Pundit left stunned by post-halftime issue at West Ham United, amid ‘horrible’ atmosphere verdict
We’re delighted to welcome former West Ham United striker Frank McAvennie as our exclusive columnist. Each week he’ll be giving his views on the biggest talking points at the London Stadium…
Frank McAvennie has fired a jibe at David Moyes and urged him to change his player’s half-time routines after a current worrying stat at West Ham United.
Fresh off the back of an impressive 2-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur (7 December), Moyes’ men fell to a disastrous 5-0 defeat to Fulham just a few days later on Sunday (10 December), with a sickness bug said to have reaped havoc throughout the squad.
After the Cottagers went ahead 4-0 up minutes after half-time on Sunday, it was the 17th time this calendar year that the Hammers have conceded within 15 minutes of the interval, an issue which was also exposed in the 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace (3 December).
Asked what Moyes has got to do to stop the rut, speaking to West Ham Zone, McAvennie said: “Have a green tea, or just change their tea or something!
Obviously, they are not stretching enough to go out firing on all cylinders.
I don’t know, it’s a weird situation and again it’s down to the not-good atmosphere because the fans are not getting it and the players are not producing.
“It’s a horrible stadium when there’s not an atmosphere so it didn’t help when the boys are not playing well and you’re playing players out of position especially Lucas Paqueta out on the left.
“I understand James Ward-Prowse is wanted in midfield but you know, Tomas Soucek I don’t understand what he brings to the team other than scoring a couple of goals.
“If David wants him in the team, don’t change one of your world-class players to justify playing Ward-Prowse and Soucek in the middle.
“You can’t do that because he is the top dog, this boy. Man City were in for him. That shows you how good this boy is.
“Don’t just justify giving Paqueta a game by putting him out on the left.”
In other West Ham United news, Tony Gale saw something he had never previously witnessed a player do in the Hammers’ loss at Fulham.