Graham Potter will find himself sacked if he doesn’t fix West Ham issue only Wolves are worse at
Graham Potter has no shortage of problems to solve at West Ham right now.
The English head coach is coming under increasing scrutiny at the London Stadium, especially after West Ham lost 3-0 to Tottenham last time out.
This saw those fans who remained inside the ground vent their frustration towards Potter, less than two weeks after West Ham’s superb win against Nottingham Forest.
Pressure eased on the head coach after that clash, but the West Ham sack still looms around Potter at this early stage of the Premier League season.
With that being said, there is one key problem that is continuing to plague the Irons and their hopes of progressing under the ex-Chelsea boss.
West Ham are terrible at defending set-pieces
Against Tottenham, Cristian Romero had a goal ruled out in controversial fashion as a foul was given against Micky van de Ven.
Although the Argentina international’s header didn’t count, it proved to be the beginning of a constant onslaught from Thomas Frank’s side.
The Danish head coach realised just how poor the Hammers were when dealing with balls into the box and continued their barrage from set-pieces.
This eventually saw Pape Matar Sarr peel off at the back post to open the scoring for Spurs, but this didn’t come as a true surprise to the London Stadium faithful.
This comes as West Ham have conceded the second-most set-piece goals of all teams to have played every Premier League game since the start of last season.
Having conceded 18 in barely over 40 matches is only beaten by Wolves, who have conceded a staggering 23 goals from dead balls of their own.
Even recently relegated sides like Ipswich Town and Leicester City have conceded less, with 14 and 13 respectively, showcasing the level of problem that is on Potter’s hands right now.
Graham Potter must improve defensive structure at West Ham
There is no getting away from how damaging conceding from set-pieces can be for any club, especially when fighting against relegation.
This is exactly what the Irons are going to do under Potter this season, especially after struggling so much in the early stages of the campaign.
It has to be said, however, the manager can do much better when setting up his side, especially when reviewing how poor West Ham were against Tottenham from corners.
Mathys Tel and Sarr were easily able to pick up space and be completely unmarked inside the six-yard box before the latter scored.
This was thanks to the fact that six West Ham players stood in empty space, marking nobody, rather than noticing the free Spurs players at the back post.
In fairness to the claret and blue players in this instance, it is clear that Potter has set up in a zonal marking system, which he may need to change if he wants to avoid the sack.
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