are good enough for most top sides...Diop, Rice, Yarmolenko.
However since fabianski s injury , they seem to lost their way.

 

[FootballHQ]

Their first 11 are very good with players who are good enough for most top sides...Diop, Rice, Yarmolenko.
However since fabianski s injury , they seem to lost their way.

All played today so it's not like they're having their annual injury crisis with likes of Carroll and Winston Reid (remember him) in previous years.

Yeah this Roberto guy dosen't look very agile to put it mildly.

 

[FootballHQ]

This Roberto clown in goal.

 

[CallyRed]

He looks like he should be in a drug cartel.

 

[wolvored]

Remember 'the West Ham way'? No? Neither do I

Thats all you used to hear when old West Ham players talk about they need to get back to the West Ham way, as if they were perennial winners yesteryear.

 

[Paul_Scholes18]

They did beat us to get some points, but are not a good side.

 

[11101]

Remember 'the West Ham way'? No? Neither do I

Thats all you used to hear when old West Ham players talk about they need to get back to the West Ham way, as if they were perennial winners yesteryear.

I thought the West Ham way was related to their fans being absolute scrotes.

 

[GledTheRed]

Cnuts of the highest order, collapsed after their cup final win and baldy locks Mark Noble having his once in a lifetime performance.

Hope they get relegated.

 

[Josep Dowling]

Seems to be they have bought names rather than a team that works, and that goes for their manager as well.

 

[El Zoido]

I know we’re rubbish but they game raised massively against us. They look like they couldn’t give a toss in every game I’ve seen of theirs since.

 

[horsechoker]

I know we’re rubbish but they game raised massively against us. They look like they couldn’t give a toss in every game I’ve seen of theirs since.

It's their cup final

Noble turns super saiyan like we just killed his best friend

No idea why, its not like we're rivals

 

[wolvored]

I thought the West Ham way was related to their fans being absolute scrotes.

So true

 

[meamth]

Went a trip to London. Stayed at Stratford for awhile. Visited their stadium. The one line that says it all "FA cup winners 1980"

 

[Alabaster Codify7]

They're up there for teams whose fans have high opinions of "where they belong", despite barely winning anything ever (4 trophies in 125 years)

We are heading down that path ourselves.

 

[Chipper]

Their fixture list when they briefly did well was easy. It's still not got that tough, and surely must get a lot harder sooner but I think they had a nice run of games looking at it.

City (H) 0-5 - smashed by a good side
Brighton (A) 1-1 -Brighton doing well for Brighton,a good away point
Watford (A) 1-3 - Beat a team who were about to fire their manager and who are in the relegation zone now
Norwich (H) - 2-0 - Norwich are bottom and look awful
Villa (A) 0-0 - Villa only just above the drop zone, but still any away point is alright for a team like West Ham
United (H) 2-0 - United W1 D3 L6 in our last 10 away league games, don't really buy that they game-raised considering the state of us on the road

Edit to add on the rest:
Bournemouth (A) 2-2 - credible point
Palace (H) 1-2 - Palace are away specialists so in one way it's understandable but you still don't want to be losing that if you're West Ham
Everton (A) 2-0 - Everton not going too well although they still win more they lose at their place
Sheff Utd (H) 1-1 - They're probably hoping to beat newly-promoyed sides at home, mind you Sheff Utd are doing very well and are unbeaten away
Newcastle (H) 2-3 - bad result
Burnley (A) 3-0 - No surprise to lose, but they don't want to be getting beaten heavily/easily

 

[Rafaeldagold]

They are game raising cnts against us always. Even when we were good.

so always nice to see when they’ve lost

 

[Snow]

The only way to explain them is that they are West Ham but that only makes sense to people that watch football regularly. When you look at their managerial history since the beginning almost every manager has about the same win%. Pellegrini is doing the same job as Bilic, Allardyce and Curbishley, slightly worse than Pardew but slightly better than Moyes with Zola noticeably their worst manager in their history. The end result is always about 10th place.

They have a good squad this season. A bit top heavy, sort of like one would set up their FIFA team. Same as always.

Honestly you could probably write a dissertation on them.

 

[dev1l]

They have some quality players in that side..Their first 11 are top 6 material. Unfortunately their reserve keeper is crap

 

[PedroMendez]

overrated players, who look for a big paycheck.

 

[Prodigy24]

Their new goalkeeper is quite something else. Looks like an amateur every time I see them play.

 

[FootballHQ]

They have some quality players in that side..Their first 11 are top 6 material. Unfortunately their reserve keeper is crap

That's what I don't understand. Of course their backline is weaker for having a sub standard keeper in but their 100m + attack is barely doing anything.

You had Haller who started really well this season but he hardly seems to be in the games atm, Yarmolenko was in excellent form a few weeks back, whenever I see them on the TV Felipe Anderson seems to have a good game and Lanzini is a decent player, another injury for him though.

Everyone knows if your defence is dodgy you have to be a real threat going forward. They have the players there but not stepping up.

 

[Acole9]

Surely Roberto is never going to play for them again after that. He's got to be the worst goalkeeper I've ever seen in the Premier League (Yes worse than Taibi, least he got man of the match on his debut)

 

[dev1l]

That's what I don't understand. Of course their backline is weaker for having a sub standard keeper in but their 100m + attack is barely doing anything.

You had Haller who started really well this season but he hardly seems to be in the games atm, Yarmolenko was in excellent form a few weeks back, whenever I see them on the TV Felipe Anderson seems to have a good game and Lanzini is a decent player, another injury for him though.

Everyone knows if your defence is dodgy you have to be a real threat going forward. They have the players there but not stepping up.

Football is not that simple. You have to look at the team as one unit. Trouble in an area may effect other parts of the team
That s why balance is so important. They had problems with scoring early in the season. It s not unusual for new strikers to take time to settle down. However problems with their defence made it more difficult for the strikers as the whole team morale is down due to dodgy goalkeeping.

 

[FootballHQ]

Surely Roberto is never going to play for them again after that. He's got to be the worst goalkeeper I've ever seen in the Premier League (Yes worse than Taibi, least he got man of the match on his debut)

Their 3rd choice is David Martin who made a terrible error for Millwall v Brighton in the FA cup last season.

Fabianksi is out until January I think.

 

[Based Adnan]

When I think of clubs who raise their game vs the big sides and then drop down to shite vs the smaller teams West Ham is the first that springs to mind

Game raising clowns

 

[Jacko21]

They’ve never seemed to have a clear thread to their recruitment.

And ultimately, any quality players they do possess will wake up one morning, realise they play for West Ham and either want to leave or give half-hearted performances until they’re sold.

 

[giorno]

Pellegrini is their manager. They play like every Pellegrini side ever, except they dont have anywhere near the talent and attacking firepower to make it work. Simple as that.

 

[FootballHQ]

When I think of clubs who raise their game vs the big sides and then drop down to shite vs the smaller teams West Ham is the first that springs to mind

Game raising clowns

Is their record at Old Trafford that good out of interest?

West Ham last season beat Arsenal and drew with Liverpool and Chelsea at home. They were also first team to win at SPurs ground. Man. City is only top side that seems to comfortably beat them home and away.

 

[FootballHQ]

Pellegrini is their manager. They play like every Pellegrini side ever, except they dont have anywhere near the talent and attacking firepower to make it work. Simple as that.

Their attacking players cost over 100m +. Lanzini, good player, caps for Argentina and has good spells of form. Haller nice record in Bundesliga and started this season well. Yarmolenko was scoring a few goals a few weeks ago. Felipe Anderson always getting hyped on here but wildly inconsistant especially away. These are not lower level mug attackers.

I think it's comparable to what he had at Malaga when they got in CL, pretty sure it was Salo Rondon leading the line for them. Maybe not so much Villareal with Forlan and Riquelme in god form.

 

[giorno]

Their attacking players cost over 100m +. Lanzini, good player, caps for Argentina and has good spells of form. Haller nice record in Bundesliga and started this season well. Yarmolenko was scoring a few goals a few weeks ago. Felipe Anderson always getting hyped on here but wildly inconsistant especially away. These are not lower level mug attackers.

A bunch of good players, that's all they are. Nothing more. Not nearly enough to make for the structural defensive weakness of their wide open style

I think it's comparable to what he had at Malaga when they got in CL, pretty sure it was Salo Rondon leading the line for them. Maybe not so much Villareal with Forlan and Riquelme in god form.

At Malaga was sort of a perfect storm. It just happened to work. He also had Cazorla and Isco, plus Joaquin and a bunch of experienced players

Their results were 4th with 58 points and +1 GD and 6th with 57 and +3....that about says it all really

 

[FootballHQ]

A bunch of good players, that's all they are. Nothing more. Not nearly enough to make for the structural defensive weakness of their wide open style


At Malaga was sort of a perfect storm. It just happened to work. He also had Cazorla and Isco, plus Joaquin and a bunch of experienced players

Their results were 4th with 58 points and +1 GD and 6th with 57 and +3....that about says it all really

Fair enough, I remember at the time Malaga had rich Arab so they had capability of signing likes of Joaquin and Cazorla from other Spanish teams from big money. Actually that year they should've knocked Dortmund out in quarters who reached the final, conceded two goals in injury time IIRC.

 

[Cheesy]

I often get the impression their fans expect them to be much better than they ever actually are, even when they're patently doing really poorly. I remember years back when they got relegated and fans were unhappy with Allardyce's appointment as manager because he'd never won anything...as if a Championship side could really have any realistic expectations of getting a top trophy-winning manager.

They're perhaps a bit like Newcastle in that regard, but then Newcastle can at least point to their 2nd place finishes in the 90s and top four finishes in the early 2000s: unlike West Ham they're a team that, in the PL era, had a reasonable shot at success and arguably squandered it, and they had a fairly extended period during which they were competing for a top four spot, even if that period saw them perform remarkably inconsistently as well at times.

But then perhaps West Ham's ambition is to be admired. While his time there has been mixed Pellegrini was a genuinely impressive appointment when they got him, and perhaps not the time of appointment a club without grand ambitions would've gone for.

 

[FootballHQ]

Roberto eh....

Next 3 anyway are Wolves and Chelsea away and Arsenal at home. Wonder if Pellegrini and Emery will even make it to that one in two weeks.

Only two points off bottom 3 now and conceding three a game. In opening 7 games they conceded just 8 goals (5 to Man. City). Since Fabianksi got injured at Bournemouth they've conceded 15 goals in 7 games.

Ironic thing is they can't really bring in Big Sam or Moyes to guide them to safety as they've already had both as managers in last five years.

 

[Chipper]

Ironic thing is they can't really bring in Big Sam or Moyes to guide them to safety as they've already had both as managers in last five years.

Pardew's return or Pulis time it is.

 

[GlasgowCeltic]

They’re physically weak despite having a team of giants, Antonio aside

 

[DavidDeSchmikes]

So coincidence their form has dipped since Fabianski got injured. Roberto looks shot of confidence.

 

[FootballHQ]

The randomness continues...

Seems they were pretty good at Chelsea today, had about 7-8 shots on target and had a second before VAR chalked it off.

Certainly a coupon buster for a few people today.