Blog by Allen Cummings
Patience is a virtue’ – so the saying goes. Granted it’s not Shakespearean quote, but it’s worth repeating. But what does it actually mean? Good old Google tells us: ‘the ability to wait for something without getting angry or upset is a valuable quality in a person’. Sadly, in my experience, patience is in short supply these days – and particularly in the world of football. Two games into the current season and there appears to be some very ‘impatient’ West Ham supporters out there.
The euphoria of a close season that saw exciting new arrivals in the shape of £45m record signing Sebastien Haller, £24m spent on Spanish international Pablo Fornals and £8m on Swiss international Albian Ajeti, and the anticipation that came with that trio of attacking talent, pointed to the prospect of a line-up in the true West Ham tradition. But the early enthusiasm seems to have dampened somewhat after just 180 minutes of competitive football. The skipper is yet to play, and has clearly been missed. Last Saturday we were not only missing Nobes, but Haller and Felipe Anderson, too. So have we actually seen the team Manuel Pellegrini envisaged?
Is the manager wrong when he asks us not to be so quick to judge? “We need to integrate Fornals, we need to integrate Haller and Ajeti so that we have different options and that will be positive,” Pellegrini has said, adding “but maybe we need more games to see the best way to play.” The manager is not above reproach, nor should he be. He is open to criticism like any other manager. Questions have been raised over the contribution of Jack Wilshere and the workload being put on Declan Rice. I’m sure Pelle is aware of both, but finding the answers, whilst juggling with the integration of players, as Pellegrini suggested, may take a little longer.
A balanced team is the best team, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Almost half the Premier League, including some big-name teams, have yet to win a game, which suggests there are more managers than Pellegrini searching for the right blend. Last season we endured a truly disastrous start while new players, and the new manager, were finding their feet. The fact we finished a creditable 10th, having flirted with the prospect of an even higher finish, proved patience was required then also.
The majority of us were in a pretty happy place just a few weeks ago. Let’s take a breath before we send ourselves spiralling in the opposite direction and into deep depression about the team we care most about!
‘The course of true love never did run smoothly’ – now that is a Shakespearean quote worth repeating, too!
But there is a big difference between being patient for our team to start playing well and having to watch them play like crap.Lets be patient for Watford away and then sum things up afterwards.
As a Hammers fan we have always had to have patience, especially in the last 2/3 decades when we have flattered to deceive rather more than we have outshone our expectations. Part of the problem this year is that by segregating the news into individual clubs we tend to lose a true perspective of our transactions versus other teams’ transactions, and therefore where we really stand in the pecking order of good or bad buys during the transfer window.
At the end of the day our purchases are better than Titi Camara or Neil Ruddock, and Haller in particular is a potential diamond in the rough – hopefully another Dean Ashton, whilst Fornals may yet turn out to be worthy of his own song in the same way the Didier Payet did.
so yes, patience is a virtue, and all things come to he who waits… so let us wait and see what thrills and spills this season will bring but remember that as Hammers and with respect to this particular season we are somewhere between 8th and 12th… with dreams to be higher
As a long suffering Hammers fan, like several other fans on this board, patience really has worn thin in following our beloved under-achieving West Ham.
In the 23 seasons we have been in the Premier League, we have won more than we have lost in 5 of those seasons, with our highest position being 5th in 98/99.
That, in my humble opinion, is a very poor return.
Now, over the past 2 seasons we have spent a phenominal amount on players and still, the expectations of most of the fans appears to be once again mid-table obscurity.
I sometimes wonder how Pelle worked his magic at Malaga, because it doesn’t appear to be working at West Ham at the moment. Hopefully, I am proved wrong and he does go on and produce a good team and we do have a season that is a bit better than mid-table obscurity.
You need to get the basics right at the back and build from there – the squad is so unbalanced. We have some very good players and some truly awful ones, as well.
A bit concerning Pellegrini didn’t strengthen the areas he should have done in the Summer.
When your goalkeeper is the player of the season and faced more shots than any other keeper in the Prem’ ‘ that should have set the alarm bells ringing ! but, apparently it didn’t…………..
Maybe it’s the fans. Perhaps at Malaga and Villarreal the fans didn’t expect too much too soon. Add to that an intense social media generation and the pressure is laid on thick. We’ve rarely ever shown anything other than mid table or lower form but many of our fans feel we are entitled to finish best of the rest and ignore all the money our immediate rivals are spending.
We had some poor performances last season and we’ll have some this season. Brighton was a poor performance but we got a point, we’re 1 point better off than last season, so the reality is, a slow start and hopefully things will steadily improve.
At the end of this weekend we will be 4 points better off than this time last season. What’s not to love about that? In Pelle we trust. Hang tight, it’s always a wild ride for us Hammers fans.
COYI ⚒⚒
Pellegrini had enormous resources compared to competitors at Malaga, I wrote about this last year, his budget for transfers was several factors larger than the annual turnover of competing clubs. having said that I see no feasible alternative and believe he does deserve our patience. He has proven intelligence and experience across several leagues and I cannot see where we could identify a better qualified successor. In reality the second half of the season always determines eventual success. How we finish is more important than how we start. Players can go from zero to hero in a blink of an eye.
Good article Allen, The patience is definitely not there in this crazy world of football now, the main reason being the money at stake nowadays is so hugh. One of the big problem for me is the back four as a unit. Which is surprising as Pellegrini was a centre half. On top of that we need Nobes. A shame he missed the start because he finished last season as arguably our best player. He was instrumental in the win at spurs and scored a brace against Watford on the last day. We do win more with him in the side. Above that we do need runners in the box supporting Haller or Hernandez. That said I think we will win at Watford Saturday.