Match – Page 86 – Under The Hammers

Matchday: Toffee and Hammer

Three in a row for the Hammers or a return to Merseyside misery?

Everton West Ham Last season’s victory at Everton put the seal on a season long respite from the traditional northwest travel sickness with a once in a lifetime haul of three wins and a draw from the away-day excursions to Liverpool and Manchester. Defeat by Manchester City means that it is a feat that cannot be matched this time around but today is an opportunity to see if the cure was purely temporary.

West Ham go into the game looking for a third league win on the bounce (four in all competitions) while Everton after a bright start to the season under Ronald Koeman have not won any of their last 5 outings. Victory at Goodison last March was the last time West Ham won three league games in a row and so the omens are good but remember they usually lure us with hope and leave us disappointed.

“So he is always scoring against us, unfortunately, so that’s also going to be interesting. It will be a great game. They need points. We need points.”

– Slaven Bilic on Lukaku

The game last season was the classic game of two halves (or more accurately a game of the first 78 minutes and the final 12). For most of the match we were poor against an Everton side who were reduced to 10 men just after the half hour until some strange Martinez substitutions handed the initiative to the Hammers with three late goals and an unlikely 3-2 victory. Re-live the entertainment below and for the ‘twitchers’ among you there is a rare sighting of Carroll and Sakho on the pitch at the same time.

Head to Head

Everton have dominated the encounters between the two clubs and until last March had been unbeaten against West Ham in 15 matches. If history is anything to go by a visit to Goodison usually ends in a heavy defeat; Everton having averaged 2 goals per game on their own turf..

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Sequence
Home	63	23	17	23	95	92	DLDLLD
Away	61	11	13	37	50	122	WDLLLD
	124	34	30	60	145	214

Team News

No new injury concerns for West Ham and no return to fitness from any long term treatment room residents as yet. It would be a major surprise if the team that started against Chelsea was not the same one that starts today but with Adrian back between the sticks. It would mean that the striker conundrum remains unresolved but allows room for the many suddenly in-form midfield players which now also appears much better balanced as a unit. We will most probably see a further 20 minute run-out for Andre Ayew as he continues his return to full match fitness. The slight concern of three at the back is against fast breaking teams who are strong on the flanks. Definitely something to watch out for against Everton although Koeman is far more cautious than his predecessor and has focused on improving his team’s defensive capabilities with some, although not total, initial success.

“Overall I’m happy with the defensive organisation but I’m not happy with the offensive aspect. We need to improve and be more clinical and have more productivity. That’s what we need to change.”

– Ronald Koeman

Everton are without dirty James McCarthy and Leighton Baines is apparently doubtful. We can hope that Lukaku stubs his toe or slips over in the shower this morning otherwise we will need to score at least twice to claim all three points.

As ever I am hoping for a win but would settle for a point in a game where I believe both teams will score.

The Man in the Middle

Today’s referee is Anthony Taylor from just down the road in Greater Manchester. He was also in charge of this fixture last season where he sent off Kevin Mirallas for two bookable offences; another positive and enticing omen. Taylor was also holding the cards in our season opener at Chelsea in August when he failed to wave one in the direction of eventual match-winner Diego Costa following his assault on Adrian.

Everton Preview

Can We Halt Lukaku’s Amazing Goalscoring Run Against Us?

Everton Programme We go into this game on the back of three consecutive victories, and if we manage at least a point then we will have remained unbeaten in five games, which cover the whole of the month of October. After a disastrous beginning to the season then this is exactly what we needed. With a home game next week against Stoke City, we have the opportunity to put ourselves in a reasonable position in the league before the next international break. When we entered the last break, after seven league games, we had amassed just four points including only one victory.

We needed that break to re-charge, re-think, and work out how we could improve our performances to ensure that we did not become involved in the relegation dogfight. Of course we are not yet in a comfortable league position, and need to consolidate the recent improvement before the run of difficult games that will follow immediately after the next fortnight recess from league football. The four games that come after the interval include visits to Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool with just one solitary home game against Arsenal.

It is therefore vital to get something from the next two games, and then hope to spring a surprise or two in the tough fixtures. We then have relatively easier games at home to Burnley and Hull, and away at Swansea and Leicester. At that point we will have reached the end of 2016, and be exactly half way through the season.

At the equivalent stage last season we had 29 points. To reach a similar total in this campaign would require 19 points in the next ten games, of which just four are at home and six away, including the Everton game. That could be achieved with six wins, a draw, and three defeats, or alternatively five wins, four draws and just one reverse. Despite our recent improvement this scenario seems very unlikely, and if we can get anywhere close to our halfway points total last term then we will have done well.

Of course we improved still further in the second half of last season, with 33 points in the final 19 games to finish on 62 in seventh place. We will be looking for a similar upturn this time around.

Everton, on the other hand, come into this fixture on a run of five games without a win. Their early season sparkling form seems to have disappeared, although they still sit in sixth place in the table. Their new manager, Ronald Koeman appears to have halted their relatively poor defensive record under Martinez, especially at home, and the eight goals that they have conceded to date in all league games is the second best record in the division so far. Last season they conceded 30 goals in their 19 home games, a total only exceeded by Aston Villa and Bournemouth. This, of course, includes the three late goals that we put into their net in a dramatic comeback in March.

Their top scorer this term with six goals is, unsurprisingly, Lukaku, and he has netted eight times in eight games against us. He always seems to score against us and is a good bet to be the first goalscorer in the game. In fact he is odds-on with bookmakers to score against us at any time in the game, and given his previous record we cannot be surprised by that. We also need to beware of Cleverley, who, despite being a midfielder who does not have a particularly great goalscoring record (around 25 goals in approaching 200 senior games in his career), has scored against us for three different teams (for Wigan, Villa, and Manchester United).

If we can keep Lukaku quiet, and at the same time play with the same level of intensity and desire that we showed against Chelsea, then I am hopeful that we will get something from the game. A win would be great, but my prediction is for Lukaku to open the scoring, and then for Antonio to end his recent goalscoring drought, and the game to finish 1-1. Antonio hasn’t scored since netting five times in our opening four league games, which is surprising considering our improved performances of late. But that’s the way it goes sometimes, and I’m sure his goalless run will end soon.

I hope that Bilic retains the same team that played in midweek, and I also hope that my forecast for the result will be wrong, and that perhaps Ayew will come off the bench to score a late winner in a 2-1 victory. Perhaps the Everton players will get nervous thinking about last season, and remember our storming finish to win the game.

What are the chances?

West Ham 2 v 1 Chelsea

A time for reflection on the EFL Cup victory over Chelsea.

Embed from Getty Images

1. Pedro Obiang – All season I have been writing about the need for Pedro Obiang to be one of the first names on the West Ham team sheet. Once again he demonstrated in the Chelsea game his importance to the team. We need a defensive midfielder who can tackle, pass, and show athleticism to get around the pitch. Players like this are vital in the modern game. To me he plays like Patrick Vieira did for Arsenal. He hasn’t yet showed an ability to score goals, but that is not his function in the team. He did, however, hit a tremendous shot from distance that could have been a goal.

The season began with Nordtveit in this role, but to me he doesn’t appear to have the all-round capabilities of Obiang. Pedro has now been with us for more than a year and I don’t believe he has been given an extended run to show his capabilities. And, despite knowing that statistics can be used to prove anything you want them to, I’ll now throw in one that I believe proves his value. In the last 31 Premier League and FA Cup games where he has been involved either as a starter, or as a substitute, we have lost just once. That’s right, one defeat in 31 games, and he only played for 45 minutes in the game that we lost. There is not another player at the club with this record. I don’t believe that it is any coincidence that our recent resurgence has come about partly because Pedro Obiang has been playing.

2. Edimilson Fernandes – Here we have a young player that I believe that the club bought with an eye to the future. But we must not underestimate his experience gained in Switzerland before he joined us. He was a regular as a teenager, and played a number of key games in European competition where he demonstrated his skills. It is early days I know, but to me he has already shown his versatility by playing in different positions. He is also athletic, appears to have a good temperament, can tackle, has good distribution, and showed that he knows where the goal is. I hope he is given an extended run, because I believe we may have unearthed an absolute gem. He seems to me to be a player ideally suited to the Premier League, and once again we look a better side with him in the team.

3. Mark Noble – A lot of people were writing off our captain following his early performances this season. To an extent I can understand this. Despite his many attributes, his lack of pace can sometimes let him down. And in some ways, our game seems more pedestrian when he is playing. However, we can get away this this if there are players with pace around him such as Obiang, Fernandes and Kouyate for example. I believe that the Chelsea game was his best so far in this campaign, and he orchestrated, and helped to dominate, the middle of the pitch. He did provide both of the assists, and can still be an important player in the team. I’m not writing him off yet.

4. Michail Antonio – Once again he has showed his versatility by playing in an unfamiliar position, and although he still has plenty to learn, we have to remember he has only really been playing top flight football for a year now. With his pace and movement he ran the Chelsea defence, and in particular, John Terry, ragged. He is definitely a better player when we don’t rely on him for his defensive capabilities, and I believe he can become a really top class forward. He has already shown his goal scoring ability, especially in the air, and with more composure can perhaps learn to score more goals with his feet.

5. Cheikou Kouyate – Once again here we have a player who has not yet shown this season the same form that he demonstrated in the last one. Nevertheless our new formation, which I assume we will continue to play, at least for the time being while it seems to be working, has shown him heading back towards his best. And not many players can score a powerful headed goal from the edge of the area such as the one that gave us the important early lead in the game.

6. The crowd trouble – For the life of me I cannot understand the mentality of individuals who support any football team, that show such hatred towards opposition fans, that they need to throw coins and seats at them with the sole purpose of causing injury. Obviously there are still issues to sort out in respect of the stadium safety issues, but if you look at some of the still photographs of the faces of some of the people involved, purporting to be both West Ham and Chelsea fans, you can see just why they are there, namely to cause trouble. There is no place for them, and if we do have a season ticket waiting list of over 50,000, as Ms Brady suggests, then anyone causing trouble must be identified, banned and face criminal proceedings. There are so many cameras that focus on the crowd this must be possible. If this continues then we will face unpalatable consequences from the authorities. An urgent solution to the problem must be found.

7. The players I haven’t yet mentioned – It is unusual to be approaching the end of an article about a famous victory without mentioning Payet, Lanzini, Cresswell, Reid and Ogbonna. The first three of these are beginning to show a wonderful understanding with quick incisive passing, movement off the ball, and marvellous skill. Reid and Ogbonna have never entirely convinced me as a partnership, although I can see the individual merits of both, and perhaps the addition of Kouyate alongside them will bring out the best in both of them. And finally Randolph in goal has many admirable qualities and will continue to push Adrian, and keep him on his toes.

8. Chelsea – I fail to understand why football managers rest key players and leave them on the bench, only to bring them on when a game may already be lost (e.g. Hazard, Costa). Surely put them on from the start to try to get into a winning position, and then perhaps take them off if the poor tired things are really in such need of a rest.

9. And Finally – We are now in the last eight of a major competition. Our season appears to be on the up. If we play as we did in this game then we can be a match for most teams. Let’s hope it continues.

Five Things From The Chelsea Bashing

Picking out the gems from a very satisfying night in the EFL Cup against Chelsea.

Loving The Tempo and Mobility

A game in which we were definitely ‘up for it’. Playing again at a high tempo with great movement and incisive passing. In some ways it is easier to play like this when teams come to attack you but that is not really an excuse as to why we have floundered against the weaker teams again this season. If you look at the performance last night you can believe that we are a match for anyone; far removed from the laboured display (especially in the second half) against lowly Sunderland just a few days ago. When you are passing and moving with pace you will always create chances and there could have been more to add to the the excellent strikes by Kouyate and Fernandes. The interplay between Cresswell, Lanzini and Payet is exceptional at times. We simply need to play like this more often and more consistently; not just when the big boys come along.

The Peripatetic Michail Antonio

Michail Antonio is becoming Slav’s odd job man; right back, right wing, wing-back and striker. I have heard some question his attitude, that he sulks if not in his favoured position, but I believe that is nonsense. He shows great commitment and spirit wherever he plays but is not equally as effective in each one. Although I don’t think he is an answer to our striking problems it was great to see someone with the strength and movement to give the opposition defence the run around. Poor old John Terry was dragged all over the place. The presence of this type of frontman is so important in the modern game. The static lump of a centre forward has no place at the top level and certainly not when played as a lone striker. Pace and movement as well as an eye for goal are what is required both to score goals and create space for others.

Fan Trouble

It is very unfortunate that the crowd trouble over-shadowed the performance; at least as far as the media were concerned who preferred it as a story to Chelsea being ‘ousted’ from the EFL Cup. I have no insight as to who caused the trouble, the ‘real’ extent of the problem and whether the stadium design contributed in any way towards it. Probably need to get the taxpayer to sort it out for us! Other than that it was a tremendous atmosphere.

Three Men at the Back

It is unusual to see a full bloodied English cup-tie with both teams employing 3 at the back. You might expect the midfield to be super over-crowded but it was an open and free-flowing game. The 3 man backline had worked well (until yesterday) for Chelsea and it is so far so good as far as West Ham are concerned as well. It can and does leave more room to exploit down the flanks but is possibly our best option given current available personnel. I guess Slaven will use the system until it goes wrong but in reality it will be more successful against some opponents than others. At the moment Reid, Kouyate and Ogbonna seem to create a solid partnership and acquitted themselves far better than Old Man Terry and his pals.

Obiang and Fernandes

All of the midfield players did their bit last night but in a situation where supporters have perhaps been generally underwhelmed by the summer transfer business it has been very pleasing to see what Fernandes can offer; he looks a very talented and assured player and not just one for the future. Although Obiang is not a new signing he seems like one due to the limited opportunities he was given last season. He provides much needed solidity in front of the defence and what a strike that was towards the end of the first half. It is difficult to understand why he was trusted so little previously. Similar to playing Antonio at right back (and signing Tore) it is one of Slav’s stranger decisions. Great to see Ayew back in the action as well.

Can We Win the EFL Cup?

Previewing the EFL Cup Fourth Round clash with Chelsea.

EFL Cup Chelsea As I wrote prior to the last round of the competition, our two realistic chances of a trophy before the season began, and now our only two opportunities, come in the domestic cup competitions. And when you analyse the competitions in detail, you realise how relatively easy they should be to win. The EFL Cup can be won by getting through four rounds of football and then winning the final at Wembley. Sounds easy doesn’t it? To be handed a draw at home to Accrington Stanley of League Two should have been a very easy passage into the last 16, but, although we made it in the end, we made heavy weather of it.

Prior to the last round we were the seventh or eighth favourites to land the trophy (you could get odds of between 14/1 and 20/1), so the bookmakers at that time fancied our chances more than some teams higher than us in the Premier League. Now, with just sixteen teams remaining, and just one home game away from a place in the quarter-final our odds have drifted to 25/1, making us eighth favourites to land the trophy. Chelsea are fourth favourites at 11/2, so you can see who the bookmakers believe are going to win this tie. And it’s not as if Chelsea are pulling up trees themselves this season.

Recent history gives us a chance. Although they beat us with a very late goal in the opening match of this season at Stamford Bridge (by a player who should not have still been on the pitch at the time!), we won the last encounter at Upton Park on 24 October last year with goals from Zarate and substitute Carroll. This win was one that hastened the departure of Jose Mourinho. Do you recall those forlorn photographs of him standing in front of the directors’ box after he had been sent off by the referee.

The only time that we have met them in a League Cup tie at Upton Park was in the third round of the 1994-95 competition, on October 26 1994. Don Hutchison scored the goal that enabled us to progress to the next round (where we were eliminated by Bolton!). Of course we have never won the competition ourselves, but Chelsea have won it five times, most recently in 2015. Our two friends, Terry and Costa scored the goals that beat our other friends from White Hart Lane 2-0.

In 2004 (October 27), when we were only in the Championship, we met them in this round at Stamford Bridge and they ran out winners 1-0. They went on to win the trophy that year beating Liverpool in the Final. They were also the runaway champions of the Premier League that season, winning by a dozen points, and only losing one league match in the process. So our narrow defeat, given our position at the time, was a noteworthy performance.

By coincidence we meet them once again on October 26. Despite our relatively poor form this season, this is a one-off cup tie and anything can happen. Hopefully we can take advantage of the home draw and progress into the last eight.

West Ham 1 v 0 Sunderland

Reporting by postcard from the beach in Gran Canaria.

Holiday Report At the end of a day of sunbathing, swimming, reading, eating and drinking, I reflect on following the fortunes of our team from further away than usual.

Although this is my 59th season watching West Ham, and I have seen far more games than I have missed in that time, I have yet to go through a whole season attending every home game, despite being a season ticket holder for some time.

Booking holidays well in advance of the fixture list being revealed is an unfortunate necessity of life if you have a specific destination in mind, and have a wife who works in a school, and you wish to take a break in the half-term holiday. But even if you arrange the break such that only one weekend is involved, it is Murphy’s (or sod’s) law that the computer will ensure that you miss a home game. Of course it is a double Murphy when we progress in the League (EFL) cup and we are drawn at home to Chelsea in the following midweek.

As a result I was forced to follow the Sunderland game from a distance of around 2000 miles on the beach in Taurito in the south of Gran Canaria.

There weren’t many people on this particular stretch of black sand, typical of Canary Island shorelines. We paid our fifteen euros for two sun beds and a parasol, I took a dip in the warm, but fairly rough sea, and then settled down to follow the game via a variety of websites and social media. Just before half time, despite there being many sun beds free on the beach, a German family decided to invade our personal space unnecessarily by choosing the beds next to ours and then moving them closer.

So at half time we retreated to the hotel pool and I followed the game from there on my phone. It appeared that we were well on top but unable to make a deserved breakthrough.

The hotel had a number of bars, including a sports bar with a giant screen. Due to the wonders of modern technology, especially satellites, despite being seventy miles off the west coast of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean, it was possible to view almost any sporting event taking place anywhere in the world as it happened. In fact the giant screen could split into nine smaller screens to satisfy a whole range of tastes simultaneously. I would have been happy to watch the West Ham game on one-ninth of the screen, but despite there not being too many people in there wanting to watch on a sunny afternoon, almost all of them were selfish gooners who wanted to view the full size screen. So I sat outside in the sun, but as the game entered injury time I was resigned to a goalless draw and popped into the Sports Bar to see how many goals that Arsenal had put into the Middlesbrough net. They were in the 93rd minute, and just like their North London neighbours earlier in the day, they had failed to score. I couldn’t be too smug as we too had not scored against lowly Sunderland. Then almost simultaneously there was a goal in both games. The Arsenal fans were jubilant until they realised it had been disallowed as Ozil was yards offside. But our goal had stood and we had picked up a very welcome, although not entirely convincing three points.

Just a few minutes later I was able to view our goal on my phone. The way we approached a corner in the 94th minute took everyone, including our manager, but not Noble, Payet and Reid by surprise. Instead of the usual last minute hoof into the danger area, a cleverly worked short corner ended with Reid firing a low shot through almost everyone on the pitch. How it evaded everyone is hard to fathom. To me it appeared that three or four of our players were offside, especially Calleri who must have been unsighting the keeper. But incredibly the goal stood, and after all the dodgy refereeing decisions that went against us last season it made a big change for one to go in our favour.

5 Things We Learned From Saturday

Other than a chicken kebab here are the takeaways from Saturday’s West Ham game.

Taking Points over Performance.

After a faltering start to the season there is obvious satisfaction in getting two consecutive wins under the belt. In the opening quarter of the match we looked to have carried through the momentum from the previous week and played with rare freedom and confidence. Once Sunderland had weathered the storm, however, the game became more even and the tempo of our game fell away. Not for the first time this season we started well and then fizzled out and it is worrying if we cannot get a sustained 90 minute performance out of the players. Ultimately we took the three points and in the circumstances, as with any club floundering in the lower reaches of the table, we must prioritise points over performance for the time being. That is not going to keep the London Stadium filled in the longer term though.

A Late, Late Winner

It is not too often that West Ham grab a late winner deep into added time. Sunderland had settled for the respected point by then and it is to our credit that we get plugging away despite an overall disappointing second half. I have to admit that I didn’t see the goal coming as the short corner was taken and it was unexpected to see that Winston Reid had taken up a position on the edge of the box. Still a nice piece of skill from the Kiwi and a decent shot past an unsighted keeper. Possibly a suspicion of offside but not conclusive except to Mr Dour, the Sunderland manager.

No Penalty. Mr Madely?

There were penalties awarded in the Premier League yesterday. Prior to this week’s matches there had been 31 given in 80 matches. Yesterday’s referee, Robert ‘Bobby’ Madely, who last season had deemed that Loftus-Cheek tripping over his own feet outside the area was worthy of a spot kick seemed not to be aware of the new interpretations on grappling and holding as first Ogbonna and then Reid were both grabbed by Sunderland defenders. In the light of penalties that have been awarded elsewhere this season this again showed shocking inconsistency.

Swiss in a New Role

Slav had decided to stick with three at the back after the success at Crystal Palace and it was a surprise to see Edmilson Fernandes fill the gap left by the criminally suspended Aaron Cresswell. The formation suits the currently available players and so it is likley to the how West Ham set up for the foreseeable future; probably until it goes badly wrong. I do like what I have seen of young Fernandes despite not playing in his normal position. He looks very assured and comfortable on the ball as well as being full of energy. When Cresswell returns it would be disappointing to see him dropped to the bench and he would get my vote over Mark Noble in midfield on current showing.

No Striker, No Goals

It is now 9 games gone and a striker has yet to score a goal for West Ham; a sorry state of affairs that will continue to hold us back. Surely it is obvious to anyone who has been watching that there is no way that Simone Zaza looks cut out for the Premier League. This is not a player off form or simply low on confidence but one whose talents, whatever they may have been it Italy, do not translate into the English game. It is a waste of everyone’s time to keep playing him. We have seen enough to know that he is not a £20+ million striker. With continuing doubts over the fitness of Carrol and Sakho our hopes rest with the return Andre Ayew but in the meantime we may as well give Ashley Fletcher more game time; what use is the occasional 5 or 10 minutes? Sorry Simone here is your air ticket back to Turin.

Matchday: Hammers v Black Cats

Looking forward with renewed enthusiasm as the Hammers take on the bedraggled Black Cats.

West Ham Sunderland Fresh from the encouraging win against Crystal Palace last weekend Hammer’s supporters will be looking for the same professionalism and panache as West Ham entertain lowly Sunderland at the London Stadium today. Without a win all season and just two draws in their account the visitors look almost as miserable as the look on their manager’s face. If ever a team reflected the manager’s personality on the pitch then it is the Black Cats.

David Moyes is Sunderland’s 13th manager (plus a couple of caretakers) this century and is the epitome of the dour Scotsman; like the one who has won the lottery and then admonishes himself for buying a second ticket. History would suggest that he won’t be at the Stadium of Light this time next year when in reality Sunderland need to stick with someone for a few years to sort themselves out. A biggish stadium does not make a big club and there seems to be a lot wrong at the club as their perennial struggles and unlikely great escapes implies.

“It was good in the camp two or three weeks ago. We didn’t stop training but of course it’s a better mood because the confidence is back, in a positive way.”

– Slaven Bilic

Anything other than a convincing West Ham win today will be a huge disappointment. We took four points off the Black Cats last season but were quite fortunate to do so; with the drawn away game hinging on a sending off after limply going 2-0 down and the home game a narrow and scrappy 1-0 victory. We need to see more of the high tempo, quick passing and movement from last week and avoid a return to the ponderous build up that has characterised the majority of the season.

Head to Head

Our Head to Head record with Sunderland was another which I believed would be firmly to our advantage when in fact it is almost level pegging. My instinct was that it this is a fixture where we routinely rattle in the goals but I guess that is merely the claret and blue spectacles playing havoc with my rear-view perception.

	P	W	D	L	F	A	Sequence
Home	42	18	14	10	79	50	WWDDLW
Away	44	13	11	20	54	71	DDWLLW
	86	31	25	30	133	121

West Ham have won three of the last six home fixture while the last Sunderland away success came in a 3-0 victory in the very final game of the woeful Avram Grant season.

Team News

By rights we should have been expecting an unchanged team from the previous match but, sadly, incompetent refereeing means that Aaron Cresswell sits this one out. Andre Ayew is back in training but remains some way away from a recall while the recuperation of Carroll and Sakho is following a ‘tomorrow never comes’ regime; it seems that we have devised a new position of the ‘False Substitute’ which will be making Pep very jealous.

Gaun yersel’, haud yer wheesht. Shut yer geggy, whit’s fur ye’ll no go by ye. Away an bile yer heid.

– David Moyes

I expect the starting line-up will be as last week, retaining three at the back, with Arbeloa coming in for Cresswell. It will not be as effective without Cresswell’s exceptional forward and link up play but is the best fit to build on the momentum of last week. I wonder what the odds are on Zaza to emulate Geoff Hurst and score 6 goals?

Sunderland will include pantomime villain Jermaine Defoe in their line-up. Still one of the best finishers in the Premier League I assume the defence are well aware that whatever else happens he mustn’t score.

Man in the Middle

Today’s referee is Robert ‘Bobby’ Madely from West Yorkshire. Madely was in charge of West Ham on three occasions last season including the fine wins away at Manchester City and at home to Liverpool. The other game, the 2-2 draw at Stamford Bridge, was less auspicious as his various blunders cost the Hammers another memorable away success. Madely is in fine yellow card form this season with 30 bookings from 6 games.

Sunderland Preview: Another Eight Goals?

Geoff Hurst’s on fire, the Sunderland defence was terrified.

Sunderland Hurst When we set off for Upton Park on October 19 1968 I am not sure we knew what to expect that afternoon. When we were travelling from home to the game, on those Saturdays when we weren’t playing football for Barking Abbey School in the morning, we caught the British Rail train from Rainham to Barking, then met others for the two-stop trip on the District Line to Upton Park. Last season I made the same trip to a game, visiting memory lane (and Ferry Lane), and have to confess that not much has changed in the intervening forty-eight years. The overground trains now have automatic doors and are quieter, but Rainham Station, Barking Station, the District Line, Upton Park Station and Green Street all looked and smelt just the same as they did when we were young teenagers.

In mid-October 1968, fourteen games of the season had been played and we sat in sixth place in Division One. For younger readers that was the top division, equivalent to the Premier League today. The amazing thing about our league position was that we had not won a league game since August. In August itself we were on fire, although that was not an expression we used in the 1960s. There were seven league games in the first month of the season, and we won five of them, drew one, but lost heavily 4-1 to Everton on a warm Monday evening. In those seven games we had scored sixteen goals and conceded six, so apart from the Everton game we were scoring goals and defending well.

As September began, we had briefly topped the league, and we then thrashed Bolton 7-2 in the League Cup. What we didn’t know was that throughout the rest of September, and the first half of October we would play seven league games without winning a single one (although we did draw five of them), and also get dumped out of the League Cup by Coventry after a replay.

So we weren’t expecting anything particularly special that Saturday afternoon when Sunderland were the visitors, and as Autumn days were getting colder, less than 25,000 turned up, which was to be one of the lowest crowds of the season. As the half hour point of the match approached we still hadn’t seen anything special, although we were on top. Martin Peters crossed the ball and Geoff Hurst punched the ball into the net. From our position on the North Bank (at the other end of the ground) we thought he had handled the ball, but there were no protests from the visitors, the referee didn’t spot it, and we were 1-0 up.

Bobby Moore then smashed home a free kick to double the lead, Brooking crossed for Hurst to head home the third goal, and then a Harry Redknapp corner was turned in by Hurst shortly before half-time to make it 4-0. The hat-trick goal is shown in the photograph. Fifteen minutes before we hadn’t seen it coming, but here we were at half-time, a Hurst hat-trick, and 4-0 up.

We turned on the style in the second half. We were hoping that the first half goals would not be the end of the story, and that we would witness more of the same at our end of the ground. We were not disappointed. Two further goals from Hurst were followed by a netbuster from Brooking, before a Redknapp cross was finished by Hurst to make it 8-0, and a double hat-trick from the best centre-forward I have ever seen wearing a claret and blue shirt. I had never seen anybody score six goals in a game, and I am not sure that it has ever been done in the top division of English football since that day. Three years earlier I had witnessed Brian Dear scoring five goals in a game for us, but Geoff Hurst had gone one better.

We are meeting Sunderland this weekend almost 48 years to the day since that memorable game in 1968. We were both in the top half of the table when we met all those years ago, but this time the opposite is the case, and we both desperately need the points. If the game is still goalless as the half hour approaches don’t despair. There is still time for us to rattle in eight goals before the final whistle!

Five Things From The Weekend

Some take-aways from West Ham’s win at Crystal Palace on Saturday.

A Much Improved All-Round Performance

Finally a performance to be proud of on Saturday. Played at a much higher tempo with good movement and penetrative passing. Playing three at the back worked very well and it also uncluttered the midfield of the Kouyate-Noble partnership allowing the ball to move much more freely and with real purpose. The returning Cresswell meant there were options on both flanks and his understanding and interplay with Payet can be devastating at times. Excellent performances (in no particular order) from Cresswell, Reid, Obiang, Kouyate and Lanzini. On the other hand, Noble still looks a little lost and well off the pace and must be coming under pressure from Fernandes who from his various cameo appearances looks assured and full of energy.

A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever

The Manuel Lanzini goal was a rare thing of beauty. This is the type of goal I love to see. I know they all count the same but, as far as goals to admire go ,the beautifully worked team goal trumps the 25 yard torpedo every time in my opinion. A flick by Payet, the wonderful pass from Obiang to Cresswell, the patient exchange between Cresswell and Payet, the teasing Cresswell cross and Lanzini’s perfect run and clinical finish. I have yet to tire of watching it. Elsewhere at the weekend I also came across fine well worked team goals by ex-Hammer Junior Stanislas for Bournemouth in their annihilation of Hull City and from last season loan reject Victor Moses netting the third for Chelsea against Leicester. The type of action that makes the game great to watch.

The Consistency of Inconsistent Refreeing

I have to admit that I have lost the plot as to what does and doesn’t constitute a penalty these days. If there is a foul tackle then it should be a foul regardless of how anyone reacts. Whether a player goes down (too) easily or not is besides the point. Clive Allen, the pundit on the commentary I had, thought Cresswell had ‘gone down too easily’ although it didn’t look theatrically in any way to me or, in fact, most other observers. The mistake was compounded by a booking for simulation and then exacerbated a minute later by the second yellow card from a marginal tussle with Zaha.

I wrote before the game that Atkinson had yet to issue a red card this season so maybe he was behind on his targets. There really is no consistency. In the Middlesbrough – Watford match referee Roger East yellow carded Boro’s Barragan for a foul (not too dissimilar to the Creeswell one) on Isaac Success but then when the defender committed almost a carbon copy on the same player a little later it went unpunished.

Sometimes decisions can be seen as harsh but Cresswell’s dismissal was simply wrong and it’s a travesty that the decision cannot be corrected and a suspension must be served.

– Graham Poll writing in the Daily Mail

Knowing Me, Knowing You, Zaza!

I would agree that Zaza probably had his best game in a West Ham shirt although to be honest the bar was set fairly low. Possibly he has worked on his fitness and he is getting closer to the levels required to operate in the Premier League. However, with the appearances clock ticking on the apparent ‘obligation to buy’ clause he still looks a long, long way away from being a £20 million striker (even at devalued prices). An off form striker is one getting into positions but being unable to finish whereas I can’t recall a serious Zaza goal attempt yet this season. I have heard people talking about him playing upfront with Carroll which seems laughable to me not only for the combined lack of mobility but also for the way it would by necessity weaken the midfield. If you are going to play with a lone striker I believe you need someone who is fast, brave, mobile and strong. It is puzzling how Bilic sees this as his striker targets don’t seem to follow any template. I was concerned by his comments that he had been interested in Benteke who is just another one dimensional player. As well as we defended on Saturday, Palace with Benteke were very predictable (as Pardew sides often are) and I hope that we can eventually find a striker to support a more fluid style of play; the type of job that Callum Wilson performed for Bournemouth in their game.

Loanee Watch

The purpose of sending young players out on loan is to aid their development by giving them game time and experience playing in the lower divisons. So, how are our loanees shaping up. Fresh from his first international goal for Norway, Martin Samuelsen was given a rare start for Blackburn but lasted for just over the hour in their goalless draw against Ipswich; Stephen Hendrie did not make the squad. Reece Burke (and I believe Kyle Knoyle) are both injured and so missed Wigan’s draw with Burton Albion. Josh Cullen played a full 90 minutes but couldn’t prevent Bradford surrendering their unbeaten record at Oxford while Lewis Page lasted 24 minutes for Coventry in their defeat at Charlton before injury required him to be substituted; at least it was all square at the time. George Dobson was an unused substitute in Walsall’s home victory against Shrewsbury. Doneil Henry was a second half substitute for AC Horsens in the 1-1 Danish Super League draw with AGF. Verdict: nothing to get excited about.