“Proper Tear-up” West Ham Went From No Fight to a Tunnel Bust-Up at The Den

By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)

West Ham spent the first half at The Den refusing to fight. By the end of the match, according to reports, they couldn’t stop. Good!

A heated physical altercation involving West Ham and Millwall players and staff reportedly took place in the tunnel following the 2-2 draw, with ExWHUEmployee reporting that tempers boiled over as both sets of players and staff made their way back towards the changing rooms.

The Athletic has also reported a “heated altercation in the tunnel involving players from both sides” after the final whistle. Whatever happened away from the cameras, it completed quite a transformation from a West Ham team which had spent the opening 45 minutes looking completely unprepared for a fight.

West Ham finally started fighting back

The first-half performance was insipid, limp and, quite frankly, disgraceful. West Ham were bullied all over the pitch and seemed completely surprised by a Millwall approach which should have surprised absolutely nobody.

It was a derby at The Den. What exactly were we expecting?

Metcalf in particular appeared to be given free licence by referee Paul Tierney to foul whoever he wished without consequence, setting the tone for a half in which Millwall were stronger, more aggressive and simply more committed. West Ham went into the interval 2-0 down having barely laid a glove on them.

Then everything changed.

Nuno Espírito Santo demanded greater aggression from his players, while captain Jarrod Bowen led the discussion among the squad. Bowen subsequently admitted West Ham “didn’t compete enough” during the opening 45 minutes.

That assessment was impossible to argue with. As I wrote in my immediate reaction from The Den, Nuno deserves credit for fixing the problem, but West Ham should never have been that unprepared in the first place.

Perhaps West Ham needed it

I’m not remotely surprised tempers eventually boiled over at The Den. In some respects, perhaps West Ham needed a proper tear up like this.

Having spent 45 minutes being pushed around, the Hammers finally emerged looking like a team prepared to fight back. Mohamadou Kanté and Konstantinos Mavropanos produced the goals to rescue a 2-2 draw, but the biggest difference was attitude.

My concern remains why it took West Ham so long to understand the physical nature of the contest. Millwall did nothing surprising.

But if the team talk, comeback, tunnel fistycuffs and everything that followed have taught this squad something about what awaits them during a Championship promotion campaign, perhaps something useful will eventually emerge from an awful first half.

West Ham won’t be able to play their way through every opponent this season. Sometimes they’re going to have to come out swinging, knuckle down first and play football afterwards.