An incisive article in the Daily Telegraph from West Ham correspondent Matt Law gets inside the minds of many Hammers fans.
It appears after the draw with Villa – a game which many said was a must win affair – and although we had our chances notably through Said Benrahma we once again we failed to take them – the only goal coming from the penalty spot.
Villa had their moments and a couple of fine saves from Alphonse Areola stopped them taking the points but afterwards manager David Moyes claimed we had done enough to win.
That’s not an opinion of Law at Do West Ham actually realise they are in a relegation battle? (telegraph.co.uk)
It’s hard to disagree with very much he has to say with the “too good to go down ” attitude regularly coming back to haunt us.
The piece is well worth a read and makes several worrying points anout the apparent attitude within the squad and club
Here’s how Law starts his piece:
One look at the Premier League table, even after this draw lifted the club out of the relegation zone on goal difference, will tell West Ham United they are very much in a relegation battle. But do they actually believe it?
On the evidence of Sunday, West Ham are a club hoping for the best. Hoping a winning goal might come, hoping their rivals might slip up and hoping that sticking with manager David Moyes proves to be the right decision.
Moyes had plenty of credit in the bank after sixth- and seventh-placed finishes, and not sacking him at the first sign of trouble should be admired. But that does not guarantee that it might not backfire if the hope does not transform into some sort of reality.
When you take off your best player in a must win game and leave players like Soucek on the pitch, it really tells you all you need to know about Moyes. We are not just in a relegation battle we are in a crisis situation that is spiralling out of control. We have a much better chance of surviving without him and if that is not clear to everyone at this stage then we are to be relegated from the PL. This international break is the last opportunity for the board to act decisively, what they do now will ultimately decide our faith.
The crowd and atmosphere has been killed by Moyes. The football is the most boring in the premiership. We simply don’t know what to do with the ball. We pass back and forth at the back then we hit it long for Bowen to chase down the wing. He usually has to stop to cut inside and defenders read his game so easily. I was almost wishing Villa would get a winner just to put us out of our misery. I think we’ll go down and I think the players know it too. Can’t wait to sell Rice – he isn’t a captain and he has become a side show who slows the game down too much for us – Nobles influence?
You nailed it. Rice’s form has dropped right off. He needs to regain it whilst on England duty