Moments of Madness - Newcastle 3-1 West Ham

A tactical disasterclass is partly to blame for this evening’s mishaps, but the players’ performances on the pitch were simply dire.

This evening ultimately summarised the state of West Ham United at the moment. Nuno set out his trembled Hammers in the same tactics as he did against Arsenal, which didn’t work - hindsight is a wonderful thing - but ultimately he let himself down, as did the players.

Two goals in quick succession in the opening 20 minutes lost West Ham the game. Two moments of madness and mistakes caused by the players rather than the coaches gave Newcastle the win early doors, and from that point onwards, they shut up shop and ran round the mentally bruised Claret & Blue shirts, who seemingly weren’t in the right place at the right time for the entire game.

Nuno quickly realised the back three wouldn’t work and swapped out Todibo for Taty - the sole positive of the game. Taty provided immense energy levels, hit his customary crossbar whilst also likely scoring the goal of the season, one that gets played back on the clips to admire, but in this given moment, it means nothing.

Nuno changed to a back four after taking off Todibo, where the Hammers had an attack or two, but ultimately weren’t threatening enough. He attempted to bring on Pablo and Kante to bring on attacking capabilities, but that only resulted in us conceding a third… another one with a back three.

Countless errors, costly mistakes and a performance with no heart, whilst it was a possibility for a while, the daunting possibility of relegation can occur BEFORE the Leeds United match at the bowl.

If Tottenham are to secure a win or a draw against Chelsea, West Ham will be relegated. A draw would see the gap be only three points, but the goal difference ship sailed far too long ago.

A loss for Spurs against Chelsea keeps us in on the final day, but it would be nothing short of a miracle to achieve survival now.

Whilst the vision might’ve been clear for Nuno tonight, the players performing it on the pitch must have had clouded heads, as confusion was all that occurred.

Everyone associated with Claret & Blue now watches on to Tuesday, but the looming fact of being in the Championship next season can only be bailed from so many times before the reality sets in.