Against Ipswich, West Ham secured their first Premier League home victory of the new campaign.
Not to mention, they received a fantastic ninety-minute show.
There is a case to suggest it was West Ham’s best win of 2024 so far – both pre and post David Moyes’ departure.
Everyone has an opinion on why the Hammers haven’t been successful under the Scot’s predecessor, Julen Lopetegui, thus far.
In actuality, the disese had already begun to spread long before the Spaniards arrived in east London.
Moyes’ tenure began to fall apart, whether it was because West Ham began to believe their own hype, or because their luck ran out or they were unable to deal with the loss of important players at different points in the following month.
This season’s troubles for West Ham were nothing new.
Following consecutive 2-0 victories at home against Man United and then away at Arsenal, Moyes had the Hammers precisely positioned in the top six of the Premier League standings.
In addition, West Ham appeared to be a lock for a fourth straight season of European football after defeating Spurs 2-1 on the road.
The Hammers raised hopes that they would even qualify for the Champions League since they were only a point outside of the top four.
Fast forward to present day and it tells everything about the dreadful collapse that happened following the triumph against Arsenal that Moyes has been replaced by Lopetegui and the roster has been reshaped by 21 players.
Prior to their 4-1 triumph over Ipswich on Saturday, West Ham had only won seven of their 32 games in 2024.
For the next head coach of the Hammers, success in east London will need to become second nature.
But Moyes is solely to blame for Lopetegui’s largest issue at West Ham.
Lopetegui now has a different kind of Hammers deal according to David Sullivan.
The Spaniard’s contract’s duration was never made public.
However, there is an intriguing clause in the two-year deal that will be difficult to activate.
In the event that West Ham makes any form of European qualification, Lopetegui’s third year will immediately begin.
It seems quite hard to achieve that this season, though.
And the explanation behind this is not devoid of irony.
Kevin Nolan said earlier this summer that something Moyes did wrecked West Ham’s campaign the previous year.
The former assistant coach claims that Moyes’ decision to make it known that he would discuss his contract with the team at the end of the season caused uncertainty among the players, which in turn caused players to become unhappy and served as an unwanted distraction.
Despite being an anti-climax considering the situation West Ham had found themselves in midway through the season, a ninth-place finish was nevertheless rather acceptable.
Ironically, Moyes’s inability to secure qualification for Europe has now placed a heavy burden on his successor, Lopetegui, to accomplish the same feat.
With nine new additions costing £155 million in the summer, West Ham’s declared goal is to qualify for Europe.
That necessitates a ratio of roughly two points every game on average. The Hammers have just over one point per game after seven games.
Nothing about European football is as hard for Lopetegui as it is.
The issue is that Lopetegui cannot maintain his significantly enhanced team’s regular and contented play in the absence of European action.
Up until now, good players like Crysencio Summerville have not received any attention.
It’s doubtful that Luis Guilherme will see much action unless injuries warrant it.
It will annoy at least two international midfielders that they don’t get to start every week.
There are no real possibilities to give the back-up goalie some minutes either.
It is challenging to promote a strong sense of teamwork when so many talented players are not seeing the field.
Every player for West Ham would play every week if they were in Europe.
With the Hammers eliminated from the Carabao Cup, Lopetegui will have even less games to distribute.
Last season, West Ham was in a fantastic position to qualify for Europe. Not reaching my actual aim was my own goal.
The one advantage is that there shouldn’t be any midweek schedule overload and West Ham should be fit for every game.
That can pay off during the hectic winter months.
However, Lopetegui will need to find a way to convince players to support his vision even if they aren’t playing as frequently as they would like.
That is the true secret to this West Ham team’s success, and it won’t be simple.
