Being beaten at home is a tough thing for any side to deal with. When you’re at home you’re supposed to feel like you can take on anyone. On your day even the best teams from Spain, Italy and Germany would have a tough time playing against you.
Losing at home can lead to the worst part of football. It can be destructive and lead to a downward spiral that last far longer than is OK. West Ham need to avoid that.
Losing the way the side did to Manchester City at the weekend is the sort of loss that every manager fears. West Ham were played off the field at the London Stadium by a Manchester City side that was vastly superior in every single way. David Silva bossed the midfield with Yaya Toure and West Ham never really caught up.
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Slaven Bilic will now be at a crossroads and he needs to grab the opportunity with both hands. The squad will now be more malleable than ever before. If there is an idea that he thinks he should move towards then now is the time to do it. West Ham simply cannot afford to look at this as a simple “one off”. Performaces have been down in the past couple of weeks and Bilic needs to make something of it.
Where next for West Ham?
Sure they are now no longer anywhere near the relegation places but is that suddenly the standard? Are they now only ever aiming for survival? Surely not. This is the opportunity that they needed to bind the team together. They should look to February 1st and mark it on the calendar. That is the day that Manchester City return to the London Stadium in the Premier League.
They should work every single day with that match in mind and build towards it. Preparing for City will be more than enough to prepare for Middlesbrough and Crystal Palace. If they can win those and then rally around the match against City suddenly the club will be at the top of a wave rather than the bottom and a resurgence that could end in the top 7 places would not be out of reach.
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It is a matter of perspective. West Ham have an opportunity to look at this the right way and to build something. Or they could look at it as the most humiliating loss of the season and tear themselves apart about it. It’s up to them.