Last Saturday’s 3-2 home defeat to Southampton may have been a reality check for many West Ham players, and it has certainly shown that the Hammers have coasted too often.
It may be true that results matter more than performances, but this is not sustainable in the long run. A time will come when your team will be caught out, and that became a reality for West Ham. Although the claret and blue supporters had hope before the game, Southampton scored three goals and left East London with three points. Any feelings of positivity soon turned into dismay.
This kind of feeling is nothing new if you are a West Ham fan. They say that “it’s the hope that kills you”, but the hope is only part of the suffering. If anything, it is the self-reflection and thinking about how things could have been. That is the feeling that never leaves you, even a few days after a loss to a fellow Championship opponent.
What Could Have Been
Hindsight has played a major role in West Ham’s fate over the last few years. There are more questions than answers because of this. What if West Ham had won just one more game last season? What if Castellanos and Bowen had scored those penalties? What if we had not been relegated? These are just many of the thoughts that have plagued our minds.
There is a clear difference between those who think it and those who act on it. This theory works perfectly with the events of Saturday’s game, as well as many West Ham losses in the past. After the game, West Ham fans thought about what the team could have and should have done better, but this kind of mindset is pointless after the fact. The bottom line is that whatever West Ham did not do, Southampton did. Southampton made its chances count. Southampton scored three goals. Southampton deservedly won.
West Ham had 52 touches in the opponent’s box, but they made one count. The other goal came from outside of the box, but it came too late. Southampton acted on its intention to win. West Ham just thought that it could do that.
It’s Very West Ham Of Us
Only West Ham fans understand the science of “doing a West Ham.” It is something that other teams can’t really relate to, because it doesn’t happen to them very often. No matter what you may think, one thing was very clear — Saturday’s game contained all the classic hallmarks of a “West Ham.”
The art of doing a West Ham mix frustration with a lack of common sense. Other ingredients include several missed chances, conceding very avoidable goals, and bad tactical decisions. The manner in which the goals went in just added to the fury; goalkeeper Mads Hermansen did not move a muscle for the first one, he opted to punch the ball back into play rather than to catch it for the second, and the defence scrambled a loose ball which was very close to the goal line for the third. The Dane must not have felt so great after that.
Nuno Espírito Santo helped to create this somewhat proverbial version of West Ham. His decisions to start Manor Solomon and Taty Castellanos soon faced major critical heat. Solomon failed to produce a strong performance on the wing, and Castellanos missed two key chances to fire the ball home. It has been mentioned in this segment before, but what is stopping Edvin Austbø and Joël Piroe from getting starts in the team?
Doing a West Ham is like a broken record at times. It is the same old, same old – and you know that a loss is coming home when you feel it.
Everyone’s Cup Final
West Ham is often referred to as a “massive club” due to its history and long-standing traditions. Even the chant says that “West Ham are massive everywhere they go.” Other clubs and players agree with this statement, and West Ham is oftentimes one of the teams to beat.
Southampton felt that its victory at the London Stadium was a “statement win” due to the impact of the three points, both mathematically and psychologically. It is not the only club to think this way. Charlton Athletic is the only other club to have beaten West Ham in the Championship this season, and the result was unforgettable for the travelling fans. They left with a memory of the day their club beat a major English team, and the players would have enjoyed the moment as well.
This does beg one main question: is West Ham really everyone’s cup final, or is this club sometimes seen as an opportunity to give struggling teams a win for extra confidence? This may be a prime example of a backhanded compliment.
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