OPINION
West Ham United are an ambitious club, we all know that. They consider themselves one of the most historic teams in the whole of English football.
However, in 2019 you have to be realistic. Unfortunately for Hammers co-chairman David Gold, though, he appears to have missed that memo.
“There are many people at the club who believe we can finish in the top six good luck,” he wrote on his personal Twitter account on Saturday after a supporter asked him if a top six finish is achievable in 2019/20.
Look, you’ve always got to be aiming high in football and ambition is nothing to be embarrassed about. However, realism is always needed and it’s just not possible for West Ham to claim a top six spot next time out.
Manchester City and Liverpool’s spot in the top four are essentially nailed on at this point, as, you’d think, are Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea’s. Then you’ve got traditional giants Manchester United and Arsenal.
So that’s this season’s top six before you even get to the teams around West Ham who are threatening to make the jump up into top six contention.
If any outlier sort of team is going to break up the old order at the top of the Premier League table, you wouldn’t expect it to be the Hammers.
No, the likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leicester City and Everton are more well-positioned, on paper, to give United and Arsenal some problems at the foot of the top six pack.
So while Gold’s ambition is admirable, it’s massively misguided. He’s surely kidding himself with this statement. It’s laughable at this stage to think that West Ham can pull off the unthinkable and finish in the top six, no matter how much they want to.
We can see your vineyard from my house and we love your sparkling wines. There are many people at the club who believe we can finish in the top six good luck. dg https://t.co/SulJootk9s
— David Gold (@davidgold) June 9, 2019
