Declan Rice will take no pleasure from West Ham’s struggles, but his current side, Arsenal, could push them closer to relegation.
Illustration: Guardian Design; Vince Mignott/EPA
Declan Rice will take no satisfaction from West Ham’s dire situation, yet Arsenal, his current club, might drive them further toward the drop zone.
Illustration: Guardian Design; Vince Mignott/EPA
**West Ham United**
West Ham on the brink a decade after David Sullivan declared they were a ‘big club’
The club chairman argued that moving to the London Stadium proved West Ham were no longer a ‘tinpot club,’ but now the threat of relegation looms large.
When David Sullivan was asked why West Ham bothered relocating to the London Stadium, the emptiness of his argument exposed the club’s dysfunction. “I just think we feel like a big club,” Sullivan told the Guardian in December 2017. “Not a tinpot club. When players come to look at West Ham, they look at where you play.”
But dig deeper. Examining the chairman’s words nine years later, it becomes clear that this is an owner whose desire to win is neutralized by his apathy. Feeling like a big club is not the same as being one. It has been a decade since West Ham left Upton Park, their so-called tinpot home, and told fans the move would elevate them. “A world-class stadium with a world-class team” was the infamous sales pitch from recently departed vice-chair Karren Brady. Perhaps the best rebuttal is the line in the club’s latest accounts “forecasting a liquidity shortfall in summer 2026,” along with the “severe but plausible scenario” of relegation triggering a deeper financial crisis – just three years after winning the Conference League and selling Declan Rice to Arsenal for £105m.
West Ham’s co-chair David Gold and David Sullivan, with vice-chair Karren Brady, after the move to Stratford was announced in 2011.
Photograph: Tony O’Brien/Action Images/Reuters
Does this feel like a big club? It resembles a mid-sized club whose flaws and outdated thinking were exposed the moment they decided to leave their beloved cramped home, offering only vague soundbites when it came to challenging the elite. West Ham should feel ashamed looking up the table at Brentford, Bournemouth, and Brighton chasing Champions League qualification. Those clubs have proper structures and clear identities, allowing them to punch above their weight. What they lack in size, they make up in expertise. They play in smaller grounds than West Ham, whose stadium holds 62,500, but they are more organized, more intelligent, and more adept at squad-building.
West Ham’s survival bid was rocked by Brentford, opening the door for Tottenham.
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Of course, West Ham have been competing with Tottenham this season. The problem is that no one predicted Spurs as relegation candidates. An unexpected but welcome bonus for miserable Hammers, yet even that lifeline is slipping away. Last weekend brought a potentially decisive shift: Spurs plunged West Ham back into the bottom three with a commanding win over Aston Villa, and there is a realistic chance the fight ends before the final day.
With Nottingham Forest, Leeds, and Crystal Palace almost out of reach, West Ham will need a miracle if they lose to Arsenal on Sunday and Spurs beat Leeds at home on Monday night. The gap between the sides would be four points – effectively five considering goal difference – and would mean Nuno Espírito Santo’s team dropping into the Championship if beaten at Newcastle on Sunday week.
It is not over yet. West Ham slumped at Brentford last week, poor finishing and bad defending leading to a 3-0 defeat, but they have been on a good run before that. However, the downward spiral continues, and the clock is ticking on their Premier League status.