'What they wished for' - Pundits call out Graham Potter amid disappointing West Ham start

Pundits have been critical of Graham Potter amid a difficult start to life at West Ham for the Englishman. Potter has not managed an upturn in results from Julen Lopetegui’s disappointing start that cost him his job.

Potter will have more rope to play with - so to speak - given he does not have the players built for his style of play, and the board are well aware of that, all-but guaranteeing him that he will lead the team into next season despite poor results at the back-end of this campaign.

But the way things are going, Potter will be on a short leash heading into next season, and there is no ignoring the way things are currently going. That’s something that has been discussed on TalkSport, with Jim White saying: “They got what they wished for,”

That led former Crystal Palace owner turned pundit Simon Jordan to added: “Well, I think he’s obviously a very capable manager. But I think his reputation is bigger than his deeds. I mean, he built a decent side at Brighton that finished 16th and 15th and then 9th under his time — and then De Zerbi took Brighton on to a different level.”

Potter aware of West Ham’s struggles

Speaking back in February amid a poor start, Potter said of his side: “Like I said, the response from the players was really positive, really good. We feel that we're making progress, but sometimes when you have a performance like we did in the first half, it's a little bit of a step back, but I think sometimes you need those to be able to go forward as well. As I said, we'll learn a lot from the game.

“The support's been brilliant, we can't complain about that at all. They're well within their rights to be disappointed at half-time, absolutely. But the second half, the response of the crowd was first class, it was brilliant and they got behind the team, so that's all we can ask for.”

Speaking this week, he added: “I understand where the crowd are at because we haven't done well enough at home. We haven't won enough and played well enough, so you can understand there's a frustration there. This is normal and we accept that and we have to take that responsibility. But I think if they can see something, the crowd get behind us and then, like I said, it's a fantastic atmosphere and really pushes the team.”

Next up for West Ham are leaders Liverpool, who will be in search of a response after their defeat to Fulham last weekend. Asked about the difficulty of that tie as the Irons look to improve on their recent run, Potter responded: “But I think we've proven that we can be competitive. We should feel that we can be competitive in any game. And again, it's about that balance between defence and attack, making sure we're OK. We'll have a good week's training, a good week to prepare and then we go again.”

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