Under The Hammers

West Ham 0:4 Manchester City

The Premier League gap is getting wider.

The top six teams in the Premier league are a long way ahead of the remaining fourteen. It is just as if there are two competitions. The points difference is vast, as is the revenue that they generate. The quality of footballer from all over the world that the top six teams are able to attract means that the others just cannot compete. Sure, the top teams do have off days and suffer the occasional defeat to one of the lesser teams, but that happens rarely these days. And when it does happen, the manager of the lesser team usually manages to come up with a plan to stop the big team playing. If they are frustrated for long enough, and if they are having an off-day, then the big team can lose. But just take a look at the league table. It tells the whole story of how money influences football these days. And the Financial Fair Play rules don’t help either.

But what about last season I hear you say? Little Leicester broke the mould and romped away with the title. Yes, I have to admit that was the case, but I believe it was the combination of three outstanding players (Kante, Mahrez and Vardy) hitting a purple streak of form, the other players in the team all playing above themselves for a long period, and the top teams all having an off-season at the same time. I don’t think we will ever see it happen again. Well perhaps there may be another freak year, but I honestly don’t expect to see it. And look where Leicester are now. Just a couple of points above the drop zone in the second half of the following season. Normal service has been resumed.

The rich clubs are getting richer, and the gap from the others is widening all the time. It would take the injection of serious money into one of the teams outside of this elite to give them any sort of chance of competing. Our current owners are very rich men by British standards, but are not in the same league as the foreign owners of the top teams. I’m not knocking them, and I am grateful that they came in when they did. They do their best and they are fans. But while they are in charge we will not be able to bridge the gap; a fact that they themselves have admitted in that they say they will only sell to mega-rich buyers who can inject the sort of money that they cannot, to take us to another level.

Geoff summed up the game perfectly in his article Five Observations From City Humiliation. Unfortunately, positives from the game were few and far between. Carroll lacked any real support, although Antonio covered every blade of grass in an attempt to help him up front. Randolph couldn’t be faulted for any of the goals conceded, Reid had a steady game, and Snodgrass looked lively when he came on.

Most of the others had poor games. Obiang has been excellent lately and I will excuse him on this one, although his poor pass led directly to their third goal. Not that it really mattered by then. I don’t know what has happened to Cresswell this season. His performances have generally been very poor and his two memorable contributions last night were a woeful pass that led to the first goal, and then missing the target by miles when put through by Carroll for our only clear opening in the game. I cannot see him getting anywhere near future England squads if he continues as he has for most of this season.

When you play against teams such as Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham or Chelsea, who all move the ball at pace, you have to develop a method of competing. One thing you cannot do is gift them the ball in midfield to set up a swift attack which invariably leads to a goal. If you can frustrate them for long enough, they can sometimes go off the boil. The one thing you must not do is concede sloppy goals. But I am afraid that is exactly what we were guilty of once again.

Although a season ticket holder I couldn’t get to the game so I had to endure the BT Sport coverage. I’m afraid that in my opinion it doesn’t come close to that provided by Sky Sports. Commentator Ian Darke should stick to boxing, and Glenn Hoddle and Owen Hargreaves were poor (a bit like us really!), as well as being factually inaccurate at times. More than once Hoddle described the pitch as vast, and said that we should reduce its size because of the way we play. Well firstly, the pitch is the regulation size that all Premier League clubs should have, provided their ground allows for it, and secondly we are not allowed to reduce it. In fact it is the same width as Upton Park and just over four metres longer. But this is just one example of some of the (in my opinion) nonsense that came from the mouths of the co-commentators and pundits on the programme.

I watched the game through to the end, unlike many thousands at the stadium who decided that they had seen enough long before the final whistle, and were trudging off to Stratford station in their droves. I felt quite deflated at our performance, but realistically it is not a competitive game when we are playing against a team who can have a player of the calibre of Aguero sitting on the bench (well, padded seat). We are nowhere near the top teams, and the best we can hope for is to play for a place in the top half, and even try to emulate last season’s seventh place finish. Even that looks unlikely with Everton too far ahead.

I’m not sure that Bilic has the tactical nous for the job, even though a large number of fans love him. It was interesting to see Roberto Mancini sitting in with the directors. I wonder if he was a guest of Manchester City who had sacked him a few seasons ago, or perhaps even a guest of our own board?

Nevertheless, ever the optimist, and a fan of almost sixty years who has seen it all before, I will take my seat for the next home game against a West Brom team on Saturday week, who, much to my surprise, Pulis has inspired to punch above their weight this season. Before then we visit Southampton this weekend, to face another of the teams aiming for seventh place, which in effect is the competition to finish top of the second tier of the Premier League.

5 Observations from City Humiliation

Another night of tame surrender against Manchester City at the London Stadium.

Were they great or were we terrible?

Whenever I see such an uneven game as happened last night (and indeed the cup tie a few weeks ago) I wonder how much of it was due to the opposition playing really well and how much was down to our own incompetence. Generally commentators like to take a polarised view but usually it is a combination of the two. There are many similarities in the style of play of Manchester City and Arsenal and it is telling that both have thumped us on our own turf. For many years we have been vulnerable against teams that run at our defence at pace. We seem able to competently nod away crosses until the cows come home but incisive passing and movement rips through the heart of our defences at will and with ease. My sense is that even our players recognise this collective fragility and once the first goal goes in then, as far as they are concerned, it is just of case of how many will follow – as if it is a fate that no-one has the wit or strength to resist.

Where have all the tactics gone?

Manchester City are a very wealthy club who probably have far better players that don’t even make the bench than West Ham do as regular starters. This is the way of modern cash rich football and it will be impossible for West Ham to get close to the top teams without major external investment, which will probably happen just before the next financial crisis. In the meantime it is still 11 versus 11 and last year we enjoyed notable success against several top clubs by tactically stifling their major threats. Tactics appeared to be patently absent yesterday with no particularly plan to either offset the attacking threat of a quick breaking opposition or in putting their inconsistent back-line under any form of pressure. It was if all that was written on the dressing room white board was “Hope for the Best”. With the array of attacking talent at their disposal you need to frustrate and press City and not give them acres of space to play as they please. Whenever I have seen them as casual observer it is obvious how important de Bruyne is to them offensively and yet we were happy to give him a free access all areas pass. Not for the first time we were completely over-run in midfield. We may still have lost regardless but the speed with which heads dropped and spirit evaporated shows a disappointing absence of leadership and character.

All things must pass

In his post-match comments Slaven Bilic bemoaned the fact that we gave the ball away cheaply for two of the first three goals. It would be difficult to disagree with the manager on that one but the fact is that it has been a problem all season, just that we were punished for that sloppiness by a clinical City side on this occasion. I believe that we are one of the worst teams for maintaining possession where it matters in the Premier League and it makes me wonder whether anything is done in training in order to improve matters. As I have written previously good passing teams do not only rely solely on successful execution of the pass but also on having more than one player making themselves available at any one time. Obiang’s pass that led to the third goal was an example of poor execution but quite what Cresswell was thinking for the all-important opening goal is anyone’s guess, there was no West Ham player anywhere near where he played the ball. Far too often when our players do not have the ball they stand about static and flat footed.

No place for sentiment

Football is a very different game from when I first started watching, a time when players stayed at clubs for years and many were local lads made good. It is unfortunate that much of the sense of community and belonging has been lost but most of football has faced reality and moved with the times. I often feel that West Ham are stuck in a time warp with a sentimentality that is at odds with the multi-million pound industry that football has become. It is not enough for a player or manager to be West Ham through and through or for someone to keep his place in the team because he did alright last time out. A team needs to be selected that can get the best from any particular fixture. There are still many unanswered questions on Slaven Bilic’s managerial credentials at Premier League level. The recent run of wins bought him some time but he does not convince. I am sure he is a nice guy but football is full of nice failures. I would imagine that his performance during the remainder of the season will be under extreme scrutiny and that it will require noticeable improvement if he is to keep his job. His record on player recruitment, tactics, preparation, fitness and selection leaves much to be desired as far as I am concerned. It would be great to see him succeed but I am not hopeful.

What about the positives?

The most significant positive is that we do not have to play Manchester City again this season and our only remaining heavy defeat should be away at Arsenal. Other than that Michail Antonio worked hard and new signing Robert Snodgrass looked sharp when he finally came on. I was wrong in my pre-match prediction that we would be 2 goals down when Snodgrass came off the bench. The other debutant Jose Fonte had a bit of a nightmare and worryingly looked very slow, let’s hope he has a couple more gears in the mythical locker.

Ratings: Randolph (6), Byram (4), Reid (6), Fonte (4), Cresswell (4), Obiang (5), Noble (5), Feghouli (3), Lanzini (5), Antonio (7), Carroll (6) Subs: Snodgrass (6), Fernandes (5), Fletcher (5)

I Wouldn’t Bet On It 29

So close to a big win, but we win anyway!

Fancy A Bet

We were within a minute of a 98 point haul with our bets on the Middlesbrough game. As a reminder they were:

9 points on West Ham to beat Middlesbrough @2/1 (27)
5 points on a draw @11/5 (16)
1 point on Andy Carroll to score the first goal and West Ham to win 2-1 @50/1 (51)
1 point on West Ham to win 2-1 @19/1 (20)

Yes, so near on three of our four bets coming in, including the big one. Nonetheless, we did have 27 points from the well-deserved win, bringing our new balance up to 130 points.

What will happen in our game against Manchester City? I haven’t got a clue. It’s only a few weeks since they well and truly outplayed us and dumped us out of the FA Cup. I am hoping that our new signings will inspire us to victory over an inconsistent City side. When they turn it on they are quite a force, but they don’t do it regularly. Hopefully they will be over confident after their recent success here.

Smaller stakes this time as follows:

West Ham to win the game, 5 points stake at 5.2/1 (Betfair) (31)
Drawn game, 3 points at 3.6/1 (Betfair) (13.8)
West Ham to win 2-1, 1 point at 18.5/1 (Betfair) (19)
2-2 draw, 1 point at 15/1 (Betfair) (16)

Total stake 10 points. Potential returns if correct in brackets.

What are the chances?

Matchday: Hammers host the Citizens at the London Stadium

Can it be a once in a blue moon event at the London Stadium as the have-nots of West Ham seek to wreak their revenge against bountiful Manchester City.

West Ham Man City Thankfully the transfer window has settled safely back in its frame for another few months and attention can return in its entirety to action on the pitch, even though I suspect the ghostly tones of “We’ve got Payet” will reverberate around the cavernous stadium and in the media for several weeks to come. It turned out to be a pragmatic window for the Hammers, rather than an exciting one, and much still rides on the continued fitness of Andy Carroll, the only remaining credible striker option in the continued and long running absence of Diafra Sakho. I was encouraged to hear Carroll say that he was now conscious of picking his battles on the pitch and that he no longer felt the need to try to win every ball; hopefully this should serve to minimise the stresses and strains on his body.

Blah, blah, blah, Dimitri Payet, blah blah blah…..

– Slaven Bilic Press Conference

The closing of the window is unlikely to shut out all of the noise about ‘two-bob’ ‘penny-pinching’ owners but in the context of mid-table obscurity (with an outside chance of Europa League in the event of extraordinary planetary alignment) it is better to keep the ‘war chest’ safely buried until the summer, when there is better value and greater options. The majority of supporters will not remember a making-up-the-numbers January signing when it comes to scrutinising and comparing future summer investment.

Today’s visitors are one of the few clubs where transfer budgets are meaningless and for whom the odd £50 million thrown around is simply loose change burning a hole in the pocket of a dishdasha. They were quiet this window (unless you count £27 m Gabriel Jesus who was signed in the summer but has only recently arrived) but their net spending for this season still exceeds £150 m.

I am always torn on match-days between a natural, but understated, optimism for a West Ham victory and a litany of reasons why just now is a bad time to be playing this week’s particular opposition. The recent indifferent run by the Blues and the resultant media focus on Pep’s performance are the anxieties that will gnaw away at my confidence and create growing pre-match-tension as kick-off approaches.

Head to Head

It is a mere 3 weeks since our last encounter with City at the London Stadium when once again the head to head advantage clicked a further notch in their affluent direction. We have won just two of the last 16 meetings between the two clubs. In the recent FA Cup tie it was difficult to determine to what degree the final outcome was the result of City’s brilliance or the Hammer’s pitifulness. Either way it will require one of those special ‘obscene’ all-hands-to-the-pump displays if we are to take advantage of an early opportunity for revenge.

Team News

The injured are still injured, Andre Ayew is busy scoring penalties at the African Cup of Nations and Cheikhou Kouyate continues to queue at Heathrow immigration. According to the Physio room both Andy Carroll and Mark Noble have knocks but are expected to recover. It is the manager’s style to keep the same team and formation until we lose a game and so, with the exception of Jose Fonte in for the injured Angelo Ogbonna, I expect to see the same line-up that started at Middlesbrough. Personally, I would put Snodgrass straight in at the expense of Feghouli but he will most likely be introduced from the bench at two-nil down. If I owned a hat then I would offer to eat it if either Feghouli or Calleri ever make it as regular Premier League players. There is a story that Brian Clough once went to scout a player but left after the warm-up because he didn’t like the way he ran; well that is how I view these two, neither of whom look like top-flight footballers – not that I would compare my judgement to Cloughies – and clearly Bilic has seen something he likes about them in training.

“He’s so important, we’ve played a lot of games without him, and I’m happy he’s back. He’s not an aggressive player. He’s tough. He’s one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met. We accept the ban and don’t complain.”

– Guardiola on Fernandinho

For Manchester City, there is good and bad news. The bad news is that Kompany is fit again, Aguero has recovered from injury, Fernandinho is available after suspension and everyone else is available. The good news is that only 11 can be on the pitch at any one time and that one of them is likely to be Claudio Bravo.

The Man in the Middle

For the first time this season we’ve got a Friend in the shape of Kevin from Leicestershire. A comparative stranger to West Ham games, the single coming together last season was in the historic away win at Liverpool where he erroneously sent off Mark Noble. In his total of 21 games this term Friend has flaunted 73 Yellows and 1 Red card.

The Lawro Challenge – Week 23

Back to league action and resumption of our prediction challenge with BBC pundit, Lawro.

Lawro Crystal Ball Twenty-two rounds of games in the Premier League have now been completed. That means we have now predicted the outcomes of 220 matches in total.

In Week 22, Rich scored 7 points, Geoff 6 points, and Lawro 11 points. Lawro has worryingly narrowed the lead at the top to just two points.

In this challenge we award one point for a correct result, and a further two points (making three in total) if the score prediction is spot on.

We now proceed to week 23.

	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Total after 21 weeks	173	134	167
Score in week 22	7	6	11
Total after 22 weeks	180	140	178

Predictions – Week 23
	Rich	Geoff	Lawro
Tuesday
Arsenal v Watford	3-0	2-0	3-0
Bournemouth v Palace	2-1	2-2	1-1
Burnley v Leicester	1-1	1-0	1-2
Middlesbrough v West Brom	0-0	1-0	1-2
Sunderland v Tottenham	0-2	1-2	1-0
Swansea v Southampton	2-1	0-0	2-0
Liverpool v Chelsea	2-2	2-1	1-1
Wednesday
West Ham v Man City	2-2	3-2	0-2
Man Utd v Hull	3-0	4-1	2-0
Stoke v Everton	2-1	1-2	1-1

Manchester City Preview

Can we continue our fine recent league form against an inconsistent City team?

Embed from Getty Images

Manchester City began the season as the bookmakers’ favourites to land the Premier League title. The arrival of Pep Guardiola, who many saw as the best manager in world football, was considered to be a master stroke, and many felt it would ensure that the title returned to the Etihad Stadium. But, despite six wins on the trot in their first six games of the season, which shortened their odds of finishing at the top, they have since been inconsistent for a team destined to win the league. On paper, those first six games did not appear to be the toughest, apart from perhaps a visit to their Manchester neighbours. But they won them all relatively comfortably, scoring eighteen goals in the process and conceding just five.

But in their next sixteen games they have suffered five defeats at the hands of Tottenham, Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool and Everton. More worryingly perhaps, for a team who had high hopes, they have had four draws at home against Everton, Southampton, Middlesbrough and Tottenham. Had they won those four they would be sitting comfortably in second place, just four points behind the leaders, Chelsea.

But as it is, with just sixteen games of the season to go, they find themselves two points outside of the top four places, and with a fight on their hands to qualify for a Champions League place next season. Their cup performances have been more consistent, and despite being eliminated from the League Cup by their neighbours, they have progressed to the fifth round of the FA Cup where they have an away tie at Huddersfield, and to the last sixteen of the Champions League where they will face Monaco.

Of course they have already beaten us twice this season, 3-1 in the league at the end of August, and then the 5-0 thrashing in the FA Cup third round on our ground. In the league game, despite City scoring twice in the opening twenty minutes, we fought back with a goal from Antonio in the second half, and it took a goal in added-on time to finally seal the three points.

Guardiola has been criticised for his choice of goalkeeper to replace Joe Hart, and has been very touchy when interviewed on this subject by the media. Some statistics (on shot stopping) put Bravo, their keeper, near the bottom of the league of Premier League custodians, but of course the figures cannot take into account the quality of the shots that he has faced. Nevertheless the general consensus is that his performances have not been of the quality needed for a team hoping to win the title, although some blame must also be attached to their ageing defence, who have missed their captain, Kompany, for almost the whole of the season. This is one area that I hope we can exploit in the game. They have conceded 28 goals in their 22 league games, a figure that exceeds the four teams above them in the league, as well as four teams below them, including Middlesbrough who sit in sixteenth place!

Their attacking play, when it is on song, as it unfortunately was in the cup game here, is entertaining to watch, and their 43 goals scored (more away from the Etihad than at home!) is only bettered by the current top four. But their seven wins, four draws, and five defeats in their last sixteen league matches emphasises their inconsistency, and we shouldn’t go into the game fearing a repeat of the cup drubbing a few weeks ago. In fact our current league form, with five wins in our last seven league games, is far superior to their four wins in their last nine league games. On that basis, the bookmaker odds on offer, where we are quoted as around 5/1 to win the game, and City at around 2/1 on, would appear to be wide of the mark, but of course the two games where we have faced each other this season tell another story.

Nonetheless it is to be hoped that the apparent improved spirit following the removal of a certain Frenchman from the team (and now his subsequent departure), will mean that we can at least get something out of the game. With my trusty optimistic hat on I am hoping for a narrow win, perhaps 2-1, although a 2-2 draw may be a more realistic bet.

It will be interesting to see the team that our manager selects. Randolph will be in goal, and I expect a back four of Byram, Reid, Fonte and Cresswell. Kouyate has returned from the African Nations Cup, but whether he returns directly into the team is open to debate. For me, Obiang, Lanzini, Carroll and Antonio are certain starters, and he will almost certainly pick Noble. Of course new signing Snodgrass will be pushing for a place in the starting line-up as will Feghouli. Unfortunately Diafra Sakho is unlikely to be available until March, and it remains to be seen if we sign a striker on deadline day (I am writing this the day before). Bilic appears to have cooled on the prospect of signing Hogan from Brentford (I wonder if he really fancied him in the first place, perhaps hoping that Sunderland would part with Defoe?).

Now that Payet has gone for a reputed £25 million, we have money to spend, but I am uncertain as to the wisdom of doing so; perhaps we should wait until the summer now that we are virtually safe from getting involved in the scrap at the bottom end of the table? However many of our fans on social media are still desperate for a striker and a right-back. Calleri’s deflected goal will probably keep him in the squad, but he hasn’t convinced many yet (apart from the manager perhaps?), and Fletcher is perpetually on the fringe (surprisingly seemingly behind Calleri in the pecking order?).

And I’m not sure our manager could pick a right back based on his history (Antonio and Nordtveit don’t do it for me in this position). It was good to see that Martinez scored within minutes of coming on for his debut at Oxford. It was a well-taken goal, and he certainly looks a fine prospect. But then so does Reece Oxford, but he hasn’t been given a chance yet either! And I haven’t mentioned Fernandes who is another that I like.

I wonder if we will bring anyone in on deadline day tomorrow? Perhaps the long-awaited marquee signing? I won’t hold my breath.

This Week in Hammer’s History

Remembering the week 30 January to 5 February in Hammer’s History including that last ever win at Highbury.

This Week Hammers History A first read through of the results from the week 30 January to 5 February in Hammer’s history was similar to watching a late night horror movie, best viewed through the gaps between your fingers. There was an embarrassing 3-1 cup exit at the hands of 3^rd division Swindon Town (1967), FA cup capitulation at Loftus Road with a 6-1 hammering by QPR (1978) and League cup humiliation of the worst kind in a 5-0 defeat at White Hart Lane (1987). In the league, 5 goals were shipped without reply to dirty Leeds (1966) and more recently top of the (Championship) table West Ham were brushed aside in a 5-1 demolition by lowly Ipswich Town at Portman Road (2012).

Such misfortunes are wildly out of step with the current sense of togetherness and optimism surrounding the club that has been fostered by a couple of encouraging wins and the atmosphere of unity against the common enemy; the now departed two-faced Frenchman. So it is in that spirit that I have singled out some of the rarer triumphs as a way to develop that mood. In the middle years of the 1960’s West Ham were on a run of winning trophies and at the end of January 1966 were still competing in that season’s ECWC, FA and League Cups. A 5-1 second leg League Cup victory away to Cardiff City, courtesy of goals from Hurst (2), Sissons (2) and Burnett, secured an impressive 10-3 aggregate win and set up the Hammers for a final tie against West Bromwich Albion. We had recently seen off Albion by four goals to nil in a league encounter so surely more silverware was on its way to Upton Park!

In the calendar year of 1968 West Ham scored 7 or more goals on three occasions. The first of these was in January 1968 when the visitors to Upton Park were west London rivals Fulham. The Cottagers raced into the lead with a goal from Steve Earle (not the American country rock singer I believe) but that early set-back only served to galvanise the Hammers into action and a goal blitz involving Hurst (2), Brooking (2), Peters, Moore and Dear saw the game finish in a 7-2 romp.

Ferguson, Bonds, Lampard, Peters, Cushley, Moore, Dear, Boyce, Brooking, Hurst, Sissons

The stand-out game of the week, however, has to be the 2006 clash with Arsenal in their final season at Highbury. It was the Gunners 2,000 match at their old stadium and they started out in dominant form pinning the Hammers back with typical high-tempo football. However, after 25 minutes Nigel Reo-Coker beat Sol Campbell to a Hayden Mullins pass and ran on to give West Ham the lead very much against the run of play. It got better still 7 minutes later when Bobby Zamora out-muscled Campbell, checked and placed a delightful shot into the far corner of the net to double the lead. There was a wobble just before the break when Terry Henry scored to become Arsenal’s all-time leading league scorer and set up a nail biting second period.

Arsenal started the second half without Campbell (who had gone home) but once again dominated the play. Midway through the half West Ham introduced new signing Dean Ashton for his club debut (probably our best ever January signing and the last great striker we never got the opportunity to properly enjoy). After 80 minutes the unexpected happened and Matthew Etherington scored another to make it 3-1 to West Ham. There was still time for Pires to score for Arsenal but despite a frantic finale it turned out to be merely a consolation. As it turned out West Ham were the last away team to win at Highbury and the game was the Hammers fifth consecutive win in all competitions (a run that ultimately extended to seven).

Hislop, Clarke (Fletcher), A Ferdinand, Gabbidon, Konchesky, Mullins, Benayoun (Newton), Etherington, Reo-Coker, Harewood, Zamora (Ashton)

Notable Birthdays

2 February          Ravel Morrison                 24
5 February          Carlos Tevez                       33
5 February          Richard Bennett               63

Who Ate All The Pi’s

What do the stats reveal about West Ham player performance? Or are they digitally challenged?

Football Stats With a temporary hiatus in West Ham’s fixture commitment due to an early cup exit, and while other Premier League teams field second rate sides in the 4th round in deference to the imminent Match-week 23, I have taken the opportunity to dust down my football statistics soapbox and take another look at how our heroes have performed this campaign as far as the soccer statisticians are concerned.

My position on statistics is that they are an interesting diversion and a perfect destination for the procrastinator but are ultimately meaningless as a means of analysing games, providing no further insight over and above what the eyes can tell the average supporter. The ever expanding mass of football statistics are most frequently used by the desperate in attempting to prove a point about their favourite player (why Noble is better than Kouyate or vice versa) or to pad out column inches in printed and online media (just like this one!) In the last week or so my attention has been grabbed by a number of posts that inform readers exactly what the statistics reveal. For example, they apparently ‘reveal’ that Liverpool are not very good defensively (no shit, Sherlock!) and, closer to home, that Pedro Obiang is the ‘best’ tackler in the Premier League. Recently the Daily Star had a feature on the worst player at every club according to the statistics; the recipient of this accolade for West Ham being Ashley Fletcher who came out as the 5^th worst player overall.

For the purposes of analysis I have once again referenced the excellent whoscored website. Even though I pay little heed to the how football statistics are used the site provides a comprehensive and well presented resource that includes an intriguing real-time stat update during the course of the game if you are so inclined. According to Whoscored over 200 raw statistics are fed into complex algorithms in order to derive both the team and player ratings.

Ratings are based on a unique, comprehensive statistical algorithm, calculated live during the game. There are over 200 raw statistics included in the calculation of a player’’s/team’’s rating, weighted according to their influence within the game. Every event of importance is taken into account, with a positive or negative effect on ratings weighted in relation to its area on the pitch and its outcome.

– Whoscored website

Looking at the team ratings the order of clubs is uncannily consistent with the current Premier League placings. The top 7 clubs are all the same with the minor discrepancy that the order of the two Manchester clubs are reversed. In Whoscored terms West Ham show up in 8th place overall rather than the actual 10th place of our league position. The lower reaches of the League also demonstrates a strong correlation between actual and statistical placings except that Palace appear several places higher (14th against 18th) from the perspective of statistical performance. So what does all this prove? Does it validate the statistics and the algorithms applied or is it simply the case that scoring goals and winning games carries the same weighted influence on position as do in the collection of league points? My takeaway from West Ham’s higher position in the statistical table is that it must prove that we played well and lost on several occasions this season. Convincing myself of such a conclusion might be stretch.

The top performing players in the league if the stats are to be believed are Alexis Sanchez, Eden Hazard and Paul Pogba. The only Hammer to make the top 10 is Dimitri Payet (at number nine). All of that top 10 are attacking players with the exception of Manchester City defensive stalwart Nicolas Otamendi, proving that City fans wanting him dropped are mistaken.

A point to note about the top 10 is that ratings are adjusted to account for appearances and should you look at the unadjusted ratings for West Ham you would find Andy Carroll performing better than Payet. It is surprising to learn of the quality of Payet’s performances when the consensus of many observers is that he had been going through the motions and loafing about on the left wing. Although I am not privy to the Whoscored algorithms I would guess that the factors driving his strong statistical performances (based on displayed data) are the number of assists (6) and man-of-the-match awards (5).

I do find the ‘assist’ a curious statistic in that a large part of earning one is dependent on someone else doing their job competently. A player can embark on a wonderful run, go past three defenders and play a delightful pass through to a colleague who has an open goal, but if that player fluffs his lines then no assist ensues. On the other hand make a simple routine pass to someone who rockets the ball into the net from 30 yards and you win yourself an assist. With up to 30% of goals for some teams coming from set pieces the designated takers (Payet and Snodgrass) are always going to have an advantage with this although I fully appreciate that good delivery should not be an underestimated skill.

Ex-Arsenal boss Don Howe is credited with devising the definition of the assist when it was first created as a way of adding interest to newspaper fantasy league competitions. From its humble beginnings it is now a mainstay of the commentator’s statistical armoury.

Looking at the individual player statistics, the top 6 high rating Hammers for the season are Carroll, Payet, Michail Antonio, Winston Reid, Arthur Masuako (yes!) and Darren Randolph. New signing Robert Snodgrass (second in the ratings at Hull) would slot in at number 7 for West Ham just ahead of fellow midfielders Cheikhou Kouyate, Pedro Obiang and Manuel Lanzini (with skipper Mark Noble floundering in a disappointing 16^th place). Defender Jose Fonte (11^th in the Southampton ratings) has a performance rating very slightly higher than James Collins and Angelo Ogbonna, some way behind Reid. Fonte’s former central defensive partner, Dick Van Djik, is comfortably on the topper most rung of Southampton performers.

For the record. my personal statistic free selections for top performing West Ham players for the season to date are Obiang, Reid and Antonio. The top 3 could well be under threat if there is more of the recent same from Carroll over the remainder of the season.

My Favourite Games: Number 3 – West Ham 3 Manchester United 2; 10 May 2016.

A series of occasional articles recalling my favourite West Ham games, and songs that topped the charts when these games were played . Today the last game at the Boleyn.

There have been so many great games in the last 58 years and I’ve covered many of them throughout my book, Goodbye Upton Park, Hello Stratford. So many of them are remembered because of the importance of the game, the goals scored, and the spine-tingling atmosphere generated by our fans. Hopefully my memories of these great games will evoke fond memories of fans, (especially older ones like me!), and the music in the charts at the time.

Favourite Game 3

No series on favourite matches could exclude this one. The final game at the Boleyn Ground, Upton Park was a memorable one for so many reasons. I’ll gloss over the shenanigans that delayed the kick off, and instead write about the marvellous entertainment served up by the players on this emotional night. We dominated the first half and came out of the blocks faster than in many games in the final season. Sakho’s well taken goal took a slight deflection in the tenth minute and another was disallowed for the ball going out of play. Both Carroll and Payet should have added first half goals when clean through but fluffed the chances. At the break we should have been three or four up and then the second half could have been a party. Would we come to rue those missed chances? This is West Ham. Of course we would.

Manchester United looked rattled throughout the first half and I couldn’t remember Randolph facing a shot. But half time seemed to have calmed them and two goals from Martial meant that we were behind with around 20 minutes left. How could this be? We had murdered them and yet here we were facing defeat in this final game. Surely they weren’t going to ruin the party? Hadn’t they read the script?

Within ten minutes we were back in front. A header from Antonio levelled the scores and Winston Reid, of all people headed the winner. Both goals were created by crosses from Payet, who else? Every one of us lucky to be there on that special night will remember the game for ever. We were so dominant that we had 20 shots on goal to the visitors 3. It would have been a travesty if we had not won the game. Fifty years before in 1966 we won our last home game at the end of the season, which happened to be against Manchester United, by three goals to two. An amazing co-incidence.

In the aftermath of the game, and much later than expected because of the delayed start, we were treated to additional entertainment in the form of a kind of closing ceremony, hosted by Ben Shephard and Bianca Westwood of Sky Sports who are both also supporters. Apart from the game itself the two additional highlights of the evening for me were the roll call of our players and managers who are no longer with us displayed on the screens as a backdrop to the band playing Abide With Me amid rapturous applause from the fans, and the ending with the lights being turned off on the big screen by the player in the number 6 West Ham shirt.

I have to admit that my musical tastes, despite being quite varied, are buried mainly in the 1960s and 1970s, and as time moves towards the present day, I know less and less about the charts, and my research for 10 May 2016 revealed that I knew none of the songs in the top ten that week. Number one was One Dance, by Drake featuring Wizkid & Kyla, which apparently held the top spot for 15 weeks, making it the second longest to hold the number one spot in chart history (which goes back to the 1950s). Other notable entries in that week’s chart, which younger readers will no doubt recall, include This Is What You Came For by Calvin Harris featuring Rihanna, Cheap Thrills by SIA, I Took A Pill In Ibiza by Mike Posner, and Work From Home by Fifth Harmony featuring Ty Dolla Sign. I’m none the wiser.

Scraping the Ice off the Transfer Window

With only a few days to go excitement and speculation mounts on new arrivals to E15.

It is Day 26 of the transfer window and we are still very much in the phoney posturing and positioning phase where bids are prepared, resolve is tested and war chests are opened as players come onto the radar, clubs are put on alert while others enter a tug of war to secure the services of that star player. Now with less than a week remaining before the window slams shut it is time to finally swoop, meet that valuation, sort out the paperwork and ink the deal.

Of course we already have one signing safely on board in the form of Number 23 Jose Fonte. In the absence of Angelo Ogbonna for the rest of the season, Fonte is likely to feature regularly in the first team for what is left of the season, particular with the talk of Reece Oxford going out on loan to Glasgow Rangers. Let’s hope that Fonte fares better than the last big money centre back signing from Southampton, Richard Hall, who picked up the West Ham injury curse and made only 8 appearances over 3 years before being forced to hang up his boots forever.

Expectations continue that West Ham should be looking to sign a right back and some sort of striker before the end of the window. There has been little tittle-tattle on the right back situation but a steady flow fo names have come and gone as far as forward players are concerned. Among these are the usual exotic assortment of fanciful foreign players such as M’Baye Niang, Gregoire Defrel, Jonatahn Cafu and Ivan Perisic. The more everyday home grown alternatives, and those that have been more sticky on the rumour conveyor belt, are Robert Snodgrass from Hull and Scott Hogan of Brentford.

Allegedly Hull have accepted offers for Snodgrass from a number of teams including West Ham. It is not a signing that gets the juices flowing and for the type of player that he is and at 29 years old he can only have a couple of seasons left in him. Having said that, I can see him stepping straight into the first team but only while Antonio is played further forward and because Ayew and Feghouli have yet to deliver the goods.

I have never seen Scott Hogan play (even on Youtube) but he is meant to have good pace and movement, both of which are rapidly becoming a must-have for the modern Premier League player (and are attributes missing from Feghouli, Ayew and Snodgrass). He is also young but with that comes inexperience; his scoring record at Brentford has been impressive but he has a worrying injury record. Like any player stepping up a division or arriving from an overseas league it is extremely difficult to be confident of success. Hogan would be a gamble but it might be the type of opportunity that we need to seize.

As for the exit door I believe that there is a high probability that terms will be agreed for Payet and that Calleri will leave with his one Premier League deflected goal. I have seen speculation that incoming deals are dependent on Payet leaving but I can’t believe that finances at this level really work like that, and that Sullivan needs to cash Marseille’s Postal Order before he can pop the cash in a suitcase and drive it up to Hull.

It could yet be an interesting few days……..or not!