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A lot of positives for West Ham

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John Flanagan Adrian LiverpoolAnthony Taylor…a name on the lips of all Hammers fans for the second successive season. Last season he wrongly sent off Carlton Cole in a match against Everton with the score level at 1-1, a game we went on to lose 2-1 and Cole’s red was subsequently overturned. And on Sunday he gave literally handed Liverpool a win they scarcely deserved with an incredibly soft penalty.

The game at Upton Park between West Ham and Liverpool didn’t follow the script; the Reds were meant to come swaggering into East London and steal all three points with incredible football: Luis Suarez, Daniel Sturridge and Raheem Sterling were supposed to rip us to shreds and dazzle the watching millions around the world with a swashbuckling display. But that’s not what happened at all.

On Sunday at the Boleyn West Ham more than matched a Liverpool team that are swotting each and every team in the league away like a pesky fly. Yesterday’s victory makes it nine in a row for the Reds, but without a doubt they were in a fight against the Hammers, we didn’t just lie down and die like Spurs and Manchester United have in recent weeks and for that we can be immensely proud.

I must admit due to the controversial nature of our equaliser I knew that as soon as the referee got the opportunity to atone for his ‘error’ he was going to take it, and didn’t he just relish pointing the spot? In my opinion whether or not Guy Demel’s equaliser should’ve stood is a complex matter…on the one hand yes Carroll did have his hands on Simon Mignolet and perhaps that did cause him to drop the ball but on the other hand it was Martin Skrtel’s shove on our big Geordie that took him into the Liverpool stopper. So should we have had a pen for that? Or was justice indeed done because our goal stood?

Regardless of whether the home side’s equaliser should’ve stood or not the referee in question Anthony Taylor shouldn’t have attempted to ‘even up’ the game by giving Liverpool a contentious decision; two wrongs after all don’t make a right. And Liverpool’s 2nd pen was a disgrace; Adrian clearly got a touch on the ball and Taylor couldn’t wait to give it.

Big Sam’s gang can be proud of the fact that free-scoring Liverpool looked distinctly average on Sunday and required two penalties to win the game; because I honestly couldn’t see them scoring from open play. For that credit must go to the back four who were magnificent yesterday. In midfield I thought Mohamed Diame, Mark Noble and Matthew Taylor all battled, scrapped and acquitted themselves well, especially Diame who caused Liverpool problems all afternoon. It was only in the final third where I felt we lacked a little quality; a situation which will no doubt be addressed in the summer.

Nevertheless there were many positives to take from a defeat to a side that could well go on and be crowned champions of England this season; and perhaps the biggest one of all is we made them look ordinary.

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9 comments

  • ronan says:

    I agree with all points. Need a plan B in the final third.

  • wolfie says:

    When our attack is as good as our defence we will be flying,at the moment just lumping it forward hoping Carroll will get on the end of it seems to be our sole”tactic”I would like to see our wide men cutting inside and having a go at goal more often.Ashley Young does this for Man U & Lukaku scored a screamer v Arse yesterday.

  • The Cat says:

    Points picked up from the game against Liverpool on Sunday……
    1. Big Sam has proved once again that given FUNDS and TIME, that he is a tactician who can assemble a West Ham team that will NOT roll over like West Ham teams of the past and beat teams like Liverpool.
    2. Liverpool won the game by scoring two penalties (one of them an apology penalty) and then cried like they had been in a viscous battle, had a right to win and should NOT have met any resistance from an inferior team/club.
    3. A section West Ham supporters need to wake up and see the BIG picture to understand that this club has come a long way, with a way to go and that this is still a work in progress. I believe that with the right transfers this summer, the club can make a big leap forward next season before some Marquee signing before we move into our new stadium the following summer (I retain internet news feeds and am FULLY aware of the players we were after last summer and what those players if we had got them would have contributed to team this season).

    Faith in our Chairmen & Manager needs to be given by all of our supporters, who should be wary of quick fix/short term sackings which will eventually bury some of these clubs who practice this nonsense to the lower leagues or even out of existence altogether. Why sack a manager like Hughton when he hasn’t had the funds to ensure a higher position in the division….. Utter madness, which cannot be sustained.

  • Chris says:

    At last, an article not focusing on the ref but rather the game and more importantly the manner we approached the game. Where has that team been all season? I thought I’d woken up in 86! We passed the ball beautifully yesterday and even a neutral watching would no understand why we’ve been labelled a long ball team. I know we play a lot more football that we’re given credit for but yesterday was like a breath of fresh air around the ground, there was a confidence and a swagger in our passing game that his been missing for a long time. For me that was the perfect mix of a solid defensively display mixed with a ambition to attack and press when we didn’t have the ball. So it begs the question why are we not approaching the majority of our home as well as away games in this way? Where would we be sat in the table? Of course we can only speculate, also you have to take into account that Big Andy would still have been missing from those games. For me tho, the important thing is to see how we approach game, are we going to see the attack minded moving the ball quickly game we witnessed yesterday or will it be sit back and look nervous for 80 mins and hope to hit on the counter? I certainly know which style I’d like to see even against City. COYI

  • philtheiron says:

    Can’t believe it! I totally agree with the original blog and wholeheartedly endorse the above three replies!

  • DeanoLFX says:

    What a dillusional set of fans u lot are, matched us? With ur long ball game into the penalty box and park the bus at the other end? We had the better of every single statistic in that game including the most important 1, there was only 1 team interested in playing football and it wasn’t west ham, and the decisions? Ur goal should defiantly of been disallowed Carroll had his hand heading for mignolet before the slight nudge from skrtel and ok the 2nd pen probly wasn’t a pen but tomlins could of easily seen red for denying Suarez a goal scoring opportunity, I’ve for no problem with west h or their fans but atleast be honest in your analysis of the game, by saying u were equal to liverpool yesterday ur kidding yourselves, with commitment and effort I can’t argue west ham gave 100% but when it came to quality u were now where near the level liverpool are, at the end of the day am sure it was a good game for the neutral and it was tonight for us but the better team won

    • The Cat says:

      You’ve had your say…..Now Jog On!

      Go tell someone who cares what you think. You probably still won’t win the title because if you were as good as you think you are, controversy wouldn’t have had anything to do with the game as you would’ve beaten us out of sight BEFORE half time. But you’re clearly not as good as you think clearly think you are, so take those rose tinted specs off and try to be a bit more humble you clown.

    • The Cat says:

      * But you’re clearly not as good as you think you are

  • DeanoLFC says:

    Ha so bitter my friend, I didn’t say we would win the league, we probably won’t but that wasn’t the aim at the start if the season so anything above 4th is a bonus, and by your reasoning the team who go on to win the league should walk all over every team they play? It doesn’t work like that sometimes u have off days and the other team plays to their potential and you have the home team turning the heating up in the changing room and then not watering the pitch to stop the passing team from playing their game, not to mention a crazy goal to be allowed, do you get my point? The fact that we took the 3 points when all that happened when we were nowhere near our best says it all.

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