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Are West Ham capable of playing the football the fans want?

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Mark Noble Hull CityI don’t want to dwell too long on the booing that took place from certain sections of the West Ham support at half-time and full-time against Hull City on Wednesday night – or indeed the poisonous atmosphere that was present during the game at times – as I’m sure plenty will be said on that front from many others, except to say a) booing is disgraceful whether we win, lose or draw except in extreme cases, and b) it was only a small minority of the support that engaged in it, despite what many media outlets are reporting.

I also have to say I didn’t much like the undignified response from Sam Allardyce to the boo boys at the end of the match. Making such a gesture only serves to make him lose credibility amongst supporters such as myself who are more inclined to support him.

Onto the actual game then, and the most important thing was that the Hammers picked up all three points, which could be vital. Personally, I was merely relieved to get the win by the end of the game.

However, it was a dreadful match in truth, and thoroughly disappointing that West Ham were unable to create a clear cut chance playing against 10 men for much of the match, and also that Hull were allowed to boss possession for large portions of the second half.

It seems to me at least, that the main reason for this is that we simply do not possess the players that are able to keep possession and dominate the midfield areas in games such as this. I like Matthew Taylor, as when he plays he always tries his heart out for the team, willing to do run back and do his defensive duties, and throw himself in the way of any goal bound shots, as we have witnessed on several occasions this season. However, he is not the greatest passer of the ball and also does not really have the legs or pace to take players on.

Likewise Kevin Nolan has been showing his age quite a lot this campaign, sometimes unable to keep up with play as well as he used to. Passing and ball retention have never been the strongest suits to Nolan’s game either. Therefore the one man in the centre of midfield who is capable of keeping possession well is Mark Noble, as has been the case for a lot of matches this season, running around constantly plugging the gaps in front of the back four, with Hull in the ascendency.

Those supporters who are always so keen to bash Allardyce at the first hint of something not going our way, should look at last season’s home performances as proof that Big Sam is not just a purely defensive manager. I felt that we dominated quite a few teams on our own turf last campaign, and caused a lot of the big teams defensive problems such as Chelsea and Manchester United.

Last campaign the Hammers had Mohamed Diame as a real powerhouse in the middle of the park who was exceptional at breaking up play and making great bursts down the middle with the ball. But this season he has either been played on the right wing, or simply not looked the same player, even a passenger in some games.

This difference in midfield seems to me to be the main reason why we cannot dominate matches or control a significant portion of possession. Despite this problem, since the New Year, Allardyce has found a way of winning games. Most of the victories have followed a familiar pattern – we’d keep the game tight and then be able to nick a goal on the counter. Once ahead, the whole team would combine solely as a defensive unit and shut out the opposition, sometimes scoring again on the break. This type of tactic worked a treat in February in particular.

However, it is not a tactic that will mean we can really take the initiative and control a football match, even when really we should do, such as Wednesday night’s game. There wasn’t really any options on the bench that could change this also. Allardyce clearly cannot rate Antonio Nocerino too highly, otherwise someone like him who you would think could hold onto the ball and slow the game down, would have been ideal for playing against ten men.

So I will actually say credit to Allardyce for managing to near enough secure survival with this team that is limited in certain ways. I do not wish to sound too disrespectful because each and every one of them has worked incredibly hard for every point the club has gained. However, to get back to a situation of dominating sides such as Hull City at home, I think, will require some good acquisitions during the summer transfer window, especially in the midfield areas.

Ultimately, however, it looks as though Sam has steered the club to safety this year, which I will take first and foremost at the moment. With some wise additions in the transfer window, I am hopeful next season will see some steady progress, and hopefully more attacking football, at least in home games.

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10 comments

  • Alboy says:

    In a word, YES

  • B.Cooper says:

    As above but not under this manager who claims all the glory when the team win but when they lose it is always down to somebody else.

  • JB says:

    Sam is a whole lot better than half the managers in the Prem, & it looks like he was more of having a joke with the fans by cupping his hand to ear, to the boos, he certainly seemed quite shocked about the booing when interviewed & humbled about the lads performance v Hull. It sounds like you are saying we should go back to the drawing board James. Back to square 1 & buy a whole new team as though nothing has been achieved these past 3 seasons. There is only so much room at the top & too many clubs expect too much by expecting to break into the top elite clubs. Get real West Ham, we are a Premier League club, which always used to be acceptable for older fans. Why do we expect the world to just fall at our feet now. The football world has moved on from what it used to be. Now with so much money involved, we are lucky to have a part in the Prem. Sam’s no mug, if he had a squad like Barcelona have, we’d be playing like Barcelona. I have also been sick of it and wanted Sam replaced, but unless we can get Harry back or Uwe Rosler, who else is there. Some say Laudrupp or Hoddle, but I couldn’t see either of those 2 being ideal for West Ham

    • JB says:

      Sometimes I think West Ham fans expect too much. We seem to think we are a big club. We are not. We have 34 points. Hull have 33, yet as far as the rumour mill goes Hull have had a fairly good season. Man Utd, by their standards have had a terrible season. I sometimes am not too keen on Sam’s tactics either, but he knows how to work with what we’ve got, and what we’ve got is maybe 2 potential international players out of our whole squad, being Pablo Amero for Colombia & Guy Demel for Ivory Coast, that’s it, just 2 players who could be playing in Brazil. Sam dropped a division from a former employer being a Premier League winning side of Blackburn to manage West Ham. He did us a favour coming here. He doesn’t deserve to be insulted by fans who think he hasn’t achieved anything for this club. He took us up & is keeping us up. I don’t like his one dimensional football either, but he can make players play, as he did in February. I can’t see anyone who can replace him, apart from Harry, or Uwe Rosler who could stay at Wigan if promoted.

    • JB says:

      Sometimes I think West Ham fans expect too much. We seem to think we are a big club. We are not. We have 34 points. Hull have 33, yet as far as the rumour mill goes Hull have had a fairly good season. Man Utd, by their standards have had a terrible season. I sometimes am not too keen on Sam’s tactics either, but he knows how to work with what we’ve got, and what we’ve got is maybe 2 potential international players out of our whole squad, being Pablo Amero for Colombia & Guy Demel for Ivory Coast, that’s it, just 2 players who could be playing in Brazil. Sam dropped a division from a former employer being a Premier League winning side of Blackburn to manage West Ham. He did us a favour coming here. He doesn’t deserve to be insulted by fans who think he hasn’t achieved anything for this club. He took us up & is keeping us up.

    • JB says:

      Sometimes I think West Ham fans expect too much. We seem to think we are a big club. We are not. We have 34 points. Hull have 33, yet as far as the rumour mill goes Hull have had a fairly good season. Man Utd, by their standards have had a terrible season. I sometimes am not too keen on Sam’s tactics either, but he knows how to work with what we’ve got, and what we’ve got is maybe 2 potential international players out of our whole squad, being Pablo Amero for Colombia & Guy Demel for Ivory Coast, that’s it, just 2 players who could be playing in Brazil.

      • kevvincent says:

        Whatever we r ,after 3yrs its down to fat sam, ive hated this arrogant,up himself,smug git for 10yrs+ .His bolton team used to kick the fk outa us,& all that stuff bout ‘bungs’ & inc his son, him gettin shef utd to sue us over ‘teves’ thing(he started all that off cs he thought he ws gettin relegated,but just stayd up,then shut up!(think were still paying that!? & loadsa other crap i rem’ from past, he aint westham never will be & has done nuthin,an x defender& it shows,He hasnt a clue bout attackin football.boring ,dire,& more stressfull than i cn rem’ & he rekons the FA cup & league cup are a distraction from prem saftey-& “thats what we r about” he said!! …but mainly its the mad incosistency-if we won, lost,won,drar & ended up 10 or 11 then it aint so painfull ,but its lose,lose,lose,then a win here n there & its suffering painful footy! & thats y HE & not so much the team that got booed (i personally hate booing team or player & never done it in 37 yrs of going to the boleyn..it achieves nuthin’ (but understand frustration wi allerdyce-he does crap like put his hands to cup his ears,or he laughs & says he dont care wat fans think of him, etc (not endearing ,his arrogance! & were gonna have this stress as long as he is here! I wanted to cry wen they signed a bloke ove hated for so long cs of all the things he’s said bout us or wat his teams have done to our players in past, i dont hate any other managers tbh,(just him ,for 10yrs b4 he even came here!! If our future is dire football -at £50 a pop! i wont b going anymore till hes gone! …….#whtid

    • James Coker says:

      Hi JB. Not a whole new team. I agree that Allardyce has done a great job, but I think we need another midfielder who is good on the ball and can create chances. That is what we are lacking at the moment and why I ythink we cannot boss games that we should be

  • teddybard says:

    Even Sam can only play the players he has got
    Would he improve the squad and do better next year (Yes; if the money was available)
    Will the money be there (Anyone’s guess).
    Looking logically he came to do a rescue job and it worked.
    When he left Bolton they played attractive football the following season look at them now.
    Substitute any other club he was at (Worse results the following year)
    and he has achieved a good result with a frankly mediocre squad( So far so good).

    Now look back to the 2003 season Sweet football; Talented Squad: RELEGATION.

    I would love to see him with the money; a similar defence to the successful bits
    of this year and some decent forwards CC has done a great Job but
    say Van Persie & Lukaku (well we can all hope)

  • Jamie says:

    When you look at the west ham squad where are we gonna get the class or flair from? From back to front we have an OK spine to the team. Adrian really isn’t the goalie we think he is, has plenty of passion but I see him at times looking like he’s out of his depth, would be a better No. 2 in my opinion. Centre backs are solid Reid and Tomkins are the future! Full backs shot to bits, we need to see Armero play he could be a viable option for next season. Morrison, Noble, Diame all cracking players to play in the middle of the park. Wingers again in and out, have their days but there has to be better options out there! And fuck me we need 2 up top AC is a great front man to have a quality striker playing off. What ever we do in the summer needs to address full backs, wingers and a striker or 3! But don’t worry we’ll get Roger Johnson on a free and maybe snap up Jozy Altidore or someone of that ilk up front

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