Not only have West Ham lost both their games to start the new season, but they’ve also looked like the worst team in the Premier League.
It looked like it was going to be all rise for the Hammers in the Premier League when they won the Uefa Conference League title in 2023. Big signings, high expectations… but after finishing 9th the following year, they ended 2024-25 in 14th place and have now started the new season with two straight losses.
On top of that, they’ve pretty much looked like the worst team in the league. That is never a good sign, especially in the last few years, with newly-promoted sides looking so out of place and not being able to compete in the top-flight.
Leeds, Burnley and Sunderland – as well as Wolves, who have also lost their first two games – all look better than West Ham right now. But why have the Londoners been so far behind everyone else?
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Set pieces
By far what stands out the most in the goals West Ham have conceded in the Premier League are set pieces, especially corners.
Chelsea scored a whopping three goals from corner kicks against them on matchday 2, through Joao Pedro, Moises Caicedo and Trevoh Chalobah. Daniel Ballard had already found the net in similar fashion for Sunderland on opening weekend. For comparison sake, all the other Premier League teams have combined to concede just six goals from corner kicks.
To make matters worse, the Hammers own the fifth-worst aerial duel success rate inside their own box in the league, at 40%. That is despite playing with five at the back and three considerably tall centre-backs (Jean-Clair Todibo, Max Kilman and Nayef Aguerd).
Defending in general
West Ham have looked shaky at the back not just in set pieces, but everywhere else overall. While they haven’t been exactly busy facing shots (eighth fewest in the league at 11.0 per game), they’ve allowed the most big chances so far this season (4.5 per match).
They have also conceded the fourth-most expected goals per game (1.8) and have faced, on average, the toughest shots in the league (0.16 xGA per shot faced, ahead only of Liverpool’s 0.17 in their win over Bournemouth).
Sterile possession
Graham Potter has tried to implement a patient and propositional style of play to a certain degree, rather than sitting back and trying to counter attack.
However, they’ve been having a hard time getting into dangerous positions and instead pass the ball around with little offensive purpose.
Their average of 23.5 touches inside the box is the second worst among all teams with more than 50% possession. In return, their heat map resembles a “U” shape, passing the ball around and using the wings a lot, but never penetrating the defence or getting into central areas near the goal.
This sterile ball movement also manifests in the lack of offensive threat overall. West Ham have had the second-fewest clear-cut opportunites (1) and expected goals tally (1.4 xG). To top it all off, they own the worst average of expected goals per shot attempt (0.05 xG).
If you put it all together, the numbers really match the eye test. If you’re in the wrong end of the spectrum both on defence and attack, looking like the worst team in the league is a fair result.
Graham Potter has a lot to fix if he wants to get out of the list of most likely managers to be sacked next. The Englishman started the current matchday as the joint-favourite alongside Brentford’s Keith Andrews.
Nottingham Forest’s Nuno Espirito Santo has now moved ahead of both of them after publicly confessing a falling out with owner Evangelos Marinakis. But if he leaves and/or West Ham don’t react fast enough, Potter will find himself in the top spot of that list again sooner rather than later.
Good news is that we’re just two games in and there are 36 more – as well as cup ties in between – to make things better. He has impressed in the Premier League before with Brighton and Hove Albion and knows what it takes to succeed in English football.