Daily WHUFC News - 26th August 2012

Big Sam rues defensive lapses
WHUFC.com
The manager admitted individual mistakes had cost his West Ham United team
dear at Swansea City
25.08.2012

Sam Allardyce admitted mistakes had cost his West Ham United team dear in
Saturday's 3-0 Barclays Premier League defeat at Swansea City. Individual
errors cost the Hammers dear at the Liberty Stadium as uncharacteristic
slips from Jussi Jaaskelainen and James Collins gifted the Swans a 2-0 lead.
West Ham created enough opportunities to get themselves back in the game
before half-time, only to be denied by a succession of blocks and saves.
Swansea then put the game to bed with a third goal midway through the second
period. Big Sam conceded that his players had given themselves too much to
do by shooting themselves in the foot after making a bright start in south
Wales. "There is nothing you can do or say to defend the players who made
those mistakes because they were such major errors in terms of what we were
trying to do at that time in the game," said the manager. "We started the
game very, very well and were looking very dangerous and very solid and
sound at the back and unfortunately the goalkeeper has made a mistake on the
first real attempt by Swansea to get into our box and they went 1-0 up.
"If one mistake is not bad enough, to make two like the one made by James
Collins - which was very unusual for him - then you've got no chance. We
were away from home and we tried to get back but it was too difficult and in
the end we have thrown the game away by our individual errors getting
punished.
"We had enough opportunities to get ourselves back into the game when we
were 2-0 down but we didn't get one and that made the second half much more
difficult for us. Swansea are very good at keeping the ball and they didn't
have to try to score any more. They just had to keep the ball and play the
game out, which they did very well."

What made the Hammers' defensive meltdown all the more surprising and
frustrating was the fact that they were mistakes by two vastly-experienced
players that led to the club's first away defeat since 31 January. "These
were two of our new players. Of course I have known Jussi a long time and he
has a huge amount of Premier League experience so I didn't expect him to
make that error. "It was the same with James. He's been in the Premier
League a long time and he knows what it's all about, but players make
mistakes and unfortunately two came within a short space of time that put
the game beyond us and that's the disappointing thing for me. "Having a
good, solid defensive unit last week, I didn't expect to see those type of
errors but they've happened. We've been severely punished and we must take
it on the chin and bounce back immediately, starting with the cup game
against Crewe."

With the Capital One Cup second-round visit of Crewe Alexandra on Tuesday
and a Barclays Premier League date with Fulham at the Boleyn Ground on
Saturday, Big Sam said the Hammers had no time to dwell on their defeat in
south Wales. The managed hinted that the likes of new boys Alou Diarra and
Modibo Maiga, as well as James Tomkins, Matt Taylor and Nicky Maynard, would
all be given opportunities to stake their claims for a regular starting
place in the midweek cup tie.
"We've still got to come to terms with the Barclays Premier League. We've
got new players who need to feel their way in and that does take some time.
In the midst of that, we've got to make sure we get results while they
settle in - particularly the lads from abroad who are getting to know each
other. "We'll get better as time goes on but it's very important that we try
to get results from the very start and this was a big setback for us. While
we know Swansea was going to be a very difficult game and they are very good
at home, the way we started this game and the way we gifted it to them was a
big let-down for me and the lads. "We've got players like Alou Diarra, who
we gave a taste of what the Premier League is all about, who will come into
the frame for Tuesday. James Tomkins needs to catch up on games because he
didn't get them at the Olympics. "Gary O'Neil, Joey O'Brien, Nicky Maynard
and Matt Taylor are among the players who will play with a huge amount of
first-team experience. We'll only give one or two of the younger ones a
game, but not too many. "We're going to field a team that is good enough for
me to beat Crewe Alexandra and then we'll move on to Fulham and try to put
this one behind us with two positive results at home in the next week."

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Spiegel hoping to beat the Blues
WHUFC.com
Raphael Spiegel is hoping the Development Squad can pick up where they left
off against Everton on Sunday
24.08.2012

Raphael Spiegel revealed his delight at the Development Squad's winning
start against Reading and is targeting another thee points against Everton.
Looking ahead to Sunday's clash at Finch Farm, Spiegel is confident that the
continuation of hard work will earn the Development Squad further reward. "I
hope we go into every game with the attitude we did last weekend and
obviously come away with a lot of wins and finish as high up the league as
possible. "I am very much looking forward to playing again against Everton
and I hope we can get a win."

The new signing also believes that the newly-launched Barclays Under21
Premier League well bring huge positives to young, developing players like
himself.
"I think that playing regularly in a high quality league like ours will
bring huge positives to my own and my team-mate's development," said
Spiegel. 'I am already very happy at West Ham United and I hope we can
continue to perform well by winning a lot more games."

The 19-year-old was rarely troubled by Reading but when he was called upon,
he was equal to everything thrown at him. "I am very happy with the win, my
performance and the performance of the team against Reading, we did very
well. I believe that being able to stay at the club and play regular,
competitive football will help me and the other players improve."

The Switzerland Under-19 international also spoke highly of the club's
welcoming atmosphere, stating that he feels settled already. "I am enjoying
West Ham United very much, I have worked very hard so far and my aim is to
continue to do the same and make my time here become better and better."

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Swansea 3 West Ham 0
25 August 2012
Last updated at 15:58
By Aled Williams
BBC Sport Wales

Swansea maintained their 100% start to the Premier League season after
capitalising on West Ham errors to secure an impressive win. Angel Rangel
opened the scoring when his shot squirmed under the body of goalkeeper Jussi
Jaaskelainen. James Collins gifted Swansea a second when his back pass fell
short and let in Michu to score. West Ham offered little and Danny Graham
finished off a fine move with a third in the second half. Michael Laudrup's
side were well worth their victory, which took them to the top of the
Premier League having scored eight goals in their opening two games.
Unsurprisingly Laudrup named the same team which thrashed QPR 5-0 on the
opening day of the season. Scott Sinclair was not in the matchday squad with
Swansea reported to have accepted a bid from Manchester City for the winger.
Record signing Ki Sung-Yueng was not eligible for the game but the South
Korean international was introduced to the Liberty Stadium crowd before
kick-off. West Ham started with new £10m recruit Matt Jarvis, one of two
changes, along with James Tomkins, to the side that defeated Aston Villa
last weekend. Jarvis was prominent as the visitors started well, but captain
Kevin Nolan failed to get on the end of the former Wolves winger's inviting
cross with barely two minutes gone.

But the home side slowly got to grips with the game and they went ahead on
20 minutes through Rangel. Nathan Dyer found the full-back in the penalty
area and the Spaniard's low drive across the face of goal squirmed under the
body of Jaaskelainen and into the net. Nine minutes later Swansea doubled
their lead following another West Ham mistake. Wales defender Collins's
backpass to his goalkeeper fell short and striker Michu capitalised and
applied the simplest of touches for his third goal of the season. West Ham
had offered little, but debutant Jarvis went close for the visitors when his
volley on the turn was well saved by Michel Vorm.
Swansea were playing with belief and continued to push forward with
left-back Neil Taylor forcing a finger tip save from Jaaskelainen after a
marauding run upfield.

West Ham finished a poor first half strongly and Carlton Cole, who had been
largely isolated up front, had a header cleared off the line in stoppage
time. Swansea's pace continued to cause problems in the second half and
Graham flashed an effort wide of Jaaskelainen's left hand post after being
played in by Dyer. A ferocious Jonathan de Guzman free-kick flashed across
the face of the West Ham goal before Swansea scored a third on 64 minutes.
Graham atoned for his earlier miss when he finished off a fine Swansea move
by scoring from close range from Wayne Routledge's low cross. Home
goalkeeper Vorm was rarely troubled and he comfortably dealt with substitute
Ricardo Vaz Te's low free-kick. But the Hammers could do little to stop a
Swansea side who have shown their early season intent under new manager
Laudrup.

Swansea manager Michael Laudrup: "It was a fantastic result. The first half
we scored two goals but we suffered from West Ham's set-pieces as they have
some very big guys. Second half, I think we controlled everything. "The fans
always enjoy it when you win, but we have a creative style here that we have
continued with some small tactical changes. We want to play like Swansea did
in the last four or five years. "The situation with Scott Sinclair is that
last week he came on and scored a goal, in the last two or three days there
have been a few offers, and I spoke to Scott and we agreed it was better to
not play. Let us see what happens in the next four or five days."

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce: "The first half performance was looking
very, very good and we were looking comfortable, but we have had two
disastrous mistakes, and when you make those sort of errors, particularly
away from home, it is going to be difficult to come back. "We gifted the
opposition the goals and it is difficult to comeback. They have effectively
won the game, and can then keep the ball. We have only ourselves to blame.
"We are not negotiating to sign anybody at the moment."

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Swansea 3 West Ham Utd 0
KUMB.com
Filed: Saturday, 25th August 2012
By: Staff Writer

West Ham suffered their first Premier League defeat since returning to the
top flight - thanks to a pair of calamitous individual errors. With Sam
Allardyce having adopted a defensive approach, bringing in James Tomkins to
play in front of a flat back four, United were cruising along nicely until
two errors in the space of ten first-half minutes proved to be their
undoing. First to embarrass himself was goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen who
somehow managed to turn Angel Rangel's 20th-minute cross into his own net
after George McCartney was left flat-footed on the left side. And just nine
minutes later it was the turn of fellow new boy James Collins to hang his
head in shame after his dreadful back pass allowed Swansea's Spanish striker
Michu to nip in and slot the ball beyond a stranded Jaaskelainen.
Oddly enough it was West Ham - who looked a constant threat from set pieces
in the first half- who had created the game's better chances up until that
point.

And even after the Swans had surged into a two-goal lead West Ham forced the
home side to clear the ball off the line twice as they attempted, ultimately
in vain, to reduce the deficit ahead of the half-time whistle. Unfortunately
West Ham found goalkeeper Michel Vorm in the very best of form on the day -
as new signing Matt Jarvis, making his first appearance for the Irons since
his £10.75million switch from Wolves, discovered to his chagrin. Just five
minutes after Swansea has taken a two-goal lead Vorm produced a stunning
save from Matt Jarvis' point blank volley when the winger looked odds-on to
score.

Alas, for all of their first half pressure the Hammers were unable to find a
way back into the game. That appeared to take its toll and in the second
half there was only one team in it as Swansea threatened to rack up a
cricket score. Somehow, despite a plethora of chances they only managed to
score once in the second half; that coming in the 64th minute when Danny
Graham broke West Ham's ineffective offside trap - and not for the first
time - before bundling the ball over the line.
However it was a harsh lesson for West Ham - who won 15 times away from the
Boleyn ground last season - who will need to eradicate the silly mistakes if
they are to enjoy a successful season back in the Premier League.

Swansea 3 West Ham Utd 0: match facts
West Ham Utd: Jaaskelainen, Demel, Collins, Reid, McCartney, Tomkins (Vaz Te
46), Noble, Nolan, Diame (Diarra 69), Jarvis, Cole (Maiga 62).
Subs not used: Henderson, O'Brien, Taylor, Maynard.
Booked: Cole (38), Nolan (53), Collins (58), Reid (83).
Possession: 46%.
Shots on/off target: 6/1 (7).
Corners: 4.
Fouls committed: 17.

Swansea City: Vorm, Rangel, Taylor (Davies 84), Chico, Williams, Routledge
(Moore 81), De Guzman (Agustien 75), Britton, Dyer, Michu, Graham.
Subs not used: Tremmel, Tate, Dobbie, Gower.
Goals: Rangel (20), Michu (29), Graham (64).
Booked: Rangel (31), Chico (68).
Possession: 54%.
Shots on/off target: 7/3 (10).
Corners: 5.
Fouls committed: 13.

Referee: Martin Atkinson.
Attendance: 20,424

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Allardyce - Mistakes were dear
Hammers boss rues Jaaskelainen and Collins errors in Swansea defeat
Last Updated: August 25, 2012 4:36pm
SSN

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce rued the two defensive mistakes which helped
Swansea cruise to a comfortable 3-0 victory against his newly-promoted
Premier League side. The Swans went ahead when experienced Hammers
goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen allowed Angel Rangel's low cross to slip
underneath him. And moments later Michu doubled the Welsh side's lead when
he seized upon centre-back James Collins' mis-kicked backpass. It was a
disappointing afternoon for Allardyce and his troops, who marked their
top-flight return with a 1-0 home win against Aston Villa on the opening
day.

Punished

"We made two very poor mistakes by our two most experienced players on the
field which cost us dearly," said Allardyce. "These mistakes were punished
by Swansea. "I'm disappointed because we got a good solid base last week and
it looked apparent to me we were in control again. "We were under no
pressure but to make those mistakes, at this level, is unbelievable. "We
made things hard for ourselves. Our performance overall in the first half,
apart from those two mistakes, was very good."

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Vinny's Swansea Report
Vinny 11:59 Sat Aug 25
West Ham Online

Swansea City 3 West Ham United 0

West Ham were brushed aside by a good Swansea side in the 12.45 kick off as
two disastrous errors in the first half gifted the host's two goals. The
score line perhaps doesn't tell the entire story but Swansea were good value
for their win but from our perspective the goals we gave away were simply
not acceptable.

I am not sure this game tells us too much about how good or bad we might be
because the mistakes made by Jaaskelainen and then Collins are not something
we can legislate for. I would actually go as far to say that before the
first goal we were doing well enough and Swansea had offered very little.

In fact during the first half those two gifted goals were all that Swansea
had produced and it was ourselves who were getting the ball into the area
and we should have got a goal back just before half time which would have
made it a totally different game.

The second half started well enough with the introduction of Vaz Te giving
us a little bit more going forward but this soon died and our energy levels
looked as though they had run out. The way Swansea play caused us to be
chasing shadows for most of the second period as they closed the game out
and added another goal to their tally.

Was this really any different to the way we played away from home last
season? Not by much I suspect and those two terrible errors cost us and
ruined what had been a decent physical performance up until that point.

There is of course the fundamental argument about the way we as a team now
play but that has been the same since Sam Allardyce too took over and whilst
it is lazy (and untrue) to say we just lump the ball long, we do have a
negative style that we set out with and find it very difficult to play
another way when we are chasing a game.

From an attacking perspective we do seem to lack a certain something.
Carlton Cole plugged away up front on his own with little service and when
he did see the ball he looked slow and not as sharp as I believe he should
have been. Unless we can bring in a better quality central striker then we
are going to need to try and get him into the game more because the aimless
passes into space for him to run on to are going to bring nothing but
frustration.

The mistake from James Collins which led to the second goal was atrocious
and his all-round performance was pretty dire. Tomkins in the midfield was
clearly a failure and it was no surprise to see him come off at half time.

The fan reaction to this loss I can only put down to having forgotten what
it is like to lose given that it has been many months since this actually
happened to us. People need to understand that we will lose games this
season and remember which team they are actually supporting. I know
expectations are high amongst West Ham supporters but to think we won't lose
quite a few games throughout the season is daft.

The Team


Sam Allardyce made two changes to the side who beat Aston Villa last
weekend.

Starting in West Ham colours for the first time was Matt Jarvis who has
recently signed from Wolverhampton Wanderers for a fee believed to be in
excess of £10 million. This signing was a good one for the club and a
statement of intent in my opinion.

People may say Jarvis was overpriced (which he was) but then the same was
said about Dean Ashton.
Jarvis replaced Matthew Taylor on the left side of midfield with Taylor
dropping to the substitute's bench.

The other change also came in midfield with James Tomkins replacing Ricardo
Vaz Te. This saw Kevin Nolan take up the right wing position which seemed
odd at the time and unsurprisingly it didn't work well.

In the Swansea first team was Leon Britton who was on the books at West Ham
from 1998 until 2003 but he never played a game for the club.
The referee was Martin Atkinson.

First Half


Swansea began the game, shooting towards the end which housed the travelling
West Ham fans who were in good voice if not big numbers for this 12.45 kick
off in South Wales.

It was almost a perfect start after just two minutes as an excellent cross
from Matt Jarvis from the left hand side (with his right boot) saw Kevin
Nolan come inches away from getting his head on the ball but it just evaded
the skipper.

We had begun in a very energetic manner, pushing high up and forcing our way
through with our packed midfield. I was pleased that we were attempting to
get in their faces and put some crunching tackles in as they are known for
their possession football and we needed to make sure they did not get the
time to string something together.

Swansea won their first corner on the ten minute mark when McCartney charged
down a shot from Dyer but the resulting ball into the area was head clear by
Cole.

After a slow start from the home side it was clear that they were now
beginning to get their passing game in order and we were looking a little
bit more worried as the half was wearing on.

Swansea found some space with their attack and the ball came out to the left
back Neil Taylor who hit a speculative effort which went into the path of
James Collins but his wild clearance actually ended up going behind for a
corner.

The corner was put into our area but again Carlton Cole met the ball with a
header and a clearance away.

Although we were relatively comfortable we found ourselves behind on 20
minutes out of nothing. Nobody tracked the run of the right back Rangel and
he got into area behind the defence, took a soft shot which Jaaskelainen
dived onto but he let it go underneath him and this movement took the ball
into the back of the net. I'm not sure the shot from Rangel was even going
to hit the target so this has to go down as a Jussi Jaaskelainen own goal.

There had been debate before the season had started about the quality of
Jaaskelainen, given that he had been dropped from the starting line up at
Bolton Wanderers and that was a team who were eventually relegated. This
mistake did not serve to allay any of these concerns.

Two minutes after conceding we came close to scoring ourselves as a free
kick was won wide on the left and Noble delivered an excellent ball into the
area which saw Reid come close to getting on the end of but he ended up
clattering their keeper Vorm.

Cole was fouled by Swansea defender Chico and this resulting set piece saw
Collins win the header but the ball dropped for a Swansea defender and was
cleared. We had many moments like this in the first half where the ball
would rarely fall to a West Ham player and luck deserted us on many an
occasion.

If the first goal conceded as a bad mistake the goal we conceded on the 27th
minute was an unmitigated disaster.

Collins collected a pass from Noble and just needed to play the ball back to
Jaaskelainen but he made a complete hash of the simplest of passes and Michu
nipped in to get to the ball before Jaaskelainen and stab past him to make
it 2-0.

Talk about gifting teams goals, this was a soft as you are likely to see and
for us to make two appalling errors in one game was really taking the piss.

We needed to go into this game and be solid and try to attempt to make
Swansea really work for their goals. Instead we had just given them not one
but two and really made it difficult for ourselves.

On 34 minutes it looked as though we were going to find a way back into the
game but as the ball came into the area from a free kick Reid flicked it on
for Matt Jarvis to turn and hit on the volley but Vorm made a terrific save
to deny him and got down quickly before Nolan could finish from the rebound.

Swansea moved forward down the left and an eventual shot from Taylor was
tipped over the bar by Jaaskelainen. The resulting corner was for the third
time cleared by Carlton Cole.

Cole was involved again moments later as he found himself in the book after
going up with an arm on Chico who writhed around on the floor as if he had
been shot.

Three minutes of stoppage time were awarded by Martin Atkinson and we would
have three corners in this time which so very nearly saw us get back into
the game.

The first corner from Jarvis was deep and saw Nolan get on the end of it but
it was put out for another corner kick. Tomkins won the header this time but
Swansea managed to scramble the ball out for what was another corner.

From this one Cole met the ball with a header which was cleared off the line
by Britton in a frustrating few moments. It was clear that their weakness
was from set pieces as this is the only way we had looked like scoring all
day.

Alas there was to be no goal to get us back into the game in this first half
we went in at half time 2-0 down with a mountain to climb.

Second Half


Sam Allardyce made one change at half time with Ricardo Vaz Te coming on for
James Tomkins. This saw Vaz Te play wide on the left with Matt Jarvis wide
on the right hand side.

We started the half quite well and it looked as though this could be the way
we were going to apply ourselves throughout the half as we got the ball wide
to Jarvis who beat his man and put in a good cross into the area where Vaz
Te was poised to strike the ball with an overhead kick but the defender got
a good header out.

The impressive Wayne Routledge got a shot off which Jaaskelainen made a bit
of a meal of as he pushed the ball away for a corner.

Vaz Te was on the ball again at the other end as his intital cross was cut
out but he put the ball back into the area on the second attempt for Nolan
to head down for Cole but his attempted overhead kick saw little connection
with the ball.

Despite a decent enough opening ten minutes of the half in which we looked
sharper going forward it all really died from here on out.

Swansea were keeping the ball well and when had it in our possession we
couldn't do anything with in and gave the ball back to them too many times.
We lost our way and defensively we seemed to lose the plot playing this
silly high line which was begging to be exploited.

Swansea should have been out of sight on 56 minutes when Danny Graham broke
the offside trap and was clear through on goal but his curling finish (which
seemed to take an age to find its destination) curled agonisingly wide.

Routledge got down the right hand side only to be felled by a poor tackle
from James Collins who was having a torrid time at the back and being
ridiculed by the Swansea support for his connections to Cardiff City.
Collins was deservedly booked for his foul.

Maiga replaced Cole after 62 minutes in our second change of the game.

Swansea would score two minutes later and it was a well worked goal as
Britton slid the ball through for Routledge who cut the ball back for Danny
Graham to finish from close range.

The last 25 minutes were quite painful as watching your side being beaten
3-0 away from home and being passed off the pitch is as demoralising a
feeling you will get when watching football.

Alou Diarra was given his debut as he replaced Mohammed Diame on 69 minutes.


Collins was caught in possession by Dyer but the Swansea man could only put
his shot over the bar.
There is really little else to comment on regarding the remainder of the
game apart from Winston Reid being booked for deliberate hand ball. Even
Matt Jarvis who had enjoyed a good first half performance had gone missing
and it was easy to forget that he was still on the pitch.

I still stand by the view that this game doesn't really give us too much
real judgement on the quality of the side simply on the basis of those two
mistakes which cost us dearly.

I am aware that a 3-0 loss is never going to be brushed aside by the West
Ham supporters and I just hope we can get the anger (which sometimes boils
over to hate) out of our system as we move onto the next game.

Player Reviews


Jussi Jaaskelainen
When a goal keeper makes a mistake it is always going to be highlighted as
they usually lead directly to goals. The way he let he ball squirm under him
was very poor from an experience keeper and he looked unsure for the
remainder of the game. Hopefully this will be the last mistake of this kind
that we see from him. 4

Guy Demel
Not the worst display from Demel who did get stuck in, especially in the
first half where he linked up well down the right hand side showing some
decent skill. Of the back four he was probably the best of them. 6

James Collins
A mistake ridden performance and one where his frailties were exposed. Last
week against Villa he was excellent but lack of concentration caused his
poor pass back. He made some poor challenges, and was caught a couple of
times attempting to play the offside trap. A very poor display and our worst
player. 4

Winston Reid
Not a bad display from Reid although his distribution was not of a very high
standard. He didn't really do a long wrong in all honesty. 6

George McCartney
Looked slow and really never got going. They played a lot of football down
his side and when Jarvis went to the right of midfield he found himself
under further pressure and looked a little flustered. 5

James Tomkins
I think we were all surprised at his inclusion after hearing Collins and
Reid were starting. I never really saw the point of playing him in midfield
last season and I can't say I've been won over by the idea now. He isn't a
midfielder and really has no technique on the ball. His position in this
game was redundant and he was rightly taken off at half time. 5

Mark Noble
Noble didn't do anything wrong but he didn't really do anything at all. He
never got into the game, never really got his passing game going and in the
second half he was sat so deep he was hardly worth having on the pitch at
all. He needs to get involved a lot more than this. If Noble played for
Swansea, he would be a star player. 6

Mohammed Diame
His first half display was following on from last week's man of the match
performance but he faded badly and disappeared. He cut a frustrated figure
at times as he really did cover a lot of ground but without any joy. 6

Kevin Nolan
I actually thought he had a good first half. A number of times the ball was
played into the area he was there or thereabouts. He covered on the right
hand side well and Neil Taylor never once attempted to go outside him during
that first period. Like the rest of the side it all got worse as it went on.
6

Matt Jarvis
Making his debut you couldn't help but be impressed with elements of his
play. He clearly has more about him than the average player and his
willingness to beat his man and cross with either foot is surely going to
see him be a big hit at the club. He disappeared from the second half and
had much more joy on the left hand side where he gave the right back a tough
time which saw him booked. I think we are going to like him. 6

Carlton Cole
Isolated was the first word which came into my head when thinking of his
performance. If you are a racist on Twitter you might have thought of
another one. Cole will always cause much debate amongst the West Ham fans
but this performance saw him given nothing to go on but hopeful balls that
most of the time were not even directly to him. He is best when the ball is
played into his feet. Cole is Cole and always has been, he will frustrate
but get some balls into the area for him and he will get on the end of
something. I felt he wasn't sharp enough at times and he needs to
concentrate a lot more to give himself an advantage. 5

Subs Used

Ricardo Vaz Te (on for Tomkins 45 mins)
Whilst his performance in the second half didn't exactly set the game alight
he was still positive when in possession and I really feel that without him
in the side we lack one of our most important goal scoring threats. 6

Modibo Maiga (on for Cole 62 mins)
We were poor with Cole on the pitch. We were worse when Maiga came on and
though he too suffered with the lack of service, as a central striker up
front on his own in the system that we currently employ I do not believe he
is strong enough to be that man. I may be wrong there but I believe we need
to change the way we set ourselves up in order to accommodate him. (ie; Two
up front)

Alou Diarra (on for Diame 69 mins)
Did not really notice him. I don't think he saw a lot of the ball and made a
few over hit passes when he did.

Subs Not Used: Henderson, Taylor, Maynard, O'Brien

Bookings: Swansea – Chico, Rangel. West Ham – Reid, Collins, Nolan, Cole

Goals: Jaaskelainen OG (20), Michu (29) Graham (64)

Swansea City – Vorm, Rangel, Taylor, Chico, Williams, Routledge, De Guzman,
Britton, Dyer, Michu, Graham
Subs: Tremmel, Tate, Dobbie, Moore, Agustien, Gower, Davies

Ref : Martin Atkinson, 7

Attendance: 20,424

Overall


We expect teams managed by Sam Allardyce to be solid so to see us concede
such soft goals was certainly not expected.

I don't believe we set out to win the game and with the inclusion of Tomkins
we looked as though we were there for the point and anything else would have
been a bonus. We did this a lot last season but often had more quality in
our side than some of the Championship sides.

Any mistake we made at the back last season was not necessarily punished but
in this division you don't tend to get many favours.

I need to see more from us when we go a goal behind. We can't look as
clueless as we did at times in this game especially in the second half which
was incredibly disappointing considering how we ended the first half. We
were forcing corners and getting the ball into the area but in the second
half none of this was produced and I don't know why we dropped off like we
did.

Swansea were weak from set pieces and in that second half we did not exploit
it despite knowing full well that we had the beating of them there. In
fairness to the Welsh side they passed the ball well and do not get me
wrong, they fully deserved all three points.

Next Game – Crewe Alexandra (h) – League Cup 2nd Round, Tues 28th August,
7.45pm Kick Off

Last season Sam Allardyce treated the cup competitions with contempt
basically implying that you cannot get automatic promotion and have a cup
run. Well we didn't get automatic promotion so that puts that argument to
bed and similarly you CAN have a cup run and still stay up. It is media myth
that this is not possible.

The League Cup represents one of only two realistic opportunities for West
Ham to win a cup. If you are not in football to win things then what is the
point of it all?

Last season we went up against Aldershot with a much changed side and put in
a poor display which Allardyce really wasn't very bothered about. This time
around against a better side in Crewe we still need to retain the nucleus of
a strong side.

The media might have ruined the League Cup, Sky might pay no attention to
it, clubs in the Premiership might laugh at it, West Ham fans might think
they are above it – but having a cup run or perhaps even winning the League
Cup would mean more to me than just about anything when it comes to West
Ham.


The View From Allardyce

"There is nothing you can do or say to defend the players who made those
mistakes because they were such major errors in terms of what we were trying
to do at that time in the game,"

"We started the game very, very well and were looking very dangerous and
very solid and sound at the back and unfortunately the goalkeeper has made a
mistake on the first real attempt by Swansea to get into our box and they
went 1-0 up.

"If one mistake is not bad enough, to make two like the one made by James
Collins - which was very unusual for him - then you've got no chance. We
were away from home and we tried to get back but it was too difficult and in
the end we have thrown the game away by our individual errors getting
punished.

"We had enough opportunities to get ourselves back into the game when we
were 2-0 down but we didn't get one and that made the second half much more
difficult for us. Swansea are very good at keeping the ball and they didn't
have to try to score any more. They just had to keep the ball and play the
game out, which they did very well."

"These were two of our new players. Of course I have known Jussi a long time
and he has a huge amount of Premier League experience so I didn't expect him
to make that error.

"It was the same with James. He's been in the Premier League a long time and
he knows what it's all about, but players make mistakes and unfortunately
two came within a short space of time that put the game beyond us and that's
the disappointing thing for me.

"Having a good, solid defensive unit last week, I didn't expect to see those
type of errors but they've happened. We've been severely punished and we
must take it on the chin and bounce back immediately, starting with the cup
game against Crewe."

"We've still got to come to terms with the Barclays Premier League. We've
got new players who need to feel their way in and that does take some time.
In the midst of that, we've got to make sure we get results while they
settle in - particularly the lads from abroad who are getting to know each
other.

"We'll get better as time goes on but it's very important that we try to get
results from the very start and this was a big setback for us. While we know
Swansea was going to be a very difficult game and they are very good at
home, the way we started this game and the way we gifted it to them was a
big let-down for me and the lads.

"We've got players like Alou Diarra, who we gave a taste of what the Premier
League is all about, who will come into the frame for Tuesday. James Tomkins
needs to catch up on games because he didn't get them at the Olympics.

"Gary O'Neil, Joey O'Brien, Nicky Maynard and Matt Taylor are among the
players who will play with a huge amount of first-team experience. We'll
only give one or two of the younger ones a game, but not too many.

"We're going to field a team that is good enough for me to beat Crewe
Alexandra and then we'll move on to Fulham and try to put this one behind us
with two positive results at home in the next week."

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Match Report: Swansea Takes Liberties Over Abject West Ham
By Iain Dale
West Ham Till I Die

Just like the bad old days, wasn't it? And if any of us took a little secret
delight at Rob Green's howler last week at QPR, we should have known better.
If you hand a side like Swansea a two goal start, don't expect to find it
easy to get back into it. The trouble was, we never really tried. And in a
formation like this, it's difficult to anything other than Keep Buggering
On, as Churchill might have said. James Tomkins is not a midfielder and I
just cannot understand why that isn't clear to Sam Allardyce. He had a
player who could perform that role in Alou Diarra, but he started on the
bench. At no stage of the game did West Ham ever threaten to take control.
Indeed, at no stage did we really threaten anything. There were a couple of
half chances where, if the ball had fallen differently, it might have
resulted in something, but you make your own luck i this game, and we didn't
really put in the effort today which deserved any luck at all.

Many of us have worried about Jaaskelainen. We saw today why he lost his
place at Oldham last season. It was a terrible mistake to make and he can
have no excuses. Perhaps West Ham should sign Cesar the Brazilian keeper who
QPR seem to be after. He's available at £3 million.

Defensively we were all over the place for most of the game. The world class
performance from James Collins last week turned into one which would have
embarrassed a 16 year old in the youth team. McCartney and Reid were also
below par, with Demel the only one looking at all totally on his game. But
even he disappeared from view after half time.

In midfield Noble and Nolan showed some commitment in the first half but I
don't recall either of them doing anything constructive in the second half.
Diame was a shadow of the player he looked last week, and poor old Carlton
was more or less invisible. Nothing dropped for him at all and he got very
little service from either the midfield or the flanks.

So to Matt Jarvis. In the first half he delivered a few half decent crosses,
but I was disappointed that he didn't try to skin a Swansea defender when he
had the chance. He does like to drift infield a lot, which I suppose might
be a good thing when we're playing one up front. It was a reasonable debut
but no more than that.

And the subs? Vaz Te and Madiba looked better than those they replaced by
Diarra was largely anonymous, and once gave the ball away ridiculously easy
on the edge of the area.

All in all, very disappointing, Perhaps Sam Allardyce needs to revisit his
stance of having completed his transfer window business. On this showing,
that was a very rash statement to make.

Jaaskelainen 3
Reid 5
Collins 3
McCartney 5
Demel 6
Nolan 6
Noble 6
Diame 5
Jarvis 7
Cole 5
Tomkins 4
Vaz Te 6
Madiba 6
Diarra 4

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