Defeat to Aston Villa exposes struggling West Ham’s lack of clinical finishing

West Ham are not a bad team, far from it. There is talent in their squad, and desire. You can see it in every tackle, every gut-busting run and in the frustrated body language when a pass doesn’t quite come off. That energy is matched on the sideline, Rehanne Skinner animated throughout their 2-0 defeat to Aston Villa – “hold the line”, “come closer”, “talk to her” and “Fion can’t get out” are among the many commands from the technical area, with those behind the dugout treated to the thoughts of the manager while the action is under way. Skinner is in it, she is engaged, the players are engaged, so what is not working?

Five games in and they have no points, have conceded 16 goals and scored twice. They can score though, five different goal scorers in a 5-1 defeat of Charlton in the League Cup on 24 September a brief respite from defeat before Chelsea scored three in 15 minutes last weekend to put them firmly back in their place. Against the Blues the Hammers weren’t bad throughout though, that 15 minute calamitous spell was an outlier and, while many feared a complete second half collapse, they regrouped, thrived with their backs against the wall, and only conceded one more to the champions.

Consistency across 90-plus has been a consistent problem. The first five minutes and second half against Chelsea were periods to be proud of, as was the opening 45 against Arsenal and closing 45 against Brighton.

Against Villa the story was familiar, the visiting team dominating possession in Dagenham but the Hammers having chances too, nine shots to Villa’s 11. They were in it in the first half, challenging, playing well enough to be able to take something from the game, the difference though was that West Ham had only a single shot on target, as opposed to Villa’s four.

West Ham are not being let down by their style, grit or managerial decisions, they are being let down by players not being clinical when they get in good positions. It is that decision making in the final third that needs work, the five goals scored against WSL2 side Charlton perhaps points to the issue: when they have time on the ball they make the right moves, when they are being pressed and harried by WSL-level opposition it’s almost as if they struggle to think quickly enough.

“I don’t think we were clinical enough in the final third and we just lacked that cutting edge where the final ball was sometimes a bit over hit, not quite with the right quality and then just being prepared to take on shots a little bit earlier,” said Skinner.

“Based on the players, when I’m watching them individually, I just feel like they’re all a little bit hesitant compared to where we were previously. The desire to run at people and be quite assertive was really, really strong and we just need to get that fight back where we’re a little bit more ruthless in and around the box, where we are a bit braver to go 1v1 and where what will be will be but we’re committing players and we’re trying to create opportunities. That’s something that we’ve just sort of taken our foot off the gas a little bit on and we’re looking for passes as opposed to being a little bit more direct and being a bit more confident in our own ability.”

On Sunday afternoon that was costly again. Moments after Viviane Asseyi glanced a header wide, they were punished at the other end, Kirsty Hanson collecting her short corner back from Lynn Wilms before lashing the ball into the far corner. Seven minutes later and Natalia Arroyo’s side had a bigger cushion, Wilms’s free-kick lifted over the wall and in.

It was another tough afternoon for the Hammers and their lack of points on the board will inevitably lead to questions being asked about Skinner’s future. That would be wholly unfair though. There is work to be done for sure, confidence and speed in decision making must improve, and the players must bear some responsibility for that, but this is a team that is struggling from a lack of love and care from the club as a whole, and Skinner is a victim of that rather than the architect of the team’s struggles.

This summer, nine players departed and only four came in. The quality of those coming in this time round was arguably higher overall, but a tight budget has meant that season-on-season West Ham have lost their best players to better teams. Before questions are asked about Skinner’s tenure, she deserves a chance to show what she can do unhindered and that means the club upping its game – and the same could be said for several WSL clubs.