There’s nothing quite like the meltdown of a club’s fanbase after having lost to lower league opposition in any sort of cup competition
It really is a sight to behold and if you thought that fan TV couldn’t offer up any more vitriol than it normally does than you haven’t tuned in minutes after the final whistle is blown on a giant-killing act.
In West Ham’s case, the fourth round loss to Wimbledon was bad but it got even worse after the club saw fit to throw a gallon of petrol onto the already out of control furnace by announcing via a video that wantaway striker Marko Arnautovic was staying and wouldn’t be heading to China after all to ‘challenge for trophies.’
The whole episode reeked of poor taste by the club and player as they both left themselves open to justifiable criticism. It’s hard to disguise it as anything other than a situation handled very badly and really it is just another one to add to the long line of oversights by the West Ham hierarchy. Why do West Ham drop so many catches then?
Upsets do happen
With regards to the defeat to Wimbledon in the FA Cup, it’s imperative to remember that upsets do happen and that really is the sole purpose of the oldest club competition in the world. They take place when two things happen. Firstly when big clubs underestimate their lower league opponents and secondly when big clubs are woefully inconsistent and full of mercurial players that shrink in the face of adversity. West Ham were ripe for the beating and the League One bottom feeders duly obliged with four knockout blows.
4 – West Ham have conceded four goals in a single #FACup game against a side from the third tier or below for the first time since January 1936 when they lost 4-0 to Luton Town in a third round replay. Shock. pic.twitter.com/9N5GpOiP0v
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 26, 2019
It was only two weeks before that the Hammers were able to beat Arsenal at home thanks to a superbly taken Declan Rice goal. It was during that game that Arnautovic waved goodbye to the crowd in a dramatic substitution that seemed to take an age as the big Austrian soaked up the limelight and quite frankly milked the moment for everything it was worth.
Hammers fans would have been in two minds whether to show him two fingers or earnestly wave back but who knew what the right thing to do was as no one in the club had taken any real committed stance on the matter. Arnautovic’s brother and agent had made it clear that his client and sibling wanted to make his dream move to China and maybe the best thing to do was to accept the bid. Either way, it was seriously audacious of Arnautovic to say his goodbyes when there was every chance he would end up staying but there you go, that is there type of individual West Ham have chosen to recruit.
📅 9th Jan:
🇨🇳 @WestHamUtd reject bid for Arnautovic from Chinese club.
📅 13th Jan:
👋 Arnautovic waves goodbye.📅 25th Jan:
✅ Arnautovic announces he’s staying at @WestHamUtd.📅 26th Jan:
📝 Arnautovic signs new contract at @WestHamUtd.🤷♂️ Arnie loves the headlines. pic.twitter.com/dGSktXnsnQ
— SPORF (@Sporf) January 26, 2019
Poor recruitment is hamstringing the club
They say less is more and there probably isn’t a better way to prove that than West Ham’s hit and miss transfer strategy. Over the last three seasons, West Ham have spent close to £250m on players which is more than enough to remain competitive in the Premier League. Some would say even its enough to be challenging for a position in the top six but West Ham don’t look anywhere near that at the moment. The owners have opened the cheque-book but what have they really bought and how have their purchases benefited the club?
There doesn’t seem to be any working template at the club which is a crying shame because most fans across the country are on the opposite end of the spectrum and locked into the age-old dispute with their owners about their unwillingness to put their hands into their pockets to strengthen the team.
Here West Ham are spending heavily but showing no signs of improvement or consistency. In some ways, it’s worse than the alternative of not spending given how wasteful it all is. When you support a club that doesn’t readily buy players at least you have the dream to cling on to still of becoming immeasurably better once the spending spree starts.
The tail is wagging the dog
Three managers in the last four years has undoubtedly left the club without a strong identity and a mishmash of players that any newly appointed manager has had to make do with. It does take a while for a manager to sift through his squad and figure out who he wants to let go of or keep. One can only draw the conclusion now that since Pellegrini was backed so heavily in the transfer market that the owners intend on letting him get his feet under the table for the foreseeable future.
In the Chilean’s defence, there aren’t too many examples in world football where a new manager has come in and drastically improved a team’s position with a squad assembled by his predecessor. The one recent exception could be Leeds United’s manager Marcelo Bielsa who was in the running for the West Ham job in 2015.
The Argentine has taken the same squad that finished 13th in the Championship last year to first in the table this season.
The Whites are flying under Bielsa and are found at a best price of 11/10 with Oddschecker to do the impossible and win the league this season. Whatever way you look at it, the dramatic change in fortunes at Elland Road is purely down to the correct managerial recruitment by an owner who has a detailed vision of how he wants the club to play.
That’s not to say that Pellegrini is a bad appointment but was he ever the right man for the job that needed doing at West Ham?
Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction as West Ham and when it came out that Pellegrini had appointed Mario Husillos as the director of football you were left wondering if the roles weren’t reversed at the club?
West Ham are presently meandering towards mediocrity for a whole host of reasons but it primarily comes down to the fact that they are a club that is right now devoid of any idea of where or who they want to be.
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