Forum | General Discussion

With the clock constantly ticking, we’re only now getting closer to the final day of the Premier League, where out of a possible nine outcomes, there’s only just one where West Ham United will remain in the Premier League, which is a victory on our side, and a defeat for Spurs over in North London.

All four teams involved in our fate haven’t received any injuries nor recoveries in the last few days, meaning that cannot be a detrimental factor, unless something is to happen with the remaining time before the inevitable nervy kick-off at 16:00 on Sunday.

To kick us off on Sunday, Hammers fans will be fortunate to witness Anthony Taylor in action on the pitch. The Englishman has officiated the Hammers 42 times across his career, where West Ham haven’t recorded a penalty in ANY of them, yet he has awarded 10 penalties against us, certainly not an ideal record. Not to mention, the eye in the sky for the afternoon will be John Brooks and Dan Robathan. Brooks has a torrid record in the Premier League on VAR, and he has already been known for his fair share of ‘incorrect’ VAR calls.

Though it should be noted that the Spuds on Sunday have Michael Oliver as a referee and Paul Tierney on VAR, not the best, either.

At the end of the day, for West Ham, the best Nuno can do from his end is to win. Win and then hope the Spurs result comes in our favour, don’t worry about what you can’t control, focus on our job, and the rest is in the hands above.

Nuno’s main priority needs to be hitting the nail on the head with the starting squad. A dire set of choices against Newcastle ruined the game in 20 minutes for us - it needs to be the bog standard 4-4-2, which has proven to work countless times over and a formation that has been most successful in getting three points.

Mayhem and heartache await West Ham fans, against all odds, a swing of luck has launched our way, and the confirmation of relegation will be confirmed in the final game week.

How on earth this relegation fight had come down to the final match of the season is impressive in its own regard, but the trembled Hammers in the previous weeks will need to focus on doing their own job, whilst Spurs take on Everton.

No more maths is needed, it’s as simple as this: West Ham United need to win, and Tottenham Hotspur need to lose - that’s all it is.

West Ham’s three losses in a row have been brutal and would certainly have caused a wraith of nervousness in the players’ minds, but on Sunday, they simply have no other choice but to win and at least create the possibility of surviving.

In situations such as this, you can’t help but fathom the points that West Ham have thrown away on numerous occasions, rookie errors, VAR mistakes and poor tactical layouts; they all have put us in a position where our fate is out of our control and ultimately in a position where the odds aren’t in our favour.

The London Stadium will be rocking at the first blow of the referee’s whistle, but what happens from that point onwards will be in the hands of the players on the pitch. Many will be checking their phone the entire 90 to see what is ongoing in Spurs’ match, and if relegation is to be confirmed, the Bowl will become an even worse place to be - which is absurd given the amount of deep-rooted hate it already has.

Sunday afternoon is quite literally the definition of ‘all or nothing’.

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.

After gameweek 36’s antics, the penultimate matchweek has arrived upon us, where Nuno’s side will travel up to St. James’ Park to take on Newcastle United, whose season has been topsy-turvy and certainly a disappointment in comparison to last season.

Eddie Howe is currently fighting to keep his job at Newcastle United, which has become a topic of discussion in recent weeks, with the season coming to a close, but the same could also be said about Nuno Espirito Santo, albeit his circumstances are very different.

West Ham’s fate in the Premier League could be decided within the next four days as a defeat to Newcastle would mean Spurs would essentially need a singular point to relegate the Hammers, but Nuno’s side could also see the possibility of being out the relegation zone, if a win was acheived at St James’ and a loss for Spurs at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday occured - certainly a week of possibilities!

Looking at the game, Newcastle are currently suffering with two doubts as Joelinton’s injury could see him miss out, as well as Anthony Gordon’s, who’s also returning from an injury, but Howe is also admitting he could select a lineup for the ‘future’ amid speculation about Gordon’s departure to German giants, Bayern Munich, this summer.

The Hammers will have a fully-fit side available against Newcastle United, bar Adama Traore, who picked up an injury in training, ruling him out for Sunday’s game, but a possibility that he could return on the final day against Leeds United.

Excluding the 22 players on the pitch, the other people to consider are the officials as well as those on VAR, given the antics that occurred last weekend, as well as the weekend before, where VAR has now officially admitted in hindsight that West Ham should’ve had TWO penalties against Brentford! Whilst the neutral fan may suggest that no dodgy behaviour is going on, questions certainly need to be raised… the officials for the match on Sunday are IDENTICAL to the officials Spurs had when they played Leeds on Monday night… a bizarre chance!

The referee will be Jarred Gillett, and on VAR, we will have Craig Pawson with Nick Hopton as his assistant.

The officials have proved to be costly in the past two weeks, and Hammers fans will need to hope these persistent incidents that occur aren’t incorrectly impactful for the two remaining fixtures.

Newcastle United ultimately is an ‘all or nothing’ as a loss would practically mirror the end, but a victory could put us in the driving seat come the final day.

All is to play for, but these could be the official deciding days for West Ham’s foreseeable future.