From the rhetoric and criticism thrown at Lopetegui’s West Ham, you’d imagine the club were in a relegation battle in March, not just early season, mid September, four games into the season.
There are signs that the squad are already feeling the pressure from the high expectations placed upon the team from supporters and the ‘old regime’ die-hards. Perhaps it is time to ratchet down the criticism, just September after all and we have more points than this time last year.
So, let’s take a breath. And try to allow our Head Coach and gifted squad the time it takes to gel. I have always thought: ‘See where we are at Christmas‘.
By all means criticise but let’s drop the hysteria – it spreads: Take the interview on whufc.com with Edson Alvarez after Saturday’s draw with Fulham:
Whilst ‘El Machin’ talks frankly about the new recruits growing into a team: “I have lots of good teammates, and I know regardless of who’s playing, they’ll be up to the task. The longer the season goes on, the more chemistry we’ll build up, so we’re confident of success.”
Elsewhere in his comments, though, the signs of pressure are there: “It’s not been an easy start, but in England every game feels like a final. Next up we have Chelsea, which will be tough as well, but we’ll be confident playing at our home ground, where the fans will be right behind us.”
That sounds to me like Alvarez is feeling the pressure to perform- just a little bit too much?
It is difficult to give of your best when there is so much hype, scrutiny and pressure, for so long. Time for the coaching staff to ratchet down and shelter the squad from unrealistic expectations, and us all to support the team and – try if we can- to enjoy watching their development.
There is a top team there, but they just need to find their way. Support them, criticise of course – and I do – but allow Lopetegui and his team the space and time they need to get going. Anyone shouting for a new coach already maybe needs to find a new club instead!
Martin, I appreciate your call for calm and what you are saying – but you are writing for a website that regularly posts the kind of speculative gossip, hysteria and criticism that you are talking about. Simon, Gonzo and the rest regularly overly criticise, lambast and cast dispersions on the hammers – with their obviously massive knowledge of tactics and systems, not to mention their spot on insider information(NOT), they seem to think they know much better than J-Lo and his coaches what is needed. Gonzo has already started calling him the Paella Moyes, thinking that he is funny rather than it being disrespectful. Maybe deal with the issues caused by C&H first as that would be a good place to start. I appreciate what you have said, but maybe get them to dial down the criticism and turn down their mouth pieces because they have always been far too quick to judge and write an article for clicks. And then write another article soon after to try and make their opinions seem balanced, rather than critical just for clicks. It’s one of the reasons I don’t visit C&H very often now, as I can’t abide the 2 faced nature of the way they post, and that’s compounded by the inaccurate facts that are copied and pasted without even fact checking sources. C&H says it’s the daily West Ham newspaper, it isnt. it’s a group of guys searching the Web for gossip from other websites and posting it for clicks. I get my West Ham news from a reliable source now and I’m so much happier not having to respond to badly written and inaccurate speculative articles. As things stand, you are probably the only decent one writing articles at the moment. All the best 👍
Spot on sadly
Are you willing to share your “reliable” source, as I am looking for one.
Hi Tony, just keep an open mind with C and H. Maybe give it a few days and come back to check us out again? We’d welcome your opinions: And besides, I’m here now and just getting started 🙂
Well, thank you for those comments. Stay a while longer, or if you prefer, just keep an eye on C and H.
We DO post different opinions, Gonzo and I disagree frequently: So don’t expect platitudes or authors just trotting out stuff from the club web site all the time.
If you don’t agree with me, say so: It is why we leave the comments section ‘open’ unlike just about every other Hammers’ blog. We have been listening, you’ll only find out if you come back and check….
Well said Devo, completely concur. My visits have also reduced dramatically.
That being the case guys you both might want to check your points tally for last season against this and let us know what you find.
Understand that these sites exist for people to communicate, offer their opinions (right or wrong) and to let off a bit of steam now and again and have a chuckle if possible. They don’t claim to be perfect, just mildly interested. They don’t claim to be better coaches than JL, but there is no avoiding the fact that he has made some “interesting” decisions so far and the team is not looking anywhere near a well oiled machine yet.