Before this season had begun, there was a real sense of optimism amongst the fanbase.
David Moyes has transformed West Ham from relegation candidates to Europa League semi-finalists in just two short years, and had steered the club to consecutive top-seven Premier League finishes for the first time ever.
Yes, loads needed to be done in the transfer market to address a worrying lack of depth in key areas of his squad, but the sheer speed at which West Ham had been transformed could not be ignored.
And that’s still the general feeling amongst the fanbase, albeit with an ongoing concern that there will still be glaring holes in the squad when the transfer window closes in around two weeks’ time.
Two defeats in two at the start of this season may be frustrating, but it’s certainly not a complete disaster. There are 36 fixtures still to play for and three cup competitions to try and win. Now really isn’t the time to panic or to expect the club to slip back into old mid-table or relegation fight habits.
The general expectation for this season was simply to see David Moyes’ team remain consistent, to compete for a top-eight finish, at the very least, for another season, potentially with another long stretch of the campaign occupying a top-four spot.
But according to FiveThirtyEight‘s super-computer, that might be some way off right now.
They’re currently predicting the Hammers to finish 13th in the Premier League after two games played, which would certainly be a huge disappointment if it were to come true.
Before a ball was even kicked, they predicted an 8th-placed finish, which would’ve obviously been the lower end of what we were hoping for, but the decline in our chances of even finishing in the top 10 after just two games is pretty significant.
Whatsmore, they’re giving West Ham just a 5% chance of finishing sixth. It was only 6% before the first game of the season.
So, while it still might be early days, such projections show that there could be potential for a disappointing season if Moyes and his players can’t start picking up results quickly.
