West Ham Online

https://www.whufc.com/news/graham-potte ... head-coach

​​​​​​In the past he's favoured a 3-4-3 formation...hard to see how we can do that currently with only 3 senior CBs, one of whom is injured. He's also played wingers (Solly March as an example) in the wing back roles.

Typically when a 3-4-3 gets announced on a match day the manager is immediately described as being too negative, too cautious etc. I guess it depends on the composition of the 4.

He's given young players chances...hopefully that continues at West Ham.

Welcome Graham.

I’ll give him. Until the end of the season to prove he knows what he’s doing…

Poor man’s Southgate…

Anyone for a spot of fishing today 

 Bit of a cop out that.

Yeah it’s nothing to do with his unacceptable selections or questionable tactics.

Little interesting titbit in his press conference. Basically between the lines saying the players were not fit enough and there wasn't enough intensity in training which is still a work in progress.

Not verbatim but 'The players have applied themselves... there's been a change in behviour and a change in intensity in how we train and play which is step by step.... too much too soon there can be problems in terms of injuries.'

Having a look at a youth  player in a senior fixture is almost always a good idea. "Doing an Allardyce" and putting many youths in a senior fixture is a terrible idea. So Casey will get a chance when Scarles/Orford/Guilherme aren't getting one. Those three are getting chances for now and im happy that they are, which means i have to be bappy that the other yoing players are having to wait for now.

Presumably Casey is next on the list, as a defender he isn't likely to start alongside Scarles but he'll get a shot when circumstances are right. 

Listening to Brady's comments on Potter. Same unrealistic expectation on Potter next season as it was for Lopetegui.   European qualification.   Sullivan and Brady must have been asleep for the last 2 -3 years or are just not that bright?   The West Ham slide began second half of the 22/23 under Moyes. The European games where teams had not experienced a low block, counter attacking team, masked the demise and winning the Conference trophy, where in reality we played only 2 decent teams, allowed Euro qualification again. But in reality we have been struggling and sliding further down in the league for 2, soon to be 3, seasons.  

Having wasted a good part of £150 million last summer, the club cannot buy its way up the table and will have to implement a way of playing across the teams and look to youth development and younger potential talent to rebuild the first team squad.  It will take several seasons.  Potter will gone by the end of next season if not before is the way I read this.   

Sullivan wont care as its Brady's pick and suspect he will want to get him out asap.  Now if we are not seeing improvement and more of the Lopetegui heavy defeats and performances and like the first half last Saturday under Potter, then yes he will need to be shown the door.  But if we start to see a move to a younger team with younger players getting chances, better performances as we did in 4 of Potters first 6 games, and of course some more wins, then surely we need to stick with something and give it more time even if we do not make Euro qualification for 1 or 2 seasons.  At Brighton the expectations were less but Potter did see slow and steady progress league wise.   Nah no one has the patience for that at West Ham do they?  Not the owner, board or us the fans.   If Potter survives the next 12 months he will have done well imo

BoleynGone wrote: ↑17 Feb 2025, 18:31 Lee,
I think Potter has missed a chance to see how Casey would be in a PL game. Don't think he had anything to lose by not starting him or giving him more time of the bench. Don't think anyone would have been upset if it didn't work out. It's not as though we've won every game ,wuite the reverse.

 

Agree Scorch. They are footballing nerds ( a compliment btw ) that know their onions and good insights into the tactical nuances and complexities. Makes a change from the “he’s shit” or “we’re crap” emotional stuff on other sites

The discussion at the end was really interesting. Are Bowen, Kudus and Paqueta suited to Potter’s possession game and build up / playing thru the thirds or actually suited to a more direct approach with fast counters, the team sitting deeper not unlike Brentford or Bournemouth or Forest.  This, as they say, seems the only way the other 14 clubs can disrupt the dominance of the established rich 4 or 5 ?  I liked the idea they suggested which was to be more of a hybrid team. Keep the ball better but have the ability to be direct a bit like a south paw boxer. Means its much harder for the opposition to know how to set up against you and also allows tactics to switch “in game”. What I took from it is that Potter wont have the time he had at Brighton to establish the pure possession, high pressing style and certainly needs to refine it as we we dont and wont have the squad to play that way for a while. The hard lesson he hopefully learnt first half last Saturday.  

Also I didnt realise the extent that Mancs clubs, Chelsea less so Arsenal and Liverpool had gone to essentially grab all the young, emerging talent globally by striking deals with clubs in other regions to secure the best young players.  Its really a cartel and making it very hard for anyone not in their “club” to break into those top places. Bournemouth spending 40 million on strikers too means the other 14 is levelling out.  

 

Takashi Miike" wrote: ↑18 Feb 2025, 17:56

comma & Ferret isn't it about time you both moved on, says an awful lot about your character that you feel the need to continually refer back to Moyes 8 months after his contract expired.

As for Potter, Saturday was a shitshow, better in the 2nd half but he must've picked up the Loppy hand book about picking a poor starting XI and trying to play catch up and rectify it by making a lot of half time subs, although he can;t be blamed for Kudus missing a sitter from 6 yards out. We do have our fair share of brainles footballers

Honeymoon period is over  

Lee,
I think Potter has missed a chance to see how Casey would be in a PL game. Don't think he had anything to lose by not starting him or giving him more time of the bench. Don't think anyone would have been upset if it didn't work out. It's not as though we've won every game ,wuite the reverse.
I watched Casey on Friday evening. His positional play was very good, covers well,looks after his younger team mates and is attacking threat. I didn't really think he was good enough to actually start but after seeing some of our defending of late think he can't do any worse. He does need to fill out a bit but not as much as Mavropanos. Many folks thought he played well on saturday. I didn't, he was ok but not a MOM performance. He passed backwards or awkwardly to a team mate,did nothing at corners and moves like the QE2. A couple of good tackles but Wan Bassaka does that every game.
Who knows Casey could have gained the same experience as Scarles. We'd be better of knowing than that Cofaul and Cresswell have been ok but not brilliant.
I think Emerson must be embarressed at how easy Scarles looks in his position,he probably doesn't care thogh as his performances in the last 15 months have shown. 
 

The last two home games have been utter GASH. Sack this fucking fraud cսnt.

Mad Ferret" wrote: ↑17 Feb 2025, 13:30

, wrote: ↑17 Feb 2025, 13:13 Come on Potter, improve our defending.

It's almost as though we need a defensively solid manager to sort it out. A shame that a very good one just went to Everton.

, wrote: ↑17 Feb 2025, 13:13 Come on Potter, improve our defending.

Come on Potter, improve our defending.

stubbo wrote: ↑17 Feb 2025, 09:28

Ron Eff" wrote: ↑17 Feb 2025, 09:15 It’s ultimately the same problem we’ve had for years. We are so static when we have the ball, it’s astonishing how little movement there is, particularly when you compared it to Brentford’s pace on the break and livewire attackers. Unfortunately, it’s 1) engrained on the players and will take time to change the mentality, and 2) a personnel problem. 

It’s the reason we struggle against teams that are happy to sit in and hit on the break, and the reason we are far more comfortable against teams who commit more players forward, i.e, the better teams. The best performances under Potter have been Villa away twice and Chelsea away. They didn’t yield the results but they easily could have. The worst have been Palace and Brentford at home. I’ll leave Fulham to one side. 

A massive problem is Kudus. Capable of brilliance yet absolutely dreadful at basics. Hardly ever looks for a pass, and when he does, it’s usually misplaced, but more often than not just runs into defenders and loses the ball. Either arrogant or thick as shit, but I’d be leaving him out at the moment. 

Potter will be fine I’m sure, but you have to allow him a proper transfer window at least. 

 

For as long as I can remember we've relied on managers who leave attacking up to 'mavericks'...give them the ball and see what happens...as opposed to team situational attacking play.

Ron Eff" wrote: ↑17 Feb 2025, 09:15 It’s ultimately the same problem we’ve had for years. We are so static when we have the ball, it’s astonishing how little movement there is, particularly when you compared it to Brentford’s pace on the break and livewire attackers. Unfortunately, it’s 1) engrained on the players and will take time to change the mentality, and 2) a personnel problem. 

It’s the reason we struggle against teams that are happy to sit in and hit on the break, and the reason we are far more comfortable against teams who commit more players forward, i.e, the better teams. The best performances under Potter have been Villa away twice and Chelsea away. They didn’t yield the results but they easily could have. The worst have been Palace and Brentford at home. I’ll leave Fulham to one side. 

A massive problem is Kudus. Capable of brilliance yet absolutely dreadful at basics. Hardly ever looks for a pass, and when he does, it’s usually misplaced, but more often than not just runs into defenders and loses the ball. Either arrogant or thick as shit, but I’d be leaving him out at the moment. 

Potter will be fine I’m sure, but you have to allow him a proper transfer window at least. 

 

Since Potter has come in, I think he has done OK. We have without doubt looked alot better and more solid. But he will need time. Brentford and Palace were awful results. But Palace was an awful performance too. I didn't see that against Brentford, I thought we played pretty well. We just lacked sustained impetus and a proper goal threat. 

Can't really blame Potter for the fact that our best striker is a 33 year old who is in the gym learning to walk again. Or that the regime are determined to hold the club back. Or that we have a defence with as much pace as a dead slug. Or the stadium is not fit for purpose and the atmosphere is embarrassing.

Had Potter been in place in the summer I would bet we would be well above where we are now. 

Season is done. All we can hope for now is a run of wins that doesn't see us end up 17th. Just for the sake of pride. From now we just assess developments and, hopefully, improvements and go again after what we hope will be a more effective transfer window. 

And another point on Kudus. I’ve never seen a player of that style look so uncomfortable playing on the side of his natural foot. He has no idea how to play left wing, seems scared to take on a defender on the outside and whip a cross in, so instead cuts in and passes backwards. 

It’s ultimately the same problem we’ve had for years. We are so static when we have the ball, it’s astonishing how little movement there is, particularly when you compared it to Brentford’s pace on the break and livewire attackers. Unfortunately, it’s 1) engrained on the players and will take time to change the mentality, and 2) a personnel problem. 

It’s the reason we struggle against teams that are happy to sit in and hit on the break, and the reason we are far more comfortable against teams who commit more players forward, i.e, the better teams. The best performances under Potter have been Villa away twice and Chelsea away. They didn’t yield the results but they easily could have. The worst have been Palace and Brentford at home. I’ll leave Fulham to one side. 

A massive problem is Kudus. Capable of brilliance yet absolutely dreadful at basics. Hardly ever looks for a pass, and when he does, it’s usually misplaced, but more often than not just runs into defenders and loses the ball. Either arrogant or thick as shit, but I’d be leaving him out at the moment. 

Potter will be fine I’m sure, but you have to allow him a proper transfer window at least. 

Scarles, JWP, Todibo and Ferguson all have to start from now until the end of the season.

I can't understand why he's not prepared to give Casey a go in the team.

He can't be as bad as Kilman or Mavropanos..

Fair enough but in Potter's defence, he has to find a way of defending which includes the Greek carthorse and the oil tanker at CB.

So many saying we were a lot better second half, but they just sat in and let us huff and puff to no effect, never really looked like scoring other than the early Kudus chance.