Match – Page 83 – Under The Hammers

West Ham 1 v 0 Burnley

A review of the Burnley game and a look forward to Hull

Once again the poetry was successful as we scraped home by a single goal against Burnley on Wednesday evening. We started the game reasonably well and were just about good value for the single goal half-time lead. But Burnley came back strongly in the second half, and but for some woeful finishing, plus some fine goalkeeping from Randolph, they could well have got a (deserved?) point from the game. I’m not quite sure what happened in the second half, but we sat back rather than going for a second goal which would have made the game more comfortable. A 2-0 lead and we would have been in a strong position. Although one pundit on TV recently said that a 2-0 lead is the most dangerous lead to have. Poppycock. It is far better to be leading by two goals rather than one. A 1-0 lead, or being one goal ahead is far more dangerous in my eyes.

Who were our best performers on the night? Always subjective, but for me Randolph, Reid, Obiang and Carroll stood out. I’d like to think we would be beating teams like Burnley with greater ease, but with our current relatively poor form, and lack of confidence, I guess we should just be satisfied with three points and move on to the next game. Two seasons ago when we last played Burnley at home we won the game 1-0 with a Mark Noble penalty. This time he failed to score from the spot, but the rebound fell kindly and he had an easy task to slot the ball home.

So that is now one game down of the four easier (on paper) fixtures to take us to the end of 2016, that everyone has been going on about, and we now have a four point cushion ahead of the relegation places. Just a few days ago we were in the bottom three. The visit of Hull gives us the opportunity to stretch the cushion further.

Hull began the season with two victories, against champions Leicester, and Swansea, meaning they were joint top with six points after just two games. However, in the subsequent 14 games they have won only once (v Southampton), and drawn three times, v Burnley, West Brom, and Palace. Their 12 points leaves them in the relegation zone, and they have the worst goal difference in the whole of the Premier League by a long way (-21). They have scored 14 goals and conceded 35. This is mainly as a result of some heavy defeats, 3-0 to both Sunderland and Tottenham (on Wednesday), 4-1 to Arsenal, 5-1 to Liverpool, and 6-1 at Bournemouth being the biggest.

We are even stronger favourites to win the game than we were against Burnley, but that was a struggle. How will we fare this time? It’s hard to know, but perhaps our first win in a few games will give us the confidence to progress, and possibly play with a bit less fear than seemed to be the case in midweek, especially in the second half, when we began to get a bit jittery. I’m confident that we can continue to push on now, and despite our less than convincing win on Wednesday, the optimist in me predicts a 3-1 victory.

What are the chances?

5 Observations from West Ham v Burnley

Welcome points from a largely forgettable encounter against Burnley.

A Win is Just a Win

At the end of the day it is 3 points earned. When we look back on the ‘lost’ 2016/17 season in years to come it will be recorded as a match won during a period where we rose from relegation possibles to mid-table obscurity. Just as the Noble strike will be recorded as a goal scored rather than a penalty missed, the manner of the victory in a forgettable game will be erased from the memory of even those who attended. There was no mass booing and ear-cupping this time around to trigger future memories and indifferent refereeing and an aggrieved losing manager are far too common to resonate past the next few matches. Four points in the last two games has given Slaven Bilic a welcome boost in the quest for 20 points by the end of the year and a chance of continued employment.

Closing Out Matches in a Game of Two Halves

Apparently West Ham have lost 12 points from winning positions this season which, had we not, would have had us riding high in 6th place in the Premier League table. In the post-match interviews Bilic was bemoaning the ability of the team to close out games and, for me, this raises the question of what his own role and influence in these circumstances? One wonders what his instructions were at half time and to what degree the players failed to execute them. There were a few home games last season where we looked on fire in the first half but turned into a damp squib in the second. When you have been comfortably on top (but only have a slender lead to show for it) it is rarely a good plan to surrender the initiative and invite the opposition to attack. There is far too much caution shown in these types of home fixtures for my liking.

Keeping Possession

West Ham are very bad at keeping possession of the ball. This is not the same topic as whether there is any relationship between amount of possession and winning a game. It is well known that when Leicester won the Premier League last season they recorded less overall possession than the opposition in many games. But when they got the ball they moved it quickly and incisively. When they didn’t have the ball they defended as a team and were prepared to let their opponents play around in harmless areas. West Ham’s problem is that once in possession they so frequently give the ball away cheaply. There are two key elements that result in effective passing; good pass execution (speed and accuracy) and range of options available for the player with the ball. As a rule we are slow to exploit and create space and when there are no options the ball goes backwards to keeper or defender who lumps it forward in desperation. In almost all the games I have seen this season we have been second best at passing and moving over the course of a game.

You’re Shaking My Confidence Daily

Much is made of confidence in football so I guess it must be a big deal. A run of defeats or playing in a new stadium can dent a team’s confidence; a point at Liverpool can boost it but failure to hold on to a lead can damage it again. We hear that such a player is a confidence player and just needs a goal to fire him in to action. I have to disclose a touch of scepticism here although I will be delighted if an ‘ugly’ win over Burnley can help to ‘kick-start’ the season, as they say. These are highly paid players who are meant to represent the very top of their profession; are they really so collectively fragile? Could you explain away your own lack of performance at work as a lack of confidence? To admit to lower motivation and fitness levels, compared to most opponents, would be more honest and believable. If confidence really is an issue then it is something for the coaching staff to address; not some an unmanageable external factor in the hands of the footballing gods.

Big Man Andy Carroll

I am pleased to see Andy Carroll back to fitness (crosses fingers, buys lucky heather, finds rabbits foot, avoids ladders and path crossing black cats). When Zaza has set the bar so low then anything is an improvement as far as our striking problem is concerned but Carroll is a massive upgrade. Bilic says he is a big fan of Carroll and considers that he is great in the air and on the ground. Difficult to argue with the first part of the assessment but the second is something of a stretch or, at least, unproven. He does provide a physical presence and will always be a danger at crosses and set pieces but he is unlikely to contribute much in slick passing breakaways or intricate penalty box interplay. The danger is that his strength in the air becomes our one and only tactic (other than trying to win a free kick) and although he can be effective in the right setup I don’t believe that is as a lone striker. To be effective he needs someone alongside to feed off the knock-downs. Unfortunately our midfield is too weak to release someone to play as a second striker.

Matchday: West Ham host Burnley

With Dimitri Payet having spent the week on the massage table are we due a happy ending tonight?

West Ham Burnley Although Burnley have been only occasional visitors to the Premier League their years spent in the top division of English football (they were a founder member of the Football League in 1888) is roughly similar to our own. In the days of the leveller playing field they actually managed to win the First Division title on two occasions; initially in 1921 and then again, under manager Harry Potts, when they become the first of 8 different sides to be crowned champions during the 1960’s. The interesting feature of that campaign was that all other games had already been completed while Burnley had an outstanding fixture at Manchester City to fulfil. The Clarets needed to win to become champions which they duly did to step into top spot for the first time that season. As an aside only 9 of the 22 teams that competed in that 1959/60 season are in the Premier League today.

Current manager Sean Dyche is adhering to the more parochial standards of bygone days by employing a largely British and Irish group of players in his squad. Of the starting XI in their match against Bournemouth at the weekend only Steven Defour was born overseas – although Ashley Barnes and Scott Arfield have played their international football for Austria and Canada respectively. No disruption by the African Cup of Nations for them.

We need to beat Burnley and we need the points. It has been a difficult schedule and we have been waiting for these home games.

– Slaven Bilic

Dyche’s well organised side have made a respectable start to the season based on impressive home form. On their travels they have taken just a single point from 6 games and scored just the one goal.

Having negotiated the run of ‘difficult’ games West Ham now embark on a series of supposed ‘winnable’ fixtures between now and the New Year. A hard earned point at Liverpool will hopefully provide the impetus to collect several more over the next two weeks.

Head to Head

A generally even head to head record where history has favoured the home team but can that run be extended to the new home venue? Of the last 12 encounters, West Ham have won 7 times with 2 defeats and 3 draws.

	P	W	D	L	F	A
Home	39	23	8	8	76	49	WLWWWD
Away	39	6	10	23	55	88	WWDLWD
	78	29	18	31	131	137

Team News

Cheikhou Kouyate may return for the Hammers and if this is the case I expect Bilic will, despite everything, retain the 3 at the back formation with Kouyate teaming up with Reid and Ogbonna. The remainder of the lineup will then depend on who starts as lone striker. After two appearances off the bench it may well be time to start with Andy Carroll. Failing that it is likely to be Michail Antonio which would be preferable to playing your leading scorer at right back.

We know we have to go down there and give an even better performance because we haven’t got a win away from home yet. We know we’ve got to correct it.

– Sean Dyche

I would much prefer a back four even if we have no proper right back solution. I don’t know what happened to Arbeloa at the weekend (he is not shown as injured) but I would plump for Fernandes at right back who looks much more of a footballer than hapless Havard does – I wonder what Adrian is like at right back! All a little academic a I believe Slav is smitten with his Back 3 plus two wing backs tactic.

The remainder of the midfield will likely be Obiang, Payet, Noble and one of Lanzini/ Ayew. I have read that Dimi has been having special personal service treatment on the massage table this week and so if all goes well we can expect for a happy ending to the evening.

Slav’s Team

My Team

Randolph

Kouyate Reid Ogbonna

Antonio Obiang Noble Creswell

Ayew Payet

Carroll

Randolph

Fernandes Reid Ogbonna Cresswell

Antonio Kouyate Obiang Payet

Lanzini

Carroll

Man in the Middle

The whistle blower tonight is Robert “Bobby” Madely from West Yorkshire. This is his second visit to the London Stadium this season having previously officiated in the win against Sunderland. We have yet to lose in a game where Madely has been the ref including a Capital One cup win at Burnley in 2013. In Madely’s 13 games this season he has brandished 64 Yellow and 2 Red cards.

West Ham v Burnley preview

‘Twas The Night Before Burnley!

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Once again I will return to my rhyming theme as it has generally brought us a good result or a fine performance. I have written a number of poems based on the famous ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas. I included similar poems in my book, Goodbye Upton Park, Hello Stratford, which is available in paperback or Kindle on Amazon. So if you are looking for a last minute Christmas present for a West Ham fan, then look no further. I have been a regular at Upton Park for almost sixty years, and the book chronicles the last famous season there.

‘Twas the night before Burnley, you couldn’t hear a sound
Just wait till tomorrow, for the noise in the ground;

Three tough league away games plus one in the cup;
A home game v Arsenal, and they’re on the up;
Performances were mixed, for a short time we fell
Into the bottom three, cos we weren’t doing well;

At Tottenham we led with minutes to go,
But two very late goals dealt us a blow;

The Old Trafford league game, we started full throttle;
And Jose was sent off for kicking a bottle.
Sakho was back in the lone striker role;
With two minutes gone, he headed a goal;
Zlatan equalised, I thought we were gone;
But 1-1 was OK, we were able to hold on.

A few days later, they opened the scoring,
In the EFL cup it was getting quite boring;
But then at his old ground up popped Ashley Fletcher;
But the second half was awful, the less said the better;

Arsenal at home, it wasn’t much fun;
Sanchez was brilliant, they beat us five-one.

At Anfield one down, looked like we were done,
But a Payet free kick and the score was one-one.
Antonio pounced to give us the lead;
Nordtveit was given a rollicking by Reid;
Then a simple mistake, we’ve made a quite a few;
A Randolph disaster, Origi, two-two.
Many years at Anfield, t’was always the same;
But in the last couple we’ve given them a game.

So now we face Burnley, then Hull City too;
Six points for the taking? I hope it comes true;
However we play, I’ll take two wins gladly,
It won’t be that easy they haven’t played badly;

At Turf Moor they’re good, five wins to their name;
But out on the road, it’s not been the same;
Just one point away, they’ve found it quite hell;
On other teams grounds, they’ve not played that well;

They’re keeper’s a good’un, he’s known as Tom Heaton,
But six away games, and five games been beaten;
Fifteen conceded, and only scored one;
And that was a pen, they’ve not had much fun;

I do like their colours, I’ll give them their due;
For this game they’ll change out of claret and blue;
Today I’m convinced we’ll go for the kill;
We’ll be at our best and beat them four-nil.

5 Observations from West Ham @ Liverpool

Happy with the point but are West Ham in good shape for the winnable games?

The Fixture List of Death

The point at Anfield was an unexpected, welcome and hard earned one that brought with it some relief. If the match commentator was correct West Ham are one of only two teams to avoid defeat at Liverpool so far this season. The run of games of death is now behind us and a two point return is maybe more than many expected; but for the last few minutes at White Hart Lane it could have been even healthier. With the exception of last weekend’s rout by Arsenal the performances against Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool have been generally acceptable and, in many ways, were similar (but with less successful outcomes) to games against the ‘top’ sides last year. At Anfield the team worked hard, provided some degree of collective organisation, and were able to frustrate Liverpool and limit the number of clear cut goal-scoring opportunities. The Achilles heel last term, however, was not winning the ‘winnable’ games and so the next three matches are going to be a serious test of that characteristic and will go a very long way in defining the remainder of the season.

Fitness, Passing and Movement

Although very happy with the point there are some common basic shortcomings with our play and it was highlighted in the differences between the two teams yesterday. A number of our players do not look to be at acceptable fitness levels and some visually look to be carrying too much weight (notably Ayew and Payet). Liverpool played most of the game on their toes, were constantly on the move and there were always several passing options available to the man on the ball. Passing was quick and slick and it was fortunate for West Ham that, on the day, the leagues freest scoring side lacked a cutting edge in front of goal. In contrast we are routinely flat footed with players waiting for the ball to arrive before deciding the next move; there are often few passing options available through lack of movement which, in my view, is more of an issue for conceding possession than poor pass execution itself. Exceptions yesterday (and for the majority of the season) were Obiang, Reid and Antonio who all had excellent games.

Changing Formations

Once again West Ham have been front runners in the injury table at The Physio Room. Whether this is simply bad luck or a consequence of deeper seated problems is a mystery. The situation is not helped by a lopsided squad which resulted in a recall for Havard Nordtveit to defensive duties on Sunday. I was surprised that he was at right back as, when I saw the team sheet, I expected he was going to be part of the dreaded back three formation that does not suit our players and leaves us wide open down the flanks. The other surprise was that Antonio was the main striker but once he had demonstrated that he is one player who knows where the goal is he was quickly switched around; first to right wing back (when Carroll replaced Ayew and Nordtveit did become one of three centre backs) and then subsequently to a more advanced right midfield position (when Fernandes replaced Lanzini). Possibly Slaven Bilic has a yearning for a retro 1970’s totaalvoetbal style of play but it just seems to confuse the hell out of our tactically limited players.

Dead Wood United

Over the years the West Ham squad has been littered with its fair share of dead wood. With the departure of Fat Sam much of what was left over from the sojourn in the Championship was steadily cleared away leaving ample room to assemble a new pile. Fortunately we have only borrowed some of this excess baggage and hopefully they will be on their way back to their parent clubs straight after the Xmas party. Unfortunately the club are stuck paying the wages of Havard Nordtveit and Sofiane Feghouli for the time being though. Feghouli was nowhere near the squad this week but Nordtveit made his 7^th Premier League appearance. Accepting that he has been played in a few different positions it is still difficult to put your finger on exactly what his qualities are that allowed him to establish a career in the Bundesliga and at international level. He may not be a right back but you would think he’d understand what one is supposed to do. Is it naive to assume that he would have prepared for it most of the week; but that didn’t stop his going walkabout and he fully deserved his rollicking by Reid? Another player I have become disillusioned with is Angelo Ogbonna. A steady defender at times but tends to switch off too often and appears to shirk the most basic defensive responsibilities. Once again slack play by Ogbonna was the precursor to the first Liverpool goal which could so easily have scuppered the whole game plan. It make me nostalgic for the Reid – Tomkins partnership.

Where Have All The Young-stars Gone?

In the build up to the game I read some interesting comments by Jurgen Klopp to the effect that he prefers to keep promising young players at the club rather than sending them out on loan. This enables them to train with the first team squad and assimilate better into the team’s style of play. West Ham have half a dozen or so youngsters out on loan, the majority of whom rarely get game time. The exception is Reece Burke who, injuries apart, has been a regular starter at both centre back and emergency full-back at struggling Wigan. Given our own travails at right back why is he not back with the squad and plugging that gap. Come to that, although he is injured now, why have we not seen anything of Reece Oxford this season despite the defensive frailties experienced? It was good to see a few youngsters on the bench at Anfield but I am concerned about how reluctant Bilic has become to blood youngsters. The Academy of Football is currently far behind the likes of Liverpool, Southampton and Tottenham in giving young talent an opportunity.

Liverpool 2 v 2 West Ham – Blowing my own trumpet!

Taking the positives from a hard earned point against Liverpool at Anfield.

Embed from Getty Images

Sometimes in life you have to blow your own trumpet. Well I haven’t actually got a trumpet but you know what I mean. Since the beginning of this season Geoff and I have been writing this weblog and haven’t pulled any punches when writing about our beloved West Ham. But despite our less than convincing start to the season, I have remained optimistic throughout and my optimism was fully justified after our draw at Anfield.

Anybody who has followed our blog will know that there are certain features that are constant. Firstly, we are involved in a prediction competition with Lawro. Secondly, I write a betting column each week. And thirdly, we write a preview of each game that West Ham play.

First things first. If you have read our prediction competition involving Lawro you will know that I am comfortably ahead in our forecasts for the season to date. This, despite the fact that Lawro is actually paid by the BBC to predict the Premier league results each week, probably because they believe he is a so-called expert. If you have followed his predictions you will know that sometimes he has been beaten by celebrities, some of whom confess they know little about the game. Amongst my predictions this week you will also note that I forecast a 2-2 draw at Anfield.

If you follow my betting column you will know that, after this week, I am comfortably in profit for the season to date, even despite some outrageous fun bets. If it hadn’t been for the last two minutes against Tottenham, which I didn’t foresee, then our season profit would have been huge. Nevertheless I was consistent, and believed that we would get at least a draw from our game at Anfield, and a 2-2 scoreline was a good result for the column.

Finally, if you read my preview for this week’s game you will note that I made comments like “What is there to worry about? We faced Liverpool four times last season. We won both league games, drew 0-0 there in the fourth round of the FA Cup, and beat them after extra time in the replay at Upton Park. That is 390 minutes of football, plus injury time, and we scored seven goals to their one. And we finished above them in the league. So why do the bookies make them 3/10 favourites, and offer odds of 9/1 on us winning the game?” I finished by saying “I’ll put my optimistic hat on and say we’ll get a 2-2 draw on Sunday.”

Now forecasting the results of football matches is a bit of a minefield. It’s even harder to predict what West Ham are going to do. You win some and you lose some. Sometimes you win, hence the reason for blowing my own trumpet after this game.

As far as the game goes, then I was extremely disappointed that we conceded a goal in the first five minutes once again. Anybody who read my book, Goodbye Upton Park, Hello Stratford, which is available in paperback or Kindle on Amazon, will note that constantly throughout that last famous season at Upton Park, I wrote about our inability to start a game, or indeed to start a second half of a game, on the front foot. And so it proved again, when we even exceeded our first half lapse at the beginning of the second half, by conceding a goal in just two minutes.

Randolph’s lapse was unfortunate and led to calls on social media for Adrian to return to our goal. It is not a belief I share, and I was pleased he had the opportunity for some redemption with a world class save to deny Henderson later in the game.

I note that I also wrote in the preview of this game that “Bournemouth showed us last Sunday that the Liverpool defence can be got at, and their keeper looked very vulnerable.” Payet once again showed his class by scoring from yet another free kick, although I reckon the Liverpool keeper would have been disappointed that his right arm wasn’t stronger, as he should perhaps have kept it out. And Antonio took his goal well, pouncing on a Liverpool defensive lapse, and just for once scoring with his feet and not his head. I liked his post-match interview where he jokingly said that he considered getting down to nod the ball into the goal.

I also noted that the statisticians came up with a new one that I hadn’t seen before “touches in the opposition penalty area”. It showed that Liverpool won this contest 53-5. But whilst it may be an interesting feature for some, the game proved that it really is a meaningless statistic unless you turn those touches into goals.

I’m sure that Mr. Nordveidt, like Messrs. Zaza and Tore amongst others, must have shown some footballing qualities that made us want to buy them in the first place, but to date I haven’t yet seen what they are. I reckon that, despite Mr. Bilic’s admirable qualities as a football manager, which undoubtedly far exceed my own judgement of footballers, I have a better idea as to what makes a decent right back. He persisted with Antonio in this position for far longer than I believe he should have, and his selection of Nordveidt in the full back role leaves me totally bewildered. His positioning is so far out, and Liverpool spotted this in their pre-match planning. It was no surprise to me that their two goals came from attacks down their left flank.

It was good to hear the West Ham away support throughout the game, and in particular their support for the manager, when he has come under so much pressure. Despite his inability to know a right back when he sees one, I hope that he continues to get the support to get us out of the trouble that we are undoubtedly still in. We have just pulled out of the bottom three, and I hope that it is the last time I see a league table this season where we are in it.

When all is considered it was a point well earned, and the players showed a lot of spirit to earn the draw. Let us hope that we now build on that in the relative easier (on paper) four games to come. I’ll keep my optimistic hat on and hope that I get more opportunities to blow my own trumpet in the weeks to come!

Matchday: Hammers @ Anfield

Try as I might I can only see an oncoming train wreck emerging from the Anfield tunnel.

Liverpool West Ham I am of the firm opinion that if Slaven Bilic cannot secure at least 8 points from the next 5 games he should start to pack his bags since sticking with him would represent a massive gamble. After yesterday’s results West Ham have slipped back into the bottom 3 and a heavy defeat today could see the situation deteriorate further. Of the next 5 games today’s fixture is undoubtedly the toughest on paper with a point likely to be the optimistic target. Unfortunately Liverpool’s weakness at the defensive end of the pitch is not something we are equipped to exploit with the firepower available. Are we able to score as many as we concede as I see little prospect of keeping a clean sheet today.

“I feel the support and have said that so many times and I felt that support in our conversation this week. I believe in myself and my staff and look at what we achieved last year and I believe there is time to turn it around.”

– Slaven Bilic

It is standard practice for many West Ham fans to despise anything Scouse related and certainly the media love-in with Liverpool, despite their having won the last of their league titles some 26 seasons ago, can be immensely irritating. However, I do believe that Jurgen Klopp, for all his idiosyncrasies, has done an impressive job since arriving at Anfield in October last year. He looks to be on the way to the holy grail of football management of getting a team to perform in a manner that is greater than the sum of its parts. His side is a team largely devoid of individual stars that plays to a well-defined system that is both effective and allows them to compensate for absent players much easier. It is an interesting contrast to our own disjointed and disorganised efforts so far this season.

Head to Head

West Ham’s abysmal record at Anfield is there for all to see. Last season’s first win in 50 odd years brought the total of away victories to an unimpressive 3 in a series where we have only scored 36 goals in 60 matches. In a historic sense we will over achieve if we manage to score today.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Sequence
Home	60	22	17	21	83	83	WWWLLW
Away	60	3	19	38	36	113	DWLLDL
	120	25	36	59	119	196

Team News

It appears that both Antonio and Cresswell have recovered from the injuries incurred in the EFL Cup game at Old Trafford and are available to start. As far as I know Kouyate remains injured and Collins is also out. I am hoping this means an enforced change to the 3 at the back experiment. It must be a toss-up who plays in goal (Adrian or Randolph) and who will be the main striker (Carroll or Fletcher). There must be a tendency to take a risk averse, danger limitation approach (at least as far as player fitness is concerned) to this match with home games coming up against Burnley and Hull in the next week. It will be nice if the players have re-discovered that intensity that they lost in training and can at least put in a shift this week.

“If there’s any reaction from the team, I don’t know, maybe we will be angry against West Ham.”

– Jurgen Klopp

My anticipated line-up for a side that will be primarily concerned with protecting the point is:

Randolph
Arbeloa Reid Ogbonna Cresswell
Noble Obiang
Antonio Lanzini Payet
Carroll

Liverpool are without Coutinho and Sturridge but unfortunately Mane is fit enough to return to the side that will be smarting from defeat at Bournemouth last week. If I felt optimistic I might think that throwing away a two goal lead last week could have dented their confidence but the greater likelihood is that they will be raring to put it all behind them.

Man in The Middle

It is self-important celebrity referee Mark Clattenburg of County Durham in the middle today. Clattenburg’s only West Ham fixture so far this season was the away defeat at West Bromwich. He has taken charge of 15 games in all competitions this season totaling 59 Yellow and 2 Red cards.

Liverpool Preview

Has the Anfield hoodoo ended or will normal service be resumed this Sunday?

Embed from Getty Images

What is there to worry about? We faced Liverpool four times last season. We won both league games, drew 0-0 there in the fourth round of the FA Cup, and beat them after extra time in the replay at Upton Park. That is 390 minutes of football, plus injury time, and we scored seven goals to their one. And we finished above them in the league. So why do the bookies make them 3/10 favourites, and offer odds of 9/1 on us winning the game? Are they a better team than they were when we last met? Probably, yes. Have our performances this season declined compared to last? Definitely, yes.

The first win in August 2015 was the one that took everyone by surprise. Although we had already beaten Arsenal at the Emirates on the opening day of the season, we lost the next two games at home to Leicester and Bournemouth. Nobody thought we had any realistic chance of victory at Anfield, where we hadn’t won since 1963. But an early goal from Lanzini was followed by a Mark Noble strike on the half hour, and then Sakho wrapped up a comprehensive 3-0 victory in injury time. By the time we met them on 2 January, our impressive season was well underway. We had only lost twice since our early season win at Anfield, and sat in seventh place. Goals from Antonio and Carroll secured a 2-0 win and the double over them. At the end of January we met them in the fourth round of the FA Cup, and a goalless draw at Anfield was followed by a 2-1 victory in the replay with goals from Antonio, and a 121st minute header from Ogbonna.

But this season it has all gone wrong, and we go into this game already embroiled in a relegation dogfight. Nobody realistically expects us to get anything this time, possibly giving us even less chance than last season’s surprise. But Bournemouth showed us last Sunday that the Liverpool defence can be got at, and their keeper looked very vulnerable. I wonder if our training has been more intense following the revelation after the Arsenal game that it hasn’t been what it should have? I read that Bilic has taken specific hands-on coaching of our defence, and not before time. I also read that Dicks has not been involved in coaching the defence, and that the offer from Rio Ferdinand to get involved has been declined. We’ll see on Sunday if there has been any improvement.

I also read rumours that Reece Burke is being recalled from his loan to add to our defensive squad, in particular the problematic right back position, and I welcome that if it is true. Every time he has played at either centre back or right back he has looked a good prospect to me, and definitely a player we should be looking to include. Also, Sam Byram is nearing a return, and hopefully our other injured players will be back soon. And I’d also like to see Reece Oxford given a runout. I’m sure he will turn out to be some player, but we’ll never know if he doesn’t get a chance. Perhaps they are waiting for him to sign a new contract.

Of course, the defence has not been our only problem, and we need to create opportunities and score more goals, by increasing the tempo of our attacking play. I hope that they have worked on this at Rush Green too. Naturally the media has been full of our woes, and rumours abound as to who we are looking to bring into the club in the January transfer window. The latest ones are Defoe, who would be superb alongside an in-form and injury-free Carroll, but would not be popular with some sections of our fans, who are unable to forgive him for the past. He was a young guy who made a mistake, but it was a long time ago. I’ve also read about the interest in Fellaini and I just hope that that this one is way off the mark. Of course you can find links on the internet to hundreds of players that we are supposedly interested in signing. Fortunately, most of them are just rumours with no foundation whatsoever.

Once again, with no real reason to do so, I’ll put my optimistic hat on and say we’ll get a 2-2 draw on Sunday. What are the chances?

West Ham 1 v 5 Arsenal

Further reflections on the hapless Hammer’s humbling by a talented Arsenal side.

Embed from Getty Images

Take the current shortcomings of West Ham, and add the brilliance of Arsenal, and you have the recipe for a heavy defeat. And that is exactly what we got. The speed and touch of Arsenal as they attacked gave us a lesson in how to play the game. Sanchez in particular was awesome. He produced one of the best individual performances that I have seen for a long time, and Arsenal were undoubtedly one of the best teams that we are likely to face this season. Having said that, I watched Bournemouth play Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, and both teams would have inflicted a heavy defeat on us if they replicated that kind of attacking football.

I’m afraid that for much of the game our attacking ideas were based upon slow, ponderous passing, and although I suspect the possession statistics for the game would have showed that we had as much of the ball as they did, we were just not in the same league when it came to creating opportunities to score goals.

So where are we going wrong? Well, where do I start? Perhaps it is worth looking to see if any of our players did themselves justice on the day? For a start, Randolph, despite conceding five goals, was not to blame for any of them in my opinion, and even saved us from getting even more of a hiding. I thought that Reid had a decent game and showed great commitment, and Masuaku, for all his critics, isn’t too bad for a squad left back. Arbeloa was understandably rusty, and I thought at first that the enforced substitution to take Collins place would benefit us.

I just could not understand why Bilic started with the three at the back formation when our two best wing-backs, Cresswell and Antonio, were ruled out of the game. Surely he had to see that we needed to play with two full backs when facing the attacking threat of the Gunners. I could not work out when Arbeloa came on if we had indeed changed the formation. If we had, then somebody should have told Fernandes, because for the whole game Arbeloa and Fernandes played as if they had never met each other before. Perhaps they hadn’t? Neither seemed to know exactly what they should be doing. And with the pacy threat of Monreal down the Arsenal left, this was a big mistake.

Bilic’s nonsensical revelations after the game, that the players weren’t working well in training, was another indicator that the preparation for the match was poor. And who is to blame for that? Well, the players to an extent yes, but surely the manager and coaching staff have the responsibility to ensure that the team are fully prepared for the opposition that they will be facing. Haven’t they seen how Arsenal play? It didn’t come as a surprise to me, and shouldn’t have been a surprise to them either.

Payet showed one or two touches of skill, but nothing like what we saw last season, and he continues to look disinterested for much of the game. Perhaps he really doesn’t want to be here? It’s not his role, but in any defensive sense he is a liability, and whilst we can perhaps accept one luxury player in the team, others have to cover for this.

Mark Noble is coming in for massive criticism and just looks totally out of sorts. He really seems to be running in treacle throughout the game, and whilst he has never been the fastest, he has somehow got away with it in the past. But at the moment he has probably never looked so poor in his whole career, and is another liability with his tendency to dwell on the ball, pass sideways and backwards, and generally slow down our whole momentum.

Lanzini looked lively enough and showed some neat touches, and Obiang played well again in the middle, but from what I have seen so far, it seems incredible that we paid £20 million for Ayew. I guess he hasn’t played much so far, and is playing in a struggling team lacking in confidence, but he has done nothing to suggest to me that we have a good buy there. Fletcher will, I believe, be a good player for us in the future, but despite some good movement and control, was so far isolated to have any real effect.

Carroll looked lively when he came on. I hope he didn’t pick up an injury in his twenty minute cameo. He took the goal well, but another tactical error in my opinion was not playing him from the start, especially considering the opposition on the day. It is well documented how he scared the living daylights out of Arsenal last season, and even though Bilic felt he would not (understandably) last ninety minutes, surely to play him from the beginning of the game would have unsettled the opposition more, and at least put us on the front foot from the outset. But no, it seems we wanted to hand the initial momentum to our opponents, who took full advantage.

So where do we go from here? Bilic looked beleaguered in his post-match interview, and didn’t say anything to instil confidence in his ability to lift the team. We really are in a fight now, and the next five games to take us up to the middle of the season are crucial. Bournemouth showed us how Liverpool can be vulnerable at the back, but I’m not convinced that we have the weapons to attack them at Anfield, and get anything out of the game. Swansea and Sunderland are playing each other next weekend and Hull are at home to Palace. We could well be in the bottom three by the time we face Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.

We then have four easier games (on paper), but anything less than at least eight points from those (and it’s hard to see us achieving this on current form), then I suspect the board will be contemplating a managerial change by the end of 2016. That is if they are not already in the process of doing so.

Matchday: West Ham entertain L’Arsenal!

Here comes Andy! The King of the Impossible rides to West Ham’s rescue.

West Ham Arsenal It seems that we can now all stop worrying as, if reports are to be believed, the unplayable, unstoppable Andy Carroll is ready to return for today’s late kickoff against Arsenal. Here comes the messiah and the cavalry all rolled into one to destroy that easily intimidated Arsenal defence who really ‘don’t like it up ’em’. A repeat of last season’s hat-trick heroics is a mere formality as we unleash our favourite blunt instrument on the soft north Londoners.

“He is a good player, not only heading or putting the ball in. That doesn’t make you a great player, he’s got all that but he’s probably the best in the league at occupying the defence for me.”

– Slaven Bilic on Andy Carroll

To be fair, in some circumstances (and formations) Carroll can be a very effective option but to pretend there is far more to his game than his aerial ability (as our manager does) is a stretch as long as his neck; certainly at Premier League level. The expression “‘If your only tool is a hammer then every problem looks like a nail” is doubly apt here and raises the concern that our tactics will once again be an over-reliance on Andy’s head. Add to that the quality of our crossing, particularly if Cresswell is out, and it hardly instils confidence that Plan A is the surefire winner that many are hoping. As always I will be more than happy to be proved wrong.

Head to Head

West Ham are very much second best in the Head to Head stakes with Arsenal. The Gunners are probably one of few teams that hold the advantage both home and away. Last season’s victory at The Emirates was our only success in the last 12 meetings which have featured 10 dispiriting defeats.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Sequence
Home	62	14	24	24	78	98	DLLLLL
Away	60	14	16	30	62	103	WLLLLL
	122	28	40	54	140	201

The last home win against Arsenal was in November 2006 courtesy of substitute Marlon Harewood’s 89^th minute winner as he slid home following an uncharacteristic battling run by Matthew Etherington; the only goal of the game. The aftermath of the goal celebrations that day resulted in the famous ‘slugout in the dugout’ contest between Alan Pardew and Arsene Wenger.

Team News

Following another short lived comeback, Diafra Sakho is now reported to be side-lined for up to 6 weeks. Would be wing-backs Cresswell and Antonio both picked up thigh strains during the Old Trafford cup exit in the week and it seems that top-scorer Antonio is definitely out while Cresswell will have a late fitness test. Although unconfirmed there are also internet rumours of a bust-up between Bilic and Ayew over the latter’s fitness levels. It is difficult to know what the manager will do selection-wise but my guess is that he will stick with his (flawed) 3 at the back with Fernandes in at right wing back and Masuaku on the left if Cresswell is unavailable. Midfield is likely to be Obiang, Noble, Payet plus Lanzini or Ayew (if he isn’t on the naughty step). Upfront it will be Carroll or Fletcher and it will be interesting to see whether Andy gets a start (following the big build up) and how long he lasts this time.

Arsenal also have their injury problems with Bellerin, Debuchy, Mertesacker, Welbeck and Cazorla all missing and Giroud and Elneney doubtful. Unwilling to risk former Hammer’s loanee Carl Jenkinson, following his comical comeback display, Wenger will join in the playing players out of position fun by using Gabriel at right back.

“I have pity for every manager, but I think he has done a very good job there, he has built a good squad, and I’m sure it will come out in the long distance”

– Arsene Wenger on Slaven Bilic

I can’t help but have very bad thoughts at what an on-song Arsenal team might do against our defence with their fluidity, pace and inter-play. Let’s hope it is a bad day at the office for them.

The Man in the Middle

Today’s straw clutching comes in the form of a welcome to this season’s lucky referee Craig Pawson, yet another referee from Yorkshire. Pawson was in charge of the home wins against Bournemouth in the league and Chelsea in the EFL Cup. Pawson has officiated 12 games this season awarding 43 yellow and 1 red cards; the one red card being Harry Arter setting up victory in the game at the London Stadium.