OPINION
Many West Ham fans will be on the brink applauding former Hammers boss Slaven Billic as he hits the nail on the head with his remarks on the London Stadium.
The experienced manager suggested the London Stadium was as bad as he feared upon the Hammers moving to it, though quickly made clear he didn’t mean the arena itself was bad, and compared it to Upton Park.
“It was basically as bad (as he feared) I mean it wasn’t bad as we won our first game against Bournemouth, Antonio scored a header,” said Bilic on Premier League Tonight, in a clip seen on BT Sports’ Twitter account.
“It was great but then but then you could never get that atmosphere that you had at Upton Park, you couldn’t never make that pressure, you could never have that ten minutes or fifteen minutes of attack after attack, it’s impossible.
“Once I read a book from a famous quarterback and they change the stadium in NFL and he said he was standing in the same spot, and in American football they have the yard lines, everything is there.
“And the old stadium was quite compact and he said he had this feeling could throw that ball anywhere he wanted, when they move to a bigger stadium, same spot, everything same, but he felt he ain’t gonna make it.”
Bilic is very respectful towards the London Stadium but he is right to say that the atmosphere that was able to be generated at Upton Park is gone.
The Hammers board may be trying to take the club forward by having the team play in a bigger environment but the London Stadium has taken something away from them.
Opponents probably feared facing West Ham at Upton Park due to the atmosphere and the small pitch; but now they benefit from facing the Hammers in the plush London Stadium.
While the club can’t go back in time and return to Upton Park, it’s clear more work still needs to be done to make the London Stadium a better home for the Hammers.
As while the board have made some nice changes to help make it a more pleasant fan experience, the atmosphere that Bilic refers to is nowhere near back to being what it was at Upton Park.
Given that the manager is likely reflecting the views that many Hammers supporters have, a lot of them will be on the brink of applauding the manager for his well-balanced opinion on the London Stadium.
