To blame Graham Potter for West Ham’s plight misses the bigger picture | OneFootball

Potter is likely to start next season under pressure but many of West Ham’s failings pre-date him

It is hard to know what should be more concerning to West Ham supporters: another late collapse at Brighton on Saturday or Graham Potter’s strained appearance afterwards.

“The pain at the moment is pretty hard,” he said, having braced himself with several deep breaths and some vigorous face-rubbing.

In truth, though, it was not so much what Potter said but how he said it; after a little over 100 days and 15 matches in charge of the Hammers, the 49-year-old already seems close to the edge, a man already in danger of being broken and desperately in need of getting through “a tough four weeks” until the end of the season.

West Ham conceded two late goals to lose 3-2 at Brighton on Saturday

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He finished the briefing by irritably insisting, “If you want me to swear, I can swear,” delivered with the unconvincing energy of then-Labour leader Ed Milliband insisting, ‘Hell yes, I’m tough enough to be prime minister,’ during the 2015 general election campaign.

Potter’s ragged showing on his return to the Amex has contributed to the overwhelming sense that West Ham is not a happy place to be right now. Striker Niclas Fullkrug’s scathing assessment of his team-mates after the home draw with Southampton (described as not “helpful” by Potter) is still hanging in the air, while captain Jarrod Bowen urged the squad “to look at ourselves again” after labelling Saturday’s collapse from 2-1 up in the 88th-minute as “sickening”.

It was West Ham’s seventh game without a win and the problem for Potter is that they have not improved since he replaced Julen Lopetegui in January. In fact, Potter’s win percentage (20 per cent) is now well below that of Lopetegui (30 per cent).

His limited impact at West Ham compares unfavourably to Vitor Pereira’s transformation of Wolves and, more pertinently, Everton’s improvement under former Hammers boss David Moyes. When Moyes joined Everton, 48 hours after Potter’s appointment, the Toffees were six points behind the Hammers in the table but today they are two points clear.

As a system coach, who has always been most comfortable on the training ground, Potter deserves time for his philosophy to bed-in, as well as a pre-season and a summer transfer window.

Niclas Fullkrug launched a scathing assessment of his team-mates after last month’s home draw with Southampton

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Many of West Ham’s failings pre-date him, such as a tendency to raise their game against better opponents (see the 1-0 win at Arsenal in February) but slip-up in matches they are expected to win.

He has inherited too many players who are either unwilling or unable to hit the required levels, while there is a compelling case that West Ham are a club where repeatedly pointing the finger at the coach is to miss the bigger picture of dysfunction at boardroom level.

Still, Potter is likely to start next season under more pressure than any other manager in the Premier League, with the possible exception of Manchester United’s Ruben Amorim, and he will need to show in the opening months of next term that he has what it takes to build on the club’s progress under Moyes.

West Ham have been spared a relegation dogfight this term by virtue of the three promoted clubs being unable to compete but Burnley and particularly Leeds already looked better-equipped to be competitive next term, which may spell trouble for chaotically-run clubs.

For now, Potter does at least have something to play for, with West Ham’s next two games against Tottenham and United, both six-pointers to avoid the ignominy of finishing in 17th, as the worst of the rest in this season’s top-flight.