1) When under-fire West Ham boss Sam Allardyce has a full-strength defence to choose from, they are a tough nut to crack. While the Hammers have struggled all season long to score goals, at the beginning of this season their defence stood up and prevented them getting cut adrift at the bottom of the Barclays Premier League.
However, injuries at key times to James Collins and the lengthy absence of Winston Reid, coupled with James Tomkins’ suspension, left the Hammers in dire straits at the back and shipping goals left, right and centre.
Yet, at Stamford Bridge, and with Tomkins and Collins reunited, the Hammers held firm to deny a Chelsea side hell bent on closing the gap at the top of the Premier League.
With the potential signing of Manchester City and England defender Joleon Lescott and Reid nearing a return, things are finally looking up at the back, which will give West Ham a fighting chance of staying up.
2) Despite the pressure being firmly on Allardyce after a poor summer transfer window, which was made worse by the injury to Andy Carroll and a depressing start to the season, any lingering doubts about a dressing room split can be put to bed.
If any West Ham player wanted Big Sam out, that was far from evident at the Bridge where they tore about the pitch making tackles and throwing their bodies in front everything Chelsea had to throw at them. With that mentality, the Hammers will be a hard side to beat. However, too often this season they have put in a good display and given the fans and their manager cause for optimism, only to follow it up with a naff performance. That’s what makes Saturday’s clash with Swansea City so vital and will show just how strong this side’s stomach is for the fight ahead.
3) We learnt at Stamford Bridge just why Allardyce made the bold move to drop his number one goalkeeper and replace him with Spanish shot stopper, Adrian.
Jussi Jaaskelainen has been reliable since he arrived at Upton Park and is a trusted goalkeeper that Big Sam clearly rates having worked with him at Bolton Wanderers. On West Ham’s return to the Premier League last season, he was the mainstay of a resolute defence and an important member of the team.
Yet, the signing of Adrian in the summer, coupled with a slight dip in form from Jaaskelainen, it allowed Allardyce the opportunity to try the Spaniard. And despite being in goal when the Hammers were soundly beaten at Nottingham Forest and Manchester City, he has endeared himself to the Hammers faithful with displays full of character and heart and he repaid Sam’s faith in him – and silenced any doubters – with some outstanding saves, including one from Frank Lampard at the death to earn the Hammers a valuable point.
4) While Big Sam quite rightly took the plaudits, he also reminded us all that he is stubborn and any form of change at the club under his stewardship is going to be a gradual process.
He started the season with the mindset that skipper Kevin Nolan will play behind Carroll up front. Despite a shocking season and Nolan’s barren spell in front of goal, at the first available opportunity, Allardyce put them together hoping something would spark and they’d be able to nick a goal.
That of course didn’t happen. For the majority of Hammers fans, we were looking forward to seeing at least one of our two new Italian loan signings start, but yet again Sam opted for his tried and tested. Any hopes that Nolan would be the man sacrificed for one or both of Antonio Nocerino or Marco Borriello looks like as p*ss in the wind for the time being.
Whether Sam can continue to show faith in a player that no longer commands a place in the side remains to be seen, but could ultimately have a big say in how the Hammers end the season.
5) The main thing we learnt from the point against Chelsea was that West Ham belong in this league. The squad is good enough to compete and not only that, they can get points against sides battling to be in the top four.
The squad at Upton Park, admittedly when all fit and available, is not a side that should be battling at the bottom of the Premier League, but one that should be looking to better last season’s 10th placed finish. A solid defence and goalkeeper is enough to ensure the Hammers can mix it with the best, while with the likes of Mark Noble, Ravel Morrison, Nocerino, Stewart Downing and Mo Diame, there’s real quality and steel in the midfield. Carroll is the spearhead of our attack and with Borriello and Carlton Cole; goals should be easier to come by in this final segment of the season.
With that quality at his disposal, mixed with a deadline day signing or two, it’s now up to Allardyce to get the best out of them and do what they haven’t done all season: show consistency, starting on Saturday against Swansea.
Over to you Big Sam.
Couldn’t agree more! I was thoroughly impressed with our performance against chelski! The way we battled, scrapped and put bodies on the line didn’t look like a team that had lost faith in its manager or the fight ahead! But it’s so true that it’s no good putting in a performance against the likes of chelski only to throw it all away the very next match! We need to get on a run that pulls us away from the bottom of the table and this is why feb is now so important. We must take at least 10 points from these 4 games! They are all winnable! We must keep the faith! We are west ham! COYI!
SAM, YOU HAVE ANDY CARROLL IN YOUR SIDE, NOW USE HIM! MAKE HIM GIVE BACK A RETURN. IF HE CAN SCORE A HAT TRICK FOR NEWCASTLE AGAINST VILLA, THEN HE CAN DAMNED WELL GET ONE AGAINST SWANSEA TOMOROW, AND YES, A GREATY GUTSY PERFROMANCE AGAINST THE CHELSEA GLAMOUR BOYS. THAT SHOULD SHUT UP WHINGING MOURINHO FOR A WHILE. YOU STOPPED THE DESERTER FRANK SCORINGING AGAINST US FOR A CHANGE, & ADRIAN KEPT BOOFHEAD BIG JOHN OUT, SHAME THE REF DIDN’T GIVE ANDY MORE PROTECTION AGAINST BOOFHEAD, BUT YES, THAT’S THE SPIRIT. KEEP IT UP LADS