West Ham United have struggled to replicate the excellent form they showed last season.
West Ham United’s Dimitri Payet
Former Chelsea defender Frank Sinclair has had his say on West Ham’s struggles at their new stadium, when speaking to Sky Sports Now at 11:07 am on September 20th.
The Hammers have endured a woeful start to their 2016/17 campaign, after being dumped out of the Europa League by so-called inferior opposition, and currently sit 18th in the Premier League table after winning just one of their opening five league games.
Sinclair believes the transition from Upton Park is partly to blame, and told Sky Sports:
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic
“There are definite difficulties. You’ve got an iconic stadium that the club have been involved with for years, and you make a bit of a fortress. I didn’t used to like going to play at Upton Park. I used to hate going there, because the fans are on you. Now all of a sudden you’re in this big new stadium, the fans are nowhere near the pitch and can’t affect the game. Also, the players have got to get used to their new environment as well.”
Slaven Bilic has drawn heavy criticism for attempting to strengthen his squad with quantity rather than quality, but most of the blame must go to the players.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic
Their dismal individual performances have cost the Hammers dearly so far this year, and it seems as though they have been caught up in the hype that West Ham will automatically be one of the league’s top clubs purely because of their move to a 60,000 capacity stadium.
Tomorrow night’s game at home against Accrington Stanley has taken on greater significance after the East London outfit’s poor start to the season, and eyes will be on events in the stands as well as the football pitch as the new stadium setup continues to come under intense scrutiny.
West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic
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