Chelsea thrashes Hammers as Potter pressure mounts
Chelsea came from a goal behind to thrash West Ham United 5-1 and pile more pressure on Irons manager Graham Potter after two heavy Premier League defeats in as many matches.
Lucas Paqueta got the hosts off to a dream start when he unleashed a swirling shot past goalkeeper Robert Sanchez with six minutes on the clock but Chelsea hit back in the 15th minute through a Joao Pedro header and the floodgates opened.
After the Hammers had a Niclas Fullkrug effort ruled offside, Pedro Neto sent Chelsea ahead on the volley in the 23rd minute and Enzo Fernandez made it 3-1 from close range barely 10 minutes later after a pass from Brazilian teenager Estevao Willian.
Moises Caicedo added a fourth nine minutes into the second half, after goalkeeper Mads Hermansen pushed the ball to him off a corner, and Trevoh Chalobah became the fifth Chelsea player on the London Stadium scoresheet four minutes later.
Pedro's goal, with the ball flicked on by Marc Cucurella off a corner, was the Brazilian's first in the league for the Blues since joining from Brighton and Hove Albion last month.
The commanding scoreline in the cross-town London derby came despite Chelsea's midfield talisman Cole Palmer being ruled out after he felt discomfort on the pitch during the pre-match warm-up.
Manager Enzo Maresca said the England international had "felt something" and went off as a precaution, with Estevao taking his place and Chelsea hitting its strides regardless.
The visitors were also without striker Nicolas Jackson, who was left out of the squad despite being available as the West London side awaits a possible transfer.
The result came as a welcome relief for the FIFA Club World Cup champion after its goalless opening draw against FA Cup holder Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge last weekend.
"I think in the last game we missed something. I think we don't play our style but I think today, at the beginning, we started a little bit sloppy but the reaction from the team was very good. We showed a lot of energy," Cucurella said after the game.
The sense of foreboding at West Ham, already added to the list of possible relegation candidates after a 3-0 drubbing at promoted Sunderland in its opening game, only deepened.
The eight goals conceded in two matches is the most West Ham has shipped at such a stage in the top flight.
Its manager, serenaded by Chelsea fans singing There's Only One Graham Potter at their former boss, has won five of 20 league games since he took over in January.
He is also the first West Ham manager to fail to get into double figures on points in his first 10 home Premier League games.
"To concede the goals in the manner we have gives us an impossible task," Potter said.
"When they're cheap, like the ones we gave away, we have to do better.
"The team isn't performing as well as we'd like and the results aren't what we want. I have to take that responsibility. We're not getting the most out of the players."
Potter, who was also a team-mate of Maresca at West Bromwich Albion in the 1990s when they shared rides to training, was a bookmakers' favourite even before kick-off to be first for the sack.
Some West Ham fans were already heading for the exits before the break, with boos greeting the half-time whistle, and the exodus continued in the second half as the rout continued and Chelsea coasted to an easy win.
"We got ourselves into a really good position at 1-0, but the goals were really cheap on our behalf," Potter admitted after the game.
"We gifted the goals away. We learned that at Sunderland last week and it was the same again today.
"We're out there on the pitch, it's easy when things are going well, but when things aren't going well, you have to point the finger at every single person.
"We have to look at ourselves. Managers come in, but the manager can't influence the players out on the pitch. With basic football, I don't think we're doing very well.
"Everyone's got to look in the mirror and have some honest conversations as a group. We have a cup game on Tuesday, so full focus on that, then we go to Nottingham Forest before the international break.
"That international break could be a long, dark place if we go into it with three league defeats in a row.
"There has to be a reaction, we know that. We have to face the music that will come over the next few days. We have to be brave and deal with that, then put it right on the pitch."
West Ham co-chair Karren Brady gave Potter a public vote of confidence this week, but there are still concerns that he could become only the third Premier League manager to be sacked two games into a season, after Kenny Dalglish (at Newcastle United in 1998-1999) and Paul Sturrock (Southampton in 2004-2005).
"What we're doing at the moment isn't enough. I have to look at myself and we have to improve. I'm the coach, I'm responsible for the team and the results aren't what we'd like," Potter added.
"I have to take that responsibility. We're not getting the most out of the players, we need to get more and that's my job. There’s nobody throwing anyone under the bus here, it's a collective effort."
