West Ham United's muddled inadequacy has left them hanging on to the Premier League by a thread

AFC BournemouthArsenalAston VillaBrentfordBrighton & Hove AlbionBurnleyChelseaCrystal PalaceEvertonFulhamLeeds UnitedLiverpoolManchester CityManchester UnitedNewcastle UnitedNottingham ForestSunderlandTottenham HotspurWest Ham UnitedWolverhampton WanderersScores & ScheduleStandingsFantasyThe Athletic FC NewsletterPodcastsAnalysisWest Ham United’s muddled inadequacy has left them hanging on to the Premier League by a threadWest Ham's players react at the end of their side's 3-1 defeat at Newcastle Ian MacNicol/Getty Images Share articleWest Ham United fulfilled their fixture at Newcastle United and that was about as good as it got. They turned up. They pulled on their shirts and took to the pitch and, from that point onwards, their involvement and engagement was moot. There was a sense of endings at St James’ Park; not definitive, not complete, but persuasive, a final home game for Kieran Trippier as a Newcastle player, and a feeble waft of farewell in the colour of claret. They are not gone yet, but West Ham will be relegated on Tuesday if Tottenham Hotspur beat Chelsea. Nothing about this is a surprise — they are drain-circlers — aside from their meekness as the season lists towards a conclusion. They did not compete on Tyneside but conceded, letting in goals and accepting their own inadequacy. Where was the anger or rage or spite, aside from in fleeting, inconsequential moments? Where, until it was lost? As soon as Newcastle scored in the 15th minute, West Ham were done. At 2-0 down, and with Nuno Espirito Santo shuffling to a back-four, there was a flicker of a pulse and two decent saves from Nick Pope. At 3-0, with their supporters beginning to traipse away from Level Seven — serenaded by Newcastle fans singing “F*** off to the Championship,” — they rallied, but to what purpose? The tension in West Ham legs was palpable, yet the game was completely free of it. To put that a different way, Newcastle have not enjoyed a match as much as this for an eon. Their season has been busy, grumpy and overstretched, and pressure has been a niggling, constant companion, particularly at home, but their opponents on Sunday were hapless, soft in defence and muddled in their thinking. For Newcastle, it was a breeze. That Sky Sports, who were broadcasting the game in the UK, interviewed Trippier after his substitution and before the end of the match, told you everything you needed to know. You couldn’t blame them; the story was moving on without West Ham’s involvement, there but not really there, present but irrelevant, wearing that kit but translucent. After a nothing performance, nothing was what they warranted. The final whistle brought excruciation. Nuno shook Howe’s hand and walked to the centre circle to do the same with Jarred Gillett, the referee, and then span on his heels and made straight for the tunnel. Taty Castellanos stood still as if rooted to the turf, looking high into the away end. He was joined by Konstantinos Mavropanos and Jarrod Bowen, who clapped dejectedly. There was a response: “You’re not fit to wear the shirt.” In the circumstances, it was difficult to disagree, and Nuno did not. “You know, it hurts a lot,” the head coach said. “It hurts a lot, of course. This is our job. This is our life. But the fans are right, and today they showed their anger and frustration, and they have reasons to do that. But it hurts. It hurts the boys. It hurts us. It hurts the club. That’s why this week we should try to finish the season with dignity and respect for the fans.” Newcastle’s first goal was an embodiment of self-inflicted agony, Mads Hermansen passing the ball out to the left and beyond Jean-Clair Todibo, whose reactions had not made the journey from east London. Harvey Barnes interjected and darted forward, crossing for Nick Woltemade, but West Ham were playing at 33rpm to Newcastle’s 45. Four minutes later, the deficit was doubled. They did not put a foot in. They were slow and abject. “The first 20 minutes was so painful for us,” Mateus Fernandes said on Sky Sports. “We have been training all week to do one thing and we arrive here and didn’t do it.” Nuno called it “a bad performance, a bad day for us. We started really bad and you can see the mistakes we made. It’s going to be a tough week ahead.” Did he still believe demotion can be avoided? “We have to wait and see. What we did today was not enough for us in the fight we have.” Whether it was a failure of preparation, execution or nerve hardly matters. West Ham showed themselves to be a bad team, less than the sum of their parts and wholly ill-equipped for the challenge in front of them. They have been mediocre all season, but this felt inexcusable. “We didn’t play with full fight and spirit like against Arsenal. We missed everything – fight, energy and second balls we were every time late,” Fernandes said. The final day will see West Ham host Leeds United and Tottenham host Everton, which Bowen called “holding on by a small thread”. What was remarkable about Newcastle was how one tug on the thread caused Nuno’s players to unravel. Remarkable and embarrassing. They played like ghosts; this felt like a goodbye. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms