It’s been a month since we appointed Graham Potter as our new manager. Looking back over the month of January and the start of February, has it been a magical experience for us Hammers? Have we been spellbound by the quality of football we have seen, or has it been a case of being all muggles with not a spellbinding story to tell?
The Transfer Window and Injury Woes
The first elephant in the room has to be the transfer window. If we’re completely honest, it was the usual West Ham January window with very little movement. The arrival of Ferguson from Brighton, a player our manager should know well, might prove to be a real positive going forward. But with very little other movement, it seems that our own magical Potter has been left to work with the players left over from our previous manager’s reign.
Our owners did spend big in the summer so I didn’t really expect a huge amount of recruits. It therefore has to be down to how our new coach manages those that he has at his disposal. Add into this the fact that, as usual, we have a West Ham injury crisis on our hands and there’s a distinct possibility that he’s been unable, during his first few weeks in charge, to be able to field his best eleven. But let’s look at what he has done.
Evaluating the Results: A Mixed Bag
On first look our results don’t really show a great improvement. First game up, and just a day into Potter’s reign, was a trip to Birmingham and Aston Villa in the FA Cup. Despite all the early promise the result was a defeat. Being at Villa Park that night, I do have sympathy for the players as it was the coldest I have ever been at a football match.
We followed this game with a much-needed win against Fulham and then defeats to Crystal Palace and Chelsea with a league draw at Aston Villa sandwiched between those two defeats. So it was a case of four points out of a possible 12, not a great return. Adding to that poor return was the fact that we are out of the FA Cup in the third round, and on paper it doesn’t look great. Additionally we also still lie close to the relegation area albeit a significant amount of points away from the bottom three. Europe looks a long way away and the nearest we could get to a European tour next season is if Cardiff or Swansea suddenly got promoted which of course looks doubtful.
Tactical Tweaks and Youth Integration
But it may be worth digging a little closer into what has happened to the team under Graham Potter. Other than the game against Chelsea, our average possession has gone up as has our completed passing percentage which is of course a plus. It’s also a case that Graham Potter is not afraid of bringing in youth team players and in that first game against Aston Villa, he gave Oliver Scarles his full debut.
He also showed that he was not afraid to put an attacking lineup in place in an away game. His use of Aaron Wan Bissaka and Cryscensio Summerville in that game was a joy to behold until the latter was injured and also, as is the West Ham way, that we haven’t seen him fit since. Add to that the fact that Niclas Füllkrug was on the comeback trail and then pulled up during that game and now looks to be out for a considerable time having succumbed to the West Ham curse for strikers.
Smash and Grabs and Costly Mistakes
I would say that our game against Fulham was very much a smash and grab. Fulham dominated the game and our shooting percentage was incredibly low yet out of the four shots that we had on target we scored three goals so our 75% strike rate sounds pretty good in my eyes. We did though rob Fulham of Premier League points that day but at this time of the season, I’ll take anything.
Next up was a game against our south London rivals. Despite Crystal Palace’s recent form, this was a game that we probably marked as one to get points from. During that game Potter suddenly realised that we have a centre back that is always a mistake away from disaster and the Konstantinos Mavropanos red card put paid to any chance we had of getting points from that game.
Signs of Progress Against the Villains
It seemed to me that it was a loss of a player on the opposition that was the turning tide for our second away game in a month against Aston Villa. For the first half an hour we hardly got a touch and Villa deserved the early lead, and it seemed as if it was going to be a long day in the office. But then came the injury to Tyrone Mings and that seemed to turn the tables. They always say a game of football is a tale of two halves, and in the second half, we played a great deal better than we had earlier in the game and fully deserved to gain a point. Once again we were not embarrassed by the stats and had more shots than the Villains. We also had more possession than the home team. It was a valuable point against a Villa side that had been playing well, although may have had a slight headache from having had to play in Europe just a few days earlier.
The Chelsea Defeat: Better Than the Scoreline
And so came the first game in February for our team, a visit to Stamford Bridge and a game against Chelsea on a Monday night. I really didn’t expect a great deal from this one as the injuries had certainly piled up, but we did have Bowen back in the side. Also the experiment that had seemed to work against Villa a few days earlier where we played three at the back with just one really recognised centre back seemed to work. Potter has seemed to have found a great formation with Coufal, Kilman and resurgent Cresswell at the back and it seemed to work.
It was a disappointing defeat and one I felt we didn’t deserve. Chelsea‘s equaliser came from an earlier foul on Bowen in midfield and then the winner was more a cross than anything else. We came away with zero points when really we deserved at least a share of them. Once again though there were some bright points with Bowen upfront, we had our talisman back and that back three continued to work well. As expected, though, we were dominated by Chelsea on possession with the west London team taking two thirds of the ball throughout the game and out shooting us almost two to one. But the positive was that we had more on target than them although of course we didn’t convert. On paper it looked like just another defeat but in my eyes Graham Potter had shown that this was a very different West Ham.
The Road to May and the Summer Rebuild
Unless there is an absolute disaster then we are safe this season. Our cup run, if you can call it that, is over and there’s no sign of us getting a European place. The rest of the season has to be Graham Potter evaluating his squad and seeing who he wants to keep and who will be going through the door in May. It’s clear with Ward Prowse now returning that he wants to evaluate all available players and it’s a pity that Aguerd cannot return from a season-long loan.
There are several players out of contact in June namely Danny Ings, Vladimir Coufal, Aaron Cresswell, Lukasz Fabianski and Michail Antonio. Early days I know but I can’t see Ings having impressed our new manager and the club is very quiet on Antonio’s injury. He will also have to make a decision on some of our loan players. Evan Ferguson, Jean Clair Todibo and Carlos Soler all will have decisions made on their future. Potter has a challenge on his hands but right now, this feels like a preseason, a honeymoon period in the build up for next season.
Building for a Wizarding Success
One thing we can already see is that we look more organised. It was alleged that during JLo’s time in charge, training sessions were a mess and that team sheets were only revealed a few hours before kick off. It seems that is a thing of the past. We seem more organised and there slowly seems to be a confidence emerging. Early signs show promise. This season is not the one to judge Potter. The summer dealings and September will be that time. Let’s hope it’s a wizarding success.
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