Right now, being a fan of the Irons feels like a full-time job with no overtime pay. If you've spent any time at the London Stadium lately, you've seen the tension. It’s thick. It’s heavy. The players of West Ham are currently locked in a brutal relegation scrap that nobody—honestly, nobody—saw coming after the high of their European adventures just a couple of years ago.
As of January 2026, the Hammers find themselves sitting 18th in the Premier League. Seven points adrift of safety. That's a massive gap to bridge when you’ve only managed three wins in 21 outings. Nuno Espírito Santo, who took over from Graham Potter back in September, is currently trying to steady a ship that feels like it’s made of Swiss cheese.
The Captain's Burden: Jarrod Bowen's Toughest Run
Jarrod Bowen is basically the heartbeat of this club. He’s the guy who scored that winner in Prague; he's the one who stays when others leave. But even legends have bad patches.
This season, Bowen has been the top scorer with six goals. Sounds okay, right? Well, not really when you consider that the goals have dried up exactly when the team needed them most. There’s been a lot of talk about whether the captain’s armband is weighing him down. Some critics, including former striker Carlton Cole, have pointed out that while his effort is 100%, the clinical edge just isn't there.
There's a lot on the line for him personally, too. Thomas Tuchel is watching for his England squad ahead of the 2026 World Cup. If West Ham goes down, Bowen’s seat on that plane to North America becomes very, very shaky.
The Lucas Paquetá Situation
If Bowen is the heart, Lucas Paquetá is the flair. Or at least, he was.
The Brazilian playmaker has had a weird year. He was finally cleared of those spot-fixing allegations, which should have been a massive boost. Instead, he looks... well, a bit fed up. Rumors have been flying about a £30 million bid from Flamengo that the club apparently laughed off. Can you blame them? Selling your most creative outlet in the middle of a relegation fight is basically waving the white flag.
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Despite the drama, he’s still managed four goals and remains the only player capable of a "no-look" pass that actually goes where it's supposed to.
New Faces in the Relegation Fight
The board didn't just sit on their hands this winter. They’ve spent money. Real money.
- Taty Castellanos: Arrived from Lazio for about £26 million. He’s a fighter, the kind of striker who will annoy defenders for 90 minutes straight.
- Pablo Felipe: A £21.8 million signing from Gil Vicente. He’s expected to add some much-needed composure to the final third.
- Mateus Fernandes: A summer arrival from Southampton who has actually been one of the few bright spots. At just 21, he’s showing more maturity than some of the veterans.
It's a bit of a gamble, isn't it? Bringing in new strikers when the defense is leaking goals like a broken pipe. Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo were supposed to be the "Great Wall of Stratford," but they’ve struggled for consistency. Kilman, in particular, has found it tough, often looking isolated when the midfield fails to track back.
The Departure of Mohammed Kudus
We have to talk about the elephant in the room. The departure of Mohammed Kudus to Tottenham for £55 million last summer left a massive hole.
You can see the "Kudus-shaped" gap in every counter-attack. Without his ability to carry the ball 40 yards and beat three men, the players of West Ham look a bit predictable. While Crysencio Summerville has tried to fill those shoes, it’s a big ask for a player still finding his feet in a struggling system.
The Stats That Don't Lie
If you're a fan of "Expected Goals" (xG), look away now.
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West Ham’s xG sits at 21.5, while they’ve actually scored 24. That suggests they’re actually finishing better than the chances they create. The real problem is at the other end. They’ve conceded 44 goals. You can’t survive in the Premier League giving up two goals a game. It's just math.
Alphonse Areola has been busy—probably too busy. He even managed an assist this season, which tells you everything you need to know about how direct the Hammers have had to become.
Why the Midfield is Struggling
James Ward-Prowse is still there, swinging in those trademark corners, but the engine room feels a bit sluggish. The loaning out of Edson Álvarez to Fenerbahçe felt like a strange move at the time, and it looks even stranger now. Without a proper "destroyer" in front of the back four, the defenders are being exposed constantly.
Guido Rodríguez and Tomas Soucek are trying, but they lack the mobility to cover the ground in Nuno's system. It's lead to a lot of "0-0" draws late last year—a string of them, actually—where the team just looked terrified to lose.
What Most People Get Wrong About This Squad
There’s a narrative that this team is "too good to go down."
We’ve heard that before. Ask Leeds. Ask Leicester.
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The truth is, the players of West Ham are currently a collection of high-quality individuals who haven't clicked as a unit this season. The transition from the David Moyes era to whatever this current "identity" is supposed to be has been messy.
There's also the pressure of the London Stadium itself. When things are going well, it’s a fortress. When they aren’t? It can feel like the loneliest place on earth for a player.
Actionable Steps for the Rest of the Season
If West Ham is going to survive, the path is pretty narrow. Here is what needs to happen:
- Unlock Taty Castellanos immediately: He cannot be another "Sebastian Haller" or "Gianluca Scamacca." He needs service, and he needs it now.
- Fix the Paquetá Relationship: Whether he wants to be there or not, the club needs 100% focus from him until May. A "disillusioned" Paquetá is a luxury they can't afford.
- Tighten the Defensive Transition: Nuno has to find a way to stop the counter-attacks. If that means playing five at the back and being "boring," so be it.
- Home Form is Everything: With games against teams like Sunderland coming up, the players have to turn the London Stadium back into a place teams fear to visit.
The next few weeks are basically a season-defining stretch. If they can get a win against Spurs or pick up points against the teams around them, the mood will shift. But if the slide continues, those Championship rumors will start feeling a lot more like reality.
Keep a close eye on the fitness of El Hadji Malick Diouf. The young Senegalese defender has been a rare bright spark with three assists from the back, and his energy on the flank is one of the few ways West Ham actually manages to stretch opponents lately.
The talent is there. The points aren't. It’s time for the players of West Ham to show the "Academy of Football" still has some fight left in it.