West Ham deservedly dumped out of FA Cup by Wigan
West Ham were unceremoniously dumped out of the FA Cup at the weekend. And given the performance they didn’t deserve to go through.
West Ham fans were hoping for a simple passage into the next round of the FA Cup. What they got was a wake up call that highlighted how poor the squad depth is in East London. It also compounded personnel issues that Moyes did not want ahead of an important run of fixtures.
When the players involved look back at the game, they can have no delusions about why they lost. Quite simply they did not perform as a Premier League team. If anyone thinks they were unlucky, they are very much mistaken.
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I don’t think this is in any way an excuse, but the Hammers did have a lot of people missing. Key men Arnautovic and Lanzini were out, as well as a host of goalscorers, defensive stalwarts and midfielders. So whilst many expected it to be fairly tough for the Hammers, what actually happened was unacceptable.
After only 7 minutes the inexperienced Burke let Will Grigg, yes that’s the same one from the song, get around the back of him and head home well. Despite it not being a great season for the keeper, Joe Hart could do very little about such a chance.
But when things started to go wrong, the Hammers offered nothing in return. If Wigan were fearing the wrath of a creative Premier League side they must have been pleasantly surprised. I would venture that they’ve seen more fight in most of their league games this year. The young players looked out of their depth, and the senior players offered no guidance at all.
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For every fan that made their way up to Wigan I feel genuinely sorry. They witnessed a heartless performance that everyone in the club should feel ashamed of. The players on the pitch were awful, but for that we have to look at the board. Why are we constantly worried about squad depth? Why is this such an issue at the club?