It was fantastic to finally get a win under our belts, Andy Carroll made his long anticipated return and we looked a far better team than the one that played against Manchester City. So here are five things we learnt against Cardiff City.
1. Keep Carlton Cole.
With his contract running out in a couple of days we should give him a contract till the end of the season. He has scored four goals in 11 Premier League games, he wants to play in the top flight and I think he should get another contract. While he will face some competition, if he keeps finding the back of the net he will have no worries getting game time.
2. We can play
I was disgusted to watch the Manchester City game. It was like we rolled over and died, no passion, no heart, and no effort. This can’t be said for this game; a lot better performance and we got the result we deserved. I was particularly proud of Mark Noble and thought he did a fantastic job as captain.
3. We are a lot better when Andy Carroll is playing.
No doubt we are and this game has proved it. I could see that Matt Jarvis and Stewart Downing would have been licking their lips to the fact that their crosses would now hit a target. Carroll is an intimidating man, couple that with Downing’s crosses that in swing into the six-yard box, we are going to cause some serious headaches for defenders. Carroll has taken months to recover from this injury, and many people have questioned his transfer, I hope he proves them all wrong and get bags of goals.
4. Matt Taylor isn’t making the grade.
I hate putting players down, but I feel Taylor isn’t justifying his inclusion. There is a big question, why didn’t Mohamed Diame or Ravel Morrison start. We all know that these players might be getting a transfer, but until an offer is made I think that we should play them. Ravel didn’t make the bench, which for me is a worry because he is a player who can make a difference and if Fulham think that they can get him for £4 million they are in fantasyland.
At 32, Taylor’s career is at the crossroads, he has to step up or else he will be looking for a new club in July.
5. Adrian can play
It’s hard being a number 2 keeper, lots of your time is spenton the bench and just waiting for a chance. However I feel Adrian did well, he has had to fight for his chance and now looks like he will be a good keeper once Jussi Jaaskelainen retires. While he never had to do some fantastic saves from the top draw he was challenged and there we no mistakes. Eurosport rated him as an eight for the game, which I think is fair. It’s good to see we have some good backup in some spots in the team.
All in all boys, well done it’s good to see us out of the relegation zone and scoring goals with clean sheets. Now go and do if again against Newcastle United next week.
I agree with all of the points with the exception of number 4, Matt Taylor played very well yesterday, I thought he worked hard for the team and provided an exquisite ball to Jarvis for our first goal, I think he’s worth keeping if only as a squad player
i thought Matt Taylor played very well and was our 3rd best player on the day.
Yeah I thought Taylor was okay, did waste possession a couple of times but worked hard.. Cole and Maiga have both been better the last month or so, Carroll will make us much stronger but still need one more quality forward.. And a centre back, not sold on Roger! And Noble surely has to claim the captaincy!
Great win, lets see if we can get the ‘back to back’ monkey off our backs next week and win again. Noble took stick early in the season, but what a game yeaterday, his style of play makes him a leader and I think he should retain the captaincy. Heartening also to see the reaction on the bench when the second goal went in, not the staff, but the players. Nolan and Joe Cole hugging and jumping around. A lot has been said about whether they care enough, but that reaction was great to see. I dont see the value is selling either Ravel or Diame, they are good players, but on the other side of the coin what good will they be if they really dont want to be there. Ravel – Fulham, really!!
Yes, make back-to-back happen. You’ve had, we’ve all had a right to be angry, now stay angry & drive the lads home on Saturday OK! make this happen & after this happens then stay primed for our 1st revenge of 2014 match against Chelsea.
We cannot let Diame go under any circumstances. We has skill and power unlike Nolan who I would love to see sold. We don’t need him, he is a liability hothead who also needs to lose a few pounds. As for the great talent Ravel, we NEED players like him. He is a traditional West Ham type of player and a real crowd puller. All we need to do is bring in another forward, sell Nolan and get Reid and Collins back. Period!
Very unfair opinion on Matt Taylor based on yesterdays performance where he was excellent. I was delighted that both Diame and Morrison were left on the bench after putting in lazy, couldn’t-care-less, sub-standard performances of late. Diame can go asap as far as im concerned. One trick pony who plays when it suits him (generally the easier the opposition, the better he plays) whilst Morrison is very hit and miss depending on his mood of the day according to reports. I really don’t see Morrision cutting the mustard long term at any club based on a number of factors. The reason we did well yesterday was because Taylor, Collison, the superb Noble, McCartney and Tompkins were prepared to work their socks off for the cause, and the lazy Diame, Nolan and and Morrison were left to sit it out and watch how midfielders SHOULD graft when the chips are down.
Here here spence55 , Morrison doesn’t give a toss about west ham he can’t wait to leave us , apparently were not a big enough club for him, and as for Nolan well he shown us all were he’s loyalties lie and it isn’t with us is it my fellow hammers.
Nolan dropped a division to come to West Ham, he was our leading goal scorer last year, so don’t be too quick to condemn this man my friend. He will come good & be OK at least for the rest of the season.
The current FA rules system uses 3pts for a win, 1pt for a draw & uses goal difference.
This is how the current table would’ve looked after rd 21 under the old Football League rules of 2 pts for a win, 1 pt for a draw & goal average, being goals scored divided by goals against, with just 2 teams being relegated from 22 teams.
TEAM P W D L F A ga pts
1 Arsenal 21 15 3 3 41 19 2.16/ 33
2 Man City 21 15 2 4 59 23 2.60/ 32
3 Chelsea 21 14 4 3 40 19 2.10/ 32
4 Everton 21 11 8 2 34 19 1.80/ 30
5 Liverpool 21 13 3 5 51 26 1.97/ 29
6 Tottenham 21 12 4 5 26 25 1.04/ 28
7 Man Utd 21 11 4 6 35 24 1.46/ 26
8 Newcastle 21 10 3 8 29 27 1.07/ 23
9 Southampton 21 8 6 7 27 23 1.18/ 22
10 West Brom 21 4 9 8 23 28 0.82/ 17
11 Hull City 21 6 5 10 22 27 0.81/ 17
12 Aston Villa 21 6 5 10 20 27 0.74/ 17
13 Stoke City 21 5 7 9 22 35 0.63/ 17
14 Swansea 21 5 6 10 26 30 0.87/ 16
15 Norwich City 21 5 5 11 17 35 0.49/ 15
16 West Ham Utd 21 4 6 11 21 30 0.70/ 14
17 Cardiff City 21 4 6 11 15 34 0.44/ 14
18 Sunderland 21 4 5 12 19 34 0.56/ 13
19 Fulham 21 6 1 14 22 46 0.48/ 13
20 Crystal Palace 21 5 2 14 13 31 0.43/ 12
21 Nonexistent Team :: :: :: :: :: :: ::
22 Nonexistent Team :: :: :: :: :: :: ::
e.g. After 21 games Liverpool would 5th & not 4th, Everton 4th & 5th, Hull 11th & not 10th, West Brom 10th & not 14th, Aston Villa would be 12th & not 11th & Stoke 13th & not 12th Swansea 14th & not 13th West ham 16th & not 17th Cardiff 17th & not 18th Sunderland 18th & not 19th & FULHAM 19TH & NOT 16TH. Crystal Palace have scored only 13 goals, losing 3 more games & drawing 4 less games than West Ham. Glad West Ham let Chamakh go. This gives a truer picture of teams real performances.
After 21 games:
Clean sheets; Arsenal 9,Man City 10,Chelsea 10,Liverpool 6,Everton 10,Tottenham 9, Man Utd 7,Newcastle 6,Southampton 8,Hull 6,Aston Villa 6,Stoke 6,Swansea 5, West Brom 5, Norwich 8, Fulham 3, West Ham 9, Cardiff 5, Sunderland 5, Crystal Palace 5,
Only Man City, Chelsea & Everton have kept more clean sheets than Sam Allardyce! With this performance with the injuries we’ve had, there is little else really that Sam needs to learn!
But we must “Maintain The Rage” yes maintain that anger because of certain unfavourable events putting us under such pressure. West Ham are better than at least half the teams in this division. Stay strong & galvanised & prove all the knockers wrong West Ham!