The observation that you could hear distant planes droning by during quiet spells perfectly captured the lack of engagement at the London Stadium. When stadium ambient noise allows aircraft to be clearly audible, something is seriously wrong with the entertainment value on offer. Liverpool’s 2-0 victory over West Ham featured long spells where essentially nothing happened.
The London Stadium’s design amplifies this problem. The athletics track creating distance between spectators and pitch reduces atmosphere even during exciting matches. When the football is poor, as it was for extended periods against Liverpool, the cavernous venue feels even more lifeless. The distance makes everything seem remote and disconnected.
West Ham’s recent performances have provided numerous bad games, and the nature of the venue makes these poor matches seem worse than they might elsewhere. Traditional tight English stadiums can maintain some atmosphere even during mediocre football through proximity and acoustics. The London Stadium offers no such compensation, leaving poor football feeling even more tedious.
For spectators who invested time and money attending, hearing planes overhead rather than engaging with the match represents poor value. The ninth-highest average attendance in world football last season suggests passionate support that deserves better than the ordinary performances regularly served up. The disconnect between supporter commitment and team quality remains bewildering.
The first half in particular tested patience, with minimal action and sparse chances creating tedium rather than tension. Liverpool’s eventual victory came despite rather than because of the entertainment provided. Both sets of supporters endured long periods of tedium punctuated by occasional moments of quality. For a Premier League fixture between teams with significant resources and reputations, the quality should be considerably higher. Instead, planes overhead provided more interest than the football below.