1) That Andy Carroll has been missed so much more than we ever thought was the case.
The big man returned for a start against Manchester City and showed more fight, power and intent than dear old Carlton Cole and Modibo Maiga combined.
The City defenders were battered from start to finish and the giant goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon was left prone on the turf after another, shall we say, rustic challenge from our huge Geordie boy. He showed that making life easy for defenders is not high on his list of priorities. A fully fit Carroll is crucial if we are to have any possible chance of survival.
2) That defending like poorly coached youth team players will result in only one thing; defeat.
Watching professional players diving in like Sunday morning amateurs, or seeing opposition marksmen drifting unmarked in the heart of the Hammers defence was hard to watch.
Any of us who have pulled on a pair of football boots at almost any level understand the principles of defending; mark tight in the box, make sure get a challenge in, and stay on your feet. I’ve no problem with great players like Sergio Aguero and Alvaro Negredo bagging a hatful of goals, but surely we could make them do a little work for them?
Both first half goals conceded were wholly avoidable, and to me appeared symptomatic of poorly coached players who seem to lack understanding both as individuals and as a back unit.
The final goal was again made so, so easy as player after player dallied, slid in or watched transfixed as the City man ran and ran before lifting the ball into the net. The need for a fit and committed Winston Reed in the heart of our defence is urgent, and like the Carroll situation, will be a deciding factor in whether we beat the looming drop or not.
3) We knew already, but learnt again last night, that the chronic lack of pace throughout the side is a real issue that sees us constantly caught out in all areas of the field.
The contrast in speed of thought and pass between City and West Ham was stark, and left us chasing shadows in the middle, and getting tied in knots at the back where slick inter-play was always in evidence throughout the City side.
In contrast, we take an age to build up any momentum, and a lack of speed on the ball means opposition defences have all the time in the world to reform and repel.
The one flair player with a great turn of pace, Ravel Morrison, was used far too deep and spent most of the night passing square or backwards instead of using his skill and acceleration to get into the box and work some magic.
Frustrating, and for me, totally illogical when there are so many holding players who could have allowed him to get forward. Stewart Downing made a difference in the second half with some driving runs, but yet again, far too little far too late.
4) We learnt that playing a steady stream of long back-to-front diagonal balls is meat and drink to international class defenders and is the easiest way to give possession to the opposition.
I gave up counting just how often this ‘tactic’ was tried and failed. Finding Andy Carroll’s head with a whipped in ball is one thing, but to punt the ball in the general direction of the front man time and time again is lazy, thoughtless and a cop out.
Contrast that with the way City played patient keep ball from the back, and moved through the gears as they entered our final third. Play of that quality takes great skill and technical ability, admitted, but it also takes a great deal of energy, commitment, thought and intelligence which we just lack in so many areas.
5) We learnt that our shortcomings are becoming unwanted habits that are going to drag us down a division unless there is a major improvement both individually and as a team.
Just how many goals are we going to concede by dropping off until the goals is in sight? By poor marking? By going to ground instead of staying on our feet? And by showing a total lack of awareness when balls are delivered into our box?
In the centre of the field, are we ever going to keep the ball long enough to be able to use it offensively, and are there enough players either able or more importantly willing to make forward runs and get behind defences and cause some problems for the opposition? It’s all too easy for visiting teams to retreat quickly as we dwell on the ball during a painfully slow build up phase, and just sit there as we lack any invention in and around the box to cause their keeper any problems at all.
Whilst the 6-0 drubbing in Manchester the other week was a low point and a blot on the clubs proud, if unspectacular history, a 3-0 home defeat in a near deserted Boleyn Ground, by City playing at a canter was almost as bad. There was a clear lack of fight and application from the same old suspects, but equally worrying was the lack of know how and straight forward ability that we need so badly for the fight ahead.
We can only hope that now the unwanted distraction of a possible Wembley final, tossed away so cheaply I can’t quite believe it, is consigned to history, so all thoughts and efforts will be focused firmly and solely on survival. I’m really not hopeful, but there’s one glimmer of light in the gloom…this is West Ham United we are talking about, surely the most unpredictable, unfathomable, almost unsupportable team in world football!
We were shit without Carroll and we were still shit with him. Cole has been very good recently and nearly scored after a great bit of skill so not sure why you hate him so much. I am all for Carroll being our saviour but he hasn’t done anything that suggests he is our saviour. You’ve jumped the gun…
Who can argue with that
Great to see Carroll back – he will certainly make a difference up front; however he’s unlikely to have any impact on the defensive capabilities (Sunday league standard currently) of the side and so far there’s very little evidence of the remedial actions required to fix this.
Even with Carroll back, it’s hard to see the team outscoring the opposition when it’s leaking goals repeatedly in each game .
Depressing 🙁
West Ham’s games remaining this season;
Chelsea (A), Swansea (H), Aston Villa (A), Norwich (H), Southampton (H), Everton (A), Hull (H), Stoke (A), Man Utd (H), Sunderland (A), Liverpool (H), Arsenal (A), Crystal Palace (H), West Brom (A), Tottenham (H), Man City (A)
Of 22 more points Required from 16 games = 5 wins, 7 draws & 4 losses;
OR: 6 wins, 4 draws & 6 losses, or at least 4 wins, needs 10 draws & just 2 losses
I can see a possible 5 home wins against Swansea, Crystal Place, Norwich, Southampton & Hull that should be very getable. That still leaves 7 points required, of which I can see maybe draws from 2 away games of Villa & West Brom. That still leaves 5 point required from 9 games, means maybe a draw at home to Liverpool & a win at either Villa or West Brom instead of draws plus we need to win against Spurs at home on 3rd of May before our last game of the season at Man City where we’ll get nothing, so safety needs to have been won by the end of the Spurs game or we are going down. We have to lift our game considerably from how we have been performing to achieve this or we are going down & that is the reality, because all of the other 10 clubs from 10th place down WILL lift their GAME ALSO! This is the reality that you have got West Ham into Sam
West Ham do not have the manager, the attraction to lure players to sign, or the cash to address the failings you highlight that we have as compared to Man City, Spencer. It has taken 7 years & many hundreds of millions of pounds to build this incredible Man City outfit.
Another point about Man City, is that they had the origins of their current spell of success from money that was laundered and embezzled from the people of one of the poorest countries in the world, being Thailand, a country where some of its citizens are so poor, that they sometimes do not even know where their next meal is coming from. I am talking about Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a man who is wanted for crimes of corruption in Thailand that he committed before being ousted in a military coup in 2006 & will serve a jail term in Thailand if he ever returns there. I do not glorify Man City. I despise them for all that they stand for in ruining the game since 2007, when Thaksin used some of the known $2,000,000,000 that he extracted from Thailand to buy Man City & start the buying spree on their players before he was forced to sell the club to an outfit from Abu Dhabi a year later!
Some great points JB. It almost feels like City have cheated there way to this position with the obscene amounts of cash thrown at players from some dodgy sources initially. Chelsea started it and City are going one better, and all it has done is create a multi-tiered league where the poor fight for survival as the rich build squads of huge talent. The game has changed, and not for the better !
You can’t argue with the facts ,however i do take issue that most of the these blogs seem to be based on the theory that we start these games on some sort of parity with the Man City,s
of this world ! Who in their right mind expects us compete with a £500 million squad of players with an injury ravaged defence .Also so this theory that any one pulled from the Hackney Marshes with a pair of football boots could show us how it is done !West Ham with their strongest team cannot compete with these teams of world class players most games unless the opposition have a bad day .Fans have to get real , we are where we are ,at best a mid table team at worst in a relegation scrap if things don’t go well.The only thing that will change it is a huge influx of cash from a sugar daddy billionaire .That may happen if and when we get to the O.S.but not before.We are all hurting at that the moment but booing the team will not help,only make the situation worse .
I wholly agree Peter about struggling to compete with the Man Citys and Chelseas of this world, but cast your mind back to the heyday of Liverpool in the 70s and 80s, and Man Utd over the last 20 years or so. At least we gave them a game and occasionally a bloody nose. Never in my worst dreams would I have envisaged a 9-0 shaming, without so much as a whimper of protest. This spell in our history is as bad as its been, and that’s saying something ! But, we can only look forward and help the side get out of the mess, so COYI !
Have been a Hammers fan all my 83 years , but this is the most disjointed,lazy collection of footballers(?)to appear in claret &blue. Only 4-5 are worthy to wear the shirt worn so proudly by past players.
The style of play is unlike any other in the division– BORING– and this is down to a manager who should have been given his P45 months ago. The previous comments hit the nail on the head.
We will be very,very lucky to stay up.
And that’s telling them Paul from a proud senior citizen, thanks for your comment mate. West Ham don’t need the arrogance of this manager who will not listen to who the club are. The club are it’s fans. Listen West Ham. There was over a 20,000 drop in attendance last night. This is only the beginning. Listen or you will be playing to an empty ground. This manager’s lack of vision is incredible. He has grid iron tactics that are so slow & out of date. Can we please have our club back, OR WE ARE GONE, as in 14,390 fans at last night’s game was fans voting with their feet. Get it???
Who can argue with the points made by Spencer apart from the fact that we were hopelessly ouplayed by billionaire teams like Norwich,Fulham and Stoke. Sunderland and West Brom. out-passed us off the park and even Cardiff had 65% of the play before our, for once, great fight-back. In our position is is blindingly obvious that we win against the bottom half and attempt to put up a decent fight against the money boys. As an 85 and a supporter since 6 years old in 1935 (beat Brentford 2-nil) I concur that this is probably the worst team I have seen for years. We do have some very good players but not enough to form a winning combination and are doubly hampered by some very average stand-ins (mostly ex-Bolton) and can I say it … a useless, out-of -touch manager. I feel a little better now.