“Best point yet”

Sam Allardyce hailed the point against Manchester City as the ‘Best Point Yet’, which I would be entitled to agree with him, if he was only talking about this season.

I was very impressed with the side that played Manchester City this weekend and it was very pleasing to see a side bounce back from a dismal performance against Wigan Athletic. The result against Wigan did cause some concern, I was fully expecting a point at least from our travels to Lancashire but we were second best completely, it wasn’t the fact that they had the better of the possession and they also took their chances well, but it was the worry that West Ham United, for the first time this year looked clueless and totally inept. The passing was very poor and their was no creative ideas on the pitch, we were far too obvious and this made the side very obvious to stop and play against, but it was also the fact that we were without any emotion or any inspiration to get a foothold into the game. There was no drive from the players and there was no passion to turn it around, until we really had a go at the Wigan defense, when it seemed James Tomkins was playing as a 3^rd striker.

Though, casting that aside, coming into a game with the current champions of England off the back of that would have caused concern for players, management and fans. However from the blast of Howard Webb’s whistle to signal the end of the moment’s silence for the remembrance of those who have passed in past and current wars, the fans and West Ham United players were up for the job and the exuding confidence from the crowd seemed to transform the side.

 

I thought that on the balance of the first half we were just as good as the opposing side, creating just as many dangerous chances as City could. It is harsh that Nolan’s fifth minute strike past Joe Hart was chalked off unfairly but this was counter acted by the fact that Mario Balotelli was at his best efforts not to find the back of the West Ham net, where as on another day, he could of really punished the West Ham defense. Of course it also helps that Carlos Tevez was doing his best to pretend that he was in the form of the first 15 games of his West Ham career. Many fans forget that it took the Argentine almost 5 months to get his first West Ham goal, but when his achievements in the end resulted in a survival for the club, his status as a Hammers hero and returning son will always be remembered. In second half, City was a dominant force and they probably were the better team on the day, but if you can’t take your chances, you’ll never score.

As I stated earlier, Sam heralded this performance as the best point of his stewardship at the helm of West Ham United so far, which is hard to argue with. We did hold the Champions to a clean sheet draw, which is a momentous achievement, and I feel that for the first time this season we maybe safe come the end of the campaign, but was it the best point yet?

In my own humble opinion, the point did signify that we may have enough to stay up and it seems as only a matter of time before Andy Carroll finds the net for West Ham. Despite this, wins over sides such as QPR and Southampton show that we are on the right track and winning over the sides that you’ll be realistically competing with, come the end of the season, will be of far more value.