West Ham blogger Kwame Boakye gives his verdict on the defeat against Manchester United

Newham Recorder: Manchester United's Wayne Rooney scores the second goal during the Barclays Premier League match at Upton Park, London.Manchester United's Wayne Rooney scores the second goal during the Barclays Premier League match at Upton Park, London. (Image: PA Wire/Press Association Images)

Win four in a row . . . then lose three in a row - it could only happen to West Ham.

The defeat against Manchester United was so poor I barely know where to begin. Last season at Upton Park West Ham twice gave Man United a fright in a couple of very entertaining 2-2 draws in league and cup.

This season, however, no dice, as the Irons lacked everything a good performance requires like for example the ability to pass the ball to a team mate. The game was practically a training match for the worst Manchester United side 20 for odd years as they easily defended the home side’s endless long balls and crosses.

When did we become so one-dimensional? For the entire game all the Hammers did was float balls up to Andy Carroll and it wasn’t proving fruitful, but it was literally as if this sacred ‘game plan’ was the only conceivable way we could play, no variation was offered up whatsoever.

It really makes you think; what do they do in training all week? I’m genuinely worried if having analysed the way the opposition play; their strengths, their weaknesses etc. the best we can come up with is a succession of long balls and crosses to our big Geordie front man.

Where was the tempo? Where was the urgency? The results certainly went for us earlier in the afternoon with virtually every side below us in the league losing. A victory would have virtually put us in an unassailable position from the bottom three, yet West Ham set about the game like a side with nothing to play for, with players already thinking about their holiday destinations because certainly none of our lot we’ll going to Brazil this summer; with Roy Hodgson witnessing the debacle from the Upton Park director’s box. I cannot believe Roy left the Boleyn enamoured with any of our England hopefuls.

I don’t believe we’ll go down as it’s looking increasingly likely the current bottom three will drop through the trapdoor; Sunderland may yet escape, but Fulham and Cardiff will definitely go.

However, a ‘performance’ like the one offered up by Big Sam’s gang against Man United does leave fans wondering, is he the right man to take the club forward? Is he the right man for the long term?

Sam has done a great job since he rocked up in the manager’s hot seat; delivering promotion and survival in his first two seasons; the question that needs to be answered by the board and fans alike is do we want the relative stability of Sam Allardyce? Or do we want a complete revolution in style akin to Mauricio Pochettino at Southampton?

Stability or flair? Wouldn’t be nice if we could have both?