Who needs strikers? Potter showed the most important attribute in any West Ham manager after victory over Fulham in his first league game
swapped tracksuits for turtlenecks the first time he took a job in the capital. A subtle rebrand of the big fish from a smaller pond, it betrayed just how much he wanted the transformation into a truly elite manager to work. In east London he cuts a more relaxed figure but make no mistake – he needsand perhaps the most important one.
Potter will hardly claim it as a moment of great inspiration – the only real alternative was to use Mohammed Kudus as a false nine, and the call on Ings was all but made for him by a dispiriting display in the FA Cup defeat to Aston Villa. Panic could have set in from the opening 30 minutes’ familiar dirge. It is easy to take for granted what Marco Silva has achieved butshould never have let this get away from them, twice hitting the woodwork through Harry Wilson and Raul Jimenez. “It is clearly our fault, the way we lost the game,” Silva conceded afterwards.
Nervy finish aside, Potter showed that most necessary of attributes in a West Ham manager – a willingness to adapt whatever happens in January. They outperformed their xG with no strikers on the pitch, they scored 100 per cent of their shots on target, and they capitalised greedily on Fulham’s comedy of errors.
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