It has been a miserable couple of weeks for Sam Allardyce’s West Ham United side. A two weeks in which West Ham have recorded a desperate 2-1 defeat to fellow Premier League strugglers Fulham, a humiliating 5-0 battering, albeit with a weakened side, by Championship side Nottingham Forest and now, a devastating 6-0 defeat at the hands of Manchester City which has caused Big Sam’s side to plunge deeper into the relegation zone of the Premier League table whilst also making exits from both the FA Cup and Capital One Cup. Well, that is unless you believe that they can put 7 past City without conceding next week at Upton Park of course. It’s easy to blame a manager when a team goes on a run as bad as West Ham’s recent one has been, however, Big Sam might not be all to blame for this disastrous situation that has emerged in East London.
West Ham have been desperately unlucky this season with injuries, losing several of their main first team players to long-term injuries. The most noticeable name on their long casualty list is Andy Carroll, who the Hammers acquired by smashing their club record with a transfer fee of £15.5m. Carroll is West Ham’s only proven centre forward at this level, and the big striker not appearing in the Irons first team this season has been a massive blow to the London side’s hopes and ambitions. As well as losing Carroll, Sam Allardyce has already had Winston Reid (ankle) and James Collins (calf) missing from the Hammers squad on multiple occasions this season. The pair formed an immense defensive partnership last season, making Upton Park a tricky place for visiting teams to pick up 3 points.
The story this season however couldn’t be more different, as West Ham are conceding goals from everywhere on the pitch with Big Sam having to play players outside of their positions to cover for the roles at centre back vacated Reid and Collins. The truth is, not many managers would be doing much better against a red hot Man City side at the Ethiad if they had the same resources Allardyce is currently being forced to work with. The blame for the defeat to Fulham can only be directed to the captain, Kevin Nolan, for his mindlessly reckless tackle which rightly resulted in a red card.
As well as problems with injuries this season, a lack of effort and commitment from the Hammers players has also cost them dearly recently. Thousands of West Ham fans continue to travel up to Manchester, Nottingham and beyond to see their senior players not putting in the required effort for this level of football. After seeing their team concede 11 goals in four days, the fans anger has naturally been directed towards the manager, but despite the pressure Big Sam is currently under, he isn’t showing any signs of throwing in the towel just yet. And why should he?
Allardyce praised the quality of the Man City side that he had seen destroy his West Ham squad.
“When they’ve got so much quality as they’ve got, we can not get near them.
“We could’ve done some things better but when I look at the quality of City tonight, it makes me pretty jealous.”
It’s tough not to feel for Big Sam in desperate situations like these. The Hammers boss has acknowledged that struggles like these are just part of the job.
“When you buy some of world’s most outstanding players, it is as simple as that. Their squad is far better than ours. We have not got a full squad. Even if we had, we might have been beaten but I do not think we would have lost 6-0.
“It is difficult every morning waking up and (seeing) it is doom and gloom and this and that. We have to accept that is part of the job, and have to take the bad with the good. At the moment, it is not very good. We have got to keep getting players in the right mentality.”
West Ham and Allardyce must now prepare for their next Premier League match away to Cardiff. Allardyce has made it clear how important this match is. A defeat could see West Ham sink to the bottom of the table, whereas a win could mean escaping from the relegation zone.
Winston Reid and James Collins could make a return to the West Ham squad this weekend but captain Kevin Nolan will still be serving his 3 match ban for his sending off at Fulham.
The task of coming away from Cardiff with a win will be hard, with new manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer recording a 2-1 win away to Newcastle in his first match at the helm.
The next few weeks certainly seem to be looking ominous if you’re a West Ham fan. Possibly even more ominous for Big Sam should they not show an upturn in their performances.
