Allen Cummings offers a Monday reflection after a difficult and disappointing weekend
Disappointed doesn’t cover it!
Saturday’s performance against Bournemouth was well below what most of us were hoping for! The optimism I felt before kick-off was still there with our 1-0 half time lead. But oh dear. The second half fell sadly well short.
It’s left us all looking for reasons ‘why’. For me the single most obvious reason for such a disjointed second 45 minutes in particular has to be the fact that new players in a new team, working under a new manager and adapting to new tactics and mindsets WILL take time gel.
Bournemouth’s Eddie Howe, a young manager I admire, hit the nail on the head in his post match interview. He pointed to the fact his side only included one of his summer signings in the starting eleven.
The players he used have been together as a group for a considerable time. They know each other’s play inside out. They know the manager’s tactics off by heart. West Ham, on the other hand, started with four of our summer signings in a system we rarely played under Moyes or Bilic.
A further three new signings came on during the game. So the team that finished had no less than seven newcomers.
It’s generally agreed we had a very ‘positive’ close season. In the main most of us were delighted with the players new manager Manuel Pellegrini brought in. I find it difficult to believe that already people are beginning to question some of the new additions.
Has our ‘marquee’ signing Anderson suddenly become a bad player? Has Wilshere lost the appeal he had just a couple of weeks ago? Is Balbuena no longer the solid defender we were led to believe? Is what we’ve seen in just two games so far enough for some doom and gloom merchants to be predicting relegation already? Come on. As ‘supporters’ we’re better than that surely.
Is it surprising that Fabianski is the one newcomer who has hit the ground running, already looking worth the investment and with no real blame attached to the goals he’s conceded. Surely that’s because goalkeeper is the one position that is least reliant on fitting in with his teammates.
Yes he needs an understanding with his defenders, but in the main he’s a solo performer. He has a job to do and that’s pretty easily defined. That’s not the case with outfield players. Often you’re as good as the people around you will allow.
We demanded new faces and the club responded. Now we’re complaining because they are taking time to settle in. That was always going to be the case. Anyone who thought differently are either naïve or deluded. Team building is like a jigsaw. All the pieces are there – but you need to work out where they fit to complete the picture.
Trouble is when things aren’t going smoothly all the old chestnuts surface; the moans about food prices, drink prices, stop/go boards, queues to the station…they’re all being trotted out again.
Come on, don’t let’s put ourselves through all that bickering and in-fighting again. This was meant to be a new beginning. A fresh start. It still can be if only we’re willing to give it a proper chance.
Good article, I have been one of the most critical and I believe honest people on here and there is not one time I have placed any critism on the new players to our league, of course they need time to gel. However the quality of the signings of players that are used to our game have been nothing short of terrible. The signings of Wilshere and Fredericks are the two greatest examples. There is no excuse for this, to state that the signing of fredericks and wilshere had appeal weeks ago is not entirely true for a lot of supporters (well the supporters I know). The manager needs to trust players like Antonio who have performed at this level (our player of the season) and stop placing misguided trust in the likes of wilshere. So new players coming to this league is one reason but it is not the only reason. IMO the other reasons are clear, poor domestic signings, no pace in midfield and no natural no 10 are other top reasons. These are issues that Pelle can solve, I trust and hope he does.
Agree with first two sentences but the rest of your comments are very wide of the mark for me and couldn’t disagree more. Wilshere is a quality player far more used to better players around him than we have in midfield atm. Fredericks is also a very good signing and will be fine once he finds his legs. Both were free and excellent acquisitions imo. I have no disagreement with any of the signings bar Sanchez and a failure to bring in a good holding midfielder. We have the squad to do well, agree just fitting the pieces together. Oh I’m not sure when Antonio had his last good game for us; he needs to get his head out of his ass and get back to the player he was 2 seasons ago.
Yeah fair enough I’m a bit of a moaner myself but your right Al well said!
I said the other day that we were playing too many new signings all at once instead of gradually intergrating them into the starting 11.The other glaring and obvious mistake is the fact that we still have not got a quality defensive midfielder who can fill that huge void between M.F and defence.Its been the root cause of most of our problems for the best part of 2 seasons.Cannot believe that between them our so called quality management team have not addressed this.Sanchez at 32 was an after thought and Pelle has committed that cardinal sin of building a team on crumbling foundations.
Well balanced and measured reflection; thank you Allen. Last season I was a committed critic of Mr Moyes, as well as Mr Sullivan and Lady Brady. I have no regrets about that, nor the fact that I used the C&H platform to voice them. My respect to C&H for riding the storm last year and keeping this platform open to fans. My critique was reasoned, considered and reasonably intelligent last season.
This season is a different matter as far as I am concerned. These consecutive defeats truly hurt, and they plunge us, psychologically, into the depths of the past five seasons despair. All of the above contributions from fellow Irons, especially the response from John, pick up on the reasons why we are presently struggling.
My take isn’t charitable. I believe its realistic. The summer signings need time to work with one another. They don’t yet seem to be appropriately sharp or fit over 90 minutes. Most of the summer signings need time to adjust to the PL. All of the players, bar none, appear to need more time to translate MP’s coaching vision into a consistent performance on the park. We have complained about poor signings, about the stadium, about the demise of the Boleyn, about the board/owners and about a trio of managers in recent years. It’s now time for us as loyal fans of the club to demonstrate ‘fan leadership’: the players need us stick by them for the simple reason that these are the guys who will lift us or not. Tolerance, acceptance of the realities, and above all patience. This is a decent clutch of players who have the abilities to perform at this level. Meanwhile MP is learning who he can trust on the park and this will also take time.
Nice article and you have made your point(s) well..
It will take time for players (old and new) to adjust as a team..
I think a number(3-4?) of positive personalities within the team/squad will start to play enterprising football, which will hopefully inject the other guys with some running enthusiasm and creative movement (both on and off the ball)