What a difference a result can make, a week on from our execution of the lilywhites on their own turf, the gloom surrounding our season has been lifted, in the incredibly fickle world of modern day football I do believe we have good reason to be optimistic.
The trouncing of Spurs has unequivocally given everyone at the club a boost; the victory also saw the return of two key players; Stewart Downing and Joey Cole. Up until the game at the lane scoring had been a major issue and one of the reasons that was the case was because we were missing two of our most creative players. With their return I can certainly see us opening up the opposition more often with the trickery, skill and vision of Cole and the pace, directness and crossing of Downing.
The Spurs game was definitely the most difficult game (on paper anyway) that was looming on the horizon and with them slain, there’s nothing to stop West Ham from going into the next dozen or so fixtures with renewed confidence and belief; if we can go to the backyard of a team everyone is lauding as ‘title contenders’ and show them up to be mere pretenders then no fixture should hold any fear for this Hammers side.
Another reason for cautious optimism is David Gold recently tweeted that he expects Andy Carroll (remember him?) to return next month, if this prediction is accurate then thank the lord or whichever God you choose to pray to! This team was created with Carroll as the focal point; with him in the side expect to see the best of Joe Cole, Kevin Nolan, Stewart Downing and Matt Jarvis etc. Though the 4-6-0 worked a treat at the Lane, it will be a welcome relief to see our big Geordie back in action.
Lastly a word for the man of the moment…Ravel Morrison; his goal at White Hart Lane was simply incredible, slaloming and jinking his way past Jan Vertonghen and Michael Dawson then deftly dinking the ball over Hugo Lloris…it was a goal that showcased everything that is exciting about his talent; his ability to run with the ball, his fearlessness, his composure in front of goal and making it all look so effortless. It certainly looks as though Ravel is going to have a major impact on our season and so far it looks like we have a match winner on our hands and you can never have enough of those.
Bring on Man City, Sam’s boys are ready.
