EXTRA TIME

Woeful start to the season

September 21, 2024 at 2:44 pm Leave a comment

West Ham have lost each of their opening three home games of a league campaign for the first time in their 129-year history. The Hammers couldn’t muster a single point in their first three games at the London Stadium under new head coach Julen Lopetegui:

Aston Villa 1-2

Manchester City 1-3

Chelsea 0-3

The four points which West Ham have gained so far this season come from an away win at Crystal Palace (2-0) and a 1-1 draw at Fulham.

After a seemingly promising transfer window in the summer, West Ham are a million miles away from where they want to be. Following this woeful performance against Chelsea, the Hammers are left languishing in the bottom half of the table, three points above the relegation zone.

Casually dressed Lopetegui – quite different from his predecessor David Moyes – wore jeans and a grey jumper on the sideline and made his first of five substitutions ten minutes before the half time interval, though leaving Jean-Clair Todibo, the £40million-rated centre half who was wanted by Manchester United and Juventus in the summer on the bench.

The new manager blamed “soft goals” and tactical choices for the reversal, but most of the time also his team seemed too casual and especially the Hammers‘ defence looked jaded, slow and lacklustre in this early kick-off in the bright sunshine at London Stadium.

On October 27th, I will watch the Hammers take on Manchester United at London Stadium. Let’s hope the Irons‘ performances have improved by then, otherwise Lopetegui could be gone by Christmas, and all but casual David Moyes come back a third time …

PS: West Ham women‘s team also lost 0-3 on this Saturday. They were beaten by Manchester Utd at Old Trafford on the opening day of the 2024/25 Barclays Women’s Super League season.

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