With a club in turmoil, and West Ham firmly under the microscope with bookies now placing the Hammers as clear favourites as relegation candidates, one factor largely ignored is not the replacement of David Moyes as club manager.
The transfer of club captain Declan Rice to Arsenal and lack of even a half-decent replacement has plunged the club into a headlong spiral.
The departure was unavoidable, the player wanted to leave, and the fee of £105m was a transfer record for a British player. Yet as a consequence West Ham lost their captain and midfield anchor.
With Rice in the team the club won a European trophy, had regular top half finishes, conceded fewer goals and better possession stats with Rice shielding the back line.
The ex Hammer averaged over 2,000 touches per season and consistently ranked among the top for interceptions, tackles, and ball recoveries.
Selling West Ham’s captain marked the start of the club’s decline
Happy days: West Ham’s Euro triumph marked the high-water mark
After Rice’s departure, the Hammers finished 9th and then subsequently 14th with no clear replacement and as a consequence the midfield has often been overrun leading to increased goals conceded and fewer chances created.
The money raised from the players sale has been effectively wasted, with many of his replacements struggling, James Ward Prowse has been made available for sale, and Edson Alvarez is currently on loan at Fenerbahce.
It sadly is what could have been, Rice departed on a high having lifted the Europa Conference Trophy in 2023, his former club, are now into their third manager in the shape of Nuno Espírito Santo, and as we face Leeds United tonight are 19th in the Premier League.
I disagree, I believe it was Sullivan’s one man campaign to appoint Lopetegui against the fans wishes that set us on this course.
Declan was a big loss but I think it was the effective sacking of David Moyes Christmas 2023 that started the decline. We have shot ourselves in the foot by sacking 3 great managers; John Lyall, Harry Redknapp and now Moyes. Great managers aren’t attracted to our club very often let’s hope Nuno turns out to be one.
It’s like we went, oh have we sold him now? Oh ok I suppose we better start looking for a replacement, make sure to everyone know we’ve got £100m to spend please 🤦🏼
Your comments are valid but the decisions that sulivan and Brady made showed the directions the club was heading that’s why good players leave or will not sign to play. I think that David moyes knew what he had and got the best out of some average players and sulivan was always a penny wise and a pound foolish. all bad vibes.
West ham downfall is lack of investment and trust in our youth system .we were falling apart during moyse only buying 30 year olds. Avoiding relegation by the skin of our teeth .papered over by the cup win.
It was not the transfer of Rice that triggered the decline, because as you said, that was inevitable and as West Ham have set themselves up as a “feeder club” rather than one of the predators, that will always be the case. What triggered the decline was a total lack of planning and ability on the part of the administration, who continue to be completely clueless on all matters ‘football’.
I’m not sure you can put it down to one player. When we lost Payet, he was replaced by Snodgrass. There’s always been that up and down. But then we’ve replaced weaker players with stronger players. In my opinion, its a broader problem of poor recruitment by Lopetegui et al. He claimed to have studied West Ham for months before joining. Bought lots of new players. Then didn’t know what to do with them. Most were redundant or half good. Budget blown. Management loses faith in manager. The same was true with Pelligrini. Same story. Moves was never given big bucks. Let’s see what happens now…
Cheap skate Sullivan
Yes, Rice’s loss, and wasting of the money, was a significant factor. But the last 5 years has seen horrendous money spent on players that didn’t suit our manager/system/league. Any idiot could see that (bar them). That lies on numerous people’s shoulders. Then there’s the thin/ageing squad that Moyes ‘built’ (LOL) by constantly deferring moving players on as they passed their best, buying 27+ year olds, never playing kids to get experience and never building a squad strong enough to last a whole season in two competitions.
I’m sorry I don’t agree, we were playing well and I believe near the top of the league upto the year end when Moyes was told he would not have the final say on recruitment if he renewed his contract. That’s when the decline started.
Spot on 👍
Rice is one of the best players in his position in the world and a really great guy too who made sure we got a bucket load of money rather than engineering a free.
Any team would be worse without him. The problem is the lack of actual professionals in running the football club
From not having a club ethos and style to not having a serious team to find transfer targets to deliver players that fit that template. Scattergun – a bit of this and a bit of that and a lot of the whims of an old man running a big football club as a hobby.
Moyes is not blameless as he dithered and mostly ran down the squad to a tiny number of aging players he actually used. As well as occasionally blowing huge money on players that would never fit in.
Then the Lopetegui disaster where he seemed to randomly spend loads of money on awful players.
We need to look at clubs like Bournemouth, Brighton and maybe Fulham and what they do on much less money and get systems in place that work. Or bigger clubs too.
We are stuck in a bygone age in running a football club where who shouts loudest ( usually Sullivan) gets players it seems.