Net investment of 320 million in the past five years! Thames talks about West Ham s dilemma: recruitment chaos, poor record

October 24th, "The Times" wrote an article analyzing West Ham United's current predicament, believing that the team is facing the "most severe" relegation battle in the coming years.

New coach Nuno took over an "unattractive" and aging lineup with fragile players' mentality, slow defense and lack of leaders. At the same time, he also had to deal with fans' protests against the ownership group. This "hostile atmosphere" may become bad.

The article pointed out that West Ham United "sleepwalked" to the second-to-last position in the Premier League. Since Porter took over in January, the team's performance has been "lifeless" and its statistics are poor - the success rate of confrontations is at the bottom, the number of shots, shots on target and the number of ball possessions recovered are all in the bottom three, and the ability to win the ball in the frontcourt is also poor.

Nuno admitted that the team's "physical fitness, tactical awareness, everything" needs to be improved. He has improved set-piece defense, but the offense still needs to find a formation that maximizes the abilities of Paqueta and Bowen. Nuno is looking to sign a striker in January, hinting at doubts over Phil Kruger, and has begun evaluating existing players through games, such as promoting youngster Martial.

The confusion of the recruitment strategy is an important reason for the current situation. A net investment of £320m has been made over the past five years, but there is a lack of clear direction, partly due to three very different managers and a departing sporting director. The article questioned whether Kilman and Todibo's performance was worthy of their value, noting that the summer was supposed to be a "painful reset" to increase energy in the midfield and find creativity, but the results were "still the same."

The home atmosphere once again became "hostile". The team has lost nine home games since February, and the poor results have wiped out the atmosphere that once improved during the Moyes period. Interestingly, the article mentioned that West Ham United had the second-best home record in the league during the 2020-21 fan-less season.

In terms of the coaching staff, Nuno's team member contracts are still under negotiation. Rui Barbosa is expected to come from Forest as the goalkeeper coach, and the future of the two assistant coaches Silva and Figueroa depends on the decision of Forest new coach Dyche. The ownership structure is also very complicated, with the future depending on the 25% stake controlled by the descendants of late boss Gold, as well as the attitudes of Sullivan and Kretinsky. It is difficult for potential new investors to gain control even if they take shares. Kretinsky's failure to exercise his acquisition rights in the summer of 2022 also disappointed the club.

Dissatisfaction among West Ham fans is escalating, with the club set to hold a "potentially explosive" meeting with its fans advisory committee on Thursday. Fans groups have launched a vote of no confidence in the board, accusing the club of not investing enough in scouting, recruitment and training facilities.