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West Ham are not a poor side, far from it. There is talent in their roster, and desire. You can see it in every tackle, every gut-busting run and in the disappointed gestures when a pass fails to connect. That energy is matched on the sideline, with Rehanne Skinner animated throughout their loss to Aston Villa – “maintain shape”, “tighten up”, “talk to her” and “close the space” were part of the numerous commands from the dugout, with those behind the bench hearing the views of the coach while the action is under way. Skinner is fully involved, she is focused, the players are engaged, so what is not working?

Worrying Statistics Reveal the Story

After five matches and they have zero points, have let in 16 goals and netted twice. They are capable of scoring though, five individual scorers in a 5-1 defeat of Charlton in the League Cup on 24 September a brief respite from losses before Chelsea put three past them in 15 minutes last Sunday to return them in their place. Facing Chelsea the Hammers performed decently throughout, that quarter-hour calamitous spell was an exception and, while many feared a complete after the break collapse, they recovered, thrived with their under pressure, and only conceded one more to the champions.

Consistency over a full match has been a ongoing problem. The opening stages and second half versus the Blues were periods to be pleased with, as was the first half versus the Gunners and closing 45 facing the Seagulls.

Familiar Pattern Against Villa

Against Villa the story was repeated, the visiting team dominating possession in Dagenham but West Ham creating opportunities too, nine attempts to Villa’s 11. They competed in the first half, challenging, performing adequately to be able to earn a result from the game, the difference though was that the home side had just one attempt on goal, as opposed to Villa’s four.

West Ham are not failing by their style, determination or coaching choices, they are failing by players not being clinical when they get in good positions. This is that decision making in the final third that needs work, the five goals scored versus lower-league opponents their cup foes may indicate the problem: when they have time on the ball they make the right moves, when they are under pressure and challenged by top-tier opposition it’s almost as if they find it hard to make rapid decisions.

“In my view we were sharp enough in the final third and we just lacked that decisive quality where the final ball was at times a bit too strong, lacking the right quality and then just being prepared to take on shots a little bit earlier,” stated the manager.

“Considering the players, when I observe them individually, it seems like they’re somewhat reluctant relative to where we were previously. The willingness to take on defenders and be quite assertive was really, really strong and we just need to get that fight back where we’re a more ruthless in and around the box, where we are a bit braver to go one-on-one and where what will be will be but we’re sending attackers forward and we’re attempting to generate chances. This is an area that we’ve just sort of eased up a bit on and we’re looking for passes as instead of being a more direct and being more self-assured in our own skills.”

Costly Moments Lead to Loss

On Sunday afternoon that was damaging again. Shortly after Viviane Asseyi directed a header off target, they were punished at the other end, an opponent collecting her set-piece back from a teammate before driving the shot into the far corner. Seven minutes later and the visiting team had a bigger cushion, Wilms’s set-piece lifted over the defensive line and in.

It was another difficult day for the Hammers and their absence of results on the table will inevitably lead to doubts arising about Skinner’s position. That would be completely unjust though. There is work to be made for sure, self-belief and quickness in decision making needs to get better, and the squad must take a share of the blame for that, but this is a team that is struggling from a lack of love and care from the club as a entirety, and the coach is a victim of that rather than the architect of the squad’s struggles.

Wider Challenges at Play

This summer, several individuals left and just a handful came in. The quality of those coming in this time round was possibly better in general, but a tight budget has meant that season-on-season the club have lost their best players to more successful sides. Before questions are raised about Skinner’s tenure, she merits a chance to show what she can do without constraints and that means the club improving its support – and the identical could be said for a number of WSL teams.