With a team that was good enough to get a result at home against West Brom, David Moyes’ West Ham embarrass themselves out of the FA Cup in a despicable effort.
This is more of a breakdown rather than match review, as the Hammers didn’t put up an effort that could be considered worthy of a match. The team on paper was good enough, too. The issue comes down to unmotivated players who do not care about the club whatsoever, cashing paycheques and living their lives without any emotional strain or pressure.
The only surprise in the team selected was Mark Noble being sat and rested which meant Carlos Sanchez replaced him on the pitch. From kickoff, it was clear Sanchez hadn’t miraculously gotten better since his last feature. He was slow, inaccurate, immobile, and a turnover machine.
To match him, Fabian Balbuena might as well have had a green and yellow shirt on because he played just as many passes to Baggies players than he did Hammers. He was absolutely atrocious and liable to have his contract terminated.
To kick things off, Sanchez, Issa Diop, Fabian Balbuena, and Pablo Zabaleta all decided to give West Brom left-back Conor Townsend 5 yards of free space to shoot a well-placed shot just nine minutes into the match behind a helpless Darren Randolph. Every one of those defenders postured up with their arms around their backs instead of pushing in on the player, giving him the free chance which he happily took.
West Brom were far and away the better team in the first half and played much better than a 1-0 scoreline suggests. Moyes, rightfully so, made three changes at half bringing on Angelo Ogbonna for Balbuena, Mark Noble for Sanchez, and Michail Antonio for Pablo Fornals.
The second half was more of the same awful football for the Hammers, outside of Antonio actually running hard for balls in West Brom’s end. A second yellow card for Baggies defender Semi Ajayi in the 72nd minute would see the visitors drop to ten men.
Noble really kicked into high-gear, as well as Declan Rice. The duo completely outperformed Manuel Lanzini who looked lost and was incredibly ineffective the entire night. The lack of movement from Haller, Antonio, and Albian Ajeti saw the best chances in the final 20 minutes come from 20+ yards out with Lanzini, Rice, and Noble all trying to score the equalizer.
The best chance would come just before the full-time whistle. Antonio drifted out wide and hit a low cross in that deflected off the defender, falling right to Noble just 15 yards out. Unmarked and unpressured, Noble skied the chance and dropped to his knees in disbelief. The chance had come and gone.
This was the most disinterested performance from an underperforming group of players West Ham supporters have seen in some time. The defending was atrocious, there was no speed or effort apart from Antonio, and the midfield was completely overrun for 70 minutes. Shame on these players who, quite frankly, don’t deserve to pull the badge on.