Latest

Cause for optimism as West Ham put on a performance against Hull

|
Image for Cause for optimism as West Ham put on a performance against Hull

Alex Song Hull CityThe early signs certainly do look promising for this new look Hammers side.

The ‘Allardyce out’ brigade relentlessly berate Sam’s ability to get a side playing good, cohesive football, but surely last night has proved that with the right players at his disposal Sam can produce the kind of football  the fans wish to see. I personally can barely remember a long-ball from last night’s contest.

The second half of the thriller at the KC Stadium was a glimpse of what this new West Ham team is all about and if given that precious and rare commodity in football of time, the performances will surely only improve.

Enner Valencia’s wonder strike and the way in which it was struck with very little back-lift and devastating power; was reminiscent of a former Hammers striker…Jermain Defoe and arguably since Defoe’s departure we’ve lacked a striker with that kind of finishing ability, however it looks like in Valencia we’ve found a cutting edge often missed in previous campaigns.

Whilst from an attacking standpoint we do look a lot more threatening, defensively there does seem to be fragility; typified by the lackadaisical error, which lead to Mohamed Diame’s (inevitable) goal. Clearly the balance still isn’t quite right between our new open, expansive play and the solidity in our game which lead to 13 clean sheets last season.  Our new style still requires some tweaking, but the early signs look good.

In order to fill the Olympic Stadium the club need to marry a more aesthetically pleasing style with a better quality of playing personnel, and one can only hope the sight of Alex Song replacing Mauro Zarate, is a clear indication of the direction in which we’re going.

With the exception of the defeat to Southampton I feel we’ve been the better side and played the better football in our fixtures thus far, we need to be patient with this squad of players as they need more time to gel, but if last night is anything to go by this will be a far more enjoyable campaign than the previous one.

Share this article

6 comments

  • peter iron says:

    Entertaining match and probably a fair result , we do need to cut out the sloppy errors though . Best football we’ve played since Di Canio’s days except this was an away game ( Paulo didn’t travel too well!) Well done all involved ! COYI

  • The Cat says:

    Well done to all involved but the BIGGEST pat on the back goes out to Big Sam, who will (Obviously) go on to prove that given the funds he is able to put out a team that can play exciting, attacking & entertaining football.
    This is not a criticism of the chairmen either, it’s simply called progress, which was always going to be incremental.
    ….. I’d still like to believe that the majority of West Ham supporters have enough football sense to understand these basics……… I’d hope so anyway 🙂
    COYI

    • philtheiron says:

      Yeah, got to agree with you mate fortunes at the Boleyn were always going to take time to improve.

      I also agree that you can only pee with the one you’ve got and BS until now just hasn’t had the players or the resources to play any other way until now.

      Huge credit must go to the board and BS for identifying areas of need in the team and recruiting accordingly.

      However, I am not so certain we would have been so active in the transfer market if last season wasn’t so woeful. Like you said incremental change not revolution.

      However, whatever the reasons we now have the makings of some team. I just hope that Burke can plug the defensive weaknesses till the jan window. COYI!

      • The Cat says:

        Well said philtheiron. Who’d have thought the defence would be the part looking a little vulnerable now?
        The youngster Reece Burke looks to have a bright future ahead of him for one so young he looks like he could make it. Although we don’t want to blood him sooner than is necessary, if you’re good enough….

        COYI!

  • HammerPhil says:

    Thought it was a good promising performance. Valencia and Sahko looked good and nice to see us playing on the floor and passing the ball around rather than booting it long and hoping for a knockdown. My only worry is what will happen when Nolan and Carroll are fit – will Sam revert back to the old way or continue with the style at Hull. I don’t think Nolan deserves to simply walk back into the team even if he is captain

  • george 2nd best says:

    I watched the game from Australia and was excited when the team sheet was shown before kick off. I thought we played ok and never gave up. However, the commentator said it is going to be a long season for us but I couldn’t understand his reasoning. I put it down to the fact he probably doesn’t know WH like the fans do and we can definitely see changes and improvements in the team this season. He thought both hull and us are very average. maybe we are but that’s a step up from being crap.

Comments are closed.