At Stamford Bridge on Wednesday night we witnessed a performance for the ages, a West Ham United side made up mostly of free transfers and academy graduates, were magnificent in frustrating a Chelsea side put together for hundreds of millions of Roman’s roubles.
The battling spirit that saw the Irons come away from Cardiff City with three points was back in abundance as the likes of Matt Taylor and Mark Noble battled and scraped for every inch in that midfield and the cult hero that is goalkeeper Adrian came to the rescue on the rare moments he was seriously tested.
Make no mistake, despite the stats and Jose Mourinho’s moaning the East London club were worth their point; the vast majority of Chelsea’s efforts were from distance, they created very few genuine, clear cut chances, thanks to the bodies in claret and blue blocking and thwarting them at every turn.
I find it hilarious for a variety of reasons that Mourinho and Chelsea fans in general were so upset with West Ham’s tactics; it’s very easy to criticise the style of their opponents sat up there in their ivory tower, whilst their sugar daddy of a benefactor pumps them full of cash to sign the finest players on the planet. Mourinho is a hypocrite; the same tactics he deplored as from the ‘19th century’ are the very same he himself has employed this season at the Emirates and Old Trafford as Chelsea bored their way to a couple of 0-0 draws.
As a West Ham fan I’m proud of the performance we put on at the Bridge, too often I’ve seen West Ham teams go there and get their tummies tickled, how refreshing it was to see those Boleyn boys rock up at the Bridge and show some guts and steal a point.
Next up its Swansea City at home and that is every inch a must win game, the battling qualities displayed at Stamford Bridge must be married in a glorious union with goals, goals, goals! 5 points separate us with the Swans who are in 11th which goes to show how tight the league is, a couple of wins by hook or by crook and we could be in the relative serenity of mid-table very soon.
On Saturday it’s time for different kind of performance, but one which is equally committed…and a final thought on moaning Mourinho’s comments; if a side put together for hundreds of millions cannot beat a side in the bottom 3 put together with mostly free transfers and academy graduates’ which team and manager are to blame?
Spend some more dosh Jose, that’ll solve everything.
As a Chelsea fan, I can see how others have been frustrated at the tactics used by West Ham in this match. It was a gritty hard fought draw with a fantastic defensive display from West Ham stopping all creativity from some fantastically creative players. Chelsea would never ever use these tactics!
Wait…I may be mistaken. I remember some memorable victories or valuable draws against some top teams including Barcelona and Beyern.
Yes, these tactics aren’t eye catching if you’re looking for goals and fantastic creativity because they’re used to stop this. When used poorly, they also just don’t work.
West Ham showed a defensive master class. Battling for points against top teams is difficult and West Ham brought home a well earned point from this match. They’re not pretty tactics, but in some matches they’re needed and when pulled off earn the point and sometimes a grinding win on a counter or set piece.
All I can say is well done to West Ham for using these hard and gritty tactics to perfection.
I like the title of this post…. spend some money Jose, when its pretty much all Chelsea do!!
Clubs like City, Chelsea and even Spurs spend so much money and it looks like theyve got the player on a free.
Matic came on last night and played as West Hams 13th man (12th being the fans!) 25 Million for him…….
We got a great deal at 15m for Carroll if those prices are anything to go by.
Im sorry but only an uneducated person would compare chelsea’s magnificant performances against the germans and barcelona to what was witnessed with West Ham.
Chelsea attacked a fair bit in those matches wether it was directly or arguably mostly on the counter.
West Ham had 11 defenders with 0 intention of any attacks all be it maby within the first 20 or so minutes. Literally parking a bus. Fair play to them off course.
Very different tactics were employed for this match compared to in chelseas history. However I congratulate the hammers in a fantastic defensive display and a draw was more that deserved. Fair play to big Sam. Well done guys. Enjoy the rest of your season 🙂 hope you stay up as I love our matches together.
I really like the topic”jose spend money,i will just say a little.you are fighting to win the league when you dont have a good strikers in your team please the special one as we do called you,we need somebody that can score more goals this season,we still have much time on transfer 1day remaining please jose… Please will be my own topic… Thanks to westham boss sam.
I really laughed a lot when I saw Allardyce’s reply to Mourinho. Outwitted and outtacticked, great words…
But what I really really liked was the face Lampard had after not being able to do his usual despicable me with West Ham. That was worth millions…