West Ham United take on Tottenham Hotspur tonight, and wouldn’t it be great if we approached the game like Unai Emery’s Aston Villa side did at Villa Park last night.
Aston Villa beat Manchester City 1-0 at Villa Park last night, and as a West Ham fan it made me envious…for two reasons.
The Hammers drew 1-1 with Crystal Palace at the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon, and it was one of the worst atmospheres I’ve ever experienced as a fan.
David Moyes received plenty of stick from the home fans after the game, and rightly so.
Sure, it was the dreaded two o’clock kick-off on a Sunday but still, there is no excuse for what was served up by the fans, the players or the manager.
Watching Aston Villa under Unai Emery has made me realise that the onus should be more on the manager and the players to get the stadium buzzing. Villa Park hasn’t always been bouncing over there past few years after all.
So, if the answer is Aston Villa, what is the question? I think there are numerous angles to attack this from…
Villa Park rocking a result of Aston Villa boss Unai Emery
How do we get the London Stadium bouncing again? It’s our home now, and has been for more than seven years, so there’s no point in pining for Upton Park all the time.
Is the onus on the players or the fans to make the atmosphere what it should be?
Let’s not forget, London Stadium has been absolutely on fire at times before, but just not on a consistent basis.
Our Stratford home was absolutely rocking for the 1-0 wins against Tottenham in 2017 and 2021, the 3-2 wins over Liverpool and Chelsea in 2021 and of course the 2-0 Europa League win over Sevilla.
However, on too many occasions the London Stadium is like a morgue. You can hear people chatting in the stands when watching the games on TV!
So, how do we fix this and turn our stadium into a proper environment to play in?
The West Ham fans, players and most importantly, David Moyes, all need to look at what Unai Emery is doing at Aston Villa.
The Spaniard has his team playing exciting, front foot football with an exhilaratingly high tempo to match. That gets the Villa fans off their seats and everything snowballs from there.
The atmosphere inside Villa Park last night throughout the entire 90 minutes was truly incredibly, and the energy from the fans was genuinely top tier – something that Emery discussed in his post-match press conference (AVFC.co.uk).
The Hammers, as a club, have to look at the way Villa operate, and try to emulate them. It still rankles me to this day that we didn’t try to sell a project to Unai Emery before he joined the West Midlands club.
In my opinion, if West Ham are to make genuine progress, we need to employ a young, forward-thinking manager who plays progressive, exciting and high-tempo football.
Moyes has worked wonders since returning to the London Stadium, but he has hit his ceiling as far as I’m concerned, and it’s time for the Hammers and the Scot to go their separate ways.
The 60-year-old deploys a dull brand of turgid football that many of the home fans are sick to the high teeth of now. It’s hard to create a good atmosphere inside the stadium of fans when the football on display is being played at walking pace.
If we appointed someone like Ruben Amorim or Arne Slot, I can guarantee that the London Stadium would be like a completely different place to watch football.
West Ham need to look at Aston Villa and the way that Emery has Villa Park rocking for inspiration. It could be us, but Moyes needs to leave in order to make that happen.
READ ALSO:
Reporter with top inside West Ham source makes fresh Mubama claim, and it’s hugely concerning
David Moyes needs to change 26-year-old’s position to save West Ham United’s season – view
30-cap international must now realise his West Ham career is over ahead of the January window
Receive a digest of our best West Ham content each week direct to your mailbox
