West Ham United Women's boss Paul Konchesky was a happy man after his side’s 2-0 away victory over London rivals Tottenham Hotspur and for good reason.
The victory – an emphatic Jekyll and Hyde performance capped off with a 60-yard dash and chip from returning defender Hawa Cissoko – and marked the Hammers fifth league victory, their seventh in all competitions, and waved goodbye to 2022 with a bang.
West Ham sit fifth in the league table heading into the second leg of the Women's Super League season, just four points behind Manchester City, and is arguably the surprise of the season. With wholesale changes to the squad (10 incomings, 10 departures) and a new manager at the helm – albeit, Konchesky was former manager Olli Harder’s assistant – meant the Hammers were the season’s question mark.
Nevertheless, West Ham boast 15 points, a two-improvement from this time last season, with five wins compared to three. Inconsistency persists in their performances, evidenced by their five losses and glaring lack of draws (last season at this time, West Ham secured four draws and two losses).
But that the Hammers have navigated their more volatile performances and altered squad to glean a fifth-place berth is telling. The litmus test for the season’s second half will be ironing out the inconsistency to take points off the league’s top four. The Hammers have yet to beat one of Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United or City, a feat accomplished early last season with a 2-0 win over the latter.
An opening home fixture against City on 15 January provides a prime opportunity for the Hammers to set the tone for a season that could result in their gate-crashing of the top four.
Below, we go into the last few months of West Ham’s season.
September
The Hammers began proceedings well with a tightly contested 1-0 victory over Everton courtesy of a goal from Lisa Evans. Konchesky’s first match in charge was defined by few chances, but the attacking line-up fielded suggested that West Ham’s blueprint for the season rested on taking the match to those teams in the middle and lower rungs. The result was positive.
But a 2-0 loss to title-chasing Manchester United at home put some reality back into the Hammers’ sails as the gulf in quality and composure in possession was evident.
It was a similar story when West Ham travelled to Kingsmeadow to take on reigning champions Chelsea. Despite a shock lead taken in the opening three minutes through Dagny Brynjarsdottir, Chelsea came from behind to win 3-1.
October
After successive losses, victory became the operational code for the Hammers as they relished three wins on the bounce in all competitions, first a Continental Cup group stage victory over Championship side London City Bees that went to a dramatic penalty shootout.
A 2-1 victory over Aston Villa and a 3-2 win over Reading followed, but the Hammers’ second win of the season was marred by violence as altercations on and off the pitch led to Hawa Cissoko being sent off in stoppage time for violent conduct towards Sarah Mayling, followed by Konchesky’s dismissal for his part in the touchline melee.
Cissoko eventually received a five-match ban for her actions, seeing the Canadian defender out until December.
A 3-1 away loss to Arsenal capped off the month, with the Gunners recovering from a 1-0 deficit after Brynjarsdottir’s opening goal and West Ham’s defence unable to keep up.
November
West Ham started the month with a thrilling but ultimately disappointing loss to Brighton & Hove Albion, who were recovering from their 8-0 loss to Tottenham Hotspur and manager Hope Powell’s departure. But Konchesky’s side recovered well to put bottom-of-the-table Leicester City to a 1-0 defeat before putting two past Birmingham City to extend their Conti Cup run to two wins from two.
December
The penultimate match of the season was an underwhelming affair, with Liverpool slipping past in a 2-0 defeat as West Ham were punished for their pallor start to the match.
With consistency the aim, West Ham entered their final match of the season in the same manner they did against Liverpool and were bailed out only by Spurs’ toothlessness. A missed penalty from Brynjarsdottir just before the half threatened to be decisive but West Ham – helped by a change of formation and the introduction of Evans – were reinvigorated, with Brynjarsdottir atoning for her early miss as Cissoko marked her first start since her ban with a first league goal to end the year on a high.
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