On Saturday, Big Sam’s men delivered the type of home performance that if seen earlier on in the season, would have transformed Upton Park into a fortress where every Championship team would have dreaded visiting, achieving our biggest victory since January 1998 in the process. Unbelievably, this result marked our first home victory since the Millwall game on 4th February.
During a season of nervous starts at Upton Park with oppositions habitually putting ten men behind the ball with the ‘break us down if you can’ attitude, it was a welcome sight to see West Ham absolutely destroy Brighton within the first eleven minutes with two goals from man of the moment Ricardo Vaz Te, a cracking long shot and a header, and captain Kevin Nolan with an instinctive poke home. This in reality ended the game as a contest.
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Brighton then had a spell of decent possession towards the end of the half (which we may have to beware of if we face them in the play offs) but with little end product, often being out-muscled in challenges and struggling with the Hammers power and aerial threat. Contrary to fans moans in previous games, it must be said there was not an awful lot of evidence of the long ball approach, with quick passing and constant pressure applied to Brighton’s possession (forcing regular mistakes) being the order of the day for Big Sam’s boys.
After half time, West Ham came out with the same attitude, clearly sensing the opportunity to notch our goal difference closer to Southampton plus 34. This approach paid off in droves. On 62 minutes Ricardo Vaz Te grabbed himself a worthy hatrick with a sublime overhead kick, followed by a Carlton Cole shot that was deflected by Henri Lansbury looping over Peter Brezovan in the Brighton goal. The final nail in poor Brighton’s coffin came when Gary Dicker put a corner into his own net to the dismay of his teammates, concluding a result that some fans may say has been delivered too late.
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However, pressure now it seems, will be on Southampton as they face two tricky away games to Peterborough and Middlesbrough, whilst Sam will be telling his boys “same again will do!” at Ashton Gate and The Walkers Stadium to keep up our fantastic away form.
Hopefully, this will now lift any worries or inhibitions the players will have over playing in front of an expectant home crowd. The 34,000 are expectant because we know we are capable of thrashings and football lessons of this magnitude to any Championship team (taking Reading out of the equation). Three more wins would take us to 88 points, normally a tally that is enough for automatic promotion. With two of Southampton’s games being against Middlesbrough and Coventry, teams that are working hard to squeeze into the play off and stay in the league respectively, our hope’s are boosted for dropped points somewhere along the way for the Saints.
If we do now end up in the play-offs, so be it. Fans certainly feel a performance like this shown at Upton Park proves we have nothing to worry about home or away and the job can actually be finished off in the first leg if the players perform in the same vain.
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