WEST HAM WOLVES BUBBLES IN TROUBLE
‘It’s not a bad start.. it’s a VERY bad start’
TALK about your bubble already being well and truly burst.
After so much pre-season optimism surrounding big-spending West Ham, the alarm bells are once again ringing at the London Stadium.
Four successive defeats – this time thanks to Wolves substitute Adama Traore’s deserved last-gasp winner – piled on the misery for the Hammers.
Not since Avram Grant was in charge have West Ham suffered a similar nightmare start. Back then, in 2010-11, they finished rock bottom and they are once again gazing up from the gutter again.
This was not the start West Ham’s owners David Sullivan and David Gold had in mind when they embarked on their £100million summer signing spree under new Premier League titlewinning boss Manuel Pellegrini.
Pellegrini worked his magic at Manchester City, but it was always going to be a tougher task here.
Pellegrini said: “I don’t think it is a bad start, it is a very bad start.
“We knew before the start of the season that we had some difficult games. But we didn’t think we’d lose six points from our two games at home. There’s no easy games in the Premier League. We must reduce our amount of mistakes.
“Everyone inside the club is calm. I think we have a strong squad and we will have better results in the future.”
This time last year Crystal Palace pulled the plug on Frank de Boer’s reign. There’s no question of a repeat scenario with Pellegrini but with games looming against Everton, Chelsea, Manchester United and Tottenham, the concern is that it could well get worse before it gets better.
Promoted Wolves had already shown they belong at this level and only reinforced that view long before Traore’s 90th-minute strike.
West Ham had started well when Felipe Anderson brought a smart save out of Rui Patricio in the opening minutes. But Wolves soon found their feet. Lukasz Fabianksi kept out Matt Doherty’s shot but the home keeper should have been beaten as Diogo Jota headed over in the 36th minute.
Raul Jimenez then fired inches wide as the lacklustre hosts were booed off.
A ponderous West Ham were no better after the break, with Wolves always the more likely to score.
The only problem was that the chances were falling to Mexico striker Jimenez. First he headed ■ West Ham have lost their first four league games in a season for only a second time after 2010-11 – when they went down. headed straight at Fabianksi and the Pole then foiled Wolves sub Leo Bonatini. Then came Jimenez’s incredible 79th-minute miss, getting into an awful tangle after meeting Doherty’s cross and miskicking from six yards. It looked easier to score.
An off-colour Marco Arnautovic almost made Jimenez pay two minutes later as he burst past Conor Coady but saw Patricio save the ball with his face.
That looked that until Carlos Sanchez was caught dozing on the ball by Ruben Neves and Bonatini fed new-signing Traore, who drilled the ball home with almost the last kick.
Wolves boss Nino Espirito Santo said: “The confidence comes from performances not results. But our attitude from the start was to win.”