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Unneccesary Changes Dent Hammers Automatic Promotion Chances

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A superb second half comeback will mask some poor decisions from the management and a woeful first half display that may well have finally ended West Ham’s chancesof automatic promotion. Late goals from Carlton Cole and Ricardo Vaz Te somehowgave the Hammers a point after going in at the break 3-1 down.

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After a near perfect performance from Sam Allardyce’s side on Friday night, beating Barnsley4-0, why did the manager feel the need to change the team? Nicky Maynard led the line brilliantly in Yorkshire, looking a constant threat along with neat football between Mark Noble, Kevin Nolan and Vaz Te causing all kinds of problems for the Tykes. For some reason, unknown to me, Allardyce felt Cole was the man to lead the attack today in another game where he was pretty poor. His turn and finish to pull the Hammers back to within one goal of Birmingham will probably hide his terrible forward play for 90 minutes and the fact he could well be blamed for two of the goals we conceded.

Two goals in the space of three minutes mid way through the first half from Jordan Mutch and Marlon King came out of the blue and stunned the home crowd. Both times the ball was given away cheaply in the middle of the pitch and basic defending allowed two neat finishes arguably against the run of play.

West Ham’s left winger, Nicky Maynard then hit the bar and Kevin Nolan should have done better with a chance of his own before Vaz Te nodded home in the third minuteof added time in the first half to give the Hammers a life-line. But for the second game running at home, the hosts conceded a late, late goal in the first half after once again Cole didn’t just play the Birmingham striker onside but then missed a clearing header that meant the Blues went in 3-1 to the good.

 

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With Henri Lansbury on for Maynard at half time, West Ham lined up with four centre backs and four centre midfielders on the pitch as it seemed wing play went out of the equation. West Ham then had two or three penalty claims, but for all their possession rarely worked Boaz Myhill in the Birmingham goal as his team were camped in their own half.

Cole then did manage to have a rare shot on target that nestled into the bottom corner and the comeback was on. With fairly embarrassing cries of ‘we want Baldock on the pitch’ reverberating around the ground, his inclusion added pace to the side but little else although finally the ref decided West Ham would get the penalty they have been crying out for all game after Burke was judged to have blocked a Lansbury shot with his hands. Vaz Te stepped up and done the business to earn a draw in an entertaining game at Upton Park that doesn’t really help eitherside.

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10 comments

  • phil says:

    yep carlton cole is an embarrassment and I have said it all season. He is a shocker and has only one foot which is poor. Why do we continue to hold on to rubbish like him

    • Jim says:

      Funny seeing as he scored yesterday’s cracker with his left.

      • Legends says:

        it was hardly a “cracker”. it was just an ordinary goal.
        The one that missed the top left hand corner would have been a cracker. But that one didn’t go in.
        I prefer to judge a striker based on how many chances he creates for himself. How many times he tests the keeper. His shots per game. His goals per shots ratio. His assists. How often he loses the ball. How often he wins it back again. His performances over time. My gut feeling. If he’s through 1 on 1 do i think he’ll score.
        Unfortunately my gut feeling at the moment is that Carlton Cole probably won’t score. And if he does – I’m surprised. And that can’t be a good thing.

  • dave says:

    Quite agree am a little bewilldered as to why the starting eleven changed from the Barnsley game. I thought the team at Barnsley looked well balanced with good pace and creativity from midfield.

  • Legends says:

    Fair criticism in my opinion.
    Even though last night’s equaliser got my adrenaline rushing again (in a all-is-forgiven manor) it doesn’t hide the fact that serious questions must be asked about the team selection and why we found ourselves in that position.
    I couldn’t understand the lineup either. Cole shouldn’t have started. And not scoring goals isn’t the only argument. He continues to close his eyes when he heads the ball (or for better words when he doesn’t head the ball). His hold up play is questionable. He runs down his energy levels chasing down no hopes. He is not providing any assists. I’m fed up of seeing him with his hands on his head as though luck and the whole world is against him – luck doesn’t exist!
    Maynard should have been playing down the middle.
    To me, Tomkins looked lost at right back. He seemed out of position on the through ball for King’s goal. And going forward down the line, in certain circumstances he looked lost for ideas. Don’t get me wrong i love Tomkins, but not at right back. I would have kept the same back 4 as against Barnsley. Tomkins and Reid looked great in the middle.
    With all the height in the side, O’Neil threw in some rubbish corners to no one at the near post. O’Neil for me is a solid dependable player. But Lansbury is aggressive going forward and has much more attacking vision. If we want to score more goals I’d go with Lansbury every time. And quite simply, he’s a better player.
    Hats off to Nolan though, I thought he’s been magnificent in the last 2 games. Getting involved more and bossing things.

  • Do people actually watch the team play. Scruff is not a footballer. His first touch is terrible. Yesterday he lost the ball in midfield – where he should not have been – and Birmingham scored. He was on our goal line and gave them their third – because he came off the line and jumped sideways at thin air – if he had stood still, the ball would have hit him !

    Last season he continually tried to collect the ball facing our goal, and with our midfield streaming past him he lost control, and left our back exposed. The only time he showed control on on half way line, he passed the ball to Defoe, who was standing, unmarked, outside our penalty area – goal to the Spuds !

    Sorry Carlton, when we use you as a target man, the opposition just put a defender on you, and you give away loads of fouls, slow the attack or lose control.

  • HammersGirl says:

    I am starting to believe that Big Sam is right in thinking that some of our fans are delusional…

    You CANNOT play the same tactics at home as you do away. We played fantastic at Barnsley against a team who (by that performance) shouldn’t even be in the Championship. The flow of football was great and we were so relaxed it just worked.

    But at Upton Park, teams come and stick 11 men behind the ball… if you have Maynard in the middle and no Cole how exactly do you expect to break teams down? I HATE long ball but in this division at home it’s the only way unfortunately.

    The first half was atrocious. I agree that Tomo was well out of his comfort zone at right back and i have to say for the first time this season Greeno was not up to par.

    That said, the second half was inspiring. I had accepted the play-offs were our only way up when we lost to Reading… so surely what we should focus on now is getting a good run of form together… and 135 minutes have shown that we are still a force.

    COYI!

  • Romford Reg says:

    We were never going to play the same team against Birmingham as we did against Barnsley. Let’s not kid ourselves, Barnsley were so awful they misleadingly made us look brilliant. Birmingham are a decent side who have had some decent away wins this season. they are well organised, difficult to breakdown and play at pace on the break. Only an idiot would have approached them with the same side we had against Barnsley. In the end, as much as any of us will hate to admit it, we played the “West Ham Way” in the first half and where did it get us? The second half was, what I like to call, “intelligent direct football” and we clawed back a draw. I was at the game and I don’t recall hearing “we want Baldock on the pitch” ringing around the Boleyn. And some people here will criticise Cole for anything and everything, and from their TV sets didn’t see him get a standing ovation as he came off the pitch last yesterday.

    • Legends says:

      let’s analyse why we conceded 3 goals in the first half… before we talk about comparing styles of play.
      The first goal was a loose ball from McCartney into O’Neil(?) on the half way line. 3 birmingham players burst through against Faye, Reid and McCartney (recovering his position). 2 decoy runs took McCartney and Reid away and Mutch at pace took it past Faye and shot hard and low into the bottom corner. .. Who was at fault? McCartney/O’Neil for losing possession? Faye stepping out late? Green for not saving? Big Sam for not having a holding midfielder in front of the back 4 (as in away games)? All of the above? … Or McCartney for not hoofing it long in the first place? ..
      The second goal was a pass by Tomkins at right back into Cole on the half way line. It was clearly the wrong choice of pass from Tomkins with 2 birmingham players around Cole. Cole miscontrolled. Birmingham broke and put a quick through ball past Faye, who first had decided to leave his man and go to the ball. .. Was it Tomkins fault for playing the ball short? Should he have gone long? Was it Coles fault for not controlling and beating 2 men? Was it Faye’s fault for taking his eye off his man? … If you look at it closely there was no covering midfielder for the eventuality of Cole losing the ball. Therefore Big Sam’s fault? Or perhaps there was supposed to be a covering midfielder but he was out of position?
      The third goal was from a corner. Nolan easily won the header but headed it low towards the edge of the box. A poor defending header. Oncoming Burke hits his shot into the floor and it bounces in. Cole closed his eyes with a sideways jump. With no real belief to head it. Green didn’t account for Cole missing it. Nolan or Cole… take your pick but i wouldn’t blame any of the other players for this goal.
      On the first and second goals, both full backs would have been better advised to go long. … But i argue that going long in these 2 circumstances would not mean the team over 90 minutes were a long ball team. But simply 2 full backs making an optimal risk assessment of the 2 situations and deciding to defend first. This is not necessarily long ball football. In fact, playing zonal football is often advised when defending, or when the team is under the cosh, or when there are no better options, to allow the team to regroup etc. This is what west ham have not done consistently well over the years. Choosing the moments to go long, get back in position, and go again.
      So to explain why we went in at half time 1-3 the reasons are 3 isolated moments. Not due to an underlying style of play. And it absolutely isn’t a critique of the West Ham way. The West Ham way is more about the way we go forward & attack, rather than the way we defend.
      I maintain that Tomkins at right back was the wrong decision. I also suggest a holding midfielder (as used in away games) could possibly have prevented 1 or 2 of the goals. And i maintain that Cole is not a target man for long balls (or crosses) because he can’t head the ball.

  • scott templeman says:

    Cole’s job description means he has to hold the ball up to allow the midfield time to come forward whilst winning his fair share in the air(not asking to much considering his size),time and again he fails to do this and his clownlike ability probably cost us two goals yesterday,most of the time he falls over defenders claiming fouls but in reality his is the culprit,knees are gone and so will he be at the end of the season,he only plays because of fattys devotion to go long!should be creaming this leagues defenders,i think we can all see his future lies in league 1.While we have Maynard Vaz Te and Baldock he should be warming those knee’s on the bench.

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