West Ham branded ‘team of trialists’ with stadium likened to West End theatre

West Ham fans were as flat as their side’s performance on Saturday in their drab 0-0 draw with Everton at the London Stadium.

That was the view of Arsenal legend and talkSPORT pundit Perry Groves, who claimed the Hammers team were playing ‘like a bunch of trialists’.

The east London outfit have struggled for consistency this season under new boss Julen Lopetegui, who has failed to inspire the Hammers fanbase.

And it was another poor performance from the hosts, who remain languishing in 14th spot after 11 Premier League matches.

After believing they would be witnessing free-flowing football following David Moyes departure, unhappy Hammers have been left feeling rather short changed by Lopetegui’s approach so far.

talkSPORT commentator Ian Danter declared the atmosphere at the London Stadium was ‘subdued’.

While Groves, who won two league titles with the Gunners, stuck the boot in even further.

The 59-year-old said: “In the first-half West Ham have looked like a team of trialists, like they don’t know each other.

“There’s no cohesion there whatsoever… and there is no atmosphere in this stadium.

“There are 60,000 people in here and you’d think you were at a West End theatre.

“The camera has just panned over to Sir Trevor Brooking, they could do with a player like him out there – a little bit of flair and creativity.”

West Ham barely threatened during the encounter with the Toffees, but they almost nicked it at the death.

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And had it not been for Jordan Pickford‘s heroics, West Ham would have recorded their fourth win of the season.

Substitute Danny Ings took aim from just inside the box in the third minute of injury-time after being found by Lucas Paqueta.

His low effort took a wicked deflection off James Tarkowski and looked to be heading into the roof of the net.

But Pickford expertly tipped his strike over the bar, leading to cries of ‘England’s No.1’ from the visiting supporters.

Groves admitted West Ham got better as the game went on, but offered a grim verdict on the state of both clubs after a dreadful game.

“You’d have to say West Ham they improved in the second half, but they couldn’t have got any worse because it was so tepid and dire in the first-half,” said the former Gunners winger and two-time First Division title winner.

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“Danny Ings came on and because he’s got energy and industry, that gave the team a lift and it gave fans a lift.

“And all he did was he was just busy. He was trying to get in behind, he was coming short, he was closing down, and he had two late efforts that were saved fantastically by Jordan Pickford – the second save was world-class.

“I would have liked to have seen Ings come on the pitch earlier and I can’t believe Lucas Paqueta stayed on the pitch, because he was totally ineffective. 

“As a No.10 you’ve got to work hard to get yourself on the ball, and he wasn’t doing that. Crysencio Summerville was the bright spark in the team, and he was replaced instead – I’d be very disappointed if I was him.

“I’ve got to be honest, you look at West Ham and Everton and they’re just really, really poor teams at the moment.

“I don’t think the West Ham players are believing in Lopetegui.

“There was no closing down, there was no energy out of possession, there was just lethargy in the first-half, although the second-half was better.

“And Everton have got their goalkeeper to thank that they’ve come away with a point.”