As West Ham United stare down the barrel of a relegation scrap, one former Hammer has made an honest admission about their 2023 Conference League triumph
Former West Ham United goalkeeper David James has admitted the Hammers’ UEFA Conference League victory of 2023 may have papered over the cracks in the team. Two years ago, Jarrod Bowen slid home the winning goal against Fiorentina to win the east Londoners’ first European trophy in 60 years.
It was a day which saw David Moyes run down the touchline in celebration, dance in the changing rooms and share the medal with his father, while West Ham fans partied into the night in Prague. Two years and two managers later, Nuno Espirito Santo watched his side lose convincingly to Brentford at the increasingly toxic London Stadium.
The result left West Ham in 19th position with only winless Wolverhampton Wanderers behind them in the Premier League. Looking back on the club’s previous finishes of 14th, 9th and 14th, James, who spent three seasons at West Ham between 2001 and 2004, feels this current situation was inevitable, despite their emotional Conference League triumph.
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Speaking to AskGamblers, James said: “Yes, I am worried about West Ham. I hope they can turn things around, but it was pretty much one-way traffic [on Monday night].
“With a big influx of players and how they deal with them, there’s an inevitable downturn at any point in the season. But at West Ham it seems to be going on now for a couple of seasons, at least.
“You can go back to winning the Europa Conference League. That was an anomaly in the season. There’s something which is becoming more and more ingrained.
“You just hope that, first of all, the manager can get the performances out of the players. At the moment, I think as a West Ham supporter, I’d be happy with 17th.
“That’s where it is at the moment. The idea of finishing in the top half and in Europe, I think, is beyond any realistic point at the moment.
“I am worried, but I think they’ll turn it around, and I just hope that the supporters get behind them to give them all the encouragement they need.”
James is not the only person who is massively concerned by how fast West Ham’s campaign is unravelling. Santo admitted there are major problems currently hampering the club and his players as a whole.
After the loss to Brentford, which saw fans jeer his players before leaving the match a long time before the final whistle, Santo said: “Not good enough. Poor. Fairly Brentford won the game, they were the better team. I think we are all concerned.
“You can see our own fans are concerned. Concern becomes anxiety, becomes silence. We have a problem. It’s understandable. It’s up to us to change.
“The fans need to see something that pleases them and they can support us and give us energy. I understand it, I understand it totally, and I respect it. It’s up to us, it’s up to us to change it.”
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