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West Ham Review: Poor performance acceptable, lack of effort is not

By Scott Johnson

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 01: Aaron Cresswell of West Ham United is shown a yellow card by Referee Chris Kavanagh during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers at London Stadium on September 1, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 01: Aaron Cresswell of West Ham United is shown a yellow card by Referee Chris Kavanagh during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Wolverhampton Wanderers at London Stadium on September 1, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images) /
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West Ham have now lost their opening four matches, which obviously isn’t great. But it’s the lack effort which is truly worrying.

West Ham currently find themselves at the bottom of the table, having failed to pick up a point so far in the Premier League. With a new manager and a host of new players it was obviously going to take time for the Hammers to get up to speed. However it shouldn’t take any time to put the effort in on the pitch.

Having watched the Wolves match again and reviewing analysis by various pundits, it’s clear there is a common theme. None of the players on the pitch seem intent on actually putting the hard yards in. Time and time again the pressing was lazy, or non existent, and the desire to get in attacking positions seemed a completely foreign concept to the players. This is an issue that needs sorting now, not in a few weeks.

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Many teams during the Premier League era have shown that hard work can sometimes trump all else. When things aren’t going right for a side it is important that they put in the hard yards and push for that extra slice of luck or that half a chance, because it’s obvious that at that point the style of play isn’t gelling. But I didn’t see any of that desire from the players in Claret and Blue.

When the ball went up in the air and we weren’t favourite we didn’t challenge. If the ball looked like it was going to need chasing down we weren’t bothered. Hell if it looked like pressure needed to be applied we just didn’t want to bother going to a sprint. And whilst fans can understand that at times player form can be a tough issue, a player should always have a competitive edge when they play for the club.

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I am willing to give Pellegrini a lot of time to get his tactics and gameplan sorted, but I don’t understand why we’re having this sort of issue only 5 competitive games into his managerial reign at the club. He has his choice of backroom staff and players, so that’s something he needs to get across. However the manager shouldn’t need to say anything around this. The players’ professionalism should really have been kicking in anyway.