Life comes at you fast, so the young folk say. Approaching his 34th birthday, Pablo Zabaleta probably no longer feels too youthful, but the West Ham full-back can appreciate the sentiment.
West Ham started the season with four straight Premier League defeats and a fresh surge of unease at a club uncomfortable in its new post-Upton Park skin. Angry pessimism, which had clouded the club’s sense of vision, continued rush around the London Stadium.
Today West Ham are on the brink of winning three times in eight days. If the prospect has not brought broad optimism, there is temporary hope. Potentially it is a turnaround moment, one that could shape the club’s season.
“Exactly,” Zabaleta replied, when this scenario was put to him. “That’s what we want. It is a long time since West Ham won two [Premier League] games in a row.”
It is not a long time since West Ham lost four in a row.
Zabaleta spoke before the Hammers beat Cardiff 3-1 on Tuesday night. Having won 3-0 at Newcastle last Saturday, the prospect of two home games – Cardiff and Crystal Palace – gave rise to the idea of a nine-point week. West Ham have taken six so far and Palace, one win and six defeats in their last nine in the league, cannot be arriving in east London puffed up.
Win again and West Ham would have 21 points after 16 games. This would not only set up the remainder of the season, it would banish any lingering thoughts of relegation, which sprouted after those opening four losses. Another home win would also help simply because it is at home.
Normally away victories are cherished because they are considered harder to achieve, but West Ham’s move to the London Stadium has been so fraught, any win there is celebrated by the hierarchy, the players and those fans who have accepted, often reluctantly, that the emotional departure from Upton Park is done.
West Ham’s last match there, by the way, was in May 2016. That it remains an issue shows how difficult it was. Life can come at you slow.
What has not helped is that results have been so inconsistent since the move, should the Hammers win today it would be the first time in two years they have won three consecutive Premier League games. Two years. Last season they did not win even two games in a row, not once. There has been no chance to build momentum.
Geoffrey Boycott once said the trouble with Viv Richards was he was “too good”, and that final season at Upton Park was possibly the same – if success can ever be called that.
Under Slaven Bilic, with Dmitri Payet weaving beguiling patterns, West Ham finished seventh, accumulating 34 points at home. There was a style and volume to their play.
The next season – the first at the London Stadium – the points tally at home dropped to 25. They won seven of 19 home games and six of those were 1-0. The season ended with West Ham on a minus-12 goal difference at home. Payet forced his way out of the club and Bilic would soon follow, sacked. Everywhere was contrast and it was discordant.
Last season the turbulence continued. During a third consecutive defeat, to Burnley in March, fans invaded the pitch while others tried to get access to the directors’ box.
Captain Mark Noble had to confront one fan sporting a ripped out corner flag. “You could tell enough was enough for them,” he said. “The atmosphere was horrible.” Relegation looked a possibility.
That was this year, so it would be unwise to get ahead of results and say West Ham United have re-routed themselves. But within the transition are some other numbers: attendances, for example. In that last season at Upton Park the 35,000 capacity was met seven times. It’s a healthy figure.
The following season, the lowest was 39,900. It was for the visit of Accrington Stanley in the League Cup on a Wednesday night in September. Almost 40,000 fans to watch Accrington Stanley?
In the league, the 57,000 capacity is sold out. The belief was always that with east London and Essex on their doorstep, West Ham could command this kind of crowd, but pulling it off is another matter.
So imagine if the club was harmonious, imagine if results were consistent. Imagine a time when a significant portion of supporters no longer resent being where they are.
“The only way to squash that is to win football games,” Noble said in March of the discontent. It is the bottom line.
Palace is the first of five winnable fixtures. The potential is clear. This being West Ham 2018, though, assume nothing. Things can change fast.
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