FIVE things we learnt about West Ham against Stoke City

The prospect of West Ham versus Stoke City does little to excite the imagination of most football fans, let alone having to stay up until 4am to watch it.

Unfortunately, the only match I have had the displeasure of watching at the Boleyn this season was the reverse of this game back in August.

Then, we lost 1-0 to a free-kick, which was the only goal we conceded in our first three fixtures.

But what came out of that game were the early signs of our attacking ineptitude, the reality we’re not always going to beat teams we consider ourselves better than, and the fact that improving on last season’s finish was going to be a real challenge.

West Ham didn’t manage a single shot on target against Stoke in their meeting at Upton Park earlier in the season, and as such, I can imagine few held out much hope of a classic this time around.

So what more have we learnt after this weekend’s defeat?

Save your money:

Basically, never go to a match against Stoke. Although the score-sheet shows there were four goals, the match never showcased much quality.

Stoke, alongside Bolton Wanderers and Everton, are clearly a bogey side that we can never be sure of getting much satisfaction from, despite a belief we should be better than them.

Don’t try to fix what isn’t broke:

There is little doubt Winston Reid is our best centre half, and a few months ago, I wouldn’t have picked Matt Taylor for the bench in the development squad.

But James Collins has been rock solid alongside James Tomkins in defence, and Taylor has proved himself a gritty performer when it really matters.

Changing the team may have been required due to the build up of fixtures we are facing, but there seemed to be a disjointed nature around the XI.

Not to say Antonio Nocerino isn’t a class player, but he certainly wasn’t up to speed with the resolute game-play of Stoke.

We got complacent:

It didn’t seem as though the team had as much fight and commitment about it as it had had in recent games.

Maybe the run of results, which boosted us up to tenth place, has lead to a degree of complacency. There is not the same fear factor surrounding the club as there was when we were sitting in the bottom three.

Sam Allardyce needs to ensure we don’t rest on our laurels and make an effort to press ahead for a top half finish, even if tenth is the best we can achieve.

England need a centre forward:

Andy Carroll’s first goal since returning from injury was a classic header from the big centre forward, and proved what an influence he can be on a game given the right service.

Peter Crouch seems a forgotten entirety in terms of the England squad, but he too proved he can be effective in and around the box.

Roy Hodgson will need to have options, and Carroll coming into form will give him something different going into the tournament.

Manager of the Month curse:

We’ve now lost two on the trot. Yes, they were tricky away games, but one can’t help but think the curse of an accolade has affected the club.

Allardyce has been happy to chug along with the success of February, and the team has responded to the positive results.

But there has always been a myth that the monthly managerial award is a sure sign of impending failure.

So maybe we should just right off the last few results, accept them as the fall out of fate, and look forward to beating mid-table rivals Manchester United on Saturday.