West Ham United boss Graham Potter has so much work on his hands after Crystal Palace beat us 2-0 at the London Stadium on Saturday.
It was a horrendous afternoon for West Ham, and a performance from the players that worryingly lacked any kind of desire or intensity.
Graham Potter was forced into naming a makeshift starting XI for the Crystal Palace clash.
The likes of Aaron Cresswell and Guido Rodriguez just shouldn’t be starting for us, it really is as simple as that.
The Argentine was particularly poor, and Potter must now realise that he needs to be moved on in the January window.
West Ham are miles behind where we need to be, and if Potter wasn’t sure of the size of the task that awaits him, he’ll be under no illusions about it now.
The Hammers players looked sluggish against Palace at the London Stadium – it seemed like they were running in treacle at times!
We never even threatened Palace’s goal, and failed to sustain our attacks for any period of time.
It was one of the worst performances of the season and what concerned me most was the fact that we didn’t even compete with Palace.
What Graham Potter said after 2-0 West Ham defeat
The Hammers head coach looked forlorn on the sidelines throughout the game.
He tried to mix things up with a triple substitution early on in the second-half, but little changed.
The performance from the boys was about as passive as you will ever see, and they were made to pay by a well-drilled Palace outfit.
The defeat to the Eagles felt like a real kick in the teeth as the Hammers were unable to make it back-to-back wins in the Premier League.
That said, I have always insisted that progress under Potter will not be linear. I’m just hoping that the players, and the head coach, learned from Saturday’s dismal outing.
Potter spoke to the press after the game and offered his honest take on the current situation at West Ham, as quoted by WHUFC.com.
However, one thing he said absolutely filled me with dread, and every single Hammers fan should be extremely concerned.
“We were in a little bit second to second balls and knockdowns and things like that and they seemed to be on it a bit quicker than us“, Potter explained.
Those comments seriously worry me.
If we can’t even compete in duels and win second balls, we really are in serious trouble.
That’s the bare minimum that the fans should expect from the players.
The squad assembled by Julen Lopetegui and Tim Steidten is an awfully unbalanced one, and Potter now has to clear up that mess.
We are desperately short of proper characters and leaders, and a painfully long rebuild process lies ahead of us.
However, the huge positive for me is that Graham Potter is definitely the man we need to guide us to the promised land.
After a few transfer windows, when Graham Potter has moulded his West Ham team to suit his vision, I have full faith that we will be on to big things.
The fans need to be patient.
Those comments from Potter were hugely concerning. However, I’m hoping it doesn’t become a pattern, and we see the players be far more competitive for the remainder of the season, even when they’re not on top form.
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