Throughout the season it’s fair to say that West Ham United’s have pretty decent home form with eight wins and four draws and it appears to be what is keeping us in the Premier League this season.
With three wins and a draw in our first four fixtures at Upton Park, we got off to one of the best starts to a season since 2008/09, with wins over Aston Villa, Crewe and Fulham and a 1-1 draw with Sunderland.
As solid as our home form has been throughout the season, it’s fair to say that the problem is securing all three points at away games. Last year we dominated away fixtures, resulting in us gaining promotion despite a lacklustre start, however, we just haven’t seemed to have kept this mentality. Despite our away form letting us down, I personally feel it’s better to be stronger at home than on the road, as teams should fear Upton Park, not feel it will be an easy game.
In football finding that equilibrium between away and home fixtures is tough, those that manage this always find themselves high in the Premier League table. In our case, we haven’t come close to it, with our away form being pretty bad totalling eleven losses and four draws throughout the season so far.
I feel as though we are now safe and can look forward to next season, however if we are going to attempt to finish higher next season, we have to address this issue on the road as soon as possible and it will be a great boost if we can start before this closing season finishes.
One thing that will certainly improve results away, is the return of Mark Noble. I have always felt that with him in the side the team plays with more heart and soul and that is something every team needs when going into the heart of an opponents ground, in hope of walking away victorious with all three points.
With the season coming to an end in just over a month, in our next three home games we come up against Wigan Athletic, Newcastle and Reading, all of which are games that can have large implications on who stays up and who goes down. The last two away games we travel to play Manchester City and Everton, two games that will certainly be a challenge but in football anything is possible – just like us regaining our home form.
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