There are good points on both sides. West Ham United have enjoyed riches beyond dreams over recent years, crowned Europa Conference League champions in June after several seasons of progress under David Moyes, but there is little question that the ship has been buffeted by some severe storms across recent weeks.
The east London drubbing against Arsenal is probably the nadir of the campaign, but the eight-match winless run that stretches back to December is alarming and has raised questions about Moyes' future at the head of the table.
The Scotsman's pragmatic style of play has created a schism for some time but few could argue against the winning feeling, though that has now been lost in the ether and the club need some respite.
Moyes will be confident that he can turn things around, having crafted a high-quality over a number of years – and with silverware to show for it.
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Declan Rice was sold to Arsenal in a jaw-dropping £105m transfer last summer but the Irons recruited shrewdly and topped their Europa League group in December while holding a place in European contention before the recent malaise seeped in.
Most of the transfer business over these past years has hit the mark – something that certainly hasn't been the case for much of the club's recent history – but there have been several misfires, with Danny Ings among the worst of the recent movements.
How much West Ham paid for Danny Ings
Midway through the 2022/23 campaign, West Ham needed some added firepower and opted to move for Premier League-proven scorer Ings, signing the nomadic star from Aston Villa for £15m.
After several seasons of success, United had drifted wayward and were 18th in the top-flight upon Ings' arrival, with the former Villan earmarked to being some fluency and reliability in the frontline, having scored seven times across the opening half of the campaign.
But while he enjoyed illustrious success on the continent with West Ham, it became apparent quite quickly that Ings had not clicked at the club, scoring in just one of his 17 league appearances.
Danny Ings' salary at West Ham
Ings might have found prolific success throughout his career but there's no hiding from the fact that he yields a measly record of three goals and three assists from 44 outings for West Ham.
According to Football Transfers, Ings is now only worth £5m, speaking volumes toward the absence of success under Moyes' stewardship.
Burnley
130
43
0.33
Southampton
100
46
0.46
Aston Villa
52
14
0.27
West Ham United
44
3
0.07
Bournemouth
30
8
0.27
Liverpool
25
4
0.16
But more to the point, given that he earns a healthy salary of £125k-per-week, it can be deduced that Ings has bled the club dry, costing just over £7m per goal when combining his wage with the £15m transfer fee.
As per FBref, Ings ranks among the bottom 7% of forwards across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for goals scored, the bottom 21% for pass completion and the bottom 9% for shots taken per 90, hardly evoking confidence in his energy and spirit in attacking moments.
This season, the three-cap England international has failed to bag a single goal across 22 appearances in all competitions, though he has only received a starting berth on six occasions… still.
The Hammers have been criticised for their attacking play of late and Moyes can't feel that Ings is the player to spearhead a route out of the tough period.
In fairness, perhaps it isn't all his fault, with The Athletic's Roshane Thomas remarking: “I don't think this system works for Danny Ings. He's often too isolated up front. Hasn't quite clicked barring his two goals against Nottingham Forest. Antonio has great work rate so he has no issues playing as a lone striker. But Ings has struggled in that role.”
Moyes and the board must answer for such feeble attempts at augmenting the strike force, and when factoring everything together, Ings has quite possibly been an even worse acquisition than Gianluca Scamacca, who he may well have been targetted to replace.
How Gianluca Scamacca compares to Danny Ings
West Ham signed Scamacca from Sassuolo in a £35.5m deal in 2022 after the striker's emphatic success in his homeland, posting 16 goals from 36 Serie A matches in 2021/22.
The 6 foot 4 talisman was called out for his "miserable" presence at West Ham by pundit Chris Sutton and it became clear quite quickly that he had not taken to life in London.
He scored eight times from just 27 appearances before injury ruled him out for most of the second half of the season, moving back to Italy in a £27m deal with Atalanta in August.
The fact that the Irons recouped most of their outlay suggests that while it's one to forget, it's not the worst transfer in the club's history, especially given the success in the Conference League, but Ings has half the goal return after almost double the fixtures, and if he was to be sold it would likely be for a portion of that £15m expenditure last year.
At least Scamacca maintained a semblance of striking threat throughout his term at London Stadium, evidently beset with a lingering bout of homesickness that beckoned him back to Italy.
But Ings scored 46 goals and supplied ten assists across 100 displays for Southampton; Ings was once signed by Liverpool and exuded promise before an anterior cruciate ligament injury wrecked his chances of success on Merseyside; Ings has been hailed as a "goal machine" in the past by journalist Joe Prince-Wright, such was his deadliness in key moments.
He's still only 31, with a predatory sense in the final third that prompted Moyes to make a move over one year ago, but he's been anything but efficient during his time at West Ham and it's unlikely he will ever salvage the top spot at the spearhead. He is certainly one player who could be given the boot come the summer.
