Graham’s tensions grow further after lethargic performance
As the stormy clouds closed in and the protests begun, the London derby against Crystal Palace kicked off which would ultimately see Hammers fans having to endure 90 minutes of an unenthusiastic, lethargic performance with the players coasting around the pitch.
Crystal Palace would take the lead through Mateta from a corner despite Areola taking the starting spot, and Mavros defensive efforts of an acrobatic clearance weren’t able to keep the scoreline level.
All wouldn’t be bad as Jarrod Bowen would convert a header from the corner of Malick Diouf, in which the Hammers saw a surge of attacks but all would amount to nothing. The expected flurry of attacks each game lasted for about 10 minutes, but the lack of urgency to have shots were Potters’ Achilles heel.
Crystal Palace swiftly resumed as always and turned the scoreline around to resume their winning stance. For the remaining 22 minutes, the tactics had no urgency to see us back in the game and considering the style of football West Ham were playing, you’d have thought they were winning 2-1!
In order to bolster the hopes of scoring, Graham Potter made the decision to substitute Summerville for Guilherme as well as Fernandes for Magassa, whom many believe had been our best player on the pitch, instead of Ward-Prowse who had received a negative reception once again.
The weather progressively got worse as the fixture went on, and once making your way out the stadium, the shower of rain became heavier which completed a rather fitting comparison to how Graham Potter’s time at West Ham has gone.
The numb atmosphere before taking a seat to the boos ringing around the stadium at the final whistle, the Matchday environment is becoming more and more against Potter.
This is further shown through the Hammers fans joining in with Crystal Palace signing “sacked in the morning” and “you don’t know what you’re doing”, which proved to be the most unity we’ve had in an atmosphere within the last year.
Time is running around and combining the meetings that took place with Nuno and a defeat today, it feels difficult to imagine a world where there isn’t a change soon.







