Former Hammers defender Tony Gale provides his expert
view on recent events at Upton Park, exclusively on
whufc.com...
"This week has obviously been a very difficult time for
everyone connected with West Ham United and, as someone who played
at Upton Park for 10 years, all I can say is that I know what the
players are going through at the moment.
"I was involved in two relegations in the space of three
years, two promotions in two years, and also part of the team that
secured the Club's highest-ever league finish. The one thing
that all of those experiences taught me was how big a factor
confidence is among football players.
"It has always been the West Ham way to try and play football
the right way and, if you do play with that entertaining, attacking
style, then confidence is so important.
"For long-ball teams, it's easy to bang balls in the
channels and feed off the knock-downs when things are not going
well but, if you're a footballing side and - like West Ham -
continue to try and play that way, the more passes you make, the
worse it gets, and the confidence just goes.
"Everybody starts to look sideways or backwards instead of
forwards, and players begin to second-guess themselves. Everything
that previously came naturally, you start to think about and dwell
on, and that is when mistakes occur.
"That seems to be one of the problems at the moment, and you
can see that the players are not playing with the same freedom,
confidence and belief they showed last season.
"On Tuesday night, I really thought that the early goal would
provide the lift we needed. It was a cracking strike from Marlon -
at first you would have thought it was the wrong decision to take
it on the volley, but he caught it just right and it gave the
goalkeeper no chance.
"That should have been the catalyst for the boys to get the
ball down and begin to play their normal game but that turned out
to be the one thing we didn't do against Chesterfield.
"The deeper we retreated, and the more we invited them to hit
corners and free-kicks in, the harder it was going to be. The only
way to take the sting out against teams like that is to show them
why you are in the top league and pass the ball - because that is
what you can do better than them.
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"It wasn't a bad pitch either, but we just didn't move
the ball around quick enough in possession. I thought things
improved when Teddy came on, he calmed us down and provided some
genuine quality on the ball
"Bobby had a couple of good chances to put us in front late
on, but then Chesterfield also had more than a few half-chances at
the other end, and on reflection you would have to say that they
deserved the victory.
"We now go into a massive game against Blackburn on Sunday,
and it is going to be an extremely tough encounter. Everyone talks
about their physical presence and organisation, but they are also a
very good footballing side and are often underestimated in that
area.
"Mark Hughes and Mark Bowen are two very good coaches, and
they get the very best out of what they have got. As many teams
have done, they will come here and try to stop us playing, in the
hope of silencing the crowd early on and hitting us on the break.
"That's why it's so important that the fans don't
turn on the team if things are not going entirely to plan. I think
that everybody has got to realise that the manager is really doing
his best, and it's now time for the players to stand up and be
counted.
"In all honesty, they are letting their manager down at the
moment. They are all good players, they proved that last season,
and now is the time to show it.
"Reputations were built last season, but reputations don't
stand up on one season only - they have to grow over five, six or
seven seasons. The moment you think you have made it as a top
player, and stop putting the effort in or working to your maximum -
the trait that stood out for us last season - then you are no
longer a top player.
"It is a game that we are certainly capable of winning, and
maybe the players are going to have to be ready to turn it into a
bit of a battle. It's amazing what a win can do for confidence
in situations like these and hopefully Sunday will be the start of
the turnaround."