Hammers lose in the shadow of Diang…gate

West Ham 3 AFC Bournemouth 5

Bowen grabbed a couple and was excellent again

It was a game which inevitably was played in the long shadow of the Grady Diangana affair for surely none of us can surely remember a time when a squad has made its feeling so publicly clear on a player’s departure.

They had the right but there was no real excuse for the level of performance they put in after a previously strong pre-season.

It was a game which also saw us missing key players in Fabianski, Rice, Soucek and Yarmolenko but that cannot be used as an excuse – West Ham were a mess and often embarrassing today.

We went from two down to 2-2 courtesy of a couple from Jarrod Bowen, to 5-2 down before Robert Snodgrass showed us what we had been missing from his corners with a beauty flick-headed home superbly by Felipe Anderson.

In between times the newly relegated Cherries were the far better and more composed team often leaving us chasing shadows.

Ben Johnson was hauled off after three terrible tackles and a yellow card, looking like a major sufferer from his former under 23 mate’s departure to West Brom.

Issa Diop finally returned and looked shockingly rusty in the early stages but grew into things a little more later on. HOWEVER FIVE GOALS AGAINST SPEAKS FOR ITSELF.

If ever a message that we need back four men were hammered home it was this afternoon. We can discuss forever whether the funds should have been raised by Diang’s departure which has sent a horrible “we’re skint” message to the rest of the Premier League.

But unless some arrive regardless we are right to have a feeling of serious dread before the season starts,

Elsewhere Pablo Fornals kept his standard high, Mark Noble sprayed his passes around, Lanzini was taken off as a precaution, Antonio, was occasionally threatening, Bowen was excellent and Haller was ok-ish.

If the players are still struggling under the Diang departure they need to shake it off before Newcastle. For the fans it’s clearly going to run and run.

On the basis of what we saw today, the end seems night before a ball is kicked in anger and that has to change very fast indeed.