West Ham Go Full Circle as Blackburn Expose Familiar Problems

West Ham’s 2-1 defeat against Blackburn Rovers was a particularly frustrating result because, for large periods of the game, Scott Parker’s side appeared to be the better team. We started brightly, enjoyed plenty of possession and created opportunities, yet somehow managed to leave Ewood Park with nothing.

What concerns me most isn’t necessarily the result itself, although that’s bad enough. It’s the manner in which West Ham gradually deteriorated as the afternoon progressed. Even after Joël Piroe pulled a goal back late on, I thought we looked increasingly disorganised and short of confidence.

And that’s perhaps the strangest aspect of Parker’s first two matches. We started against Cardiff looking completely devoid of confidence, rediscovered it during that extraordinary second-half comeback, began confidently against Blackburn and somehow finished looking just as nervous as we had before.

West Ham Started Brightly Against Blackburn

I was actually quite encouraged by the opening stages. West Ham pressed high, moved the ball around reasonably well and looked determined to take the game to Blackburn. Max Kilman was particularly proactive, stepping out of defence to offer an additional passing option, while Divine Mukasa and Arne Engels were regularly involved in midfield.

Down the left, Ezra Mayers and Edvin Austbø developed a promising partnership. Mayers was willing to get forward and Austbø looked lively, producing one lovely piece of skill to beat two Blackburn players before delivering a dangerous cross.

However, there was a problem developing on that side of the pitch. Blackburn repeatedly managed to isolate Mayers against two opponents, and while the youngster was doing some good things offensively, he wasn’t receiving enough protection defensively.

Joël Piroe was also struggling to make the most of promising situations. On one occasion, he found himself with only a single defender to beat but hesitated for so long that three opponents eventually surrounded him. West Ham were having plenty of the ball, but Blackburn were defending deeply and making it difficult to create clear opportunities.

Blackburn Punish West Ham’s Defensive Weaknesses

The second half initially offered more encouragement. Mavropanos headed narrowly wide from an Engels corner, Piroe had an effort saved and then Austbø produced an excellent cross which Bowen headed against the post. At that stage, West Ham were piling on the pressure and Blackburn were struggling to get out of their own half.

Then came the sucker punch. In the 54th minute, Blackburn broke down their right, with Mayers unable to stop the delivery into the penalty area. Andri Guðjohnsen converted, but I thought several West Ham players could have done better.

Austbø might have provided more protection for Mayers, Mavropanos could have defended the situation better and I certainly felt Mads Hermansen should have been more commanding. Whether he caught the cross, punched it or simply got something on the ball, I thought the goalkeeper had an opportunity to intervene.

It was a horrible goal to concede, particularly given how much of the attacking West Ham had been doing. Parker responded by introducing Manor Solomon for Austbø, a substitution I found surprising. The Norwegian had been one of our more involved attacking players, while Solomon subsequently struggled to make any impression.

Mohamadou Kanté was then replaced by Taty Castellanos, but West Ham were finding it increasingly difficult to establish the same attacking rhythm. Blackburn’s second goal arrived in the 71st minute, with Afolayan producing an excellent finish.

Kilman had gone down following contact to his face, but too many West Ham players appeared more interested in appealing for a foul than dealing with the danger. Engels, in particular, could have done more to close down the shot. Whatever the circumstances, you cannot simply stop defending because you believe the referee should have awarded a free kick.

Piroe Gives West Ham Hope

At 2-0, the game appeared to be slipping away, but West Ham eventually found a route back through something remarkably straightforward. Castellanos got down the right-hand side and delivered a dangerous ball into the penalty area. Piroe reacted quickly and fired high into the roof of the net in the 82nd minute.

It was an excellent finish from a striker who, in truth, hadn’t been having a particularly good afternoon. But sometimes football really is that simple. Get the ball wide, get down the line and deliver something dangerous into the box. Give your centre-forward an opportunity to attack the ball.

Suddenly it was Blackburn 2-1 West Ham, with enough time remaining to rescue a point. Unfortunately, the expected late onslaught never really materialised. In fact, I thought West Ham became progressively worse.

Mavropanos endured a dreadful few minutes, fortunate not to concede a penalty before slipping and gifting Blackburn a counter-attack. He then slipped again while attempting to recover, while Souček subsequently played a very poor pass into Lewis Orford inside our own penalty area, creating another potentially disastrous situation.

West Ham looked increasingly nervous, and the defensive organisation seemed to disappear. There were still opportunities at both ends in stoppage time, with Todd Cantwell shooting straight at Hermansen when Blackburn might have made it 3-1.

Souček then headed directly at the Blackburn goalkeeper following an excellent chipped delivery from Bowen. It was precisely the sort of position from which we’ve seen Souček score numerous times, but once again West Ham had failed to make the most of a promising opportunity.

West Ham’s Confidence Has Gone Full Circle

I keep coming back to the confidence issue because I think it explains an awful lot about what we’ve witnessed over these two matches. Against Cardiff, West Ham were absolutely dreadful during the opening 45 minutes, before producing a transformation after half-time that was almost impossible to believe.

Suddenly the players looked confident, aggressive and capable of playing some very good football. That improvement appeared to carry into the opening stages at Ewood Park, where we pressed Blackburn, moved the ball with purpose and looked considerably more comfortable in possession.

Yet by the closing stages, the confidence had completely evaporated. It was almost as though we’d gone full circle in the space of two matches, ending up precisely where we started. That is particularly disappointing because I still believe this West Ham squad possesses considerably more ability than recent performances suggest.

There were some positives. Mukasa showed invention, Austbø looked dangerous, Kilman had a decent game and Piroe took his goal extremely well. But the defensive mistakes, poor decision-making and increasingly nervous football were all too familiar.

I don’t think Scott Parker can be held responsible for everything we’ve witnessed this week. He’s barely had any meaningful time on the training pitch, and the international break offers him an opportunity to start properly implementing his ideas.

However, the evidence of these two games suggests that restoring confidence isn’t simply a matter of delivering one rousing team talk. The psychological side of West Ham’s problems may be every bit as important as the tactical side.

The frustrating thing is that we’ve already seen how much better these players can perform when they believe in themselves. Against Blackburn, we watched that belief gradually disappear again.