The miserable denouement to David Moyes’s time at West Ham stands in stark contrast to Mauricio Pochettino’s increasing joyfulness on the other side of the capital. European football is on the cards after Chelsea cruised through their second London derby in the space of three days and, for all the doubts hanging over Pochettino’s future, it would surely go down as an act of extraordinary self-sabotage if the Argentinian’s bosses make a change this summer.
The main takeaway from this 5-0 win over a supine West Ham is that something is beginning to stir at Stamford Bridge. Instead of crumbling after last month’s 5-0 defeat to Arsenal, Chelsea have responded by dominating Aston Villa, Tottenham and West Ham. Far from shrinking, these young players are starting to grow and mature. Above all, they are starting to resemble a proper team and, after a season so full of turbulence, the wisest thing that Chelsea’s owners can do now is accept that Pochettino is the man to bring coherence to their £1bn project.
West Ham have completely forgotten how to defend. It is damning for a manager as pragmatic as Moyes that his side, with 70 goals conceded this season, have the worst record outside the bottom three.
Afterwards Moyes would talk about a lack of “mental toughness” and suggest that the leakiness is down to selling Declan Rice last summer, but the harsh reality is the Scot’s methods are no longer working. West Ham have become an easy team to play. Tomas Soucek and Edson Álvarez, who went off at half-time, have not provided enough protection in midfield. Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna toiled in central defence. Emerson Palmieri, the former Chelsea left-back, was given a torrid time by Noni Madueke.
