West Ham are set for their biggest week in a decade, with massive future-defining events unfolding both on and off the pitch.
What happens over the coming days could define the Hammers’ direction for years to come and determine whether the club can finally move forward.
West Ham’s 3-0 defeat to Spurs marked a new low in what has been a dismal last year-and-a-half of non-stop regression.
The Hammers are looking every which way relegation candidates under Graham Potter.
Make no mistake, the Irons are a club in crisis and staring into the abyss.
Pressure is mounting on West Ham’s owners and the manager while the players are also in the firing line after weak, meek surrenders which have seen them lose four of their five games so far this season.
The club is standing at a crossroads.
This week will be a sliding doors moment in Hammers history that will dictate where they go next on almost every level.
West Ham truly are set for their biggest week of the last decade both on and off the pitch – and here’s why.
Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty ImagesOn the pitch: A must-win for West Ham vs Palace
West Ham face Crystal Palace at home in the Premier League in what is undoubtedly a must-win game.
The Hammers sit in the bottom three of the fledgling table in what is already shaping up to be one of the most competitive seasons of the modern Premier League era.
A total of 40 points used to be the benchmark for clubs wanting to survive in the top flight.
That has dropped significantly in the last 12 or 13 years but something like that may well be needed this season.
Do West Ham have it in them to get the 10 or 11 wins needed to stay up? Not on the evidence so far.
Palace have looked good again this season under Oliver Glasner despite losing so many key players. They are solid, organised and efficient.
West Ham have shown already the limit of their ambitions this season is survival. With Everton and Arsenal up next, a win is absolutely vital.
Potter has some huge decisions to make, he must ditch Mads Hermansen and get over his James Ward-Prowse obsession. The manager must also do away with the ridiculous zonal marking that has seen the Hammers ship six goals in just four games from a record 32 corners conceded.
Playing with a striker might be an idea too.
In the dugout: Potter hanging by a thread
Hammers boss Potter is under renewed pressure to keep his job.
Most West Ham fans realise Potter is a symptom of the club’s ills not the cause with the board front and centre when it comes where the blame rests for the current situation.
Potter bravely turned the blame on West Ham’s owners after the Spurs shambles.
The likes of Match of the Day think ‘baffled’ Potter’s time is up at West Ham.
Many Hammers fans agree after the Tottenham defeat made it just six wins in 24 games under the Englishman since he arrived in January.
Only two of those have come at the London Stadium – against Leicester and Fulham.
Potter admitted he can now be judged after a full pre-season and bringing some of his own players in.
The excuses of last season are no longer valid. Regardless of the shambles above him he should and could be doing much better.
West Ham are eyeing ex-Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo and it’s also claimed other interesting names are being considered to replace Potter if he doesn’t turn things around.
Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images
West Ham supporters sent shockwaves through the club’s boardroom with a vote of no confidence in the owners two weeks ago.
The Hammers sent vice-chair Karren Brady to meet with fed-up fans and the demands and expectations of supporters were put to her in a frank and professional manner.
West Ham are said to be taking the situation very seriously.
Hammers fans will find out how seriously this week.
The details of the meeting cannot be revealed until the minutes are agreed and signed off by both parties.
They will then be published for all to see, probably around Wednesday or Thursday, and it could be the first steps towards supporters getting what they want – huge changes across the club, including right at the top with the removal of majority owner David Sullivan and Brady from the day-to-day running of West Ham United.
A watershed moment could be in the offing.
Off the pitch: Fan protests to Hammer home the message
Fans are planning to protest against Sullivan and Brady ahead of the Palace game to hammer home their message.
Numbers are key to sending that message.
If just half of the thousands of fans who walked out of the London Stadium en masse at 4-1 against Chelsea and 3-0 against Spurs show the same conviction when it comes to the protest, the numbers will be huge.
Hammers United will be releasing a statement this week on the plan and timings for the protest.
Supporters will be urged to make the protest peaceful so as not to play into a narrative that Hammers fans are riotous thugs.
While the events against Burnley in 2018 resulted in making it very clear how fans felt, any repeat of some of the behaviour of that day could play into the hands of the club and some of the press in painting the fans as the villains.
Only perhaps the Championship play-off final in 2012 comes close to being as future-defining as this week in West Ham’s modern history.
Big and long overdue changes could be afoot.
The national press have started to come down on the side of West Ham fans in their battle with the board.
That was emphasised by a top journalist sending a brutal Sullivan and Brady message after West Ham’s latest rout.
Potter and the players must then do their bit to ensure West Ham can remain on the gravy-train to make them count in the long-term.
Forget West Ham are massive, this week is gargantuan.