Cash can’t solve West Ham woes
CRISIS has never been far from the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park since West Ham moved in and another one is brewing.
Rock-bottom and without a point in four games, despite a £100million trolley dash in the summer, the Hammers are facing an apocalypse now.
Captain Marko Arnautovic branded a feeble home defeat by Wolves as “unacceptable” and defender Aaron Cresswell said: “For the money we’ve spent, we should be nowhere near where we are.”
Off the pitch, the Hammers are arguing with stadium owners E20 about the colour of the carpet border around the playing surface. It is like squabbling over the cutlery when there is a food shortage.
West Ham’s next three games after the international break are against Everton, Chelsea and Manchester United and, unless manager Manuel Pellegrini and his players pull their fingers out, the table could look a whole lot worse before it gets better.
West Ham were booed off and the storm clouds are gathering. Throwing £100m at the squad is all well and good but jigsaw pieces do not fit together just because they are expensive.
In both home games to date, instead of playing with urgency and tempo, West Ham have been insipid and soporific.
Jack Wilshere looks short of a gallop, and if Carlos Sanchez – whose dithering led to substitute Adama Traore’s stoppage-time winner – is the answer, what was the question?
Wolves might have left it late but they brought cohesion to the party, while the Hammers jarred like too many designer labels in the same outfit.
Another relegation battle appears to lie ahead and Arnautovic said: “This is unacceptable. We have quality but we need to show it. The club and the fans expect a lot more from us.
“We need to turn this around as soon as possible, otherwise there is going to be big trouble.”
To his credit, nor did Cresswell duck the issue, saying: “We let ourselves down and it wasn’t good enough. After four defeats and 10 goals conceded, there’s no getting away from it.
“New players have come in but we’ve had a lot of time together – two months if you include pre-season – and nobody wants to be in this situation.
“For the money we’ve spent we should be nowhere near where we are, but the reality is that we’re down at the bottom.”
Traore’s pace off the bench terrified West Ham and his injury-time winner sealed Wolves’ first Premier League victory since Mick McCarthy was in charge,
seven managers ago, in February 2012.
After his first goal in 40 top-flight appearances, Wolves’ record £18m signing said: “Our performances have been good, we need to keep pushing forward to the next level, and I am so happy to score. The first of many? Of course.”
For West Ham, however, the signs are ominous. The last time they lost four games to start a season was in 2010-11 under Avram Grant. That story did not have a happy ending.