Alex Keble

Sometimes in football it can feel as though everything and everyone is against you. Just two months have passed since West Ham United opened their new 60,000 seater stadium with a thumping victory on the European stage and Slaven Bilic’s squad, a fusion of old-school English grit and glitzy European sex-appeal, looked set for a gradual ascent into football’s aristocracy. Optimism is an ephemeral feeling in the world of football, and just six weeks later those dreams seem a tad naïve.

Bilic is looking rather forlorn of late. Between sudden bursts of frantic arm-waving he looks a defeated man as he slumps in the dugout, those big droopy eyes flitting back and forth like an insomniac predator too weary to chase down lunch. A full-scale collapse into relegation dog-fight is highly unlikely, but Bilic could well be relieved of his duties within the month.

Davids Sullivan and Gold penned an open letter this week that somewhat vaguely pledged an upturn in results, but there was an unnervingly cold, corporate-jargon-y intonation to the note. Their stoic promises – to “fix the situation” and “turn our season around” – hardly inspire confidence, whilst helpfully pointing out that the team is “letting in too many goals and not scoring enough” would suggest they, like Bilic, are scrabbling about for an answer. This is ominous news for Bilic, who is thought to have the board’s support but was not openly backed in the letter.

Boardrooms invariably want to appear active during a crisis, and in such a volatile and complex industry this can be difficult to achieve. Subtle tweaks appear, at least publically, as inertia, and so after much head-scratching and hand-wringing the result is usually the same: sack the manager. That, at the very least, will spark some sort of reaction – or so the theory goes.

It would be unfair on Slaven, not least because the semi-crisis unfolding in Stratford has been caused by a perfect storm of bad luck and circumstance. The new stadium has inevitably destabilised a club renowned for its electric atmosphere at the Boleyn Ground, whilst injuries have deprived Bilic of several key players throughout pre-season and beyond.

But he is not without blame, and what will alarm the board is that Bilic’s tactical shortcomings have been amplified by the turmoil.

Some critics have begun to theorise that West Ham’s defensive frailties have increased as they move further away from the Sam Allardyce era. Whilst impossible to prove, there is indeed a pattern; the Hammers conceded 20 goals in their final 10 matches of 2015/16, and the 3-0 defeat to Southampton last weekend meant that they have conceded two or more goals in 15 of their last 23 matches. Finding a way to radically reorganise the back four is imperative if Bilic is to survive through October – although in truth this dreadful record probably originates in midfield.

East-ender Mark Noble continues to scurry and lunge with a passion that suggests they’ll bury him in claret and blue, but Cheickhou Kouyate has nose-dived since the humiliating 1-0 defeat to Astra at the end of August. The Senegalese midfielder is wafting into all the wrong positions of late, one minute inexplicably clinging to Simone Zaza whilst Noble desperately searches for an out-ball 40 yards away, the next walking sullenly down the left flank when Winston Reid is spluttering in possession on the right.

This isn’t helped by the fact that Manuel Lanzini doesn’t possess the intelligence or mobility to stitch the lines together from central attacking midfield, leaving West Ham looking ponderous and horribly disjointed.

It is important to note that tactics appear considerably more incoherent when confidence is low. Self-doubt inhibits creativity and makes players more hesitant, which can often manifest as looking “switched off” or “not wanting it enough”; when everyone second-guesses themselves, the end result is a stilted, baffling mess.

But tactics and self-efficacy aside, Kouyate’s faults are real, which asks serious questions of Bilic’s recruitment strategy given that West Ham’s flaws in defence and midfield were obvious as early as last spring. Angelo Ogbonna has clearly struggled to adapt to life in England, whilst Pedro Obiang, Havard Nordtveit, and Sofiane Feghouli have so far failed to live up to expectations. In short, Gold and Sullivan would not be without case should they choose to change manager.

Sadly for Bilic, perhaps the biggest threat to his job is West Ham’s grand modernisation project. This is, after all, a newly rebranded West Ham United, complete with a freshly sleeked down, corporate-friendly badge and a mega-bowl stadium fit for Champions League music. The owners welcome the Payets and the Zazas as emblems of a new, swankier era – and rightly so. Ranking by stadium capacity the Hammers are now the second biggest club in London, and with a glamorous (if slightly exaggerated) historical significance they should be aiming high.

Bilic was clearly the right man to transition West Ham from the clunky English methods of Allardyce to a more European interpretation of blood-and-guts football, but he is perhaps a stepping stone to someone a bit more inspiring. Of those currently available, Roberto Mancini flows off the tongue pleasingly enough to fit the bill, but Marco Bielsa – football’s ultimate romantic figure – is arguably the most alluring option, and a man who could reignite West Ham’s (somewhat mythologised) historical allegiance to attacking football.

Gold and Sullivan appear to be sympathetic to Bilic’s situation, but one assumes that their outward show of patience will quickly disintegrate should a more glamorous option become available. West Ham have three winnable games coming up before a horrible seven match run that includes Chelsea, Everton, Spurs, Man Utd, Arsenal, and Liverpool; failure to halt the slide before mid-October would probably see Bilic out of a job.