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Comments
Was it an uneven paving stone beyond what is reasonably to be expected, if so SUE the council.
What I hate is Potter is now the fall guy. I have made this point several times, the players are the issue (& from that, the recruitment). A combination of mentality/attitude but also ability.
Lop was/is a good manager. He didn't suit us.
Potter is/was a good coach. He doesn't suit us (currently).
Moyes was/is a good manager, arguably our best. He did suit us until he didn't.
Modern football sucks. I hate lots about it. Players put in lacklustre displays week after week, get paid, go through motions, say all the right things, repeat. Manager goes.
Potter is a good coach & a good guy. He is (IMO) the right manager for West Ham (aside from his football being slightly dull at times), but at the wrong time - I hope that can change quickly.
He was given young talented players by a competent recruitment at Brighton; Bissouma, Mac Allister, Caceido, Cucurella, Trossard. He made them players that now represent Spurs, Liverpool, Chelsea, Chelsea, Arsenal respectively. They weren't already 8/10 players - that's why Brighton finished 9th.
This is a guy who can coach players, clearly. He has a clear idea, he has a preferred style/formation, he is calm, he speaks well, he offers young players opportunities, he can show he can pull off big results (1-0 win at Arsenal).
But he needs to coach raw players like Diouf, not institutionalised players like Soucek, JWP, Rodriguez. He needs to get more out of Todibo, Kilman, Aguerd, Hermansen, Paqueta, Bowen, AWB - but he showed last season he could. Kilman/Todibo actually played 'ok' in several games after his appointment & we defended 'fairly' competently. Bowen was still our top scorer/assist. AWB got HOTY (not correctly, IMO). That doesn't change in a pre-season.
We had several good displays as a collective (Anfield, Stamford Bridge, Emirates, Villa Park, Old Trafford). We were competitive in all games.
I really hope we can rescue this window in some way, & Potters' future in the process. I really don't care who we sign, as long as Potter wants them.
Pellegrini first season (right coach, wrong time, again, pattern here...) - lost our first four games, -8 GD. Ended up 10th with 52 points (-3 GD). It's early days.
Get well soon, MrsG!
Bottom line for me is that we need 2 or 3 signings better than we already have before the window closes, no matter who our manager is.
Get well soon.
I agree with most of your post, but using an ‘excellent’, after you said about your finger, it didn’t seem appropriate. 🤕
Ouch! Hope you feel better soon. ⚒
Dyce?
I don't think he's a bad manager but he's not the guy to bring us out of this situation, his lack of adaptability will be his undoing... the formation isn't working
We are a huge PL club - 13 years straight in the PL, European success only 2 years ago.
Potter has at his disposal Rodriguez, JWP, Potts, Wilson, Irving, Orford, Scarles, Marshall.
Wow - go ahead & select a squad/11 with those options.
I think the side he had out did well to be 2-1 up after being 1-0 down at HT, but then what does he have when he needs to freshen it up?
Our midfield were shot. Irving and / or Potts needed to come on.
Poor management for me.
JWP ad Guido looked shot.
Last season, he made us competitive playing a back five, Soucek/JWP/Alvarez in midfield & two strikers.
It's not like the back five doesn't work, it did last season in stopping goals & getting us some points. We had a slow, plodding midfield last season, still won at the Emirates with it.
There is no way Potter would have felt we'd be sat at the end of August with the four signings we have. I don't see who else he is meant to select/bring on.
Potter is a slow, steady & sustainable builder of squads & football clubs. He focuses on talented young players being signed & coaching them to become elite footballers. He isn't results driven, which is something some managers are (Moyes was, the result would dictate his mood after the game) & is focused on the team doing the right things first, which leads to performances, which will then lead to results. Yes he has some foundational beliefs, but all successful people generally do. His preferred style is a back 3, hopefully now we can make it work with legs in midfield.
This is the type of manager we have wanted for a while - allows youth a chance (whether signed or from the academy), focuses on a possession-based style of play & builds clubs over time.
I get in the modern day he can't keep losing & we can't keep playing badly, but I would much rather we stuck with Potter & trusted him to build us something than throw it all away for another quick fix.
He squeezed the maximum out of the squad last season, but needed reinvestment this summer, really before the season kicked off. He has just got it in the last 24 hours. We now need to see, realistically, what we deliver after the international break.
I think people have become blinded to just how bad our squad is. 3-0 & 5-1 is not really underperformance, it's where the current ability level, with a bit of a lack of confidence, is.
At the moment though, we do not look like picking up a draw let alone a win.
Now I'm just off to Greggs to see if they have any humble pie left.
Sunderland A, Chelsea H, Forest A, 3 draws or a win and two losses sounds about right from those fixtures.
It was just awful to have conceded 8 goals through such poor play and create so few chances which quite rightly did make us wonder what the future held. It still does feel like we may struggle but the situation is not devoid of some hope after the Forest match.