Another game and another defeat for West Ham as Graham Potter fails to inspire an upturn in dismal results that have dogged the club for over a year.
It is now one win in six for Graham Potter since he took over at West Ham last month.
You could say it’s been a terrible start but in reality it’s just a continuation of the funk the Hammers have been in since January 1st 2024.
West Ham are on their third manager since that fateful date.
There has been real enthusiasm around Potter’s tactics and approach since his arrival in east London.
But doubts that had loomed large over his appointment, given the fact he had been out of work for 20 months, are starting to look legitimate.
Other than the awful 2-0 home defeat to Palace, performances had been much improved since Potter was appointed.
However, the first half against Brentford was as bad as it has been at West Ham in the last 14 months.
Potter was embarrassed tactically by Thomas Frank and Brentford should have been four or five up by half-time instead of just 1-0.
There was some improvement in the second half. But that was no great achievement given how bad the first 45 were.
Potter left West Ham fans fuming after what he did to Jarrod Bowen.
While the players have to start taking the responsibility for this malaise, Potter was most definitely at fault as West Ham were booed off at the break and the final whistle for the first time under him.
Kilman to Kudus: Good, bad and very ugly for West Ham
From Max Kilman to Mohammed Kudus, here’s the good, bad and very ugly from West Ham’s Brentford defeat.
West Ham fans feared the worst when they saw Potter had reverted to a back four and error-prone Konstantinos Mavropanos was back in the side against the Bees.
With good reason too.
Mavropanos was terrible in the opening half an hour.
But Kilman, who has been excellent since Potter came in, was not much better.
Both improved as the game wore on but what has become all too clear is that Wolves fans were bang on about the £40m man.
Kilman simply cannot play in a back four. He is much better suited to a three – as he has proved in recent games.
Wolves fans warned Kilman must be partnered by a more dominant central defender if he is to be a success in a back four.
They had it spot on. He made several crucial last ditch interventions to keep the score down.
But the whole defence looked nervy and unsettled by the change back to a four.
Another huge negative about the game was Kudus.
Kudus won’t be worth £50m to Hammers at this rate
West Ham claim they are facing big PSR issues restricting spending this summer.
The budget will be heavily reliant on player sales – like most clubs these days.
Kudus has an £85m release clause active this summer.
Ahead of the January window, the Hammers said they would only sell before then for £100m plus.
That looks almost laughable now.
Kudus has been abysmal this season and hit a new low against Brentford.
Nothing he did came off, he continually gave the ball away, missed West Ham’s best chance of the game from five yards out and fans have been very critical of his performance as a result.
Potter’s tactics didn’t help as he played on the right ahead of Bowen, who was bizarrely operating like a wingback.
At this rate West Ham will be lucky to get anything over £50m for Kudus in the summer.
Soler eclipse on debate about keeping Carlos
There has been much debate about whether West Ham should keep Carlos Soler when his loan is up at the end of the season.
The Hammers can sign the Spaniard from PSG for around £17m. But Soler is on £240k per week until 2027.
So unless PSG supplement the difference in wages he would be paid by West Ham or reach a compromise payout then that looks unlikely.
But this desperately poor performance from the ex Valencia man will have put the seal on any debate over whether the Hammers should make Soler’s move permanent.
The money simply must be better spent elsewhere.
There were plenty more negatives we could focus on from a 12th Premier League defeat of the season.
From Evan above – proper striker makes difference for West Ham
We should try and focus on a couple of positives, though.
One of those was the debut of Evan Ferguson.
West Ham have finally signed the kind of young striker the fans have been desperate for.
And Ferguson impressed when he came on at half-time.
He was the major reason West Ham improved in the second half.
The 20-year-old looked really lively, got a few shots off and should have registered an assist only for Kudus to blaze over the bar from close range.
Ferguson showed he can hold the ball up and link play, had a good turn of pace and West Ham looked much better for having a proper striker leading the line.
A big plus.
Hungry Scarles must keep Hammers place
Ollie Scarles was the other big positive. Emerson Palmieri has been one of West Ham’s most inconsistent performers for some time now.
Bryan Mbuemo was making him look silly and Emerson was rightly subbed off by Potter once again.
On came fearless youngster Ollie Scarles, who started Potter’s first match in charge at Aston Villa.
Scarles has been hard done by losing his place since.
He came on and looked miles better in defence and attack than Emerson.
Scarles had three shots at goal and but for a brave block to charge down his piledriver, he would undoubtedly have scored the equaliser.
Scarles must stay in the team for the game against Arsenal.
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