West Ham Till I Die
Comments
The Blind Hammer Column

Defensive Measures

Blind Hammer looks at the need for squad overhaul.

Whatever division West ham compete in next season the priority for squad overhaul is now clear. The honeymoon period for Moyes is well and truly over but to lamblast a coaching team barely 6 months into their tenure for a structural weakness which has persisted for over 2 years is probably unfair.

What is clear is that Moyes has not yet cracked the defensive squad problems that he inherited from Slaven Bilic. He has so far shown, like Bilic, only sporadic indications that he can set up a team able to defend.

Our latest 4-1 reversal against Manchester City was the 15th time we have conceded three or more goals this season. We officially have the leakiest defence with 67 conceded in 35 games. The Manchester city reversal was the fourth 4-1 defeat this season.

The depressing fact is that none of this is new. Even in the last season at the Boleyn the alarm bells were ringing. After January in that final season the team began to ship goals at an average of 2 a game. Luckily we had enough Payet and Antonio inspired firepower to resist falling into trouble then. This only served, however, to paper over the alarming defensive cracks that were emerging. Remember the penultimate Boleyn match where Swansea decimated our ailing defence, 4-1? Despite these warning signs the problem has exacerbated rather than improved. Not just the top six sides but moderate and even poor sides routinely thrash us. Last season Watford and West Brom both spanked us by each scoring 4 goals against us in a fortnight. Burnley and Swansea similarly combined to score 7 goals against us recently again in a fortnight.

This is why, fore 2 summer windows now, I have written multiple pieces criticising squad transfer strategies. We have, as a team pursued a glory dream of assembling a team firstly to meet an illusory squad depth challenge of the Europa League, and then a grandeur project of developing an exciting team fit for the new Stadium. At no time was I ever convinced that the seriousness of our defensive weaknesses were recognised or addressed. Sadly the latest Winter Transfer window reinforced this problem. Quite what the thinking was that we could solve our difficulties with the recruitment of 36 year old Patrice Evra is the biggest blow to my confidence with Moyes. The releasing of Fonte was equally mystifying. Whilst Fonte was not a world beater, to gamble on the fitness of Collins and read when they both have appalling injury records was bizarre in the extreme. David Gold pleaded hindsight of not anticipating injury to defend the Fonte sale. This is not an acceptable excuse. I wrote last summer that we had the most injury prone defence in the league and that not to reinforce it then was criminally negligent. We were too obsessed with our unfit Strikers and not recognising our unfit defenders. I said then it would come back to haunt us and sadly this has proven true. If this physical fragility in defence was obvious last summer was it should have been even more obvious this January. The performances of rice have been exposed by the unfair responsibilities of a young teenager having to perform in a structurally dysfunctional unit.

I am now impatient with those who simply think we can get out of this hole by embracing a more expansive style. The West Ham tradition of exciting football was always just as much built on defensive skills as much as attacking talent. Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters were lifted by the talents of Bobby Moore. Brooking and Devonshire were shaped by the ferocity and determination of Billy Bonds. Alvin Martin and Tony Gale allowed the talents of Cottee and MacAvennie to flow.
We will never have an exciting team until we sort out defensive basics. Expansive attacking play is based on confidence. There is nothing more guaranteed to destroy confidence than the dreary albatross around the neck of a team routinely conceding 2 or more goals a game. This is the reality of the defensive millstone that West Ham has carried for far too long. If we are relegated we will have no way back unless we solve this. We can see now that Hart’s recruitment was a serious judgement failure and Zabeleta’s recruitment is stopgap. The problem needs serious attention from the most skilled analysts available. The time for glory ambition has passed. We need to get back to basics. It is time finally, this summer, to sort out our own back yard of our defence
COYI
David Griffith.

About us

West Ham Till I Die is a website and blog designed for supporters of West Ham United to discuss the club, its fortunes and prospects. It is operated and hosted by West Ham season ticket holder, LBC radio presenter and political commentator Iain Dale.

More info

Follow us

Contact us

Iain Dale, WHTID, PO Box 663, Tunbridge Wells, TN9 9RZ

Visit iaindale.com, Iain Dale’s personal website & blog.

Get in touch

Copyright © 2024 Iain Dale Limited.