Gerrard spot kick brace beats Hammers
WHUFC.com
West Ham United were edged out by Steven Gerrard's penalty double on Sunday
06.04.2014
West Ham United 1-2 Liverpool
Barclays Premier League
Steven Gerrard scored a brace of penalties as Liverpool maintained their
title charge with a controversial 2-1 victory over the Hammers at the Boleyn
Ground on Sunday. The Liverpool skipper's winner came 20 minutes from time
after Adrian was adjudged to have fouled Jon Flanagan in the box, despite
getting a hand to the ball as the left back looked to go around him. The
favourable calls did not all go Liverpool's way though, as West Ham's
equaliser through Guy Demel drew a furious reaction from the visitors, who
were sure Andy Carroll had fouled Simon Mignolet in the build up. What was
indisputable was that West Ham had given Brendan Rodgers' side a terrific
game and they pushed them all the way to threaten their now nine-game
winning run. Liverpool came into the game as the division's top goalscorers
and it did not take them long to go close in this contest, as Luis Suarez
sent a dipping 30-yard free kick a foot over Adrian's crossbar. The visiting
forwards did not have it all their own way in the opening stages, however,
as the Hammers' graft all over the pitch denied Liverpool the space to truly
hurt them. That said, Suarez was inches away from scoring a 20th minute
opener with a wonderfully improvised clipped effort, which floated ove
Adrian and bounced to safety off the Hammers' crossbar. Seven minutes later
Phillippe Coutinho shrugged off Matt Taylor's challenge at the edge of the
box and fed Suarez, whose shot was blocked en route to goal by James
Tomkins' head. The next time the pair came face to face however, a minute
before the break, Liverpool took the lead. Referee Anthony Taylor made the
first of two big calls in a minute, penalising Tomkins for handball after
the Reds striker tried to play it past him in the box. Gerrard buried the
penalty and it looked as though Liverpool would take a lead to the interval.
The Hammers had other ideas and levelled in stoppage time, with referee
Taylor again at the centre of controversy. Carroll challenged Migonlet in
the air from Mark Noble's corner and as the ball fell from the Belgian's
grasp, Demel was there to poke in. Taylor saw nothing wrong with Carroll's
challenge, and after a lengthy chat with assistant referee Simon Burt,
decided that his flagging for a foul was unneccesary. The visitors were
enraged and they looked to take it out on the Hammers at the start of the
second period as they settled into a pattern of probing with possession
around the Hammers box. It was West Ham who fashioned the first clear chance
after the break though, as Mo Diame stood up an inviting cross to the far
post on 61 minutes with Carroll attacked with real power, but saw his header
crash back off the crossbar. At the other end Daniel Sturridge fired over
the top after bursting into space just outside the box, and it was not long
until the officials found themselves at the centre of attention once more as
Taylor's second penalty award gave Gerrard the chance to restore his side's
lead. Left-back Flanagan won the spot kick after charging forward and
drawing an attempted diving block from Adrian. The Hammers keeper clearly
got a touch on the ball as Flanagan looked to go past him, but the contact
between the pair was deemed to be a foul. England skipper Gerrard again
stepped forward confidently to make the most of the opportunity, beating
Adrian's dive with a well-struck effort into the left hand corner of the
net. Suarez twice went close in the final ten minutes, poking an impudent
chip onto the top of the bar and then drawing an excellent stop from Adrian
after Raheem Sterling played him through. It was Gerrard's brace of
penalties which proved decisive however, as Liverpool withstood a stern
examination from the Hammers to reclaim top spot.
West Ham United: Adrian; Demel, Tomkins, Reid, Armero; Nolan (Nocerino 67),
Noble, Taylor (Jarvis 78); Diame (C.Cole 84), Carroll, Downing
Subs: Jaaskelainen, J.Cole, Potts, Johnson,
Goal: Demel 45+2
Booked: Tomkins, Adrian, Nocerino, Armero
Liverpool: Mignolet; Johnson, Skrtel, Sakho, Flanagan; Coutinho (Lucas 46),
Gerrard, Henderson; Sterling, Sturridge (Toure 85), Suarez
Subs: Jones, Aspas, Allen, Cissokho, Moses
Goals: Gerrard pen 44, Gerrard pen 70
Referee: Anthony Taylor
Attendance: 34,977
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Demel defiant in defeat
WHUFC.com
Guy Demel paid tribute to an excellent West Ham display against Liverpool on
Sunday
06.04.2014
Goalscorer Guy Demel believes West Ham United had plenty to be proud of,
despite losing out to the odd goal in three against Liverpool in the
Barclays Premier League on Sunday. Demel's first goal since August 2009 in
first-half stoppage time cancelled out the first of Steven Gerrard's two
penalties, but there would be no reply to his second spot-kick with 71
minutes on the clock. Though the Hammers' valiant display against the
leaders failed to produce any points, Demel was still buoyed by a
performance that pushed Brendan Rodgers' men right to the wire. "I think we
played really well as a team and we were a bit unlucky at the end," he told
West Ham TV. "I think it's the type of performance that we have to keep on
[producing]. At the beginning of the season we played good football and kept
losing games and Sunday was kind of the same, because I think we played
really well. "I've never seen Liverpool being such in a tough position, they
lost so many balls because we put pressure on them and we had chances as
well. But again, that's football, on Sunday we were pretty unlucky with the
referee's decisions, but we have to move on. "It would have been really nice
for us to get a point against Liverpool, after the last two wins, to keep
the positive atmosphere going. I mean we're disappointed but we played
against probably the champions, or they will be near, so when you have that
type of performance you just have to be proud and make sure you will be able
to keep doing the same for the next game."
As for the Ivorian's goalscoring pedigree, the 32-year-old was thrilled to
have finally opened his West Ham account, not least to get his colleagues
off his back! And having not hit the back of the net for almost five years,
he was certainly thankful for the tap-in. He continued: "It was kind of a
controversial goal and I wasn't sure if the referee would give us the goal
or not. But I'm pretty happy because, to be honest, the guys were on my case
all the time, 'you never score, you never score,' so now it's done. One or
two more would be great, but my first job is to defend and try to do my best
for the team. "I was hoping it would be a tap in and it was! I said I need
a really easy goal and I'm really happy with that."
His goal aside, Demel believes there is many a positive to be taken from
Sunday and hopes the Hammers can continue in a similar vein against his once
employers Arsenal next Tuesday. The Ivorian insists Sunday's fluent display
owes much to the Hammers' comfortable mid-table position and thinks
supporters have much to look forward to before the season is out. "We have
momentum," he added. "The last two games were really important for us, so
now I think, mentally, we're still focused, but we're playing with less
pressure and you can see, when there's less pressure on our shoulders, how
we keep the ball and play. "I still have some friends playing for Arsenal
and it's going to be a tough game again. Like I said, we're going to try to
get a point, because our objective is to finish tenth, it was our objective
before the season. For that we have to get a point, even against the big
teams. "It won't be easy to play Arsenal now. But it's the Premier League,
I've never played an easy game, it's going to be tough, of course, we're
playing against the big boys, but right now we find ourselves in a good
spot, on a good path and we're going to try to do our best. Keep working
hard and to get points somewhere."
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Big Sam rues big decisions
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce gave his opinion on a 2-1 defeat by Liverpool that featured a
host of big talking points
06.04.2014
West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce was left to wonder what might have
been after a controversial penalty saw his side beaten 2-1 by Barclays
Premier League title chasers Liverpool. The Hammers were beaten by two
penalties at the Boleyn Ground on Sunday, one of them controversial and the
other less so, while the hosts' own strike also sparked a huge amount of
debate. Liverpool had hit the crossbar through Luis Suarez before the same
player forced James Tomkins to handle the ball inside his penalty area a
minute before half-time. Steven Gerrard converted from the spot, but within
two minutes West Ham were level when Guy Demel poked home following a Mark
Noble corner. However, it was Andy Carroll's challenge on Simon Mignolet
before the ball dropped to Demel which had the assistant initially raising
his flag before referee Anthony Taylor finally awarded the goal despite
strong protests.
Into the second half and Carroll thumped a header against the crossbar
before yet another moment of controversy with 21 minutes to go. Jon Flanagan
got in behind the back four, but Adrian clearly made contact with the ball
before the left-back went to ground, but Mr Taylor blew his whistle and
pointed to the spot. Again, Gerrard beat the Spanish goalkeeper from 12
yards. There was still time for Suarez to hit the bar for a second time as
Liverpool saw out a win that lifted them back to the top of the table. For
Big Sam, the manner of the defeat left a sour taste in the mouth, and led to
the boss calling for match officials to become full-time professionals and
to work with the same colleagues in every match.
"The talking points were the wrong talking points, if I'm honest," said the
manager. "I can be disappointed if we lose because the opposition have
outplayed you, but I can't today. It was one of those game when we needed to
be at our best, and I thought we were. "It's a game where we really
challenged Liverpool, but across the board the controlling factors and
managers of the game are the officials and I don't think they managed this
game very well at all. It's left me feeling a deep regret and sadness
because we don't want games decided by decisions that were incorrect. "I
know it looked like Andy has fouled the keeper, but bizarrely the referee
gave the goal and the assistant flagged up from 35 yards away and you never
see that, so why is that? Then, with five minutes to go, the assistant was
five yards away from Matt Jarvis being fouled and he didn't give but the
referee did. "Communication between the officials is something we have
talked about at League Managers' Association level, saying that they need to
be a threesome and be together all season so the communication and
understanding gets better. It's clear it's a big problem for us, because it
doesn't happen, and they are still part-time and do their job and go home.
"At this level, it's all right having goal-line technology which has made
some fantastic decisions, but some of the decisions made by the officials
are not."
When asked what he made of the controversial decisions, Big Sam said both
West Ham's goal and Liverpool's second penalty could easily not have been
awarded. "I think the referee found it very difficult and the two decisions
you could say were really controversial were our goal and the second
penalty. For our goal, Andy might have got a hand on Mignolet and might have
put him off. "I've not problem with the first penalty, which is a penalty,
but the second one Adrian plays the ball and Flanagan takes a dive over his
hand to try to get the penalty and he succeeded. "We still might not have
got anything out of the game because they might have scored in open play,
and that's fine by me. I'd sooner lose a game that way. In the end, with all
Liverpool's talent they had to rely on two penalties to beat us."
While the decisions will dominate the headlines on Monday morning, the
manager also pointed to Carroll's 61st-minute header, which cannoned back
off the crossbar instead of flying into the roof of the net to put West Ham
in front, as a big turning point in a see-saw match. "If you look back now,
Andy's header hitting the bar was a key moment because I would be stood here
with a result if it had gone in. It might not have been a win, but I
certainly don't think we would have lost from that point because we were
defending so well. If we'd scored a second, Liverpool would have taken more
chances and we'd have had more space to exploit them and had something to
hang onto if we got 2-1 up. "That was a bit unlucky because it was a super
header and instead of going in, it hit the bar and came out. All in all,
everybody tried their very best and gave all they had got, but for one
reason or another it was a disappointing end to a game we were all looking
forward to and played well in."
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Noble wins Player of the Month vote
WHUFC.com
Mark Noble is the West Ham United Player of the Month for March
06.04.2014
Mark Noble has taken the whufc.com fan vote to be named the Club's Player of
the Month for March. The midfielder enjoyed a fine March, scoring a penalty
in the 2-1 victory over Hull City, as well as setting up two Andy Carroll
goals with set piece deliveries. His contribution did not go unnoticed by
the Hammers fans, with Noble polling 35% of the vote. The No16 beat Andy
Carroll (23%) into second, while James Tomkins (21%) was third.
2013/14 whufc.com Player of the Month winners
August James Collins
September Ravel Morrison
October Ravel Morrison
November Stewart Downing
December Carlton Cole
January Adrian
February Adrian
March Mark Noble
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Referees need academies says West Ham boss Sam Allardyce
BBC.co.uk
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce wants an academy for young referees after two
contentious decisions in Liverpool's 2-1 win at Upton Park on Sunday.
Hammers defender Guy Demel scored after Andy Carroll appeared to foul
Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet. But Liverpool won the game with a
penalty despite West Ham keeper Adrian getting a touch on the ball. "Get
young referees off the parks and into academies. We don't have enough
quality referees," Allardyce said.
Tough season for Taylor
Anthony Taylor
Referee Anthony Taylor gave Aston Villa a contentious penalty at Arsenal on
the opening day
He allowed a Samuel Eto'o goal to stand against Cardiff in October - a
decision called 'a huge mistake' by then Cardiff boss Malky Mackay
He gave Liverpool winger Raheem Sterling a questionable penalty at Stoke in
January
"They try their best but something has to be done about it. "We've been
saying that something needs to be done for six or seven years. Hopefully one
day they will take notice of us. "I'm talking about the recruitment and
development of referees, and their environment. "Get them off the parks and
into academies of young referees. Our next level should be professional
assistant referees. It would improve communication." Both managers were left
talking about decisions by referee Anthony Taylor as Liverpool returned to
the top of the Premier League. Steven Gerrard put Brendan Rodgers' side
ahead from the penalty spot after James Tomkins handled, but the hosts were
level before the break when Demel stabbed in. Linesman Stuart Burt had
flagged for a foul by Carroll as he challenged Mignolet, but after
consulting his assistant, Taylor awarded the goal. And it was the Hammers'
turn to feel aggrieved when Gerrard converted a second penalty, given by
Taylor after Jon Flanagan went down under Adrian's challenge.
Allardyce said: "Unfortunately we are talking about the officials and not
the game. "The referee made big mistakes in the game. The second penalty was
not a penalty, Adrian plays the ball. "It looked like Andy Carroll fouled
the goalkeeper for our goal but we got it. We don't want that, nobody wants
that. "My real concern is that we are talking about referees every week.
It's always controversy, frustration, aggravation for the players. The
officiating was not up to the level we play at."
Liverpool manager Rodgers, unsurprisingly, felt that the award of the
match-winning penalty was the correct decision as his side moved two points
clear of Chelsea. He said: "When you play against West Ham the referees get
called to make more decisions because of the nature of their style. The
officials are asked a lot of questions. "It was clearly not a goal for West
Ham and I thought the referee was chasing the game after that. "Andy Carroll
is the best in the air in Europe but it was a foul by him for the goal. The
linesman gave a foul so it was disappointing to get a goal given. "The
second penalty was a penalty. Jon Flanagan touches it past the keeper, the
keeper gets a slight touch on it but he then brings down Jon."
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West Ham Utd 1-2 Anthony Taylor
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 6th April 2014
By: Staff Writer
Referee Anthony Taylor gave Liverpool a huge boost in their battle to win
the Premier League title with a brace of penalties at the Boleyn Ground this
afternoon.
Although the name might not be immediately familiar, Taylor - one of the
latest in a long list of inept, incompetent, bumbling fools to be charged
with officiating Premier League matches - is already well known to West Ham
fans for being the cretinous halfwit who dismissed both Carlton Cole and
Darren Gibson for high tackles during the West Ham v Everton clash in
December 2012 -decisions that were subsequently reversed by an embarrassed
FA upon appeal.
Fortunately the 35-year-old Altrincham supporter has only been in charge of
two matches involving West Ham since - and one hopes it'll be some
considerable time before he does so again, following a dreadful display that
would have made the likes of Mike Dean and Keith Hackett cringe.
Having awarded the visitors a spot kick after serial cheat Luis Suarez won a
penalty when his point blank shot hit James Tomkins' outstretched hand -
from which Steven Gerrard scored to give Liverpool a 44th-minute lead -
Taylor allowed a Guy Demel effort to stand 90 seconds later despite Andy
Carroll having clearly fouled Reds goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.
Even his assistant's intervention failed to persuade Taylor that an
infringement had taken place, with the referee being caught on camera
stating that he believed the Belgian stopper had simply dropped the ball -
all of which happened whilst the huge TV screens, one of which was literally
a matter of yards away from the consulting duo played back the incident.
No doubt having reviewed the decision at half time, the incident clearly
played on the referee's mind and therefore it was no surprise that he
awarded the visitors a second spot kick at the first available opportunity
when West Ham 'keeper Adrian was adjudged - incorrectly - to have brought
down Liverpool defender Jon Flanagan with just 19 minutes of normal time
remaining.
Gerrard, who spent the entire game occupying the vast amount of space in
front of his back four delivering 60-yard passes to the feet of team mates
(damn their direct, long ball tactics) stepped up once again to score what
proved to be the game's winning goal.
21-year-old Flanagan is of course another with history where West Ham are
concerned, for it was the Liverpool-born full-back's horrific tackle on
Stewart Downing that left the England winger hospitalised during the
corresponding fixture at Anfield last December.
Unsurprisingly, that awful challenge went unpunished by referee Michael
Oliver - another of the new generation of buffoons the Premier League have
decided meets the criteria required to officiate top flight football matches
- who dismissed Hammers captain Kevin Nolan during the same match.
Liverpool will no doubt point to the fact that they enjoyed the greater
number of shots at goal this afternoon - including two efforts that struck
the woodwork - in order to support the notion that they were the more
deserving of the teams to emerge from the game with three points.
But as that may be, once again it was the man in the middle who was to
ultimately decide the outcome of the game - for without his intervention
Liverpool, who failed to score from open play, may well have gone home
empty-handed.
Whilst they enjoyed a fruitful opening 20 minutes, in which the title
challengers spent much of the game on the backfoot, West Ham failed to make
it count when it mattered and just one shot on target during the entire game
- plus an Andy Carroll header that crashed off the crossbar - was scant
reward for an afternoon's work.
However Liverpool were also limited to the odd half-chance prior to taking
the lead, although Suarez - such a naturally gifted footballer that you're
left feeling almost cheated when he dives, bites and racially abuses
opponents - was inches away from opening the scoring with 19 minutes on the
clock when he curled a shot onto Adrian's far post.
The defeat leaves West Ham in 11th place in the Premier League, three points
adrift of tenth-placed Stoke. Whilst relegation is almost certainly no
longer a concern, Sam Allardyce will be hoping his team can grab one more
win, and soon, in order to assuage any lingering fears than might remain.
West Ham Utd 1-2 Liverpool: Match Facts
West Ham Utd: Adrian; Demel, Tomkins, Reid, Armero; Nolan (Nocerino 67),
Noble, M Taylor (Jarvis 78); Diame (C Cole 84), Carroll, Downing
Subs not Used: Jaaskelainen, Potts, Johnson, J Cole.
Goals: Demel (45+2).
Booked: Tomkins (43), Adrian (70), Nocerino (80), Armero (86).
Liverpool: Mignolet; Johnson, Skrtel, Sakho, Flanagan; Coutinho (Lucas 46),
Gerrard, Henderson; Sterling, Sturridge (Toure 85), Suarez, A Taylor.
Subs not Used: Jones, Aspas, Allen, Cissokho, Moses.
Goals: Gerrard (44, 70 pens).
'Referee': Anthony Taylor.
Attendance: 34,977.
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Rodgers on... West Ham United
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 6th April 2014
By: Staff Writer No.2
Brendan Rodgers keeps a straight face as he claims his side's winner came
from a genuine penalty...
Sam has already been on the telly complaining that we're all going to be
talking about the officials and their shortcomings. Do you concur with that?
I don't want to get fined! It was a difficult game. When you play against
West Ham the referee's going to be called into the game to make decisions
more It's physical and the refs are asked a lot of questions. I think that
after the first goal he gave for West Ham he was chasing the game a bit. It
was clearly not a goal and we should have been 1-0 up at half-time.
It's never easy for referees - we got a couple of decisions that I thought
were penalties. The first one was clear. The second one if you analyse it
we've got the reward for our enterprise and commitment; Flanagan makes a
great run in and Lucas plays a wonderful pass. If you analyse it in slow
motion you see Jon gets a touch to go past the 'keeper, the 'keeper gets a
nudge on the ball but catches Jon's foot afterwards so he goes over. He
tries to play advantage to see if Sturridge scores but he doesn't so he
gives the penalty.
If you're the manager who get it you're pleased and if you don't get it,
it's probably a wee bit contentious. The other ones that were in the box I
didn't think were penalties – the one that flicked up and hit the young
full-back unintentionally hit his arm. But I thought we were clearly the
dominant team.
Steve Gerrard has ten penalties in the Premier League this season?
He'll be alright for the World Cup then!
He can't take all five! It's incredible he gets two in a game at Old
Trafford as well and missed another?
It's no accident – he studies goalkeepers and their dives. He has great
variety he can put them high and low. It's good for me as a manager to have
someone as cool and as calm as him. In pressure situations he's outstanding.
The [50-yard long ball] pass for the first goal shows his coolness.
I had to change things at half-time to get the front two into the game
because we weren't dominating as much as I would like. We went to a diamond
in the second half and put the two strikers closer together to stretch them
a wee bit more and I thought we were more dominant in the second half.
Steven was pivotal in that for us.
I thought the two centre-halves were outstanding today. Andy Carroll's the
best in Europe at that role when the ball gets played up like that. He sets
people up with that direct style of football he can be unplayable. I thought
Skrtel was brilliant today – when to challenge, when to intercept, when to
stay off. Sakho too has been awaiting his chance. We've got players who are
committed to the squad. Lucas came on as well. We had to stand up and be
counted.
Next week you've got lots of commemorations for Hillsborough – is it fitting
that you'll go into that top of the league? Is that indicative of how far
the club's come in recent years?
I think it's brilliant that people are talking about the football we're
playing. I'm happy with the way the team plays. I can't say too much about
Hillsborough while the inquest is under way but there's 96 people in the sky
who will always be supporting this football team. We want to do it for the
great support and family of Liverpool this year. They will always be in our
thoughts, the 96 in the sky and their families.
Brendan how will your young team approach the [Man City] game? For some of
them it will be a career-defining game. Will they be confident?
Absolutely. I thought it interesting to hear Vincent Kompany say we're the
best team that they've played. We should have beaten them at the Etihad this
season. We should have won there last season but we drew two each. We should
have beaten them at home – we made a mistake at 2-1 up.
The team that we've put together, the mentality is to be fearless. No matter
who we play – we have to respect them because they have world-class players
but it's about ourselves and the confidence we have to play our youngsters.
They'll embrace it, enjoy it – there's no pressure on them. I will take any
pressure from them. The important thing is to focus on the ball and the team
and not yourself. You'll go a long way with that.
You said before that the pressure is on them?
They've spent money and they're a wonderful football club ho have invested
in good players. But they've invested to win the League and the Champions
League. They have to come to us. We know it's a wonderful place to play.
We're just going to enjoy it. The concentration for me is on that next
training session. We'll recover.
Does it please you that for two weeks in a row you've been under pressure
and had to win to go top?
Yeah if you saw how we passed the ball – the pitch wasn't watered but if
you're the home team you have that choice, so it was ok. But for us it's
about concentrating about our football. Well keep our concentration and
focus. It didn't matter that Man City and Chelsea won yesterday. It can't
affect us. We have to control ourselves and our own emotions and get the job
done. That was a tough game today but we got the job done.
Did you see different side to your team today against a physical West Ham
side?
Yeah I believe so. When I first came here people were talking about the
ideas and football without realising a big part of our game is defending and
pressing the ball. At times you have got to defend. I'm happy to do that.
Tottenham was a big game last week so they have to play. At West Ham, Sam's
done a tremendous job keeping them in the Premier League and it's a
difficult place to come. We had to control the physical battle. I thought
that we did that. As a team we score all types of goals.
How are you handling all the expectation?
From the directors all the way through to social media everyone's got an
opinion. As a manager you have to be clear in your strategy. We've won nine
in a row which is incredible, especially with so many young players.
I never get too carried away when we win or when we lose. All I ask of my
players is that they do the best that they can. It's a wonderful league
because it's so tight. I just concentrate on Liverpool and hopefully we can
continue with this great run.
Are Manchester City the best team you've played?
There's a number of great teams. Manchester City have some wonderful players
– they were champions the other year. They were strong and have every
component to do well. Chelsea, Jose with all his experience they are always
going to be there. We're enjoying it – we had no nerves and we looked to
pass under pressure so we'll hopefully continue getting good results. The
teams that are up there are fantastic teams. We're fighting them and
hopefully we'll continue to win games.
Thank you.
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Liverpool back on top after controversial 2-1 win at West Ham
Last Updated: 06/04/14 10:58pm
SSN
Liverpool returned to the top of the Premier League in controversial
circumstances after a dramatic 2-1 victory over West Ham at Upton Park.
Referee Anthony Taylor took centre stage with key decisions to award
Liverpool a second-half penalty after earlier allowing West Ham's first-half
equaliser to stand.
Best of the match:
Man of the match: Steven Gerrard. Two penalties from the Liverpool captain
as the Anfield club returned to the top of the table.
Goal of the match: Two penalties and a toe-poke from two yards make for slim
pickings. Gerrard's second spot-kick was well put away under huge pressure.
Controversy of the match: Referee Anthony Taylor did not have his best
afternoon, allowing West Ham's equaliser despite Andy Carroll's clash with
Simon Mignolet and then awarding Liverpool a soft second penalty.
Attempt of the match: Luis Suarez hit the bar twice, with his effort in the
second half - a curling effort with the outside of his foot - particularly
impressive.
Save of the match: Adrian plunged to his right to keep out a well-struck
Raheem Sterling shot from outside the box in the closing stages.
Talking points: Can Liverpool go on to win the league? Do we need more
technology in football for the controversial decisions?
The winning goal came via the boot of captain Steven Gerrard from the spot
in the 71st minute after Adrian was penalised for bringing down Jon
Flanagan, with replays showing the West Ham goalkeeper touched the ball
before the pair collided. It was Gerrard's second penalty of the game, the
veteran midfielder having broken the deadlock in a closely-fought first-half
after James Tomkins handled as Luis Suarez turned him in the box. But West
Ham were back on level terms as Guy Demel poked home in first-half added
time when Simon Mignolet failed to gather Mark Noble's corner, under huge
pressure from Andy Carroll.
Referee Taylor gave the goal, only to see his assistant was flagging.
Replays of the incident, which were also inadvertently shown on the
big-screen in the ground and seen by the players, showed Carroll's flailing
hand clearly connect with Mignolet's head, but after a conversation between
the officials, the goal was allowed to stand.
Now Liverpool can prepare for an Anfield clash with trophy rivals Manchester
City next Sunday knowing another win - that would be their tenth in
succession - will bring a first league title for 24 years even closer.
Luis Suarez sent out a warning shot inside the opening three minutes as he
bent a 30-yard free-kick just over the top of Adrian's crossbar.
He went closer still with his next effort as he clipped a shot over the West
Ham keeper, only to see the ball come back into play off the goalframe.
All of Liverpool's threat was coming courtesy of 29-goal Suarez, who looked
to whip the ball past Adrian from another opening, with James Tomkins
bravely heading the shot behind.
With just a minute remaining of the first half Suarez was released by a
sumptuous Gerrard pass and, as the Uruguay international looked to cut
inside, the ball hit the arm of Tomkins, with referee Taylor pointing to the
spot.
Gerrard stepped up confidently to send Adrian the wrong way and put the
visitors ahead. But West Ham did not let their heads drop and levelled in
controversial circumstances on the stroke of half-time. Noble's corner was
aimed towards Carroll, whose hand caught Mignolet in the face as the
goalkeeper looked to take possession, with Demel on hand to turn the ball
in. Taylor gave the goal after a long consultation with assistant referee
Stuart Burt and was in deep discussion with Brendan Rodgers as the teams
disappeared down the tunnel at half-time. The Hammers started the second
half under pressure but managed to soak up anything Liverpool could throw at
them before the hour-mark, before creating the best chance to take the lead.
Demel and Diame combined down the right before the latter swung in a cross
attacked from deep by Carroll, whose header cracked off the crossbar with
Mignolet well beaten.
Daniel Sturridge burst past Matt Taylor and Winston Reid as the half went on
but once again his direction was slightly askew and he failed to test
Adrian.
But Liverpool were rewarded a second penalty as Adrian was adjudged to have
brought down Flanagan, despite getting a hand to the ball before bundling
into the full-back. Gerrard again made no mistake from 12 yards, scoring a
pair of penalties for the second time this season. Sturridge finally managed
to find the target with 10 minutes remaining as he fired in a dipping volley
which was too close to Adrian to cause the Spaniard any real trouble. Suarez
once again hit the crossbar, this time with a swerving lob, and was denied
by the feet of Adrian late on, with Sterling also forcing a smart save in
injury time.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce slams officials after Liverpool loss
By Rob Parrish - Follow me on Twitter @skysportsrobp | Last Updated:
07/04/14 6:37am
SSN
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce launched a scathing attack on the standard of
refereeing in the Premier League after the controversial 2-1 home defeat by
Liverpool. Match official Anthony Taylor found himself firmly in the
spotlight with two contentious decisions in a dramatic clash at Upton Park.
Taylor over-ruled his assistant in first-half added time to allow Guy
Demel's equaliser to stand even though Simon Mignolet had spilled the ball
after being caught by Andy Carroll's flailing arm. And the man in the middle
then awarded Liverpool their second penalty of the game, with captain Steven
Gerrard converting both, after Jon Flanagan went down under Adrian's
challenge, although the West Ham keeper appeared to get a touch on the ball.
"Having had professional referees for such a long time, we clearly don't
have enough and we don't have enough quality."
Allardyce feels changes need to be made to prevent the kind of errors which
he feels have marred the top-flight this term. He told Sky Sports:
"Unfortunately we're talking about the officials rather than talking about
the game, sadly, at the end of it. "We're faced with this difficult
situation where we're talking about it nearly every weekend and that's my
real concern. "Having had professional referees for such a long time, we
clearly don't have enough and we don't have enough quality. "We need to do
something about it at the very, very top and do something as quickly as we
can. "They try their best, they don't go out there to make mistakes. They go
out there to be as honest as they can be. We need officials to make fewer
mistakes than they're making this season."
The Hammers boss added: "I feel really let down, the lads feel really let
down. No-one gave us a chance today and we took Liverpool right to the wire.
"There were more than two major decisions (and), for me, (it is) about the
overall control of the game from the officials. "There is a linesman that
gives one that is far, way and beyond his reach, then it gets turned over by
the referee and looks like a foul on Andy. "Then they get a penalty that's
not a penalty. Flanagan is going down before Adrian has even played the
ball. Adrian plays the ball, the referee is not in a great position. He
can't be 100 per cent certain, so guesses.
"Both teams want to play the game and have the result determined on how
we've played, not by what the referee's decisions were and the big mistakes
he made today."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
MATCH REPORT: WEST HAM 1 LIVERPOOL 2
By Iain Dale 6 Apr 2014 at 19:11
West Ham Till I Die
For me that was one of our best performances of the season, if not THE best.
It was a team effort with every player putting in a real shift and every
player looking to play entertaining football on the deck. Rarely did we hoof
it up, but even so, Andy Carroll got some great service, and he so nearly
got on the scoresheet with that bullet header which cannoned off the bar. I
doubt whether any neutral observer could disagree with the assertion that a
draw would have been a fair result.
Of course the headlines tomorrow won't really mention us. They will
concentrate on the two big decisions the referee got wrong. I'm not even
sure that he didn't get the first penalty wrong either, but maybe that's me
looking through claret tinted spectacles. I don't deny that Demel's goal
should have been disallowed. Carroll blatantly fouled the goalkeeper, but
with the number of decisions that have gone against us this season you won't
find me complaining too much about that one. But Liverpool's second penalty
was outrageous. Adrian had to go for it and according to the replays barely
made any contact. Officials will always get things wrong and that's part of
the game. but to get two, or potentially three big decisions wrong in a game
of this importance was tragic. On these things do relegation and
Championships depend. I'd love to see referees forced to justify their
decision in interviews after games, but I suppose they will never agree to
it.
But let's not allow the referee's lack of judgement detract from what was a
great West Ham performance. Adrian was in great form and I loved the way he
was quite happy to come out of his area and boot the ball clear on occasion.
Not enough goalkeepers do that in my opinion. And across the back four,
there wasn't a weak performance. I thought Reid and Tomkins had a great
understanding and both full backs were great in defence, and just as
important, attack. As the season has gone on, Demel has improved his
attacking play and Armero is very much an attacking left back who likes to
whip the ball in. I was really impressed with him.
Noble controlled much of the game in midfield and was a match of Gerrard, I
thought. Kevin Nolan really applied himself and was unlucky not to get on
the scoresheet. He made some brilliant tackles and I suspect he was only
substituted because he was completed knackered. This was Diame's best game
for some time and he did really well down the right, although he also seemed
to pop up everywhere on the pitch. He was particularly effective in the
first half an hour and caused Liverpool all sorts of problems. Like Diame,
Downing saw a lot of the ball down the left and whipped in cross after
cross, although often not to much effect. My only concern with Downing is
his total lack of goals. He just can't seem to get a shot on target. At the
end of the game he had all the time in the world to time a shot from outside
the area, but he ballooned it over. Matt Taylor also did well and surely he
has earned another year's contract. Our revival has coincided with him being
back in the team, something which not that many people have noticed. I'd
still like to see him shoot more. He's got a fantastic shot on him and he
should be taking more set pieces.
Andy Carroll was again immense. Liverpool had a game plan to neutralise him
which worked for a time, but as the game went on he won more and more 50-50
balls. He was also very good defensively, a part of his game which many
commentators seem to ignore. He deserved more than he got out of the game,
and the referee always seemed to imagine it was him at fault if he and
another player went down. Of course he is no shrinking violet, but he
deserved more decisions from the referee.
This performance showed a very different side to West Ham. It wasn't quite
the entertaining West Ham of old, but it wasn't far off. It demonstrated
that an Allardyce team can indeed play good football. He may point to the
fact that we lost, but not many people think we deserved to. And on a
different day I suspect the result might have been different.
I'm very much looking forward to the Palace game. It would be nice to get
three points on the board before then, though, wouldn't it?
Adrian 8
Demel 7
Tomkins 7
Reid 7
Armero 7
Noble 8
Nolan 7
Taylor 7
Downing 7
Diame 8
Carroll 7
Nocerino 6
Cole 6
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West Ham boss Sam Allardyce blasts standards of officiating in the Premier
League after Liverpool loss
Apr 06, 2014 20:20 By Alex Richards
The Mirror
Sam Allardyce has launched a scathing attack on the standard of Premier
League officials following his side's 2-1 defeat by Liverpool. Referee
Anthony Taylor handed Liverpool two penalties, whilst West Ham's goal was
also contentious, in a controversial clash at Upton Park. Steven Gerrard
scored from the spot after James Tomkins was adjudged to have handled in the
penalty area, before Taylor overruled his assistant to allow Guy Demel an
equaliser in first-half injury time - despite Andy Carroll's challenge on
Simon Mignolet. And Taylor handed the Reds a second penalty in the second
half, having adjudged Hammers keeper Adrian to have fouled Jon Flanagan,
although the Spanish stopper appeared to have got a touch on the ball. And
Allardyce, whose side sit 11th in the table, offered a damning indictment of
Premier League officials after the final whistle. "Unfortunately we're
talking about the officials rather than talking about the game," said the
West Ham manager. "We're faced with this difficult situation where we're
talking about it nearly every weekend and that's my real concern. "Having
had professional referees for such a long time, we clearly don't have enough
and we don't have enough quality. "We need to do something about it at the
very, very top and do something as quickly as we can. "They try their best,
they don't go out there to make mistakes. They go out there to be as honest
as they can be. We need officials to make fewer mistakes than they're making
this season."
And with regards to today's performance from the officials, Allardyce
declared that both he and his players felt "let down" by the standard of
officiating.
"I feel really let down, the lads feel really let down," explained
Allardyce. "No-one gave us a chance today and we took Liverpool right to the
wire. "There were more than two major decisions (and), for me, (it is) about
the overall control of the game from the officials. "There is a linesman
that gives one that is far, way and beyond his reach, then it gets turned
over by the referee and looks like a foul on Andy. "Then they get a penalty
that's not a penalty. Flanagan is going down before Adrian has even played
the ball. Adrian plays the ball, the referee is not in a great position. He
can't be 100 per cent certain, so guesses. "Both teams want to play the game
and have the result determined on how we've played, not by what the
referee's decisions were and the big mistakes he made today."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham United 1-2 Liverpool: Steve Gerrard scores twice in game full of
controversy
Apr 06, 2014 22:30 By Martin Lipton
The Mirror
Five wins from glory, that's all. Just 450 minutes from ending those 24
years in the title wilderness. Seven and a half hours that stand between
Brendan Rodgers' side and the feat that a whole generation of Red
Merseysiders have wanted with an intensity that has grown ever more fervent.
And after coming through this Upton Park trial, emerging with understated
delight despite the doubts brought on by referee Anthony Taylor, Andy
Carroll and, indeed, themselves. The glittering prize is now closer than it
has been for more than two decades. Steven Gerrard's nerveless penalty 19
minutes from time, propelled with focused efficiency while West Ham raged
over Taylor's interpretation of Adrian's clash with Jon Flanagan, was all
about calm amid the storm. It is cold minds Liverpool need now, the ability
to keep their heads, to retain that vision without letting it compromise
them. But it is there. Beckoning them, enticing them, seducing them. Yes,
the two toughest tests, City and Chelsea, are still to come. Both at
Anfield, both in front of those yearning, imploring fans. To complete the
task they will probably have to extend this nine-match winning run to 14,
matching Arsenal's Premier League record – set across two campaigns – in
2002. Sometimes, though, there is a sense of destiny that channels a side, a
belief that it is meant to be. Liverpool, even when they were sucker-punched
by a poor decision in first-half stoppage time, moments after Gerrard's
first penalty conversion, are fuelled by that inner impetus. Of course, it
can disappear in the blink of an eye. We have seen teams fall at the moment
where triumph seemed in their grasp. Yesterday, when Guy Demel's equaliser
stood, despite the long conversation between Mr Taylor and assistant Stuart
Burt, might have been one of those turning points.
Liverpool were not at their fluent best, far from it. Daniel Sturridge
struggled to find his shooting boots, Philippe Coutinho was unimpressive,
West Ham huffed and puffed with rugged vigour. But just before the break,
the moment they wanted, needed, craved. Gerrard, with a ball of sheer
perfection, bent with the outside of his right foot, isolated Luis Suarez
against James Tomkins. The Uruguayan had earlier been denied his 30th
Premier league goal of the campaign when his dink came back off the bar. But
here, when he flipped the ball inside, the handling offence by Tomkins was
blatant. Gerrard accepted the offer, sending Adrian the wrong way from the
spot and Liverpool seemed set fair, only for it to change in the last
seconds before the break. Sam Allardyce's game-plan was hardly secret,
everything played forward aimed at Carroll and the England striker was again
the target when a right-wing corner was thrown in by Mark Noble. Martin
Skrtel – like his colleagues, left in a blind panic from every set-piece –
gave Carroll a shove but it was a palm into the head of Simon Mignolet from
the Geordie that forced him to drop the ball before Demel turned home. The
referee gave the goal, his assistant waved furiously but the goal, after an
exchange, stood. Rodgers acted, sending on Lucas for Coutinho, allowing
Gerrard to play further up but if Carroll's header had hit the target rather
than the bar, Liverpool might have folded. It didn't and they didn't. Then
the key moment. Lucas rolled inside Demel, Flanagan was in on goal, Adrian
came haring out. No doubts, at all, that the swipe with the keeper's right
hand bounced off the top of the ball – not noticeably changing its
direction. None, either, that the follow-through clattered into the
Liverpool left-back, bringing him down. How much of that Mr Taylor saw is
open to debate but he was decisive, as was Gerrard who speared into the
corner from 12 yards. Suarez, denied by Adrian's foot before hitting the bar
once more and the elusive Raheem Sterling might have put it beyond doubt,
the arrival of Kolo Toure bringing a few palpitations. Victory was greeted
with a few warm hugs, nothing ostentatious. They know the task which remains
in front of them. It is, though, Liverpool's to win.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham and Hull lead chase for AC Milan's £3million-rated midfielder
Sulley Muntari
Apr 06, 2014 22:30 By Darren Witcoop
The Mirror
Hull and West Ham are in the hunt to land £3million-rated Sulley Muntari
this summer. Muntari will be offered to clubs after becoming a casualty of
AC Milan's shake-up. The Ghana midfielder had one season in English football
with Portsmouth six years ago and helped them win the FA Cup. He also caught
the eye during a loan spell under Steve Bruce at Sunderland in 2011 - and is
up for a Premier League return. Muntari, 29, will be available at a
knockdown price with just 12 months left on his San Siro deal. Bruce wanted
Muntari to bolster his engine room in January before a deal collapsed. But
the Tigers chief will renew his interest and will join West Ham in the race
for his signature.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Brendan Rodgers says Liverpool were ''clearly the better team'' after narrow
win at West Ham
Apr 06, 2014 19:45 By Alex Richards
The Mirror
Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has declared that while there were bad
decisions at both ends during their 2-1 win over West Ham United, his side
still deserved to take all three points. Two Steven Gerrard penalties - the
first for a handball by James Tomkins, the second for a debatable foul by
Hammers keeper Adrian on Jon Flanagan - either side of a Guy Demel equaliser
- following an apparent foul by Andy Carroll on Simon Mignolet - continued
the Reds excellent form. And crucially, it moved Brendan Rodgers' side back
to the top of the Premier League table, ahead of next weekend's crunch clash
against Manchester City. "I thought we thoroughly deserved the win and we
showed great character today," said Rodgers, speaking to Sky Sports. "It was
a brilliant win for us and keeps our run going. "We were clearly the better
team. West Ham had one shot on target, which was the goal." It was
Liverpool's ninth successive Premier League win, and if they make it 10 in a
row against title rivals City next weekend, then their title dreams will
take a massive step closer to becoming reality. And Rodgers has set his
sights on making it a perfect 10 at Anfield. "It's going to be a great game.
"It's nine games on the spin now, which is an incredible effort by the
players and the staff. Today was a really tough game for us, now we will
recover and reflect on the game. "It is going to be a magnificent atmosphere
at Anfield. The supporters really urged us on today and we want to see if we
can get 10 in a row."
Concerning today's activities, Rodgers also believed that referee Anthony
Taylor was RIGHT to award his side two penalties - but wrong to allow West
Ham's goal. "The first one was a clear penalty" added Rodgers. "In all
fairness the referee after the game will see he got it wrong for their goal.
"The second penalty was a penalty. Jon Flanagan touches it past the keeper,
the keeper gets a slight touch on it but he then brings down Jon."
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Sunday, April 6
Daily WHUFC News - 6th April 2014
Cover star Winston ready for Reds
WHUFC.com
Official Programme cover star Winston Reid is looking forward to the challenge of stopping Liverpool
05.04.2014
Hammer of the Year Winston Reid is the cover star for West Ham United's action-packed 84-page Official Programme for the Barclays Premier League visit of leaders Liverpool. Inside, Reid discusses his injury-affected season, his return to form and fitness, the challenge of stopping the Reds and his disappointment at missing out on the 2014 FIFA World Cup with New Zealand. Elsewhere, we catch up with Liverpool's Academy of Football graduate Glen Johnson and Ian 'Moose' Abrahams meets former Hammer and new Nottingham Forest manager Stuart Pearce. Roger Johnson reveals which manager gave him earache and there are exclusive columns from David Gold, Sam Allardyce and Kevin Nolan. Named runners-up in the Programme Monthly Programme of the Year awards, another packed issue has been put together for the visit of the Reds by the Club's editorial team and valued contributors. The perfect-bound Programme, which is also available in digital format featuring exclusive video content from 9am on matchday, will be available in and around the Boleyn Ground this evening and is crammed full of interviews, photographs and stories to keep you updated with exactly what is going on at your Club. Supporters can find all the latest information regarding the move to the Olympic Stadium in 2016, as well as all the news from behind the scenes at the Boleyn Ground. Memorabilia collectors Steve Marsh and Stuart Allen return with their popular Hammerabilia and Get With The Programme features, historian John Northcutt continues his run through of Hammers history from A to Z., while fans can also read the very latest from the Club's Development Squad, Under-18s, Ladies and Community department.
With all this and much, much more and priced at just £3.50, the 2013/14 Official Programme is a must-read for all Hammers supporters! The digital edition of the Official Programme will be available on your iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android devices alongside PC and Mac. It will be on sale on matchday from 9am. The digital Official Programme comes with all the content you would expect from the print edition, as well as exclusive video footage, meaning fans from all over the globe can get ahead of the action and read their Programme and enjoy exclusive video interviews and highlights. If you live overseas, that means you can download your programme before kick-off, with the game being televised live in a large number of countries across the world. The print edition will be available to buy in and around the Boleyn Ground on matchday as usual, packed with all the usual exclusive content.
Available again for the 2013/14 season, the digital programme offers supporters a number of great additional features, including:
• Easy to use page-turning technology
• Simple content navigation and skip-to-page features
• Interactive content including exclusive video footage
• Our programmes remember the last page you were viewing
• Fans can order back-dated issues
• Apple users will have all their issues hosted in one place on Newsstand for easy access
Hammers supporters can subscribe for the whole season from just £24.99 (fans receive all back issues) or buy individual issues for only £1.99. The Programme is available on Apple iPad and iPhone, as well as Android and via the Pocketmags app on kindle fire and Blackberry Playbook.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
'It'll be a really tough game'
WHUFC.com
Matt Jarvis says nothing will come easy for West Ham United when they host Liverpool on Sunday
05.04.2014
Matt Jarvis says West Ham United will be raring to go when they welcome Barclays Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday. The Hammers' back-to-back wins over Hull City and Sunderland have lifted them onto 37 points and up to eleventh place with six matches still to play. For those reasons, and with a capacity Boleyn Ground roaring them on against the Reds, Jarvis is confident that West Ham can upset Brendan Rodgers' side this weekend. "We've had our ups and downs this season, but those two wins on the bounce have really given us the confidence to push on until the end of the season and hopefully getting us safe," said the No7. "We were playing two teams who were around us in the league so to beat both of them denies them points and pushes us further away from them. That's exactly what we needed to do. "I don't think we're able to relax yet as we've got a huge game on Sunday at home, so we're going to be concentrating on pushing ourselves as far as possible up the league table. "Liverpool have been flying recently and scoring lots of goals, so it's going to be a really tough game, but we're coming off the back of two great results and we're full of confidence."
While you might think Liverpool would be more wary of their potential title deciders at home to Manchester City and Chelsea than a trip to east London, some Reds fans have suggested that West Ham present a big potential banana skin to their ambition of finishing top of the pile for the first time since 1990. Jarvis says West Ham would be doing everything in their power to stop Luis Suarez and company. "We're never going to make it easy for them. We'll give them a really tough game and they'll have to be on top form to beat us."
Should he start on Sunday, the winger is likely to come face-to-face with former Hammer Glen Johnson, who has enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career. The England right-back, who was in the same England side when Jarvis made his senior debut against Ghana in March 2011, will pose a big threat to West Ham's chances of success on Sunday. "I've had a few battles with Glen and he's a fantastic player and has done really well this season. If I'm selected, it'll be a really tough game."
While Suarez, strike partner Daniel Sturridge and midfielder Steven Gerrard have taken most of the headlines this term, Jarvis admitted Liverpool can create and convert chances from all over the pitch. "They've been scoring goals all over the park and their two strikers have always got a goal in them, so it will be a battle, but it's one we're looking forward to."
While Liverpool have their match-winners, West Ham possess a number of potential game-changes too, including Scouser Kevin Nolan and former Reds Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing. Jarvis believes all three will need no extra motivation to get one over the men from Anfield. "There are a few connections and I'm sure they will be determined to get a good result. For them, there might be a little bit more on it!"
Looking further forward, Jarvis concluded by revealing that West Ham plan to pick up ten points from their remaining six fixtures to eclipse their haul of 46 and tenth place achieved last season. "That was the plan from the start - to match, if not better last season. If we can get the results between now and the end of the season, we will be pushing up the table and trying to beat tenth place."
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Potters down U18s
WHUFC.com
Stoke City played their way to a 4-1 victory against the Under-18s on Saturday afternoon
05.04.2014
West Ham United Under-18s went down to a shock 4-1 defeat against Stoke City at Little Heath in the Barclays Under-18 Premier League on Saturday afternoon. The visitors went ahead against the run of play during the first half through Tomi Adeloye's smart chipped finish, before Marcio Martins headed the Hammers level soon after half-time from Kieran Bywater's free kick. Just moments later, however, Stoke City moved back ahead when Edward Saunders bundled the ball over the line, before Adeloye and Derice Richards confirmed defeat for the Hammers. With the majority of Steve Potts' side moving up to the Development Squad in recent weeks, the Hammers' U18 boss was again forced into naming a young side, picking the best players from the U16 squad to fill the void. Tunji Akinola started in the heart of the defence alongside Emmanual Onariase, whilst England U16 striker Jahmal Hector-Ingram was again named on the bench. The Hammers started on the front foot and gained control of the game early on with central midfielders Amos Nasha and Moses Makasi enjoying plenty of possession in the middle of the park. Both Djair Parfitt-Williams and Bywater had chances to put the home side ahead in the opening 15 minutes, with the Hammers captain going closest when his stabbed effort was cleared off the line. Just over ten minutes later and Stoke made the home side pay for their missed chances when Adeloye broke through the defence and kept his composure to coolly chip the ball over the on-rushing Sam Howes. Into the second half and the Hammers again dictated a large percentage of possession, but again failed to turn their good spells into meaningful efforts on goal. Just past the hour mark and West Ham's persistence was rewarded when Martins met Bywater's right wing free-kick and directed the ball into the top right-hand corner of the goal. Parity on the score line didn't last for long, however, as Stoke were soon back in front following a goalmouth scramble. The visitors saw a free header from a corner bounce off the underside of the crossbar before several players bundled in on the ball with centre-half Saunders claiming to have made the decisive touch. Things got worse for the hosts just minutes later when Adeloye picked the ball up and found a route into the Hammers penalty area, before firing past Howes into the top corner of the net to secure the points for the visiting team. As the Hammers pushed for a response, the visitors took advantage of spaces at the back to add a fourth when Yusuf Coban was sent on his way down the left-hand touchline, before crossing low into the penalty area where Richards beat Howes to bundle home a fourth. Steve Potts' men will be looking to turn their fortunes around in their next league fixture when they travel to Manchester City U18 on Saturday 12th April at 11am.
West Ham United U18: Howes, Pike (Diangana), Onariase, Akinola, Mavila, Nasha, Makasi, Amoo, Martins, Bywater, Parfitt-Williams (Hector-Ingram)
Subs not used: Parsons, Borg, Bailey
Goal: Martins 61
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Winston Reid salutes Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge
Last Updated: 06/04/14 7:12am
SSN
West Ham defender Winston Reid says one of Liverpool strike duo Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge will be the PFA Player of the Year. Suarez and Sturridge - who Reid will try to stop on Sunday - are the leading scorers in the division this season with 29 and 20 goals respectively. You have to go back to December 29 to find the last time neither found the net in a league game for the Reds. And Reid says their fellow professionals will look no further when it comes to the PFA Player of the Year of the Award in the coming weeks. "I think it'll be one of those two," Reid said. "Suarez has had a fantastic season. He missed the first five or six games as well so it's amazing what he's done and I'm sure his name will be right up there. "And Daniel Sturridge has had an amazing season as well. "They're good at what they do, they've got good movement, I think they link up well and they're dangerous in the box. "You need to get tight to them and make sure they don't turn and run at you because if they run at you, you're in trouble."
West Ham's Andy Carroll will hope to gatecrash the striker party on Sunday. Carroll joined Liverpool for £35million in January 2011 but failed to impress and was shipped out on loan to the Hammers, before joining West Ham on a permanent deal last summer. After missing the first five months of the season with a foot injury, Carroll has given the Hammers a welcome boost in recent weeks, scoring twice in his last four matches. "He could make the difference on Sunday," Reid said. "He's our main striker and he's done well for the team since he's come back and he's scored a couple of goals so hopefully he can do that until the end of the season. "For him as well it will be nice personally to play against his old team which he came from to us. "Hopefully he can get a couple of goals and we can win the game."
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Liverpool's Daniel Agger insists it would be wrong to focus on Andy Carroll threat
Last Updated: 05/04/14 2:30pm
SSN
Liverpool defender Daniel Agger admits West Ham's Andy Carroll will pose a major threat on Sunday but insists the former Reds striker is not the only outlet for the Londoners. Carroll, who joined Liverpool in a £35million deal from Newcastle in January 2011, missed the Hammers' 4-1 defeat at Anfield in December but has scored two goals in his last four matches since returning to fitness. Sunday's Sky Live game gives him the chance to impress former boss Brendan Rodgers, who took a £20m hit on the club's record signing when off-loading him last season. Despite the obvious focus on Carroll, Agger has warned his team-mates to expect threats from other areas of the park as West Ham look to cement the Premier League status for another season. "West Ham is a tough place to go. They have a few more than Andy, it is a good strong team," he said. "You cannot underestimate anyone, we see that week in, week out. "I think their whole team will give us a hard time, but we have to focus on our game and the way we play. The most important thing is to win the next one."
Liverpool took over top spot last week with a 4-0 victory over Tottenham - their eighth successive league win - and Agger admits the club is looking no further than the 'next game'. "The most important thing is to be top of the league at the end of the season as the league is so tight," said the Dane. "I think we showed confidence against Tottenham, but the most important thing is to stay focused and know your job. "We wanted to win our last game and that was what was in our head and now we have prepared for the next one."
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GUEST POST: THE ALLARDYCE DILEMMA
By Iain Dale 5 Apr 2014 at 16:40
West Ham Till I Die
Guest Post by Rugby Irons
So we're nearly there, which just leaves the one important question:.What does Sam do from here on in? He has had 31 pretty awful games (sorry 30 plus spurs away) and has scraped together enough points to stay up.Most fans are pretty fed up with his style (sic) of play,his media excuses and his demeaning his own supporters. I won't mention Forest or City. I believe most supporters have had enough and want him out to save the clubs traditions. Another season like this and the Davids will be lucky to fill half the OS let alone fill it.
Like a lot of Hammers fans I am a football Manager and so have the experience of what its like to coach players, have to pick a team ,make substitutions and get results. As a manager I have to say that I don't understand a lot of what Sam is doing. He doesn't seem to coach the team and we have seen the same mistakes over again. Does he do any coaching or is this down to his first team coaching staff, none of which have set the world alight.He is roundly criticised for only having route one plan A. As we saw at Sunderland the players have more than just hoof, but are so used to not having to play on the ground its a shock when they do.
Sam's substitutions are poor,as was seen by Reid coming on at Everton and costing points again but this is hardly isolated.There seems little thought behind what he does and has a single substitution worked in a big way for us this season? As he is only prepared to use his limited squad (I will leave the Curtis connection out of this for now) you get no variation and if you are Kevin Nolan then you know you are playing regardless.
So what was the big question I started with? With seven games left is Allardyce good enough to change his style of play to influence enough supporters to side with him? Having got rid of Ravel and Jack, he has virtually no flair to work with just his hoof style players and largely ineffectual wingers to work with.We would love to see real football again and with the pressure off he could have made changes and brought in development players, if he can find any who want to play for him after Forest!
In this case I think a leopard won't change its spots and in truth I don't think he is either a good enough coach or manager to do it. On a personal note I don't think his ego would let him. He is primarily interested in a big wad and he will get it anyway and probably a bonus too so why do anything different, in his twenty five years of total lack of success, he hasn't shown any willingness to win anything so why bother now? It's also certainly not to please the supporters who he has belittled several times this season. The only thing of interest maybe another huge salary extension for a job he hardly looks, of late, as if he is actually enjoying .
So the next seven games, plan A drivel or a lifeline to extend his tenure? Will more booing of Sam make the Davids realise keeping him will empty Upton Park let alone the OS? Will they also realise if he stays what sorts of players will NOT come, the aging hoofers that will, and that Ravel ,flair and the Academy will be a thing of the past . The next seven games are not just about keeping a dinosaur but whether the club wants to go down the route of extinction with him.
Only you will decide, the best supporters of any club in the world. COYI
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West Ham boss Sam Allardyce tells friends he WON'T walk out on club this summer
Apr 06, 2014 03:00 By Neil Moxley
The Mirror
Julian Finney
Sam Allardyce will NOT walk out on West Ham this summer – and is already making plans for his summer transfer business, writes Neil Moxley in the Sunday People. Allardyce was booed by sections of the Upton Park crowd during a recent win over 10-man Hull. Some Hammers fans want to see more skill and flair from their team. But the 59-year-old boss has told friends he won't be quitting ahead of what will be the last year of his contract. And unless there is a huge change of heart from co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold, Allardyce will be staying. Sullivan and Gold conduct reviews at the end of every season with their managers in a practice they started at Birmingham City. And there is little motivation for a change at the top, despite the split among supporters.
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Adrian: West Ham keeper ready to stop Liverpool's SAS strike force
The Spaniard faces one of the hardest jobs in football today — up against Liverpool's fearsome forward line of Suarez and Sturridge. But he's unfazed, he tells Simon Hart
SIMON HART Sunday 06 April 2014
The Independent
Is there a footballer anywhere in the world today with a harder job on his hands than Adrian? The West Ham United goal-keeper – Adrian San Miguel del Castillo, to use his full name – is the man with the unenviable task of keeping out the most prolific strike pairing in English football, Liverpool's Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge. Between them Suarez and Sturridge have already accumulated 49 League goals this season – more than 13 top-flight teams and as many as neighbours Everton – and their scoring feats mean that Liverpool visit Upton Park this afternoon with a first League title in 24 years within tantalising reach.
A victory would restore them to the Premier League summit ahead of next week's showdown with Manchester City, and the form of their strikers gives real hope to the red half of Merseyside. After all, in the two previous seasons in which a couple of Liverpool players hit 20 goals or more – Roger Hunt and Ian St John in 1963-64, and Jack Balmer and Albert Stubbins in 1946-47 – they ended up as champions.
The statistics are almost as remarkable as the recollection of that £35 million fee which Liverpool paid not so long ago for Andy Carroll, who lines up against his old team for the first time today.
Partners in crime: Liverpool strikers Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge Partners in crime: Liverpool strikers Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge Consider this: with six games to play, Suarez has already surpassed Robbie Fowler's club record of 28 goals for a Premier League campaign; one more goal would make the Uruguayan their first 30-goals-in-a-season striker since Ian Rush in 1986-87; Liverpool last failed to score in a League match on the first weekend of November; and in their previous four away games they have scored 15 goals. It is enough to give a goalkeeper sleepless nights, but not Adrian. "Yes, of course I'll sleep," the Spaniard told The Independent on Sunday with a smile.
Adrian has the cheerful, outgoing nature of your typical sevillano, but speaking at West Ham's Chadwell Heath training ground on Friday he was fully aware of the challenge facing Sam Allardyce's men, who would reach the 40-point mark with victory. "I've seen a few of [Liverpool's] games on TV and they have real quality up front," he said. "They have really fast players and goalscorers like Suarez and Sturridge, and overall they have a great team and are in a great moment of form. They have some spectacular stats away from home, so we have to stay tight, the team have to defend well and build from there – we can't get too carried away, because if we switch off we can suffer."
Adrian's preparations for facing Liverpool's deadly duo have been no different from any other game. Yesterday he will have turned on his laptop at his home in Canary Wharf and watched a specially compiled DVD of Liverpool's attacking play.
"I watch it the day before the game so it's fresh in the mind," he explained. "It is dead-balls and things they do during a game – penalties, free-kicks, movements at corners. These are things we can study, but over the course of a game they do different things which are hard to analyse no matter how many games you watch."
Few do the different things better than the inspirational Suarez, whom Adrian likens to the great goalscorers he faced in Spanish football with his old club Real Betis – namely "[Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Lionel] Messi, [Radamel] Falcao – great forwards who can shoot with their right, with their left, dribble round you.
"They're not your normal strikers but the best in the world, and Suarez is like that – he can shoot from distance and with both feet, so we have to be completely focused and be aware of every movement they make."
Adrian certainly needs no warning about shots from distance: it was on his last outing in front of the TV cameras that Wayne Rooney sent the ball flying over his head and into the back of the net from 45 yards. It is a moment that has led to ribbing from friends back in Spain – "A few contacted me on WhatsApp, asking, 'How's Rooney?' – but he is happy to relive it from the stricken goalkeeper's perspective.
"I don't think I was too far forward, I was in a good position but the ball moved a bit strangely. He hit it with the outside of the foot so the ball moved towards my right first, and so I went to my right and started running but when I next looked it had changed direction. At that speed, running back, you don't have time to react. These are difficult things to prepare for as a goalkeeper, they don't happen normally – people aren't going to shoot at you from the halfway line. It's a goal that hurts because it was from so far out, but you have to credit the striker too, as it was a great strike."
The 27-year-old has been on the receiving end of worse in an eventful first season in England, notably a four-day period in early January when West Ham lost 5-0 at Nottingham Forest and 6-0 at Man City in successive cup defeats. "As a goalkeeper, to concede five and six was the worst thing," he says, but he showed the character to respond with five clean sheets in his next six games, including a confidence-boosting shut-out at Chelsea on a night the home team had 39 shots. That cemented his status as both Allardyce's first-choice keeper – ahead of Jussi Jaaskelainen – and an unlikely cult hero to West Ham's supporters.
"The relationship with the fans is great and something I am proud of – to hear the fans chanting 'Adrian, Adrian' makes me happy." Today, with Liverpool's SAS in town, he will need all the support he can get.
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Official Programme cover star Winston Reid is looking forward to the challenge of stopping Liverpool
05.04.2014
Hammer of the Year Winston Reid is the cover star for West Ham United's action-packed 84-page Official Programme for the Barclays Premier League visit of leaders Liverpool. Inside, Reid discusses his injury-affected season, his return to form and fitness, the challenge of stopping the Reds and his disappointment at missing out on the 2014 FIFA World Cup with New Zealand. Elsewhere, we catch up with Liverpool's Academy of Football graduate Glen Johnson and Ian 'Moose' Abrahams meets former Hammer and new Nottingham Forest manager Stuart Pearce. Roger Johnson reveals which manager gave him earache and there are exclusive columns from David Gold, Sam Allardyce and Kevin Nolan. Named runners-up in the Programme Monthly Programme of the Year awards, another packed issue has been put together for the visit of the Reds by the Club's editorial team and valued contributors. The perfect-bound Programme, which is also available in digital format featuring exclusive video content from 9am on matchday, will be available in and around the Boleyn Ground this evening and is crammed full of interviews, photographs and stories to keep you updated with exactly what is going on at your Club. Supporters can find all the latest information regarding the move to the Olympic Stadium in 2016, as well as all the news from behind the scenes at the Boleyn Ground. Memorabilia collectors Steve Marsh and Stuart Allen return with their popular Hammerabilia and Get With The Programme features, historian John Northcutt continues his run through of Hammers history from A to Z., while fans can also read the very latest from the Club's Development Squad, Under-18s, Ladies and Community department.
With all this and much, much more and priced at just £3.50, the 2013/14 Official Programme is a must-read for all Hammers supporters! The digital edition of the Official Programme will be available on your iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android devices alongside PC and Mac. It will be on sale on matchday from 9am. The digital Official Programme comes with all the content you would expect from the print edition, as well as exclusive video footage, meaning fans from all over the globe can get ahead of the action and read their Programme and enjoy exclusive video interviews and highlights. If you live overseas, that means you can download your programme before kick-off, with the game being televised live in a large number of countries across the world. The print edition will be available to buy in and around the Boleyn Ground on matchday as usual, packed with all the usual exclusive content.
Available again for the 2013/14 season, the digital programme offers supporters a number of great additional features, including:
• Easy to use page-turning technology
• Simple content navigation and skip-to-page features
• Interactive content including exclusive video footage
• Our programmes remember the last page you were viewing
• Fans can order back-dated issues
• Apple users will have all their issues hosted in one place on Newsstand for easy access
Hammers supporters can subscribe for the whole season from just £24.99 (fans receive all back issues) or buy individual issues for only £1.99. The Programme is available on Apple iPad and iPhone, as well as Android and via the Pocketmags app on kindle fire and Blackberry Playbook.
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'It'll be a really tough game'
WHUFC.com
Matt Jarvis says nothing will come easy for West Ham United when they host Liverpool on Sunday
05.04.2014
Matt Jarvis says West Ham United will be raring to go when they welcome Barclays Premier League leaders Liverpool on Sunday. The Hammers' back-to-back wins over Hull City and Sunderland have lifted them onto 37 points and up to eleventh place with six matches still to play. For those reasons, and with a capacity Boleyn Ground roaring them on against the Reds, Jarvis is confident that West Ham can upset Brendan Rodgers' side this weekend. "We've had our ups and downs this season, but those two wins on the bounce have really given us the confidence to push on until the end of the season and hopefully getting us safe," said the No7. "We were playing two teams who were around us in the league so to beat both of them denies them points and pushes us further away from them. That's exactly what we needed to do. "I don't think we're able to relax yet as we've got a huge game on Sunday at home, so we're going to be concentrating on pushing ourselves as far as possible up the league table. "Liverpool have been flying recently and scoring lots of goals, so it's going to be a really tough game, but we're coming off the back of two great results and we're full of confidence."
While you might think Liverpool would be more wary of their potential title deciders at home to Manchester City and Chelsea than a trip to east London, some Reds fans have suggested that West Ham present a big potential banana skin to their ambition of finishing top of the pile for the first time since 1990. Jarvis says West Ham would be doing everything in their power to stop Luis Suarez and company. "We're never going to make it easy for them. We'll give them a really tough game and they'll have to be on top form to beat us."
Should he start on Sunday, the winger is likely to come face-to-face with former Hammer Glen Johnson, who has enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career. The England right-back, who was in the same England side when Jarvis made his senior debut against Ghana in March 2011, will pose a big threat to West Ham's chances of success on Sunday. "I've had a few battles with Glen and he's a fantastic player and has done really well this season. If I'm selected, it'll be a really tough game."
While Suarez, strike partner Daniel Sturridge and midfielder Steven Gerrard have taken most of the headlines this term, Jarvis admitted Liverpool can create and convert chances from all over the pitch. "They've been scoring goals all over the park and their two strikers have always got a goal in them, so it will be a battle, but it's one we're looking forward to."
While Liverpool have their match-winners, West Ham possess a number of potential game-changes too, including Scouser Kevin Nolan and former Reds Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing. Jarvis believes all three will need no extra motivation to get one over the men from Anfield. "There are a few connections and I'm sure they will be determined to get a good result. For them, there might be a little bit more on it!"
Looking further forward, Jarvis concluded by revealing that West Ham plan to pick up ten points from their remaining six fixtures to eclipse their haul of 46 and tenth place achieved last season. "That was the plan from the start - to match, if not better last season. If we can get the results between now and the end of the season, we will be pushing up the table and trying to beat tenth place."
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Potters down U18s
WHUFC.com
Stoke City played their way to a 4-1 victory against the Under-18s on Saturday afternoon
05.04.2014
West Ham United Under-18s went down to a shock 4-1 defeat against Stoke City at Little Heath in the Barclays Under-18 Premier League on Saturday afternoon. The visitors went ahead against the run of play during the first half through Tomi Adeloye's smart chipped finish, before Marcio Martins headed the Hammers level soon after half-time from Kieran Bywater's free kick. Just moments later, however, Stoke City moved back ahead when Edward Saunders bundled the ball over the line, before Adeloye and Derice Richards confirmed defeat for the Hammers. With the majority of Steve Potts' side moving up to the Development Squad in recent weeks, the Hammers' U18 boss was again forced into naming a young side, picking the best players from the U16 squad to fill the void. Tunji Akinola started in the heart of the defence alongside Emmanual Onariase, whilst England U16 striker Jahmal Hector-Ingram was again named on the bench. The Hammers started on the front foot and gained control of the game early on with central midfielders Amos Nasha and Moses Makasi enjoying plenty of possession in the middle of the park. Both Djair Parfitt-Williams and Bywater had chances to put the home side ahead in the opening 15 minutes, with the Hammers captain going closest when his stabbed effort was cleared off the line. Just over ten minutes later and Stoke made the home side pay for their missed chances when Adeloye broke through the defence and kept his composure to coolly chip the ball over the on-rushing Sam Howes. Into the second half and the Hammers again dictated a large percentage of possession, but again failed to turn their good spells into meaningful efforts on goal. Just past the hour mark and West Ham's persistence was rewarded when Martins met Bywater's right wing free-kick and directed the ball into the top right-hand corner of the goal. Parity on the score line didn't last for long, however, as Stoke were soon back in front following a goalmouth scramble. The visitors saw a free header from a corner bounce off the underside of the crossbar before several players bundled in on the ball with centre-half Saunders claiming to have made the decisive touch. Things got worse for the hosts just minutes later when Adeloye picked the ball up and found a route into the Hammers penalty area, before firing past Howes into the top corner of the net to secure the points for the visiting team. As the Hammers pushed for a response, the visitors took advantage of spaces at the back to add a fourth when Yusuf Coban was sent on his way down the left-hand touchline, before crossing low into the penalty area where Richards beat Howes to bundle home a fourth. Steve Potts' men will be looking to turn their fortunes around in their next league fixture when they travel to Manchester City U18 on Saturday 12th April at 11am.
West Ham United U18: Howes, Pike (Diangana), Onariase, Akinola, Mavila, Nasha, Makasi, Amoo, Martins, Bywater, Parfitt-Williams (Hector-Ingram)
Subs not used: Parsons, Borg, Bailey
Goal: Martins 61
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Winston Reid salutes Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge
Last Updated: 06/04/14 7:12am
SSN
West Ham defender Winston Reid says one of Liverpool strike duo Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge will be the PFA Player of the Year. Suarez and Sturridge - who Reid will try to stop on Sunday - are the leading scorers in the division this season with 29 and 20 goals respectively. You have to go back to December 29 to find the last time neither found the net in a league game for the Reds. And Reid says their fellow professionals will look no further when it comes to the PFA Player of the Year of the Award in the coming weeks. "I think it'll be one of those two," Reid said. "Suarez has had a fantastic season. He missed the first five or six games as well so it's amazing what he's done and I'm sure his name will be right up there. "And Daniel Sturridge has had an amazing season as well. "They're good at what they do, they've got good movement, I think they link up well and they're dangerous in the box. "You need to get tight to them and make sure they don't turn and run at you because if they run at you, you're in trouble."
West Ham's Andy Carroll will hope to gatecrash the striker party on Sunday. Carroll joined Liverpool for £35million in January 2011 but failed to impress and was shipped out on loan to the Hammers, before joining West Ham on a permanent deal last summer. After missing the first five months of the season with a foot injury, Carroll has given the Hammers a welcome boost in recent weeks, scoring twice in his last four matches. "He could make the difference on Sunday," Reid said. "He's our main striker and he's done well for the team since he's come back and he's scored a couple of goals so hopefully he can do that until the end of the season. "For him as well it will be nice personally to play against his old team which he came from to us. "Hopefully he can get a couple of goals and we can win the game."
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Liverpool's Daniel Agger insists it would be wrong to focus on Andy Carroll threat
Last Updated: 05/04/14 2:30pm
SSN
Liverpool defender Daniel Agger admits West Ham's Andy Carroll will pose a major threat on Sunday but insists the former Reds striker is not the only outlet for the Londoners. Carroll, who joined Liverpool in a £35million deal from Newcastle in January 2011, missed the Hammers' 4-1 defeat at Anfield in December but has scored two goals in his last four matches since returning to fitness. Sunday's Sky Live game gives him the chance to impress former boss Brendan Rodgers, who took a £20m hit on the club's record signing when off-loading him last season. Despite the obvious focus on Carroll, Agger has warned his team-mates to expect threats from other areas of the park as West Ham look to cement the Premier League status for another season. "West Ham is a tough place to go. They have a few more than Andy, it is a good strong team," he said. "You cannot underestimate anyone, we see that week in, week out. "I think their whole team will give us a hard time, but we have to focus on our game and the way we play. The most important thing is to win the next one."
Liverpool took over top spot last week with a 4-0 victory over Tottenham - their eighth successive league win - and Agger admits the club is looking no further than the 'next game'. "The most important thing is to be top of the league at the end of the season as the league is so tight," said the Dane. "I think we showed confidence against Tottenham, but the most important thing is to stay focused and know your job. "We wanted to win our last game and that was what was in our head and now we have prepared for the next one."
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GUEST POST: THE ALLARDYCE DILEMMA
By Iain Dale 5 Apr 2014 at 16:40
West Ham Till I Die
Guest Post by Rugby Irons
So we're nearly there, which just leaves the one important question:.What does Sam do from here on in? He has had 31 pretty awful games (sorry 30 plus spurs away) and has scraped together enough points to stay up.Most fans are pretty fed up with his style (sic) of play,his media excuses and his demeaning his own supporters. I won't mention Forest or City. I believe most supporters have had enough and want him out to save the clubs traditions. Another season like this and the Davids will be lucky to fill half the OS let alone fill it.
Like a lot of Hammers fans I am a football Manager and so have the experience of what its like to coach players, have to pick a team ,make substitutions and get results. As a manager I have to say that I don't understand a lot of what Sam is doing. He doesn't seem to coach the team and we have seen the same mistakes over again. Does he do any coaching or is this down to his first team coaching staff, none of which have set the world alight.He is roundly criticised for only having route one plan A. As we saw at Sunderland the players have more than just hoof, but are so used to not having to play on the ground its a shock when they do.
Sam's substitutions are poor,as was seen by Reid coming on at Everton and costing points again but this is hardly isolated.There seems little thought behind what he does and has a single substitution worked in a big way for us this season? As he is only prepared to use his limited squad (I will leave the Curtis connection out of this for now) you get no variation and if you are Kevin Nolan then you know you are playing regardless.
So what was the big question I started with? With seven games left is Allardyce good enough to change his style of play to influence enough supporters to side with him? Having got rid of Ravel and Jack, he has virtually no flair to work with just his hoof style players and largely ineffectual wingers to work with.We would love to see real football again and with the pressure off he could have made changes and brought in development players, if he can find any who want to play for him after Forest!
In this case I think a leopard won't change its spots and in truth I don't think he is either a good enough coach or manager to do it. On a personal note I don't think his ego would let him. He is primarily interested in a big wad and he will get it anyway and probably a bonus too so why do anything different, in his twenty five years of total lack of success, he hasn't shown any willingness to win anything so why bother now? It's also certainly not to please the supporters who he has belittled several times this season. The only thing of interest maybe another huge salary extension for a job he hardly looks, of late, as if he is actually enjoying .
So the next seven games, plan A drivel or a lifeline to extend his tenure? Will more booing of Sam make the Davids realise keeping him will empty Upton Park let alone the OS? Will they also realise if he stays what sorts of players will NOT come, the aging hoofers that will, and that Ravel ,flair and the Academy will be a thing of the past . The next seven games are not just about keeping a dinosaur but whether the club wants to go down the route of extinction with him.
Only you will decide, the best supporters of any club in the world. COYI
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West Ham boss Sam Allardyce tells friends he WON'T walk out on club this summer
Apr 06, 2014 03:00 By Neil Moxley
The Mirror
Julian Finney
Sam Allardyce will NOT walk out on West Ham this summer – and is already making plans for his summer transfer business, writes Neil Moxley in the Sunday People. Allardyce was booed by sections of the Upton Park crowd during a recent win over 10-man Hull. Some Hammers fans want to see more skill and flair from their team. But the 59-year-old boss has told friends he won't be quitting ahead of what will be the last year of his contract. And unless there is a huge change of heart from co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold, Allardyce will be staying. Sullivan and Gold conduct reviews at the end of every season with their managers in a practice they started at Birmingham City. And there is little motivation for a change at the top, despite the split among supporters.
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Adrian: West Ham keeper ready to stop Liverpool's SAS strike force
The Spaniard faces one of the hardest jobs in football today — up against Liverpool's fearsome forward line of Suarez and Sturridge. But he's unfazed, he tells Simon Hart
SIMON HART Sunday 06 April 2014
The Independent
Is there a footballer anywhere in the world today with a harder job on his hands than Adrian? The West Ham United goal-keeper – Adrian San Miguel del Castillo, to use his full name – is the man with the unenviable task of keeping out the most prolific strike pairing in English football, Liverpool's Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge. Between them Suarez and Sturridge have already accumulated 49 League goals this season – more than 13 top-flight teams and as many as neighbours Everton – and their scoring feats mean that Liverpool visit Upton Park this afternoon with a first League title in 24 years within tantalising reach.
A victory would restore them to the Premier League summit ahead of next week's showdown with Manchester City, and the form of their strikers gives real hope to the red half of Merseyside. After all, in the two previous seasons in which a couple of Liverpool players hit 20 goals or more – Roger Hunt and Ian St John in 1963-64, and Jack Balmer and Albert Stubbins in 1946-47 – they ended up as champions.
The statistics are almost as remarkable as the recollection of that £35 million fee which Liverpool paid not so long ago for Andy Carroll, who lines up against his old team for the first time today.
Partners in crime: Liverpool strikers Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge Partners in crime: Liverpool strikers Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge Consider this: with six games to play, Suarez has already surpassed Robbie Fowler's club record of 28 goals for a Premier League campaign; one more goal would make the Uruguayan their first 30-goals-in-a-season striker since Ian Rush in 1986-87; Liverpool last failed to score in a League match on the first weekend of November; and in their previous four away games they have scored 15 goals. It is enough to give a goalkeeper sleepless nights, but not Adrian. "Yes, of course I'll sleep," the Spaniard told The Independent on Sunday with a smile.
Adrian has the cheerful, outgoing nature of your typical sevillano, but speaking at West Ham's Chadwell Heath training ground on Friday he was fully aware of the challenge facing Sam Allardyce's men, who would reach the 40-point mark with victory. "I've seen a few of [Liverpool's] games on TV and they have real quality up front," he said. "They have really fast players and goalscorers like Suarez and Sturridge, and overall they have a great team and are in a great moment of form. They have some spectacular stats away from home, so we have to stay tight, the team have to defend well and build from there – we can't get too carried away, because if we switch off we can suffer."
Adrian's preparations for facing Liverpool's deadly duo have been no different from any other game. Yesterday he will have turned on his laptop at his home in Canary Wharf and watched a specially compiled DVD of Liverpool's attacking play.
"I watch it the day before the game so it's fresh in the mind," he explained. "It is dead-balls and things they do during a game – penalties, free-kicks, movements at corners. These are things we can study, but over the course of a game they do different things which are hard to analyse no matter how many games you watch."
Few do the different things better than the inspirational Suarez, whom Adrian likens to the great goalscorers he faced in Spanish football with his old club Real Betis – namely "[Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Lionel] Messi, [Radamel] Falcao – great forwards who can shoot with their right, with their left, dribble round you.
"They're not your normal strikers but the best in the world, and Suarez is like that – he can shoot from distance and with both feet, so we have to be completely focused and be aware of every movement they make."
Adrian certainly needs no warning about shots from distance: it was on his last outing in front of the TV cameras that Wayne Rooney sent the ball flying over his head and into the back of the net from 45 yards. It is a moment that has led to ribbing from friends back in Spain – "A few contacted me on WhatsApp, asking, 'How's Rooney?' – but he is happy to relive it from the stricken goalkeeper's perspective.
"I don't think I was too far forward, I was in a good position but the ball moved a bit strangely. He hit it with the outside of the foot so the ball moved towards my right first, and so I went to my right and started running but when I next looked it had changed direction. At that speed, running back, you don't have time to react. These are difficult things to prepare for as a goalkeeper, they don't happen normally – people aren't going to shoot at you from the halfway line. It's a goal that hurts because it was from so far out, but you have to credit the striker too, as it was a great strike."
The 27-year-old has been on the receiving end of worse in an eventful first season in England, notably a four-day period in early January when West Ham lost 5-0 at Nottingham Forest and 6-0 at Man City in successive cup defeats. "As a goalkeeper, to concede five and six was the worst thing," he says, but he showed the character to respond with five clean sheets in his next six games, including a confidence-boosting shut-out at Chelsea on a night the home team had 39 shots. That cemented his status as both Allardyce's first-choice keeper – ahead of Jussi Jaaskelainen – and an unlikely cult hero to West Ham's supporters.
"The relationship with the fans is great and something I am proud of – to hear the fans chanting 'Adrian, Adrian' makes me happy." Today, with Liverpool's SAS in town, he will need all the support he can get.
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Saturday, April 5
Daily WHUFC News - 5th March 2014
Liverpool match preview
WHUFC.com
All the need-to-know information ahead of Sunday's game against Liverpool at
the Boleyn Ground
04.04.2014
WEST HAM UNITED v LIVERPOOL
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
SATURDAY 6 APRIL 2014
KICK-OFF: 4PM
REFEREE: ANTHONY TAYLOR
FULL AUDIO COMMENTARY - WEST HAM TV
TWITTER I FACEBOOK I INSTAGRAM I YOUTUBE I PROGRAMME I iPHONE APP
Introduction
• West Ham United go in search of a third consecutive win in the Barclays
Premier League on Sunday afternoon, when they welcome Liverpool to the
Boleyn Ground.
• The Hammers head into the match on the back of a fine 2-1 away win against
Sunderland which came courtesy of goals from Andy Carroll and Mohamed Diame.
• Preceding that, Sam Allardyce's side won by the same score line against
Hull City on their last home outing, thanks to strikes from Mark Noble and a
James Chester own goal.
• Six points from their last two fixtures leaves the Hammers nearing the
40-point mark, lying eleventh in the table with 37 points.
• When the two sides met in the corresponding fixture last year, the Hammers
held a 2-1 lead until two goals in three minutes snatched the points for
Liverpool.
• The Reds arrive in east London as the Premier League's form team having
won their last eight league matches.
• The eighth win of that sequence arrived against Tottenham Hotspur at
Anfield last weekend, when Brendan Rodgers' side ran riot winning 4-0.
• Liverpool have enjoyed success on their travels this season and have won
five of their last six matches on the road, the latest being a 6-3 thrashing
of Cardiff City.
Team news
West Ham United
• George McCartney is a doubt for Sunday's clash after tweaking a hamstring
in the 2-1 win over his former club Sunderland.
• Long-term absentee Joey O'Brien is still some way from a return to the
fold following the dislocated shoulder he sustained against Chelsea in
January.
Liverpool
• Jose Enrique is Liverpool's only injury concern, with the left-back having
missed a large part of the season due to a knee injury.
Last time out
Sunderland 1-2 West Ham United
Barclays Premier League
1 April 2014
West Ham United: Adrian, Demel, Tomkins, Reid, McCartney (Armero 45), Noble,
Nolan (Nocerino 84), Taylor, Diame (Johnson 79), Downing, Carroll
Subs not used: Jaaskelainen, Jarvis, C Cole, J Cole
Goals: Carroll 9, Diame 50
Liverpool 4-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Barclays Premier League
30 March 2014
Liverpool: Mignolet, Flanagan, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson, Gerrard (Lucas 70),
Coutinho (Allen 64), Henderson, Sterling (Moses 83), Suarez, Sturridge
Subs not used: Jones, Aspas, Sakho, Cissokho
Goals: Kaboul (og) 2, Suarez 25, Coutinho 55, Henderson 75
Previous meeting
Luis Suarez scored twice late on as Liverpool broke down a stubborn first
half Hammers display to eventually run out 4-1 winners. It took 42 minutes
for the Reds to strike, with Guy Demel unfortunate to turn the ball into his
own net. Mamadou Sakho scored a second just after half-time, before the
Hammers pulled one back through a Martin Skrtel own goal. It didn't inspire
a comeback however as two late strikes from Suarez and Kevin Nolan's red
card compounded the Hammers woes.
Liverpool 4-1 West Ham United
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 7 December 2013
Liverpool: Mignolet, Johnson, Skrtel, Sakho, Flanagan (Kelly 79), Allen,
Gerrard (Lucas 56), Henderson Coutinho, Sterling (Moses 72), Suarez
Subs not used: Jones, Alberto, Aspas, Cissokho
Goals: Demel (og) 42, Sakho 47, Suarez 81, 84
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, Demel, Tomkins (O'Brien 56), Collins,
McCartney, Noble, Nolan, Downing (J Cole 46), Diame, Jarvis (Taylor 85),
Maiga
Subs not used: Adrian, Collison, C Cole, Diarra
Goal: Skrtel (og) 66
Background
• West Ham United and Liverpool have met 126 times previously, with the Reds
enjoying 67 victories. The Hammers have tasted success on just 24 occasions
and there have been 35 draws. In the Premier League, Liverpool have won 20
of the 34 meetings, with West Ham winning six and there being eight draws.
• The first-ever meeting between the two clubs was an FA Cup intermediate
round tie played at the Memorial Grounds on 5 January 1901. Division One
Liverpool edged out Southern League West Ham United 1-0 in front of a crowd
of 6,000, with Sam Raybould scoring the winner.
• Vic Watson scored four times, Stan Earle twice and Wilf James once as West
Ham United went top of the Division One table after beating Liverpool 7-0 at
the Boleyn Ground on 1 September 1930 - the Hammers' biggest-ever home win
over the Reds.
• A three-minute hat-trick scored by Roger Hunt either side of half-time
inspired Liverpool to a 5-1 Division One victory at the Boleyn Ground on 6
September 1965 - the Reds' biggest win at the home of the Hammers. Martin
Peters scored West Ham United's consolation goal.
• The largest crowd to attend a Liverpool versus West Ham United fixture at
Anfield was the 55,675 who attended a goalless Division One draw on 14 May
1977. Liverpool would go on to defeat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-1 in the
European Cup final in Rome eleven days later.
• The Hammers and the Reds met in the 1981 League Cup final at Wembley. The
match ended in a 1-1 draw after extra-time, with Ray Stewart's last-gasp
penalty wiping out Alan Kennedy's 118th-minute strike. The replay, held at
Villa Park, saw Paul Goddard put John Lyall's side in front, only for goals
from Kenny Dalglish and Alan Hansen to see the trophy head to Merseyside.
• West Ham United and Liverpool famously met in the 2006 FA Cup final at the
Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Jamie Carragher's own-goal and a Dean Ashton
strike put the Hammers 2-0 up before Djibril Cisse and Steven Gerrard
brought the Reds level. Paul Konchesky put West Ham back in front before
Gerrard's late 25-yarder forced extra-time. After a goalless 30 minutes,
Liverpool prevailed 3-1 on penalties.
• Billy Bonds has made more appearances against Liverpool, 33, than any
other West Ham United player. The Reds' Ian Callaghan made a record 33
appearances against the Hammers, scoring twice.
• Vic Watson scored a record nine goals in 14 appearances against Liverpool.
John Toshack has scored more goals for the Reds against the Hammers than
anyone else with ten.
• Kevin Nolan, Andy Carroll and Liverpool full-back Jose Enrique were all
part of the Newcastle United squad which won the Championship title in 2010.
• A number of other West Ham United and Liverpool players have lined-up
alongside one another at their former clubs and at international level -
Andy Carroll, Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, Jordan Henderson, Stewart
Downing and Martin Kelly (England), Jack Collison, James Collins and Joe
Allen (Wales), James Tomkins and Allen (Team GB), Collins and Stewart
Downing (Aston Villa), George McCartney and Jordan Henderson (Sunderland),
Raheem Sterling, Matthias Fanimo and Blair Turgott (England age-group
sides).
• No fewer than 19 players have made their West Ham United debuts against
Liverpool - Alex Kane (January 1926), Walter Pollard (September 1929), Reg
Wade (January 1930), Bill Nelson (September 1954), Dave Bickles (September
1963), Eddie Presland (February 1965), Mick McGiven (December 1973), John
Radford (December 1976), George Parris and Keith McPherson (May 1985), Kevin
Keen (September 1986), Hugo Porfirio (September 1996), Andy Impey (September
1997), Marc Keller (September 1998), Gavin Holligan (February 1999),
Svetoslav Todorov (February 2001), Laurent Courtois (August 2001), Rufus
Brevett (February 2003) and Kepa Blanco (January 2007).
• Eddie Presland scored on his debut in a 2-1 Division One victory over
Liverpool at the Boleyn Ground on 27 February 1965. The left-back would make
just six first-team appearances for the Hammers before joining Crystal
Palace in 1967.
• Kepa Blanco netted just minutes after coming on as a substitute for his
West Ham United debut in a 2-1 home Premier League defeat by Liverpool on 30
January 2007.
• West Ham United player Stewart Downing played against his current
employers for Liverpool in both fixtures between the two clubs in the
2012/13 season.
Last six meetings (Premier League unless stated)
7 December 2013 - Liverpool 4-1 West Ham United
7 April 2013 - Liverpool 0-0 West Ham United
9 December 2012 - West Ham United 2-3 Liverpool
27 February 2011 - West Ham United 3-1 Liverpool
20 November 2010 - Liverpool 3-0 West Ham United
19 April 2010 - Liverpool 3-0 West Ham United
Overall record v Liverpool (all competitions) W 24 D 35 L 67
Ten-year records
West Ham United
2012/13 Premier League 10th (46 points)
2011/12 Championship 3rd (86 points - promoted via Play-Offs)
2010/11 Premier League 20th (33 points - relegated to Championship)
2009/10 Premier League 17th (35 points)
2008/09 Premier League 9th (51 points)
2007/08 Premier League 10th (49 points)
2006/07 Premier League 15th (41 points)
2005/06 Premier League 9th (55 points)
2004/05 Championship 6th (73 points - promoted via play-offs)
2003/04 Championship 4th (74 points)
Liverpool
2012/13 Premier League 7th (61 points)
2011/12 Premier League 8th (52 points)
2010/11 Premier League 6th (58 points)
2009/10 Premier League 7th (63 points)
2008/09 Premier League 2nd (86 points)
2007/08 Premier League 4th (76 points)
2006/07 Premier League 3rd (68 points)
2005/06 Premier League 3rd (82 points)
2004/05 Premier League 5th (58 points)
2003/04 Premier League 4th (60 points)
Old boys
• West Ham United midfielder Alou Diarra spent three seasons with Liverpool
between 2002 and 2005 after joining the club from Bayern Munich. However,
the 31-year-old failed to make a first-team appearance for the Reds, instead
being loaned to Le Havre, Bastia and Lens before joining the latter on a
permanent basis.
• Andy Carroll joined the Reds from Newcastle United for £35million in
January 2011. Carroll played 58 times for Liverpool, scoring eleven goals,
before joining the Hammers permanently in summer 2013 following a successful
loan at the Boleyn Ground.
• Glen Johnson came through the ranks at West Ham United, making 15 league
appearances in the 2002/03 season. He was transferred to Chelsea for
£6million in summer 2003 and subsequently moved on to Portsmouth before
Liverpool snapped him up in June 2009.
• Joe Cole played 149 games in all competitions for the Hammers, scoring 13
goals, before his switch to Chelsea in August 2003. Cole also won the FA
Youth Cup with West Ham United in 1999. Cole joined Liverpool in summer
2010, scoring five goals in 42 appearances - including one at the Boleyn
Ground in the reverse fixture this season in December - before moving back
to east London in January 2013.
• Stewart Downing spent two seasons with Liverpool between 2011 and 2013
before completing a move to the Boleyn Ground in August 2013.
• Among the other players who have represented both clubs are Craig Bellamy,
Yossi Benayoun, Tom Bradshaw, David Burrows, Titi Camara, Charles Cotton,
Julian Dicks, Ray Houghton, Don Hutchison, Paul Ince, David James, Rob
Jones, George Kay, Robbie Keane, Paul Konchesky, Mike Marsh, Javier
Mascherano, Neil Mellor, Neil Ruddock, Danny Shone, Rigobert Song and Thomas
Stanley.
Referee
• Sunday's referee will be Anthony Taylor.
• Taylor is in his fourth season on the Select Group of referees appointed
to control Barclays Premier League fixtures.
• The Greater Manchester-born official started refereeing in the Northern
Premier League in 2002 before being appointed to the Football League list at
the start of the 2006/07 season, refereeing his match between Wrexham and
Peterborough United in League Two on 12 August 2006.
• Taylor's first Premier League appointment was the 3 February 2010
encounter between today's visitors Fulham and former West Ham United manager
Avram Grant's Portsmouth, with the Cottagers winning 1-0.
• Taylor took charge of West Ham against Liverpool almost exactly a year ago
on Sunday, as the two sides played out a 0-0 draw at Anfield on 7 April
2013. That match was the last time he took charge of a Hammers fixture.
• Taylor will be assisted by Steve Child and Stuart Burt on Sunday, and the
fourth official will be Craig Pawson.
General information
• The weather forecast for Sunday's match is light cloud with temperatures
around 17C (62F).
• There are no tickets remaining for the match which is a sell-out.
• The District Line is running a good service this weekend with no planned
closures.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Big Sam on: Liverpool
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce addressed the assembled media at his pre-match press
conference on Friday morning
04.04.2014
Sam Allardyce spoke to members of the local and national media at Chadwell
Heath on Friday morning ahead of his side's Barclays Premier League
encounter with Liverpool. The Hammers' boss answered questions regarding how
to stop the Reds' free-scoring attack, his side's fine recent form and the
latest team news ahead of the clash.
Sam, what's the team news ahead of the weekend?
SA: "Kevin Nolan is ok. George McCartney is the biggest doubt. He came off
with a hamstring problem on Monday night. It's probably caused by a bit of
fatigue and the fact he played three games in a short space of time, so it
looks as though he'll miss out on Sunday."
You've played against a lot of good sides down the years, how good is this
Liverpool side, and how good will you have to be to beat them?
SA: "At the moment I think that the Liverpool team, in terms of its form and
results, is operating at 100 per cent. Sometimes you can be playing really,
really well and not achieve the results that those performances deserve, but
certainly at the moment their results and performances make them the top
team in the league. Other teams have slipped up and they've taken full
advantage by producing the quality of football and the goals that they've
got over the last period.
"That's been very good for Brendan Rodgers and his team. When you have two
quality strikers of the ilk of Sturridge and Suarez then the rest of the
team know that somewhere along the line they're going to put the ball in the
back of the net if they provide the service for them. They haven't been too
concerned about conceding a goal here and there. They seem to know that
they'll score one more than the opposition if the opposition score against
them."
In world terms, how good is Luis Suarez?
SA: "At the moment he now finds himself in the top two or three in the
world. The commitment he showed to Liverpool and they showed to him, seems
to have given him that extra impetus this season to go out and be even
better than he was after the problems he had. The combination with Sturridge
has flourished where that looked a little concerning in the early stages as
neither wanted to play in a wide position. That seems to have all come
together now and the rest of the team is providing the service behind them
has grown in quality and confidence.
"People are emerging from an England point of view and it's very encouraging
to see Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling emerge more than ever this year.
We've got a big job on our hands, we know that, but after our performances
and our results we're really looking forward to it. We've eased the pressure
on ourselves and produced a great run of form and results at this period of
time with six wins out of nine. That's two points per game, that's top-six
form. We're in our best form of the season and hopefully that will make for
a competitive game on Sunday afternoon."
David Sullivan said that if you'd had Andy Carroll fit all season that you'd
be pushing for Europe. Is that a statement you agree with?
SA: "It's a possibility, yes. Since the turn of the year our change of form
and results has improved and it's got better and better and now we're in the
best run we've had since we've been back in the Premier League. We've got to
take that confidence into Sunday's game and hopefully we can produce one of
those performances that has happened many, many times in the Premier League
this year.
"Just the other week Crystal Palace beat Chelsea and Manchester City lost to
Sunderland, things like that can happen. We beat Tottenham away 3-0 when
they were right up near the top so we hope it can be one of those days, but
we certainly have to be on top, top form to get anything out of the game.
Now there's less pressure on us, we're not safe yet, but we are feeling a
lot more confident going into this game based on less fear from our league
position going into this game."
Do you think Liverpool were too quick to pass on Andy Carroll?
SA: "He (Brendan Rodgers) made a decision early on and we were the first to
try and resolve that situation. As disappointed as Andy was, that was the
decision made by Brendan and you have to move on, you have to put it behind
you. Stewart Downing also comes into the fray where he played a part in
Liverpool last season and then joined us. The rest of the team and those two
lads particularly will want to show how good they are on Sunday. Let's hope
they play very, very well on Sunday because we need them to."
For the clubs that are at the bottom of the table scrapping for survival,
how important are the fans in helping the team in that situation?
SA: "There becomes a fear factor in the players at this stage of the season
and as a manager you have to override that fear factor. The fear factor is
massive in trying to relax and make sure that your players are focussed on
the task at hand. The key is to not be too intense and try to relax them
because the whole club fears relegation and that spreads like a plague. You
have protect the players from that because if they go out with fear then
they can freeze and not produce what they're capable of. That's the biggest
managerial tool you have to have at this stage of the season if you're down
there. You have to promote the good things they do and remind them of what
they're capable of and the good results they've produced. You have to get
them ready to go out and fight for what they need to do to stay safely in
the Barclays Premier League."
Ravel Morrison has been voted Sky Bet Championship Player of the Month for
March, have you been keeping an eye on his progress?
SA: "We see Rav with our scouts and staff on a regular basis. He's right in
the think of a different experience to the one he had last season when he
was at Birmingham. He's got the real pressure on him now of staying in the
Play-Off places which is nearly guaranteed now. He's scored a few goals so
we're pleased to see him playing regularly and gaining more and more
experience."
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Spurs match moved
WHUFC.com
West Ham United's final home match of 2013/14 with Tottenham Hotspur will
now kick-off at 12.45pm
04.04.2014
West Ham United's final home match of 2013/14 with Tottenham Hotspur will
now kick-off at 12.45pm on Saturday 3 May. The Hammers complete their slate
of Barclays Premier League fixtures at the Boleyn Ground by welcoming their
north London rivals for what promises to be a mouth-watering lunch-time
derby.
Following the final whistle, the players and staff will conduct a lap of the
pitch to thank fans for their outstanding support this season. Sam
Allardyce's side will be seeking to complete a memorable hat-trick of
victories over Spurs, having won 3-0 in the reverse league fixture in
October and 2-1 at White Hart Lane in the Capital One Cup quarter-finals
just before Christmas. Last season's corresponding fixture was also a
thriller, with Spurs winning 3-2 courtesy of Gareth Bale's last-gasp goal.
Standard Tickets for the match are not currently on sale, but a limited
number of unused Bondholder tickets will be released at 9am on Saturday 19
April. Click here for more information.
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Chadwell Chatter
WHUFC.com
Kevin Nolan blogs for whufc.com on victory at Sunderland and his hopes for
the rest of the season
04.04.2014
Hi everyone,
Monday's victory at Sunderland was a massive one for us. It gave us another
set of back-to-back wins and took us to 37 points, eleven ahead of the
relegation zone and just three behind Stoke in tenth. It put a smile on
everyone's face and lets us think we've got another season in the Premier
League when we won't have as many major injuries as we had this season.
We'll have an interesting summer where hopefully we'll have a few new
additions, and quality additions, which will only make us better and start
pushing us up that league to get into that top ten more and build towards
the Olympic Park in two years. You have to admire the board for sticking
with Sam. We all said it - we had a very tough time earlier on in the season
with injuries. I didn't help with the suspensions after my sendings-off. I
hold my hands up to that but i don't think I've been through a season where
I've been hit with so many injuries to major players. At one point we had
all three of our centre halves out, and we were playing right backs and left
backs in the middle, but we all dug in and it's going to be so pleasing at
the end of this season knowing that we've scrapped away when we've needed to
and when we have had our full team, we've got back to where we feel we
belong. I'm sure that if we had our full squad for the season, we would have
had a better season and we would never have been talking about relegation.
It's nice to be sitting where we are now with six games to go and we're
looking forward to what hopefully is going to be a few more wins. Our aim is
to knock Stoke out of that tenth spot and finish where we did last year.
Then we can all go and have a good summer and let the gaffer and the Board
start worrying about who they are going to bring in for next season. We're
back at home on Sunday when we face Liverpool and it will be a good test to
take them on. We won last time out here and Hull was a tough game. The
gaffer knew it and he was delighted with the three points. There were a few
grumblings, but I must say in and around where we live all the supporters
have been fantastic with him and all the lads. They were three good points,
as were Monday's and now we're not far off being able to celebrate come the
end of the season at another successful campaign.
Come on you Irons!
Kev
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Potts eyes return to form
WHUFC.com
The Academy will look to bounce back when they host Stoke City on Saturday
04.04.2014
Academy boss Steve Potts is looking for a return to winning ways when his
side takes on Stoke City at Little Heath on Saturday. The young Hammers have
suffered a blip in recent weeks, losing tight games to Tottenham Hotspur and
Everton to dent their charge to the end of season Play-Offs. They remain
second in the Premier Academy League South table though and are well placed
to secure their position in the final tournament, so Potts is targeting
three points against the Potters. He explained: "We want to get back to
winning ways. I think we've performed pretty well in the last two games, but
we haven't got the results to go with the performances. That's been
unfortunate but hopefully we can turn that around on Saturday. "It's been a
case of small margins against both Tottenham and Everton, being a bit more
ruthless at the top end and restricting the chances at the other. I thought
at Tottenham we did that fairly well, but at Everton we gave two sloppy
goals away. "We've been pretty good this year at keeping it tight at the
back and that's given us a good platform over the season, so hopefully we'll
get back to being like that."
Potts has promoted players from the schoolboy ranks in recent weeks, due in
part to a number of his regulars stepping up to be involved with Nick
Haycock's Development Squad. He is delighted to see his young charges make
progress and says giving experience to the next batch of youth teamers can
only be beneficial at this stage. He added: "The progress of the players up
to the Under-21s has been really pleasing and a positive for the Club. Seven
of the youth team boys went up to the Under-21s last Friday and it was good
for them to get a good result as well - it proves that they're going in the
right direction. "Likewise, I've had younger players coming into the side.
16 year olds, and even a couple of 15 year olds came on last week. It's all
good experience for them for next year. "It would be nice for the boys to
reach the Play-Offs because I think they've done well over the season. I
can't fault the effort they've put in and obviously they've progressed as
footballers. What would be nice if they got to the Play-Offs, they would be
playing at a stadium, in front of a crowd, because they missed out on that
in the FA Youth Cup."
Kick-off at Little Heath on Saturday is at 12 noon, with both admission and
parking free of charge
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AC takes aim at rampant Reds
WHUFC.com
Andy Carroll believes West Ham United can down his high-flying former club
Liverpool on Sunday
04.04.2014
Andy Carroll cannot wait for Sunday's game against Barclays Premier League
leaders Liverpool to kick-off. West Ham United's No9 spent two-and-a-half
years as a Liverpool player, winning the League Cup and scoring in the FA
Cup final in 2012, before joining West Ham United on loan and then
permanently in summer 2013. Having played alongside the likes of Luis Suarez
and Steven Gerrard, Carroll is acutely aware of the threat the Reds will
pose. However, he is confident that, having reached 37 points following wins
over Hull City and Sunderland, the Hammers can shock the world by defeating
Brendan Rodgers' side.
"I think all the lads are confident that we're safe after a great week for
us," said the 25-year-old frontman. "We've done well and we've been on a
great run and now we want to keep it going until the end of the season. "I'm
feeling very good now as I've got three full 90 minutes under my belt. It's
been a tough season for me, not being fit, but now I'm feeling good. I've
got a couple of goals and a couple of assists and am feeling great. "I felt
a bit rusty the first couple of games after coming back into it, but I think
you can see I'm getting into the stride of things again. "I'm looking
forward to the Liverpool game. It's going to be tough because they are on
fire at the moment and are the team to beat, so hopefully we're the team
that can do it. "It's my old team, but for me it's a normal game and I'll
just get on with it. I don't regret leaving at all. I moved to West Ham and
I'm loving it. I had my injury setback, but other than that everything has
been great."
While Carroll is West Ham's headline maker, his former strike partner Suarez
is also catching the eye on a regular basis, having scored 29 goals in just
27 league starts this term. Alongside him, Daniel Sturridge, Raheem
Sterling, Philippe Coutinho and Jordan Henderson have also made names for
themselves during a campaign that could yet end in title glory for the men
from Anfield. Carroll, for one, has been impressed, but refutes suggestions
that he made a mistake by leaving Liverpool last summer. Instead, the
forward says the current Reds squad is making the most of the tactics and
formation employed by manager Rodgers. The No9 also revealed that he had
tipped his old club for success at the start of the 2013/14 campaign. "The
way they are playing, they have got the players to play that system - Suarez
and Sturridge up front are completely different players to me. The way they
play is incredible. "I said from the start of the season that Liverpool had
a great chance and all the lads were shocked. I knew what Suarez was like
and his connection with Sturridge has been great and they are unbelievable
at the minute. "Suarez is a great player. He has 29 goals this season and is
incredible, you can see that. I don't think anyone can doubt him. "After
games, he would want to train, even when he is supposed to be resting. He
never gives up or stops running. He is infectious and is why all the players
around him are performing like they are."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Carlton Cole: West Ham striker aims to make further impact
BBC.co.uk
West Ham striker Carlton Cole aims to continue playing his part during the
remainder of what he describes as a "strange" season for him. The
30-year-old was released by the Hammers last summer, but re-signed in
October and has since scored six goals in 20 Premier League appearances. "I
never had a pre-season. I just came in and had to hit the ground running. "I
used all my experience I'd gathered over the years to deal with it," he told
BBC London. "I had positive thought processes. The manager [Sam Allardyce]
helped me through it to get back on track and catch up with the team
fitness-wise and mentally. "I repaid him with some goals. I am on the bench
at the moment, but any time I get my chance I'll try my best." After
re-joining the Hammers initially on a short-term deal, Cole's performances
earned him a new 18-month contract at Upton Park. Cole, who has seven
England caps, first joined West Ham from Chelsea in 2006 and has scored a
total of 65 goals in 261 appearances for the east London club. London's
Olympic Stadium is currently being converted for West Ham's move to the
ground for the 2016-17 season and Cole described it as "impressive" after
visiting the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park this week. "Although it is not
finished yet, it looks amazing. I'd like to play there one day and hopefully
I can get a long enough contract to do that," he said. "I understand some of
the fans wouldn't want to move, but the owners want to progress and want
more people to have an opportunity to watch the games. "When you get a place
like this you can't turn it down. I am just happy West Ham got it."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Early start for derby day
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 4th April 2014
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United's final home game of the season has been brought forward to
a lunchtime kick-off. The Hammers are hoping to secure a trio of wins
against neighbours Tottenham when the two teams clash at the Boleyn Ground
on Saturday, 3rd May, following our 3-0 and 2-1 wins at White Hart Lane
earlier this season. And the match - originally scheduled for a 3pm kick off
- will now kick off at 12.45pm for the benefit of a TV audience, with the
game almost certain to be broadcast live by BT Sports (who are yet to
confirm their schedule for May). West Ham beat Tottenham 3-0 at White Hart
Lane in the first meeting between the two clubs this season back in October
when goals from Winston Reid, Ricardo Vaz Te and a memorable effort from
Ravel Morrison - currently on loan at Queens Park Rangers - secured United's
first away win of the season. Rubbing salt in the wound, the Hammers went
back to what had been cheekily renamed the O3 Arena in honour of that win to
knock Spurs our of the Carling Cup when late efforts from Matt Jarvis and
Modibo Maiga - also currently on loan at QPR - sent the home side tumbling
out of the competition. Tottenham are currently sixth in the Premier League,
five places above West Ham in 11th - albeit with virtually the same goal
difference (Spurs -4, West Ham -6).
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Season ticket prices frozen
Kumb.COM
Filed: Friday, 4th April 2014
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United have confirmed that season ticket prices have been frozen
for the 2014/15 campaign. Next season mark's the Club penultimate year at
the Boleyn Ground, with the move to Stratford looming ever closer. And the
good news for supporters is that prices for the current season will remain
in place for United's third season back in the top flight following
promotion in 2011/12. "We would like to say a special 'thank you' to our
loyal fans, who have supported the team throughout this season," read a
joint statement posted on behalf of owners David Sullivan and David Gold.
"Despite our injury crisis, once again we shared some amazing moments
together, most notably our two fantastic victories away at Tottenham
Hotspur. "We are delighted to announce, that as a reward for your loyal
support, your Season Ticket price for the 2014/15 season has been frozen. By
renewing for the next campaign, you will also be guaranteed the opportunity
to renew your seat to celebrate our final Boleyn Ground season and we are
already speaking with our Supporter Advisory Board about ideas to make every
game in the last season a memorable event. "We will be looking to strengthen
the squad over the summer by making at least three key signings, so we have
a squad ready to take us forward in the 2014/15 season. We invest every
pound from Season Ticket revenue back into the playing budget, so your
support really does make a difference."
Last season, prices rose between 3.5-4.8 per cent for existing season ticket
holders with the exception of disabled ST holders, who faced a whopping 50
per cent rise. Despite the good news, the Club have come under criticism
from some supporters for once again bringing the renewal deadline forward;
applicants must renew by June 2 in order to guarantee their seat for the
2014/15 campaign. Supporters may renew online, in person at the Ticket
Office or by calling 0871 529 1966 (calls cost 10p per minute + network
extras).
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Gong for Rav
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 4th April 2014
By: Staff Writer
Ravel Morrison has been named as the Sky Bet Championship Player of the
Month for March. The young Hammer, currently on loan at Queens Park Rangers
in order to gain valuable first team experience picked up the award having
scored five goals and contributed one assist to Rangers' promotion push
during the last month. "It's been really good and I've enjoyed every game
I've played in," Morrison told Sky Sports. "I've just tried to get game time
again and show them what I can do. "I've enjoyed it because we keep a lot of
the ball. You get a lot of time in the Championship, too, so you can do more
stuff on the ball."
Harry Redknapp, who has spent the past month eulogising over the England
Under 21's mercurial talents added: ""Ravel has been excellent for us. He's
been good on the pitch and good off the pitch as well. He's been great
around the place and not a minute's problem. "I am really pleased for him,
it's a well-deserved award and let's hope he can win it again this month!"
Morrison was also named as the AirAsia Player of the Month - a fans' poll
conducted by the west Londoners.
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Liverpool travel to West Ham hoping to maintain winning run
Last Updated: 04/04/14 5:49pm
SSN
Liverpool travel to West Ham on Sunday looking to maintain their winning
run, and remain top of the league with five games to go. After an incredible
eight successive wins, the Reds have gone from Champions League contenders
to title prospects, and victory over West Ham will see Brendan Rodgers' men
stay top of the league by at least two points after Sunday's encounter.
While their defence has been far from resolute, the Reds have been
unstoppable going forward, netting 88 goals already - a record for any team
after 32 matches of a Premier League season, and have scored in their last
22 games since losing 2-0 away to Arsenal. Luis Suarez continues to be
Liverpool's talisman. The Uruguayan hitman has scored six goals in his last
five Premier League matches and is just two away from the Premier League
record for a 38-game season. The Hammers will certainly be up against it as
they try and halt the rampant Reds, but victory over Sunderland last time
out will give them the confidence they need to give it their best shot. That
away win against the Black Cats saw the Hammers move 11 points clear of the
drop zone, leaving a top-half finish a distinct possibility. The clash with
Liverpool will have added significance for Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing,
who both struggled with the expectation after big-money moves to Anfield
before departing for Upton Park.
And, after netting his second goal since returning from injury, Carroll
especially would love nothing more than to further enhance his chances of
making England's World Cup squad by impressing against his former employers.
Paul Merson's prediction: Liverpool are not my favourites for the title, but
it would be a phenomenal feat if they do it. At the start of the season they
needed to pull up trees just to get into the top four, so they've done
brilliantly to get to this position, but I think the winning run could end
here because this is a very hard game. People think they've just got to turn
up to win games, but it won't be like that. West Ham will get the ball
forward quickly, Andy Carroll will cause problems and they will be very
disciplined; it won't be like Tottenham who just laid down and made it easy
for them! The longer this game goes on the more nervous they might get and I
think it will be a draw. I've seen this so many times - a team is rolling
along and it just takes one bad result. The pressure will be on them because
they are playing last of the three teams and that's not nice.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-1
West Ham
Last 6
Sunderland (a)1-2
Hull City (h)2-1
Man Utd (h)0-2
Stoke City (a)3-1
Everton (a)1-0
Southampton (h)3-1
West Ham captain Kevin Nolan will be fit to face Liverpool when the Premier
League leaders visit Upton Park on Sunday. The 31-year-old was forced off
late on in Monday night's 2-1 win at Sunderland after feeling tightness in
his back but Hammers boss Sam Allardyce is confident his skipper will be
available.
Defender George McCartney (hamstring) is less fortunate and will miss out,
while Joey O'Brien (shoulder) and Marco Borriello (calf) are again likely to
be sidelined.
Liverpool
Last 6
Tottenham (h)4-0
Sunderland (h)2-1
Cardiff (a)3-6
Man Utd (a)0-3
Southampton (a)0-3
Swansea (h)4-3
Liverpool could welcome back Lucas Leiva to the starting line-up for their
clash with West Ham on Sunday. The Brazilian midfielder completed 20 minutes
as a substitute against Tottenham last weekend, and could be handed his
first start since mid-January. Jose Enrique (knee) remains Liverpool's only
absentee.
Opta facts
There have been three own goals in the last three Premier League meetings
between the Hammers and the Reds.
Liverpool have hit the woodwork more times than any other team this season
(24), while West Ham's uprights have been struck the most (20).
60% of Liverpool's goals have been scored in the first half, the highest
proportion of any team in the top flight this season.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce 'sickened' by lack of appreciation
Last Updated: 04/04/14 11:09pm
SSN
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce says he is 'sickened' by the lack of praise
his team have received in recent weeks. The Hammers have won six out of nine
to pull out of the relegation mire, but they have won little or no plaudits
and were even jeered by their own fans despite beating Hull City 2-1 last
month.
Allardyce reacted to that by cupping his ear to the supporters and he admits
he is frustrated that their improved form has not been recognised, or it
seems, appreciated, because of a perception they are a dull, long-ball team.
"Well you see, it's all a load of bull," he said when asked about his side's
style. "I think that it's all about the perception and the reputation of Sam
Allardyce, not the West Ham players and how they play. It's all perceived to
be like this and nothing else. "It is a load of rubbish and I can't help
that. It's unfortunate for the players because this particular period of
time, when they've achieved six winsout of nine matches, they get little or
no praise for it and that's really sad. "We've had our best run of results
but nobody's talking about it. They're talking about a one-game scenario
when people are booing because we've won against 10 men. It's life I
suppose, but it's quite sickening to be honest."
Allardyce was retained as manager at Upton Park despite a desperate spell
during the winter, with co-chairmen David Gold and David Sullivan
continually backing their man rather than reacting to the poor form by
looking elsewhere. The main factor behind a winter of discontent was a
chronic injury list, and as those players have slowly made their way back
into the team, the Hammers have turned their fortunes around. "They got
slaughtered in December because they were losing football matches and now
they're performing some of the best results they've performed since we got
back in the Premier League," he said.
"It's top-six form and that's what we should be talking about, not talking
about the type of football that we play because we play a type of football
that suits the players, that's entertaining and it's winning. "The game is
about results - that's a fact. If you don't get results, you don't keep your
job. If you don't get results, you get transferred. It's a results business,
an entertaining business, and you try and put both together as often as you
possibly can."
Meanwhile, joint chairman David Gold told Sky Sports News: "The fans have
that right to boo - but all I'd say is I've not known a team play better
because the fans are booing."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Andy Carroll feels Liverpool let him go too soon
Last Updated: 04/04/14 10:21pm
SSN
Andy Carroll feels he was denied an opportunity to prove his worth at
Liverpool and is now chasing a World Cup dream. The powerful frontman was
taken to Anfield in January 2011 for £35million, with the Merseyside outfit
wasting no time in dipping back into the transfer window after offloading
Fernando Torres to Chelsea for a British record fee. Carroll arrived from
Newcastle United with a blossoming reputation, but was unable to kick his
career forward with the Reds. Form and injury frustrations saw him struggle
for continuity and consistency and he was eventually allowed to head out on
loan in the summer of 2012.
Brendan Rodgers decided that Carroll was not for him, as he completed a
switch to West Ham United which would ultimately be made permanent, but the
25-year-old feels he was discarded too quickly by the Liverpool management
team. He told Sky Sports on his time at Anfield: "Obviously it wasn't what I
wanted. I went there and I wanted to kick on. "I had problems with injuries
and was playing one game out of three and never really got going. If I did
get going, my career at Liverpool, I would still be there now. It didn't,
now I'm here and I'm happy."
Pressed again on whether, after 18 minutes of football under Rodgers, he
deserved more time in which to impress a new manager, Carroll added: "I
think so. I was away with England at the time and I felt that I was good and
confident about coming back to Liverpool and showing what I'm about. "I
never really got the chance and was told to leave. That's why I 'm here."
Carroll admits he was also left confused by Rodgers' claims that he would be
unable to form a little-and-large partnership with this season's top Premier
League marksman Luis Suarez - a man signed in the same transfer window: "He
did tell me that it could work, and then when I was leaving he was telling
me other things. I was a bit disillusioned about that as well. But that's
another thing. I think it could have worked, and I was getting told it could
work from him."
Carroll is now looking to leave his Liverpool days behind him, as he
prepares for a reunion with his former employers at Upton Park on Sunday,
and hopes his end of season form - in what has been an injury-ravaged
campaign - will earn him a place in the England squad destined for Brazil
this summer. He added: "I'm feeling fresh. I've missed all of the season, so
if anyone is raring to go it's me. It's like the start of the season for me.
"I got injured and then suspended, so I've missed a lot of games. I just
need to work hard, score goals and put myself about. "When I was away, I
wasn't on the pitch, I wasn't at the training ground, I was away from it all
and I was so hungry to get back. "Now I'm back, it feels like I've done my
pre-season at Christmas. I'm just starting. I don't want the season to end."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
CARRICK COMING HOME?
By Sean Whetstone 4 Apr 2014 at 20:05
West Ham Till I Die
There are rumours circulating this evening that Michael Carrick maybe
considering a return to West Ham this summer just as his old Academy team
mate Joe Cole looks likely to depart. Carrick has just a year left to run on
his contract with Manchester United but it is understood agreement could be
reached between the two clubs without any significant money changing hands.
Carrick played 136 league games for West Ham before joining Spurs in 2005
for £3.5 million. He was later sold to Manchester United in a deal worth
£18.6m.
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WHUFC.com
All the need-to-know information ahead of Sunday's game against Liverpool at
the Boleyn Ground
04.04.2014
WEST HAM UNITED v LIVERPOOL
BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE
SATURDAY 6 APRIL 2014
KICK-OFF: 4PM
REFEREE: ANTHONY TAYLOR
FULL AUDIO COMMENTARY - WEST HAM TV
TWITTER I FACEBOOK I INSTAGRAM I YOUTUBE I PROGRAMME I iPHONE APP
Introduction
• West Ham United go in search of a third consecutive win in the Barclays
Premier League on Sunday afternoon, when they welcome Liverpool to the
Boleyn Ground.
• The Hammers head into the match on the back of a fine 2-1 away win against
Sunderland which came courtesy of goals from Andy Carroll and Mohamed Diame.
• Preceding that, Sam Allardyce's side won by the same score line against
Hull City on their last home outing, thanks to strikes from Mark Noble and a
James Chester own goal.
• Six points from their last two fixtures leaves the Hammers nearing the
40-point mark, lying eleventh in the table with 37 points.
• When the two sides met in the corresponding fixture last year, the Hammers
held a 2-1 lead until two goals in three minutes snatched the points for
Liverpool.
• The Reds arrive in east London as the Premier League's form team having
won their last eight league matches.
• The eighth win of that sequence arrived against Tottenham Hotspur at
Anfield last weekend, when Brendan Rodgers' side ran riot winning 4-0.
• Liverpool have enjoyed success on their travels this season and have won
five of their last six matches on the road, the latest being a 6-3 thrashing
of Cardiff City.
Team news
West Ham United
• George McCartney is a doubt for Sunday's clash after tweaking a hamstring
in the 2-1 win over his former club Sunderland.
• Long-term absentee Joey O'Brien is still some way from a return to the
fold following the dislocated shoulder he sustained against Chelsea in
January.
Liverpool
• Jose Enrique is Liverpool's only injury concern, with the left-back having
missed a large part of the season due to a knee injury.
Last time out
Sunderland 1-2 West Ham United
Barclays Premier League
1 April 2014
West Ham United: Adrian, Demel, Tomkins, Reid, McCartney (Armero 45), Noble,
Nolan (Nocerino 84), Taylor, Diame (Johnson 79), Downing, Carroll
Subs not used: Jaaskelainen, Jarvis, C Cole, J Cole
Goals: Carroll 9, Diame 50
Liverpool 4-0 Tottenham Hotspur
Barclays Premier League
30 March 2014
Liverpool: Mignolet, Flanagan, Skrtel, Agger, Johnson, Gerrard (Lucas 70),
Coutinho (Allen 64), Henderson, Sterling (Moses 83), Suarez, Sturridge
Subs not used: Jones, Aspas, Sakho, Cissokho
Goals: Kaboul (og) 2, Suarez 25, Coutinho 55, Henderson 75
Previous meeting
Luis Suarez scored twice late on as Liverpool broke down a stubborn first
half Hammers display to eventually run out 4-1 winners. It took 42 minutes
for the Reds to strike, with Guy Demel unfortunate to turn the ball into his
own net. Mamadou Sakho scored a second just after half-time, before the
Hammers pulled one back through a Martin Skrtel own goal. It didn't inspire
a comeback however as two late strikes from Suarez and Kevin Nolan's red
card compounded the Hammers woes.
Liverpool 4-1 West Ham United
Barclays Premier League
Saturday 7 December 2013
Liverpool: Mignolet, Johnson, Skrtel, Sakho, Flanagan (Kelly 79), Allen,
Gerrard (Lucas 56), Henderson Coutinho, Sterling (Moses 72), Suarez
Subs not used: Jones, Alberto, Aspas, Cissokho
Goals: Demel (og) 42, Sakho 47, Suarez 81, 84
West Ham United: Jaaskelainen, Demel, Tomkins (O'Brien 56), Collins,
McCartney, Noble, Nolan, Downing (J Cole 46), Diame, Jarvis (Taylor 85),
Maiga
Subs not used: Adrian, Collison, C Cole, Diarra
Goal: Skrtel (og) 66
Background
• West Ham United and Liverpool have met 126 times previously, with the Reds
enjoying 67 victories. The Hammers have tasted success on just 24 occasions
and there have been 35 draws. In the Premier League, Liverpool have won 20
of the 34 meetings, with West Ham winning six and there being eight draws.
• The first-ever meeting between the two clubs was an FA Cup intermediate
round tie played at the Memorial Grounds on 5 January 1901. Division One
Liverpool edged out Southern League West Ham United 1-0 in front of a crowd
of 6,000, with Sam Raybould scoring the winner.
• Vic Watson scored four times, Stan Earle twice and Wilf James once as West
Ham United went top of the Division One table after beating Liverpool 7-0 at
the Boleyn Ground on 1 September 1930 - the Hammers' biggest-ever home win
over the Reds.
• A three-minute hat-trick scored by Roger Hunt either side of half-time
inspired Liverpool to a 5-1 Division One victory at the Boleyn Ground on 6
September 1965 - the Reds' biggest win at the home of the Hammers. Martin
Peters scored West Ham United's consolation goal.
• The largest crowd to attend a Liverpool versus West Ham United fixture at
Anfield was the 55,675 who attended a goalless Division One draw on 14 May
1977. Liverpool would go on to defeat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-1 in the
European Cup final in Rome eleven days later.
• The Hammers and the Reds met in the 1981 League Cup final at Wembley. The
match ended in a 1-1 draw after extra-time, with Ray Stewart's last-gasp
penalty wiping out Alan Kennedy's 118th-minute strike. The replay, held at
Villa Park, saw Paul Goddard put John Lyall's side in front, only for goals
from Kenny Dalglish and Alan Hansen to see the trophy head to Merseyside.
• West Ham United and Liverpool famously met in the 2006 FA Cup final at the
Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. Jamie Carragher's own-goal and a Dean Ashton
strike put the Hammers 2-0 up before Djibril Cisse and Steven Gerrard
brought the Reds level. Paul Konchesky put West Ham back in front before
Gerrard's late 25-yarder forced extra-time. After a goalless 30 minutes,
Liverpool prevailed 3-1 on penalties.
• Billy Bonds has made more appearances against Liverpool, 33, than any
other West Ham United player. The Reds' Ian Callaghan made a record 33
appearances against the Hammers, scoring twice.
• Vic Watson scored a record nine goals in 14 appearances against Liverpool.
John Toshack has scored more goals for the Reds against the Hammers than
anyone else with ten.
• Kevin Nolan, Andy Carroll and Liverpool full-back Jose Enrique were all
part of the Newcastle United squad which won the Championship title in 2010.
• A number of other West Ham United and Liverpool players have lined-up
alongside one another at their former clubs and at international level -
Andy Carroll, Steven Gerrard, Glen Johnson, Jordan Henderson, Stewart
Downing and Martin Kelly (England), Jack Collison, James Collins and Joe
Allen (Wales), James Tomkins and Allen (Team GB), Collins and Stewart
Downing (Aston Villa), George McCartney and Jordan Henderson (Sunderland),
Raheem Sterling, Matthias Fanimo and Blair Turgott (England age-group
sides).
• No fewer than 19 players have made their West Ham United debuts against
Liverpool - Alex Kane (January 1926), Walter Pollard (September 1929), Reg
Wade (January 1930), Bill Nelson (September 1954), Dave Bickles (September
1963), Eddie Presland (February 1965), Mick McGiven (December 1973), John
Radford (December 1976), George Parris and Keith McPherson (May 1985), Kevin
Keen (September 1986), Hugo Porfirio (September 1996), Andy Impey (September
1997), Marc Keller (September 1998), Gavin Holligan (February 1999),
Svetoslav Todorov (February 2001), Laurent Courtois (August 2001), Rufus
Brevett (February 2003) and Kepa Blanco (January 2007).
• Eddie Presland scored on his debut in a 2-1 Division One victory over
Liverpool at the Boleyn Ground on 27 February 1965. The left-back would make
just six first-team appearances for the Hammers before joining Crystal
Palace in 1967.
• Kepa Blanco netted just minutes after coming on as a substitute for his
West Ham United debut in a 2-1 home Premier League defeat by Liverpool on 30
January 2007.
• West Ham United player Stewart Downing played against his current
employers for Liverpool in both fixtures between the two clubs in the
2012/13 season.
Last six meetings (Premier League unless stated)
7 December 2013 - Liverpool 4-1 West Ham United
7 April 2013 - Liverpool 0-0 West Ham United
9 December 2012 - West Ham United 2-3 Liverpool
27 February 2011 - West Ham United 3-1 Liverpool
20 November 2010 - Liverpool 3-0 West Ham United
19 April 2010 - Liverpool 3-0 West Ham United
Overall record v Liverpool (all competitions) W 24 D 35 L 67
Ten-year records
West Ham United
2012/13 Premier League 10th (46 points)
2011/12 Championship 3rd (86 points - promoted via Play-Offs)
2010/11 Premier League 20th (33 points - relegated to Championship)
2009/10 Premier League 17th (35 points)
2008/09 Premier League 9th (51 points)
2007/08 Premier League 10th (49 points)
2006/07 Premier League 15th (41 points)
2005/06 Premier League 9th (55 points)
2004/05 Championship 6th (73 points - promoted via play-offs)
2003/04 Championship 4th (74 points)
Liverpool
2012/13 Premier League 7th (61 points)
2011/12 Premier League 8th (52 points)
2010/11 Premier League 6th (58 points)
2009/10 Premier League 7th (63 points)
2008/09 Premier League 2nd (86 points)
2007/08 Premier League 4th (76 points)
2006/07 Premier League 3rd (68 points)
2005/06 Premier League 3rd (82 points)
2004/05 Premier League 5th (58 points)
2003/04 Premier League 4th (60 points)
Old boys
• West Ham United midfielder Alou Diarra spent three seasons with Liverpool
between 2002 and 2005 after joining the club from Bayern Munich. However,
the 31-year-old failed to make a first-team appearance for the Reds, instead
being loaned to Le Havre, Bastia and Lens before joining the latter on a
permanent basis.
• Andy Carroll joined the Reds from Newcastle United for £35million in
January 2011. Carroll played 58 times for Liverpool, scoring eleven goals,
before joining the Hammers permanently in summer 2013 following a successful
loan at the Boleyn Ground.
• Glen Johnson came through the ranks at West Ham United, making 15 league
appearances in the 2002/03 season. He was transferred to Chelsea for
£6million in summer 2003 and subsequently moved on to Portsmouth before
Liverpool snapped him up in June 2009.
• Joe Cole played 149 games in all competitions for the Hammers, scoring 13
goals, before his switch to Chelsea in August 2003. Cole also won the FA
Youth Cup with West Ham United in 1999. Cole joined Liverpool in summer
2010, scoring five goals in 42 appearances - including one at the Boleyn
Ground in the reverse fixture this season in December - before moving back
to east London in January 2013.
• Stewart Downing spent two seasons with Liverpool between 2011 and 2013
before completing a move to the Boleyn Ground in August 2013.
• Among the other players who have represented both clubs are Craig Bellamy,
Yossi Benayoun, Tom Bradshaw, David Burrows, Titi Camara, Charles Cotton,
Julian Dicks, Ray Houghton, Don Hutchison, Paul Ince, David James, Rob
Jones, George Kay, Robbie Keane, Paul Konchesky, Mike Marsh, Javier
Mascherano, Neil Mellor, Neil Ruddock, Danny Shone, Rigobert Song and Thomas
Stanley.
Referee
• Sunday's referee will be Anthony Taylor.
• Taylor is in his fourth season on the Select Group of referees appointed
to control Barclays Premier League fixtures.
• The Greater Manchester-born official started refereeing in the Northern
Premier League in 2002 before being appointed to the Football League list at
the start of the 2006/07 season, refereeing his match between Wrexham and
Peterborough United in League Two on 12 August 2006.
• Taylor's first Premier League appointment was the 3 February 2010
encounter between today's visitors Fulham and former West Ham United manager
Avram Grant's Portsmouth, with the Cottagers winning 1-0.
• Taylor took charge of West Ham against Liverpool almost exactly a year ago
on Sunday, as the two sides played out a 0-0 draw at Anfield on 7 April
2013. That match was the last time he took charge of a Hammers fixture.
• Taylor will be assisted by Steve Child and Stuart Burt on Sunday, and the
fourth official will be Craig Pawson.
General information
• The weather forecast for Sunday's match is light cloud with temperatures
around 17C (62F).
• There are no tickets remaining for the match which is a sell-out.
• The District Line is running a good service this weekend with no planned
closures.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Big Sam on: Liverpool
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce addressed the assembled media at his pre-match press
conference on Friday morning
04.04.2014
Sam Allardyce spoke to members of the local and national media at Chadwell
Heath on Friday morning ahead of his side's Barclays Premier League
encounter with Liverpool. The Hammers' boss answered questions regarding how
to stop the Reds' free-scoring attack, his side's fine recent form and the
latest team news ahead of the clash.
Sam, what's the team news ahead of the weekend?
SA: "Kevin Nolan is ok. George McCartney is the biggest doubt. He came off
with a hamstring problem on Monday night. It's probably caused by a bit of
fatigue and the fact he played three games in a short space of time, so it
looks as though he'll miss out on Sunday."
You've played against a lot of good sides down the years, how good is this
Liverpool side, and how good will you have to be to beat them?
SA: "At the moment I think that the Liverpool team, in terms of its form and
results, is operating at 100 per cent. Sometimes you can be playing really,
really well and not achieve the results that those performances deserve, but
certainly at the moment their results and performances make them the top
team in the league. Other teams have slipped up and they've taken full
advantage by producing the quality of football and the goals that they've
got over the last period.
"That's been very good for Brendan Rodgers and his team. When you have two
quality strikers of the ilk of Sturridge and Suarez then the rest of the
team know that somewhere along the line they're going to put the ball in the
back of the net if they provide the service for them. They haven't been too
concerned about conceding a goal here and there. They seem to know that
they'll score one more than the opposition if the opposition score against
them."
In world terms, how good is Luis Suarez?
SA: "At the moment he now finds himself in the top two or three in the
world. The commitment he showed to Liverpool and they showed to him, seems
to have given him that extra impetus this season to go out and be even
better than he was after the problems he had. The combination with Sturridge
has flourished where that looked a little concerning in the early stages as
neither wanted to play in a wide position. That seems to have all come
together now and the rest of the team is providing the service behind them
has grown in quality and confidence.
"People are emerging from an England point of view and it's very encouraging
to see Jordan Henderson and Raheem Sterling emerge more than ever this year.
We've got a big job on our hands, we know that, but after our performances
and our results we're really looking forward to it. We've eased the pressure
on ourselves and produced a great run of form and results at this period of
time with six wins out of nine. That's two points per game, that's top-six
form. We're in our best form of the season and hopefully that will make for
a competitive game on Sunday afternoon."
David Sullivan said that if you'd had Andy Carroll fit all season that you'd
be pushing for Europe. Is that a statement you agree with?
SA: "It's a possibility, yes. Since the turn of the year our change of form
and results has improved and it's got better and better and now we're in the
best run we've had since we've been back in the Premier League. We've got to
take that confidence into Sunday's game and hopefully we can produce one of
those performances that has happened many, many times in the Premier League
this year.
"Just the other week Crystal Palace beat Chelsea and Manchester City lost to
Sunderland, things like that can happen. We beat Tottenham away 3-0 when
they were right up near the top so we hope it can be one of those days, but
we certainly have to be on top, top form to get anything out of the game.
Now there's less pressure on us, we're not safe yet, but we are feeling a
lot more confident going into this game based on less fear from our league
position going into this game."
Do you think Liverpool were too quick to pass on Andy Carroll?
SA: "He (Brendan Rodgers) made a decision early on and we were the first to
try and resolve that situation. As disappointed as Andy was, that was the
decision made by Brendan and you have to move on, you have to put it behind
you. Stewart Downing also comes into the fray where he played a part in
Liverpool last season and then joined us. The rest of the team and those two
lads particularly will want to show how good they are on Sunday. Let's hope
they play very, very well on Sunday because we need them to."
For the clubs that are at the bottom of the table scrapping for survival,
how important are the fans in helping the team in that situation?
SA: "There becomes a fear factor in the players at this stage of the season
and as a manager you have to override that fear factor. The fear factor is
massive in trying to relax and make sure that your players are focussed on
the task at hand. The key is to not be too intense and try to relax them
because the whole club fears relegation and that spreads like a plague. You
have protect the players from that because if they go out with fear then
they can freeze and not produce what they're capable of. That's the biggest
managerial tool you have to have at this stage of the season if you're down
there. You have to promote the good things they do and remind them of what
they're capable of and the good results they've produced. You have to get
them ready to go out and fight for what they need to do to stay safely in
the Barclays Premier League."
Ravel Morrison has been voted Sky Bet Championship Player of the Month for
March, have you been keeping an eye on his progress?
SA: "We see Rav with our scouts and staff on a regular basis. He's right in
the think of a different experience to the one he had last season when he
was at Birmingham. He's got the real pressure on him now of staying in the
Play-Off places which is nearly guaranteed now. He's scored a few goals so
we're pleased to see him playing regularly and gaining more and more
experience."
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Spurs match moved
WHUFC.com
West Ham United's final home match of 2013/14 with Tottenham Hotspur will
now kick-off at 12.45pm
04.04.2014
West Ham United's final home match of 2013/14 with Tottenham Hotspur will
now kick-off at 12.45pm on Saturday 3 May. The Hammers complete their slate
of Barclays Premier League fixtures at the Boleyn Ground by welcoming their
north London rivals for what promises to be a mouth-watering lunch-time
derby.
Following the final whistle, the players and staff will conduct a lap of the
pitch to thank fans for their outstanding support this season. Sam
Allardyce's side will be seeking to complete a memorable hat-trick of
victories over Spurs, having won 3-0 in the reverse league fixture in
October and 2-1 at White Hart Lane in the Capital One Cup quarter-finals
just before Christmas. Last season's corresponding fixture was also a
thriller, with Spurs winning 3-2 courtesy of Gareth Bale's last-gasp goal.
Standard Tickets for the match are not currently on sale, but a limited
number of unused Bondholder tickets will be released at 9am on Saturday 19
April. Click here for more information.
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Chadwell Chatter
WHUFC.com
Kevin Nolan blogs for whufc.com on victory at Sunderland and his hopes for
the rest of the season
04.04.2014
Hi everyone,
Monday's victory at Sunderland was a massive one for us. It gave us another
set of back-to-back wins and took us to 37 points, eleven ahead of the
relegation zone and just three behind Stoke in tenth. It put a smile on
everyone's face and lets us think we've got another season in the Premier
League when we won't have as many major injuries as we had this season.
We'll have an interesting summer where hopefully we'll have a few new
additions, and quality additions, which will only make us better and start
pushing us up that league to get into that top ten more and build towards
the Olympic Park in two years. You have to admire the board for sticking
with Sam. We all said it - we had a very tough time earlier on in the season
with injuries. I didn't help with the suspensions after my sendings-off. I
hold my hands up to that but i don't think I've been through a season where
I've been hit with so many injuries to major players. At one point we had
all three of our centre halves out, and we were playing right backs and left
backs in the middle, but we all dug in and it's going to be so pleasing at
the end of this season knowing that we've scrapped away when we've needed to
and when we have had our full team, we've got back to where we feel we
belong. I'm sure that if we had our full squad for the season, we would have
had a better season and we would never have been talking about relegation.
It's nice to be sitting where we are now with six games to go and we're
looking forward to what hopefully is going to be a few more wins. Our aim is
to knock Stoke out of that tenth spot and finish where we did last year.
Then we can all go and have a good summer and let the gaffer and the Board
start worrying about who they are going to bring in for next season. We're
back at home on Sunday when we face Liverpool and it will be a good test to
take them on. We won last time out here and Hull was a tough game. The
gaffer knew it and he was delighted with the three points. There were a few
grumblings, but I must say in and around where we live all the supporters
have been fantastic with him and all the lads. They were three good points,
as were Monday's and now we're not far off being able to celebrate come the
end of the season at another successful campaign.
Come on you Irons!
Kev
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Potts eyes return to form
WHUFC.com
The Academy will look to bounce back when they host Stoke City on Saturday
04.04.2014
Academy boss Steve Potts is looking for a return to winning ways when his
side takes on Stoke City at Little Heath on Saturday. The young Hammers have
suffered a blip in recent weeks, losing tight games to Tottenham Hotspur and
Everton to dent their charge to the end of season Play-Offs. They remain
second in the Premier Academy League South table though and are well placed
to secure their position in the final tournament, so Potts is targeting
three points against the Potters. He explained: "We want to get back to
winning ways. I think we've performed pretty well in the last two games, but
we haven't got the results to go with the performances. That's been
unfortunate but hopefully we can turn that around on Saturday. "It's been a
case of small margins against both Tottenham and Everton, being a bit more
ruthless at the top end and restricting the chances at the other. I thought
at Tottenham we did that fairly well, but at Everton we gave two sloppy
goals away. "We've been pretty good this year at keeping it tight at the
back and that's given us a good platform over the season, so hopefully we'll
get back to being like that."
Potts has promoted players from the schoolboy ranks in recent weeks, due in
part to a number of his regulars stepping up to be involved with Nick
Haycock's Development Squad. He is delighted to see his young charges make
progress and says giving experience to the next batch of youth teamers can
only be beneficial at this stage. He added: "The progress of the players up
to the Under-21s has been really pleasing and a positive for the Club. Seven
of the youth team boys went up to the Under-21s last Friday and it was good
for them to get a good result as well - it proves that they're going in the
right direction. "Likewise, I've had younger players coming into the side.
16 year olds, and even a couple of 15 year olds came on last week. It's all
good experience for them for next year. "It would be nice for the boys to
reach the Play-Offs because I think they've done well over the season. I
can't fault the effort they've put in and obviously they've progressed as
footballers. What would be nice if they got to the Play-Offs, they would be
playing at a stadium, in front of a crowd, because they missed out on that
in the FA Youth Cup."
Kick-off at Little Heath on Saturday is at 12 noon, with both admission and
parking free of charge
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AC takes aim at rampant Reds
WHUFC.com
Andy Carroll believes West Ham United can down his high-flying former club
Liverpool on Sunday
04.04.2014
Andy Carroll cannot wait for Sunday's game against Barclays Premier League
leaders Liverpool to kick-off. West Ham United's No9 spent two-and-a-half
years as a Liverpool player, winning the League Cup and scoring in the FA
Cup final in 2012, before joining West Ham United on loan and then
permanently in summer 2013. Having played alongside the likes of Luis Suarez
and Steven Gerrard, Carroll is acutely aware of the threat the Reds will
pose. However, he is confident that, having reached 37 points following wins
over Hull City and Sunderland, the Hammers can shock the world by defeating
Brendan Rodgers' side.
"I think all the lads are confident that we're safe after a great week for
us," said the 25-year-old frontman. "We've done well and we've been on a
great run and now we want to keep it going until the end of the season. "I'm
feeling very good now as I've got three full 90 minutes under my belt. It's
been a tough season for me, not being fit, but now I'm feeling good. I've
got a couple of goals and a couple of assists and am feeling great. "I felt
a bit rusty the first couple of games after coming back into it, but I think
you can see I'm getting into the stride of things again. "I'm looking
forward to the Liverpool game. It's going to be tough because they are on
fire at the moment and are the team to beat, so hopefully we're the team
that can do it. "It's my old team, but for me it's a normal game and I'll
just get on with it. I don't regret leaving at all. I moved to West Ham and
I'm loving it. I had my injury setback, but other than that everything has
been great."
While Carroll is West Ham's headline maker, his former strike partner Suarez
is also catching the eye on a regular basis, having scored 29 goals in just
27 league starts this term. Alongside him, Daniel Sturridge, Raheem
Sterling, Philippe Coutinho and Jordan Henderson have also made names for
themselves during a campaign that could yet end in title glory for the men
from Anfield. Carroll, for one, has been impressed, but refutes suggestions
that he made a mistake by leaving Liverpool last summer. Instead, the
forward says the current Reds squad is making the most of the tactics and
formation employed by manager Rodgers. The No9 also revealed that he had
tipped his old club for success at the start of the 2013/14 campaign. "The
way they are playing, they have got the players to play that system - Suarez
and Sturridge up front are completely different players to me. The way they
play is incredible. "I said from the start of the season that Liverpool had
a great chance and all the lads were shocked. I knew what Suarez was like
and his connection with Sturridge has been great and they are unbelievable
at the minute. "Suarez is a great player. He has 29 goals this season and is
incredible, you can see that. I don't think anyone can doubt him. "After
games, he would want to train, even when he is supposed to be resting. He
never gives up or stops running. He is infectious and is why all the players
around him are performing like they are."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Carlton Cole: West Ham striker aims to make further impact
BBC.co.uk
West Ham striker Carlton Cole aims to continue playing his part during the
remainder of what he describes as a "strange" season for him. The
30-year-old was released by the Hammers last summer, but re-signed in
October and has since scored six goals in 20 Premier League appearances. "I
never had a pre-season. I just came in and had to hit the ground running. "I
used all my experience I'd gathered over the years to deal with it," he told
BBC London. "I had positive thought processes. The manager [Sam Allardyce]
helped me through it to get back on track and catch up with the team
fitness-wise and mentally. "I repaid him with some goals. I am on the bench
at the moment, but any time I get my chance I'll try my best." After
re-joining the Hammers initially on a short-term deal, Cole's performances
earned him a new 18-month contract at Upton Park. Cole, who has seven
England caps, first joined West Ham from Chelsea in 2006 and has scored a
total of 65 goals in 261 appearances for the east London club. London's
Olympic Stadium is currently being converted for West Ham's move to the
ground for the 2016-17 season and Cole described it as "impressive" after
visiting the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park this week. "Although it is not
finished yet, it looks amazing. I'd like to play there one day and hopefully
I can get a long enough contract to do that," he said. "I understand some of
the fans wouldn't want to move, but the owners want to progress and want
more people to have an opportunity to watch the games. "When you get a place
like this you can't turn it down. I am just happy West Ham got it."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Early start for derby day
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 4th April 2014
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United's final home game of the season has been brought forward to
a lunchtime kick-off. The Hammers are hoping to secure a trio of wins
against neighbours Tottenham when the two teams clash at the Boleyn Ground
on Saturday, 3rd May, following our 3-0 and 2-1 wins at White Hart Lane
earlier this season. And the match - originally scheduled for a 3pm kick off
- will now kick off at 12.45pm for the benefit of a TV audience, with the
game almost certain to be broadcast live by BT Sports (who are yet to
confirm their schedule for May). West Ham beat Tottenham 3-0 at White Hart
Lane in the first meeting between the two clubs this season back in October
when goals from Winston Reid, Ricardo Vaz Te and a memorable effort from
Ravel Morrison - currently on loan at Queens Park Rangers - secured United's
first away win of the season. Rubbing salt in the wound, the Hammers went
back to what had been cheekily renamed the O3 Arena in honour of that win to
knock Spurs our of the Carling Cup when late efforts from Matt Jarvis and
Modibo Maiga - also currently on loan at QPR - sent the home side tumbling
out of the competition. Tottenham are currently sixth in the Premier League,
five places above West Ham in 11th - albeit with virtually the same goal
difference (Spurs -4, West Ham -6).
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Season ticket prices frozen
Kumb.COM
Filed: Friday, 4th April 2014
By: Staff Writer
West Ham United have confirmed that season ticket prices have been frozen
for the 2014/15 campaign. Next season mark's the Club penultimate year at
the Boleyn Ground, with the move to Stratford looming ever closer. And the
good news for supporters is that prices for the current season will remain
in place for United's third season back in the top flight following
promotion in 2011/12. "We would like to say a special 'thank you' to our
loyal fans, who have supported the team throughout this season," read a
joint statement posted on behalf of owners David Sullivan and David Gold.
"Despite our injury crisis, once again we shared some amazing moments
together, most notably our two fantastic victories away at Tottenham
Hotspur. "We are delighted to announce, that as a reward for your loyal
support, your Season Ticket price for the 2014/15 season has been frozen. By
renewing for the next campaign, you will also be guaranteed the opportunity
to renew your seat to celebrate our final Boleyn Ground season and we are
already speaking with our Supporter Advisory Board about ideas to make every
game in the last season a memorable event. "We will be looking to strengthen
the squad over the summer by making at least three key signings, so we have
a squad ready to take us forward in the 2014/15 season. We invest every
pound from Season Ticket revenue back into the playing budget, so your
support really does make a difference."
Last season, prices rose between 3.5-4.8 per cent for existing season ticket
holders with the exception of disabled ST holders, who faced a whopping 50
per cent rise. Despite the good news, the Club have come under criticism
from some supporters for once again bringing the renewal deadline forward;
applicants must renew by June 2 in order to guarantee their seat for the
2014/15 campaign. Supporters may renew online, in person at the Ticket
Office or by calling 0871 529 1966 (calls cost 10p per minute + network
extras).
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Gong for Rav
KUMB.com
Filed: Friday, 4th April 2014
By: Staff Writer
Ravel Morrison has been named as the Sky Bet Championship Player of the
Month for March. The young Hammer, currently on loan at Queens Park Rangers
in order to gain valuable first team experience picked up the award having
scored five goals and contributed one assist to Rangers' promotion push
during the last month. "It's been really good and I've enjoyed every game
I've played in," Morrison told Sky Sports. "I've just tried to get game time
again and show them what I can do. "I've enjoyed it because we keep a lot of
the ball. You get a lot of time in the Championship, too, so you can do more
stuff on the ball."
Harry Redknapp, who has spent the past month eulogising over the England
Under 21's mercurial talents added: ""Ravel has been excellent for us. He's
been good on the pitch and good off the pitch as well. He's been great
around the place and not a minute's problem. "I am really pleased for him,
it's a well-deserved award and let's hope he can win it again this month!"
Morrison was also named as the AirAsia Player of the Month - a fans' poll
conducted by the west Londoners.
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Liverpool travel to West Ham hoping to maintain winning run
Last Updated: 04/04/14 5:49pm
SSN
Liverpool travel to West Ham on Sunday looking to maintain their winning
run, and remain top of the league with five games to go. After an incredible
eight successive wins, the Reds have gone from Champions League contenders
to title prospects, and victory over West Ham will see Brendan Rodgers' men
stay top of the league by at least two points after Sunday's encounter.
While their defence has been far from resolute, the Reds have been
unstoppable going forward, netting 88 goals already - a record for any team
after 32 matches of a Premier League season, and have scored in their last
22 games since losing 2-0 away to Arsenal. Luis Suarez continues to be
Liverpool's talisman. The Uruguayan hitman has scored six goals in his last
five Premier League matches and is just two away from the Premier League
record for a 38-game season. The Hammers will certainly be up against it as
they try and halt the rampant Reds, but victory over Sunderland last time
out will give them the confidence they need to give it their best shot. That
away win against the Black Cats saw the Hammers move 11 points clear of the
drop zone, leaving a top-half finish a distinct possibility. The clash with
Liverpool will have added significance for Andy Carroll and Stewart Downing,
who both struggled with the expectation after big-money moves to Anfield
before departing for Upton Park.
And, after netting his second goal since returning from injury, Carroll
especially would love nothing more than to further enhance his chances of
making England's World Cup squad by impressing against his former employers.
Paul Merson's prediction: Liverpool are not my favourites for the title, but
it would be a phenomenal feat if they do it. At the start of the season they
needed to pull up trees just to get into the top four, so they've done
brilliantly to get to this position, but I think the winning run could end
here because this is a very hard game. People think they've just got to turn
up to win games, but it won't be like that. West Ham will get the ball
forward quickly, Andy Carroll will cause problems and they will be very
disciplined; it won't be like Tottenham who just laid down and made it easy
for them! The longer this game goes on the more nervous they might get and I
think it will be a draw. I've seen this so many times - a team is rolling
along and it just takes one bad result. The pressure will be on them because
they are playing last of the three teams and that's not nice.
PAUL PREDICTS: 1-1
West Ham
Last 6
Sunderland (a)1-2
Hull City (h)2-1
Man Utd (h)0-2
Stoke City (a)3-1
Everton (a)1-0
Southampton (h)3-1
West Ham captain Kevin Nolan will be fit to face Liverpool when the Premier
League leaders visit Upton Park on Sunday. The 31-year-old was forced off
late on in Monday night's 2-1 win at Sunderland after feeling tightness in
his back but Hammers boss Sam Allardyce is confident his skipper will be
available.
Defender George McCartney (hamstring) is less fortunate and will miss out,
while Joey O'Brien (shoulder) and Marco Borriello (calf) are again likely to
be sidelined.
Liverpool
Last 6
Tottenham (h)4-0
Sunderland (h)2-1
Cardiff (a)3-6
Man Utd (a)0-3
Southampton (a)0-3
Swansea (h)4-3
Liverpool could welcome back Lucas Leiva to the starting line-up for their
clash with West Ham on Sunday. The Brazilian midfielder completed 20 minutes
as a substitute against Tottenham last weekend, and could be handed his
first start since mid-January. Jose Enrique (knee) remains Liverpool's only
absentee.
Opta facts
There have been three own goals in the last three Premier League meetings
between the Hammers and the Reds.
Liverpool have hit the woodwork more times than any other team this season
(24), while West Ham's uprights have been struck the most (20).
60% of Liverpool's goals have been scored in the first half, the highest
proportion of any team in the top flight this season.
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West Ham boss Sam Allardyce 'sickened' by lack of appreciation
Last Updated: 04/04/14 11:09pm
SSN
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce says he is 'sickened' by the lack of praise
his team have received in recent weeks. The Hammers have won six out of nine
to pull out of the relegation mire, but they have won little or no plaudits
and were even jeered by their own fans despite beating Hull City 2-1 last
month.
Allardyce reacted to that by cupping his ear to the supporters and he admits
he is frustrated that their improved form has not been recognised, or it
seems, appreciated, because of a perception they are a dull, long-ball team.
"Well you see, it's all a load of bull," he said when asked about his side's
style. "I think that it's all about the perception and the reputation of Sam
Allardyce, not the West Ham players and how they play. It's all perceived to
be like this and nothing else. "It is a load of rubbish and I can't help
that. It's unfortunate for the players because this particular period of
time, when they've achieved six winsout of nine matches, they get little or
no praise for it and that's really sad. "We've had our best run of results
but nobody's talking about it. They're talking about a one-game scenario
when people are booing because we've won against 10 men. It's life I
suppose, but it's quite sickening to be honest."
Allardyce was retained as manager at Upton Park despite a desperate spell
during the winter, with co-chairmen David Gold and David Sullivan
continually backing their man rather than reacting to the poor form by
looking elsewhere. The main factor behind a winter of discontent was a
chronic injury list, and as those players have slowly made their way back
into the team, the Hammers have turned their fortunes around. "They got
slaughtered in December because they were losing football matches and now
they're performing some of the best results they've performed since we got
back in the Premier League," he said.
"It's top-six form and that's what we should be talking about, not talking
about the type of football that we play because we play a type of football
that suits the players, that's entertaining and it's winning. "The game is
about results - that's a fact. If you don't get results, you don't keep your
job. If you don't get results, you get transferred. It's a results business,
an entertaining business, and you try and put both together as often as you
possibly can."
Meanwhile, joint chairman David Gold told Sky Sports News: "The fans have
that right to boo - but all I'd say is I've not known a team play better
because the fans are booing."
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Andy Carroll feels Liverpool let him go too soon
Last Updated: 04/04/14 10:21pm
SSN
Andy Carroll feels he was denied an opportunity to prove his worth at
Liverpool and is now chasing a World Cup dream. The powerful frontman was
taken to Anfield in January 2011 for £35million, with the Merseyside outfit
wasting no time in dipping back into the transfer window after offloading
Fernando Torres to Chelsea for a British record fee. Carroll arrived from
Newcastle United with a blossoming reputation, but was unable to kick his
career forward with the Reds. Form and injury frustrations saw him struggle
for continuity and consistency and he was eventually allowed to head out on
loan in the summer of 2012.
Brendan Rodgers decided that Carroll was not for him, as he completed a
switch to West Ham United which would ultimately be made permanent, but the
25-year-old feels he was discarded too quickly by the Liverpool management
team. He told Sky Sports on his time at Anfield: "Obviously it wasn't what I
wanted. I went there and I wanted to kick on. "I had problems with injuries
and was playing one game out of three and never really got going. If I did
get going, my career at Liverpool, I would still be there now. It didn't,
now I'm here and I'm happy."
Pressed again on whether, after 18 minutes of football under Rodgers, he
deserved more time in which to impress a new manager, Carroll added: "I
think so. I was away with England at the time and I felt that I was good and
confident about coming back to Liverpool and showing what I'm about. "I
never really got the chance and was told to leave. That's why I 'm here."
Carroll admits he was also left confused by Rodgers' claims that he would be
unable to form a little-and-large partnership with this season's top Premier
League marksman Luis Suarez - a man signed in the same transfer window: "He
did tell me that it could work, and then when I was leaving he was telling
me other things. I was a bit disillusioned about that as well. But that's
another thing. I think it could have worked, and I was getting told it could
work from him."
Carroll is now looking to leave his Liverpool days behind him, as he
prepares for a reunion with his former employers at Upton Park on Sunday,
and hopes his end of season form - in what has been an injury-ravaged
campaign - will earn him a place in the England squad destined for Brazil
this summer. He added: "I'm feeling fresh. I've missed all of the season, so
if anyone is raring to go it's me. It's like the start of the season for me.
"I got injured and then suspended, so I've missed a lot of games. I just
need to work hard, score goals and put myself about. "When I was away, I
wasn't on the pitch, I wasn't at the training ground, I was away from it all
and I was so hungry to get back. "Now I'm back, it feels like I've done my
pre-season at Christmas. I'm just starting. I don't want the season to end."
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CARRICK COMING HOME?
By Sean Whetstone 4 Apr 2014 at 20:05
West Ham Till I Die
There are rumours circulating this evening that Michael Carrick maybe
considering a return to West Ham this summer just as his old Academy team
mate Joe Cole looks likely to depart. Carrick has just a year left to run on
his contract with Manchester United but it is understood agreement could be
reached between the two clubs without any significant money changing hands.
Carrick played 136 league games for West Ham before joining Spurs in 2005
for £3.5 million. He was later sold to Manchester United in a deal worth
£18.6m.
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