Noble: We need to stop shooting ourselves in the foot
WHUFC.com
Mark Noble says West Ham United need to learn how to manage games better if
they are to return to winning ways on a consistent basis. The Hammers have
lost Premier League five points from winning positions this season, allowing
Southampton, Burnley and Crystal Palace to net late goals, denying them a
deserved draw and two valuable victories. Last weekend, West Ham were 2-0 up
at half-time at Selhurst Park, only to concede twice after half-time - to a
penalty and last-gasp goal more than six minutes into added time - to enable
the Eagles to snatch a point.
Captain Noble knows such results could be costly in the long run and
encouraged his teammates to play with 'common sense' next time they carry an
advantage into the closing stages. "You can't make mistakes like we made at
Crystal Palace in the Premier League and expect to win matches, so we really
need to learn how to hold onto a lead because we're really shooting
ourselves in the foot," he said. "People talk about 'managing the game' and
a lot of it is common sense. We need to be able to see the time out by
slowing the play down and, in a way, get the opposition and their fans
feeling anxious. I don't think we have done that well enough this season."
West Ham return to Premier League action at London Stadium on Saturday, when
they host Liverpool in front of a live BT Sport audience at 5.30pm. Slaven
Bilic's side have lost just one of six meetings with the Reds over the
previous two seasons, but Noble knows the Hammers will need to be at their
best to defeat Jurgen Klopp's men for the fourth time in Liverpool's last
five visits to east London. "With where we are in the table, what happened
at Crystal Palace last weekend and the fact we go into the final
international break of the year after it, there is a massive motivation to
win Saturday's game. "Liverpool at home is a big game - it always is. We're
at home, we'll have the crowd behind us and we've got to roll our sleeves
up, look forward to the game and do the basics right."
Standard Tickets for Saturday's game are available via the Ticket Exchange
to Claret Members and those with a previous booking history.
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West Ham 'a shambles', say pundits
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 31st October 2017
By: Staff Writer
Sky Sports duo Jamie Carragher and Phil Neville believe West Ham might be on
the way to the Championship having endured a poor start to the current
campaign.
The former Liverpool and Manchester United players tore into West Ham's
current set-up following the 2-2 draw at Crystal Palace on Saturday - and
suggesting that relegation could be on the cards as a result of having taken
just nine points from the opening 10 games. "There are a lot of teams down
the bottom of the league you could make a case for survival," said
Carragher. I'm struggling with West Ham. It's a shambles. "[Saturday's
game] will have felt like a defeat. Six players ahead of the ball and four
versus two at the back post. It is a disgrace that you find yourself in that
situation. "Then you see that in the last minute; you're fighting for your
lives against another rival and you've got people bombing forward to get a
goal and then jogging back. "West Ham are getting a little bit too close to
comfort to the teams we've slaughtered over the years. Your Sunderlands,
your QPRs. We watched them against Brighton and their application was really
poor.
"They're the team I would massively worry about in terms of relegation,
because it doesn't seem like there's much there. It looks a bit of a
shambles behind the scenes at times for me. It just seems like a lot of
players just thrown together without any real thought."
Meanwhile fellow pundit Neville also accused the players of faling to show
sufficient desire in the closing moments of the Selhurst Park draw. "When we
see this you point back to those teams, Sunderland, QPR, Aston Villa," he
added. "They make you sick to the pit of your stomach because it's a
privilege to play football, and the idea that you jog back, you don't run
back, at 2-1 up. "The manager is fighting for his life, the fans are all
there to run. It's unbelievable. That's where you become really critical and
you feel like it's a let down."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Mark Noble urges West Ham to use 'common sense' ahead of Liverpool clash
By Nick Lustig
Last Updated: 31/10/17 2:22pm
SSN
Mark Noble insists West Ham must use "common sense" if they are to climb the
Premier League table. The Hammers have won only two of their opening 10
matches and currently sit just a point above the relegation zone in 16th
place. Winger Michail Antonio was heavily criticised for the part he played
in the build up to Crystal Palace's stoppage-time equaliser in Saturday's
2-2 draw at Selhurst Park, and Noble accepts West Ham have to improve their
game management. "You can't make mistakes like we made at Crystal Palace in
the Premier League and expect to win matches, so we really need to learn how
to hold onto a lead because we're really shooting ourselves in the foot," he
told the club's website. "People talk about 'managing the game' and a lot of
it is common sense. We need to be able to see the time out by slowing the
play down and, in a way, get the opposition and their fans feeling anxious.
I don't think we have done that well enough this season."
West Ham welcome Liverpool to London Stadium on Saturday and Noble concedes
the stakes will be high for his side ahead of the international break. "With
where we are in the table, what happened at Crystal Palace last weekend and
the fact we go into the final international break of the year after it,
there is a massive motivation to win Saturday's game," the 30-year-old
added. "Liverpool at home is a big game - it always is. We're at home, we'll
have the crowd behind us and we've got to roll our sleeves up, look forward
to the game and do the basics right."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Jamie Carragher fears West Ham could go down after 'shambolic' final minutes
at Crystal Palace
Last Updated: 31/10/17 8:18am
SSN
On Monday Night Football, Jamie Carragher analysed the final few minutes at
Selhurst Park as West Ham dropped two points against Crystal Palace
Jamie Carragher described West Ham's application in the final few minutes at
Crystal Palace as a "shambles", and fears they could go down this season.
Slaven Bilic's side are just a point above the drop zone following their 2-2
draw with bottom side Crystal Palace on Saturday, despite being 2-0 up at
half-time.
On Monday Night Football, Carragher went on to analyse the final few minutes
at Selhurst Park, where West Ham twice lost the ball deep inside Palace's
half, with the second time resulting in Wilfried Zaha's last-gasp equaliser.
"There are a lot of teams down the bottom of the league you could make a
case for survival. I'm struggling with West Ham. "It's a shambles. Six
players ahead of the ball, again, the same situation, and there is four
versus two at the back post. That is a disgrace that you find yourself in
that situation. It will have felt like a defeat. "West Ham are getting a
little bit too close to comfort to the teams we've slaughtered over the
years. Your Sunderlands, your QPRs. We watched them, and it was really poor
against Brighton, their application, and then you see that, in the last
minute, you're fighting for your lives against another rivals, it's more
than three points, and you've got people bombing forward to get a goal and
then jogging back. "They're the team I would massively worry about in terms
of relegation, because it doesn't seem like there's much there. "It looks a
bit of a shambles behind the scenes at times for me. It just seems like a
lot of players just thrown together without any real thought."
Gary Neville echoed Carragher's words on MNF, saying the failure of certain
West Ham players in those final stages reminds him of previous relegated
Premier League sides. "When we see this, you point back to those teams,
Sunderland, QPR, Aston Villa. They make you sick to the pit of your stomach,
because it's a privilege to play football, and the idea that you jog back,
you don't run back at 2-1 up. "The manager is fighting for his life, the
fans are all there to run. It's unbelievable. That's where you become really
critical and you feel like it's a let down."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham players told to apologise to Hammers teammate after "shocking
decision-making"
Joe Hart will be frustrated with his teammates after they threw away three
points at Crystal Palace
Football London
Kevin Beirne
07:00, 31 OCT 2017
Garth Crooks believes that West Ham's outfield players should apologise to
Joe Hart after they threw away a 2-0 lead against Crystal Palace at the
weekend. The Hammers led thanks to goals from Javier Hernandez and Andre
Ayew as they looked on course for their first away win in the Premier League
this season. Hart kept Palace at bay with some spectacular goalkeeping but
for his teammates to make a series of errors to give the Eagles the
opportunity to share the points. First, Angelo Ogbonna gave away a silly
penalty before Michail Antonio lost possession ahead of Wilfried Zaha's
equaliser while searching a third goal deep into injury time instead of
playing the clock out. Considering Hart's contribution, Crooks says that the
pair should own up to their mistake and ask for their goalkeeper's
forgiveness. "It's not often I feel sorry for goalkeepers, but I felt for
Joe Hart after West Ham's draw at Crystal Palace. He deserved better from
his teammates," Crooks said in his team of the week column for the BBC.
"Goalkeepers are often the first to hold their hands up in the dressing room
when they have dropped a clanger, and I expect West Ham's players to
apologise to Hart after he made some fantastic saves and put the Hammers in
a great position to win the game.
"This should have been West Ham's first away victory of the season in the
league, and would have been had it not been for some shocking
decision-making by players who should have known better."
Things do not get any easier for the Hammers as they face Liverpool at the
London Stadium on Saturday.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham handed huge boost with key Liverpool trio set to miss London
Stadium clash
Both sides have injury problems to contend with ahead of Saturday
Football London
West Ham have been handed a boost with Liverpool set to be without attacking
trio Sadio Mane, Adam Lallana and Philippe Coutinho for Saturday's game at
the London Stadium. The visitors recorded a 4-0 win in the corresponding
fixture last season, but could find it more difficult this time around
without some of their key attacking players. Mane and Lallana are not likely
to return for the Reds until after the international break, while Brazilian
international Coutinho is a doubt with a hip problem which kept him out at
the weekend. If the former Inter Milan star misses out again, Jurgen Klopp
could stick with the same front three which started against Huddersfield -
Roberto Firmino and Mohamed Salah either side of Daniel Sturridge.
Meanwhile, Slaven Bilic could face a defensive crisis for Saturday, with
question marks hanging over three central defenders. James Collins, Winston
Reid and Jose Fonte could all miss out through injury, while Pablo Zabaleta
will be suspended after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season
against Crystal Palace. Collins and Reid both missed the dramatic 2-2 draw
at Selhurst Park, while Fonte limped off in the first half with a foot
complaint. If the trio fail to recover in time for next weekend, Bilic will
only have two recognised central defenders at his disposal - Angelo Ogbonna
and teenager Declan Rice. Speaking after Saturday's game, the Croatian
manager voiced his frustration at Wilfried Zaha's 97th minute equaliser. "In
the last couple of minutes we made some wrong decisions," he said. "All we
had to do is keep it but we didn't and that makes it frustrating.
"It was a positive week overall but we are gutted about the manner in which
we conceded the second goal."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
CAVIAR RATIONS AND CHICKEN AND CHIPS
By Tony Hanna 31 Oct 2017 at 08:00
WTID
In my Tuesday article last week I wondered whether Slav would still be in
charge at West Ham by the time I wrote this one? Two games supposedly to
save his job and a win and a draw have put in place a stay of (his
inevitable) execution. Make no mistake, he will be gone by seasons end and
this fact, paralleled with the continued recycling of two, three or four
match ultimatums is a cancer that can only be hindering our progress. All
this noise can only be a distraction that is totally unhelpful and heaps
more pressure on Bilic and his team when the best thing the owners could do
is offer full support or get rid. Last week, if you had offered me a win and
a draw from the two away games at Spurs and Palace I would have chewed your
arm off, especially after the debacle against Brighton. However, it was the
manner of how both games panned out that put emotions at the forefront
rather than the outcomes. In other words, if fans hadn't watched either game
and just looked at the results the following day they would probably be
quite happy. A win and a draw and five goals scored sounds pretty good. We
conceded four goals but hey, that is the type of stuff I can remember from
the 60's. But watch both games and dissect them and fans can come up with a
whole different array of opinions on where the team is heading.
All this comes at a time when we should still be on a high. As far as
Premier League standards go we have not exactly been an over achiever since
its conception. For most of my half a century of supporting the club we have
been average at best. Sometimes we have played beautiful football and still
got poor results. Just once in a while a season comes along where we win a
Cup, finish third in the League or have a Payet season. For the most the
rest has often been mediocre. But every now and again something happens that
brings everything together, something that elevates us way beyond our normal
expectations. Something we can revel in and remember for years. The comeback
against Spurs at Wembley was such an event. Yep, we were awful for a half
but you tell that to the thousands of West Ham fans that attended that game
at Wembley. You tell that to Adrian who ran seventy yards to celebrate our
third goal. Most fans would remember the 3-2 comeback win against Everton in
2016 as special? Fact is we played awful against ten men and it was only the
last 20 minutes that it all came together. But we put one over on our bogey
team that had for so long done the same to us. The manner of that comeback
against Spurs will probably be the best moment of our season and if that
disappoints you then perhaps you are not appreciating the real joy of being
a West Ham fan because things won't and normally don't get a lot better.
I was the youngest of a large family in the post war baby boomer era and
living on hand me downs was normal. Mum and dad both worked two jobs and
there still wasn't a lot of money for the grocery bill. We had a weekly menu
that never changed, fish fingers on Monday, rissoles on Tuesday, liver and
bacon on Wednesday and so on. Mum only ever had two bets a year, the Derby
and the Grand National, just a few shillings on each. One year when I was
about ten she backed the Derby winner at a good price. She bought the whole
family chicken and chips. Back in those days that was a real treat, believe
it or not. I still remember that day even now, over 50 years later because
it was special, something that elevated us all above our normal status. So,
enjoy the odd occasion of eating the caviar the supporters of the top clubs
take for granted all the time, because for us it is so much more special
when we get to eat it once or twice a year. Now I know we should be hoping
and wanting better and hopefully those days will come, but trust me, just
for now don't hold your breath. Even the Bubbles song we sing tells our own
story. I was fortunate enough to attend what was the highlight of last
season, again our win against Spurs. The win with an under strength team was
not pretty, but it secured our Premier League status. Had Spurs beaten us
that night it would have meant they won all of their final thirteen games
that season - that was how good they were at the time. What was as special
as the result though was how the OS rocked that night - the atmosphere was
intense. A week later I walked away from the same ground after a 4-0
drubbing from Liverpool and walked past a pub that was full of Hammers -
literally bouncing with beer flying everywhere. Why? They were still jumping
with joy and singing about how Tottenham had "stuffed" it up! They were
still eating caviar.
Our first and third goals on Wednesday can be attributed to corners won. I
haven't seen it reported anywhere, but I counted sixteen consecutive passes
in the movement leading to the first corner and fourteen consecutive passes
in the move leading to the other. This team CAN play on the floor when
Carroll is in the team. And so to the Palace fixture, again a game of two
halves which is so often the case. Two excellent goals put the game in our
pocket but this is West Ham. We don't do things easily and by the book. We
talk about West Ham DNA and one thing that always happens is we sit far too
deep and invite pressure when we have a lead. It is not something exclusive
under Bilic, it has been happening for years.
I read a lot of criticism regarding Antonio's final minute decision to not
take the ball to the corner flag. No argument there but there were many
other bad ones in the closing stages of the game. We had two break away
opportunities, both of which should have been converted to three on two
situations in the final fifteen minutes of the game. However, the player
with the ball on each occasion decided not to play the decisive pass and
instead slow the play down and waste time. We were negative beyond belief
such was the fear of the inevitable Palace equaliser instead of taking an
opportunity to put the game to bed . Ogbonna and Masuaku gave away a string
of unnecessary free kicks that just heaped more pressure on a very shaky
defence. I am sure Bilic would have brought on Andy Carroll to help out with
the aerial bombardment but the injury to Fonte pretty much forced his hand
to look to Rice. There is a fragility in this side and that often comes when
confidence is low. Not wanting the ball, fear of a mistake and hoping
someone else will pull you through, it all comes when you are down. We see
it every year with the bottom teams, they never get the breaks. Perhaps the
saying you make your own luck rings true? One player who has risen above
this in the last two games has been Andre Ayew. His work rate and enthusiasm
will hopefully rub off on some of his team mates?
This week Liverpool come to the OS. We were eating caviar when we won 3-0 at
Anfield two seasons ago. I was beginning to think I would never see the
Hammers win up there again in my lifetime. What a way to break the duck? Is
this week a defining moment of our season? I don't think so personally.
There is a long way to go and I am sure there will be plenty of twists and
turns. I am just wondering when the next serving of caviar is being served -
it is often when least expected.
My reference to caviar is for analogy purposes only - can't stand the stuff
personally
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Bristol Rovers suffer Checkatrade Trophy defeat as Toni Martinez nets brace
for West Ham
Darrell Clarke's side will take on Swindon Town in a winner takes all game
next Wednesday
Bristol Post
Jack Vittles
21:47, 31 OCT 2017
Bristol Rovers were defeated 3-1 by West Ham United Under 23s in their
second Checkatrade Trophy match despite Tom Nichols scoring for the Gas
after just 25 seconds. Coming almost from the kick-off, Marc Bola's initial
cross on the left hand side was blocked, but the ball came back to Byron
Moore who swung the ball towards the six-yard box. Nichols rose well to
flick the ball on towards the back post and it beat Hammers goalkeeper
Nathan Trott and nestled into the bottom corner of the net. After the
lightning start, the match settled down into a more sedate pace as the small
crowd made for an eerie atmosphere at the Memorial Stadium on a chilly
Halloween evening. The Hammers picked up a goal either side of the half time
break, before Toni Martinez grabbed a third 15 minutes from full time.
Martinez fired home from the penalty spot for the opener before Martin
Samuelson scored the second. The penalty was conceded by Ryan Broom as he
was adjudged to have tripped Hammers left-back Ben Johnson. The full-back
was sprinting away from Broom, and while the contact looked minimal, if
there was any contact at all it had to be a penalty. Many Rovers fans close
to the action however appeared incensed at what they perceived as a dive
from Johnson. Samuelson's goal came courtesy of some head tennis in the
Rovers box as the Gas failed to clear a cross, Dan Leadbitter clearing the
ball off the line before Norwegian international Samuelson fired home from
about eight yards out to leave Sam Slocombe with no chance. West Ham looked
the better side in the second half and tested Slocombe on a number of
occasions before Martinez picked up his second. The Spaniard beating
Slocombe with a tidy finish to continue his recent good form after a
hat-trick against Manchester United in a Premier League 2 clash earlier this
month. Before their equaliser West Ham hardly threatened Slocombe's goal.
Martinez had an effort from the edge of the box held easily by the Rover
goalkeeper, before Nathan Holland fired a ball across the six-yard area.
For Rovers, Dom Telford came closest to finding a second before the break as
a mistake from Domingos Quina allowed Broom to launch a counter attack. His
ball to Telford was a little behind him though, and the Stoke man had to cut
back in on his left foot - his shot was comfortably saved by Trott. The West
Ham stopper was part of the England Under 19 side which romped to victory in
the European Championships this summer, but looked jittery for the most part
at the Mem. For large parts, West Ham lived up to their billing as a Premier
League academy side, playing plenty of tidy possession based football but
unwilling to take a risk with a more direct final ball. Trott - and the back
four in front of him - were insistent playing ball out from the back and it
got them into a pickle more than once as Rovers pressed high up the pitch.
Aside from the two goals, the second half passed largely without incident as
Rovers introduced their development players from the bench.
The second half was actually delayed by five minutes as the 1,500 in the
stand and the 22 players on the pitch were all made to wait as the
groundsman taped up a hole in one of the goal nets. Rovers had rung the
changes ahead of the match, with just Dan Leadbitter, Stuart Sinclair and
Tom Nichols retaining their places from the victory against MK Dons. Central
midfielder Luke Russe also made his full Rovers debut, and turned in a tidy
performance in the centre of the park.
The Gas bench saw a welcome return for young centre-back Alfie Kilgour, who
has been out injured for almost a year, alongside six development squad
players.
Next up for Rovers is Notts County away in the FA Cup first round, before
they return to Checkatrade Trophy action at the Mem against Swindon Town
next Wednesday.
Bristol Rovers: Slocombe; Leadbitter, Burn, Sweeney, Bola, Broom, Russe,
Sinclair, Moore (Hargreaves 66), Telford, Nichols (Dunwald 66)
Unused subs: Andre Jr, Kilgour, Menayese, Kelly, Kavanagh
West Ham U23s: Trott; Pike, Johnson, Rice, Pask, Quina, Covenry,
Haksabanovic (Kemp), Holland, Samuelson (Diangana), Martinez (Hector-Ingram
90)
Unused subs: Powell, Scully, Wells, Longelo
Scorers: Nichols 25, Martinez 43, 76, Samuelson 50,
Referee: Robert Jones
Attendance: 1,508 (172 away)
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham Come From Behind to Defeat Rovers
Bristol Rovers 1-3 West Ham United
Bristolrovers.co.uk
Tom Nichols goal inside the opening minute was cancelled out by a Toni
Martinez brace and a strike from Martin Samuelson. Tom Nichols managed to
head home just twenty-five seconds into the encounter, as the striker
managed to find room inside a congested area to head home a Byron Moore
cross to give Rovers an early advantage in the tie. The visitors scored a
late equaliser in the first-half from the penalty spot, as Ryan Broom
conceded a penalty for a foul on Ben Johnson. Toni Martinez dispatched the
spot-kick to bring the Hammers back level before the break.
Following the interval, Martin Samuelson drove home a finish from
close-range to put West Ham ahead, after a loose ball pinballed around the
Rovers six-yard box.
Toni Martinez added his second goal of the game with fifteen minutes to go,
as West Ham secured victory in the tie. In naming the squad for the
encounter, Manager Darrell Clarke opted to hand a first start to young Luke
Russe, as the youngster was chosen to play along Stuart Sinclair in the
heart of the Rovers midfield Sinclair took the armband for the evening, as
Ryan Broom and Byron Moore were tasked working the opposite wings for the
evening. Jonny Burn also made a return to action, as the centre-back was
paired with Ryan Sweeney in Rovers back-four. The game was only twenty-five
seconds old when Rovers took the lead. A well-worked cross into a congested
area from Byron Moore was headed into the net by Tom Nichols, as the striker
scored his second goal in four days to put Rovers ahead early on.
Following the goal, the first-half didn't produce that the chances that
early goal suggested it would. Sam Slocombe had to be alert to a long-range
effort from Conor Covenry, which did move quite considerably through the
night sky but didn't trouble the Rovers shot-stopper. A quick purposeful run
from Ryan Broom sliced open the West Ham defence midway through the
first-half, but after finding Dom Telford on the edge of the area, the
striker's effort couldn't beat West Ham 'keeper Nathan Trott, as he looked
place an effort inside the far-post. Nathan Holland was lively for the
visitors and managed to rob possession off Daniel Leadbitter down the right,
as the defender was fortunate that his error didn't get punished, as
Holland's pacy cross into the area narrowly missed Toni Matinez at the far
post
West Ham restored balance to the scoreline just minutes before the break.
Ryan Broom was judged to have fouled Ben Johnson inside the box after the
pair collided at speed. Toni Martinez took the resulting spot-kick and held
his nerve to send Sam Slocombe the wrong way to bring West Ham back level.
Just five minutes after the break, West Ham took the lead. Following a
bouncing ball inside the Rovers area, Martin Samuelson was on hand to rocket
home a low finish after Rovers failed to clear their lines, as Samuelson's
shot nestled into the bottom corner. Darrell Clarke replaced Nichols and
Broom with Dunnwald and Cameron Hargreaves just past the hour mark, as
Rovers looked to bring the scores back level. It West Ham who forged an
opportunity to extend their lead further, as Toni Martinez broke in behind
the Rovers back-four and connected with a forcefully struck right-footed
attempt. Sam Slocombe was quick to adjust his feet to deal with the
striker's effort, diving to push Martinez's effort around the post. Martinez
did get his second goal of the game in the 75th minute, scoring from a tight
angle to beat Sam Slocombe in a one-on-one situation, as West Ham took all
three points on offer.
Rovers now face Swindon Town next Wednesday at the Mem in their final group
stage fixture.
Rovers: Sam Slocombe, Daniel Leadbitter, Jonny Burn, Ryan Sweeney, Marc
Bola, Stuart Sinclair (C), Luke Russe, Ryan Broom (65' Cameron Hargreaves),
Byron Moore, Tom Nichols (65' Dunwald), Dom Telford.
Substitutes: Alexis Andre-Jr, Alfie Kilgour, Rollin Menayese, Cameron
Hargreaves, Michael Kelly, Kenan Dunwald, Rhys Kavanagh.
West Ham: Nathan Trott, Sead Haksabanovic (72' Daniel Kemp), Toni Marinez
(90' Jahmal Hector-Ingram), Domingos Quina, Nathan Holland, Josh Pask, Alex
Pike, Martin Samuelson (72' Grady Diangana), Declan Rice, Ben Johnson, Conor
Coventry.
Substitutes: Joe Powell, Anthony Scully, Ben Wells, Rosaire Longelo.
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
Wednesday, November 1
Tuesday, October 31
Daily WHUFC News - 31st October 2017
Hammer pays tribute to fellow fan who saved his Dad's life
WHUFC.com
A West Ham United fan has paid tribute to the fellow supporter who saved his
73-year-old father's life at Wembley Stadium. Ian Perry and son Wayne were
queuing outside turnstile entrance C minutes before kick-off in the Carabao
Cup tie between their beloved West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur, when Ian
collapsed.
Thankfully, among the other members of the Claret and Blue Army waiting to
enter the stadium was fellow Season Ticket Holder Ian Pearse, who
immediately recognised that his fellow fan had suffered a cardiac arrest and
began administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). West Ham supporters
created space for Pearse to work, while the emergency services were called
and arrived within minutes. Police medics then delivered a dose of electric
current to Perry's heart and, having re-established his regular heartbeat,
he was taken to Wembley's in-stadium medical centre. With the experts
looking after Ian, Pearse and his son Luke went into the stadium to watch
the match. When his father had stabilised, Wayne took to social media in a
bid to find the man who had saved his Dad's life.
"We were waiting to get into the ground when Dad collapsed," Wayne
confirmed. "There were a lot of people around and it all got a bit chaotic,
but then a gentleman approached my friend Eddie and said he knew what to do.
He ripped open Dad's shirt and started doing CPR on his chest. "Without
Ian's intervention, the doctor said my Dad would not have lived. This is
about something more important than football, and that's saving lives. After
watching Ian and the medics bring my Dad back, I would urge everyone to get
training to do CPR, because it can be a matter of life or death. "The
support we have received on social media, from the fan sites and the Club
themselves have been awesome. This just shows what a special group of
supporters West Ham fans are."
After spending a few days in the Harefield Hospital in nearby Uxbridge, the
grateful grandfather was allowed to return to his home in the Essex village
of Rayne.
"Dad was taken to hospital and underwent surgery and had two stents put in
his heart, so he's probably in better shape now than he was before he fell
ill," Wayne added. "Everyone was brilliant - the fans, the medical staff at
Wembley and Ian, of course. "He came home on Saturday afternoon and we had a
birthday party for my daughter, so the whole family were here. We kept tabs
on the Crystal Palace game and he was spitting feathers when they equalised.
When he's moaning about the football, we know he's definitely on the way
back to being in good health!"
For Pearse, he was happy to put the CPR training he was given nearly three
decades away into practice. "My son spotted Ian collapse and my training
just kicked in. I made my way through the crowd and told them I knew what to
do and they allowed me to start doing cardiac massage, with the aim of
maintaining circulation of oxygen around his body. "I shouted and asked a
policeman to get a defibrillator and this arrived within a few minutes with
the police medics, who then took over working on Ian. "I was delighted to be
contacted by Wayne and to learn that he is now home and on the mend. We are
going to meet up at a West Ham match in the future, too. "I always used to
joke that I'd done a CPR course over 25 years ago and never needed to use
it, but I won't be able to say that any longer!"
Fans interested in taking a CPR/Basic Life Support course should contact the
London Ambulance Service.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Ogbonna - 'I can't believe we got just one point'
WHUFC.com
Angelo Ogbonna has admitted his disbelief that West Ham United left Selhurst
Park with just one point after a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace. Goals from
Chicharito and Andre Ayew had put Slaven Bilic's side in control at
half-time against Palace on Saturday but a 97th minute finish by WIlfried
Zaha meant the game ended in a tie, after Luka Milivojevic scored from the
penalty spot early in the second half. The result leaves West Ham waiting
for their first league away win of season but Ogbonna is still shocked the
Irons did not claim it on Saturday. And the defender believes vital lessons
must be learned from the result. The Italian said: "I cannot believe that we
got just one point. It should be three but you know the game. We are focused
for the next game. "It's a lesson. It's a big lesson for us. We have to have
to keep the ball."
Ogbonna also revealed that the nature of Saturday's result and the context
of the draw meant the squad felt like they had suffered a loss against
Palace. "It's a defeat for us," Ogbonna added: "It's a defeat because we
played well and we stayed in the game until the last minute. Everybody saw
then what happened."
The 29-year-old nonetheless insists that the side are still completely
committed to playing at their very best and must do so for themselves, for
manager Bilic, and for the everybody else associated with the team. "In the
game anything can happen so we have to play not just for the manager but for
ourselves. For our Club and for everybody."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Reece Oxford makes Borussia Monchengladbach debut
WHUFC.com
Reece Oxford made his Borussia Monchengladbach debut on Saturday as the
German outfit beat Hoffenheim 3-1 in the Bundesliga. The West Ham United
centre-back, who joined Die Fohlen on loan during the summer, replaced Lars
Stindl in the final few minutes to help his team hold onto the victory which
saw them move above their opponents in the league table.
Hoffenheim took the lead after 25 minutes when midfielder Kerem Demirbay
volleyed in from range. In the second period, however, Dieter Hecking's team
came out fighting and equalised just after the hour mark when Thorgan Hazard
- brother of Chelsea's Eden - squeezed in from a tight angle after Vincenzo
Grifo had centred. Monchengladbach were not satisfied with the point,
though, and went in search of the winner. It came with eleven minutes left
to play, Grifo again the man with the assist as Matthias Ginter finished.
Three minutes later, the visitors put the result beyond any doubt, as Jannik
Vestergaard scored from close range to make it 3-1. Oxford was introduced
with a minute of normal time left to play, helping his side hold onto the
points at Rhein Neckar Arena. Though the appearance was Oxford's first in a
competitive fixture, the defender did play a number of times for the side
during pre-season, scoring in a 2-1 win against Spanish side Malaga. The
18-year-old has previously been an unused substitute in every other
Bundesliga fixture this campaign.
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Noble - I thought we had done enough to beat Palace
WHUFC.com
Mark Noble thought West Ham's resilience in the face of Crystal Palace
pressure was going to carry them over the line to three precious points at
Selhurst Park on Saturday. The Hammers led 2-0 at the break, only for the
Eagles to come roaring back in the second period, scoring an early penalty
and then remaining on the front foot for the rest of the game. Joe Hart
saved brilliantly from Wilfried Zaha and Yohan Cabaye, and when ex-Hammer
James Tomkins hit the bar in stoppage time, it looked as if Palace's chance
had passed. West Ham skipper Noble was convinced his team was going to hold
on, only for Zaha to snatch a couple of points away from them with the last
kick of the game, meaning the No16 travelled back over the Thames with a
feeling of frustration. "I didn't think the game was over at half-time," he
explained. "Obviously we played Spurs on Wednesday and we were 2-0 down at
half-time in that game. The game is never over, but we gave them two goals
really. "We scored two great goals, two goals away from home and we dug in.
I thought the defenders played tremendously well, but as I have said many,
many times, you get punished if you make mistakes in this league and that's
what we did. "We've got to learn how to see games out, it's as simple as
that. As you can tell I'm really disappointed because I thought we did
enough to win the game. They had a lot of pressure in the second half, but
you're going to get that."
Noble returned to the starting XI for the trips to Spurs and Palace this
week and he was pleased to play his part in those performances. He added:
"We've got a really big squad - we had Andy Carroll, Marko Arnautovic,
Michail Antonio and Arthur Masuaku sitting on our bench at Palace. You're
not going to play every week, we know that, and normally if you win every
week it's an easier job for the manager, but if you're not he has to make
some changes and that's what he's done.
"I did say that it's a team game, not an individual game, and the fightback
against Spurs was fantastic. "The games don't get any easier, we have
Liverpool at home and after not playing well enough in our last home game we
have to be better on Saturday."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hammers hoping to book place in Checkatrade Trophy knockout rounds
WHUFC.com
West Ham United will be hoping to book their place in the second round of
the Checkatrade Trophy when they take on Bristol Rovers on Tuesday night.
The Hammers, an U21 side in the competition though five overage players are
permitted, go into the game with three points from three on the Southern
Group C table following their win over Swindon Town in the competition in
August. And should Terry Westley's youngsters secure another win at the
Memorial Ground, they could already have their spot in the second round with
one match to spare should the Robins draw with Wycombe Wanderers. If there
is a winner in the other tie on the same evening, the east Londoners would
still look a good bet to progress providing they gain three points against
the Pirates. Goalkeeper Nathan Trott, who was part of the Hammers team which
beat Swindon 3-2 earlier this campaign, is confident his team can qualify
for the next round. He said: "We have a really strong squad this season, and
when everyone is fit, it's a really great team. All eleven players on the
pitch are really talented and so are the guys on the bench who come on and
help us out. "I think we can win anything this season. Our objectives at
the start of the season were a top six finish but how well we are doing in
the league, we can look even better than that. "Our form shows how much we
are working at the moment and how high the concentration levels have been
all season. If we continue like that we will keep getting good results like
this."
Last season, Westley's team exited the competition after the group stages
after tough defeats against Coventry City and Wycombe before a penalty
shootout victory over Northampton. Earlier this campaign, the Academy opted
to field a strong, experienced side against Swindon and it paid off, as the
exciting side beat their League Two opponents. Tuesday's challenge comes in
the form of a League One side, however after Saturday's Premier League 2
victory over Manchester City, Trott believes the whole squad is extremely
high on confidence. "The whole team were great and it was a good performance
against City," the keeper continued. "We did well and I was also happy with
my own performance. "I just want to continue with this form and help out the
whole team and get more positive results like this."
West Ham supporters wishing to support the side at the Memorial Ground will
be able to purchase tickets on the day of the game from Bristol Rovers'
matchday ticket office.
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Crystal Palace 2-2 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 30th October 2017
By: HeadHammerShark
"Now I've swung back down again, it's worse than it was before If I hadn't
seen such riches, I could live with being poor" - James, "Sit Down"
So in a week where we learned exactly how long it takes to rig a league cup
quarter final draw (it's two hours) we learned how long we are allowed to be
happy. It's two days. Two bloody days of savouring that win at Wembley and
then we're back on the rollercoaster once again. Even Pontius Pilate got
three days of thinking he'd sorted out his Jesus problem before reality
started to bite.
The worst thing is that viewed in isolation, it isn't that terrible or
surprising that we can't beat the bottom team in the league. Over the last
two years we were the only team around who struggled to beat Sunderland and
if it wasn't for nine dropped points against relegated teams, we would have
finished level on points with runners up Arsenal in 2015/16.
If, if, if - the clarion call of the desperate and the dreamers, but still.
Shit.
This. The whole article basically boils down to this.
One thing that did hit me as I watched this game, is how difficult it really
is to get a handle on West Ham. We so rarely play in the same formation, or
with the same tactical approach or even with the same level of efficiency,
that opinion tends to swing wildly from game to game. And so far, every game
has come with a caveat: injuries, sendings off, the desperate need to just
get a win so we just take what points we can get and then worry about the
performance later.
Someone - and I apologise to whomever it was because I can't remember who
posted it and can't find it again now - appeared in my Twitter feed after
this game making the point that we haven't played well yet this season. My
immediate thought was that this was ludicrously harsh, but if you take that
to mean a complete ninety minute performance then that's probably true. Even
the Miracle of Wembley required a disaster in the first half, in order for
the whole thing to be miraculous.
So I thought I'd list out our league performances so far and see if it's
really true that each game has had a sizeable caveat attached to it, and
whether any of them can really be said to be good, front to back, 90 minute
displays:
Opposition/Result/Caveat
Man Utd (0-4): They'll beat everyone, loads of injuries
Southampton (2-3): Ten men, played well second half, ref
Newcastle (0-3): Loads of injuries, everything will be better at home
Huddersfield 2-0: All that matters is the result, it's hard at home
West Brom (0-0): Nobody plays well against West Brom
Spurs (2-3): Good start, we played Andy Carroll
Swansea (1-0): All that matters is the result
Burnley (1-1): Ten men, did you see that one move in the 2nd half?
Brighton (0-3): Erm, we didn't play Andy Carroll
Palace (2-2): Our players have no brains. None of them.
OK, so my immediate thought is that the Burnley game was probably our best
performance of the season and it involved seventy minutes with ten men, an
assist from our goalkeeper and featured another late equaliser. Overall I
think we played well, but draws against Burnley do not contented supporters
make, especially when they get followed up with 3-0 defeats at home to
Brighton.
Our two victories were both fairly dire, albeit we were the better team on
both occasion. We're just so inconsistent from game to game, from half to
half and even from one passage of play to another, that any kind of
objective assessment feels impossible. But what fans really want is a
complete display from start to finish, with all areas of the team
functioning and a resounding victory, because that allows us to stop
thinking of sustained competence as being a hypothetical concept.
***
Take this game for instance. How can you moan about a team being two nil up
at half time, with two superbly engineered and wonderfully taken goals?
Well, I suppose the reality is that at the interval everything did seem to
going swimmingly, even if we did have to rely upon an absolutely amazing
double save from Joe Hart to keep us in front at 1-0. So what though, that's
what he's there for, after all.
But then the came the worst second half defensive performance since John
Parker left Ford's Theatre, Washington DC, 1865 during the intermission of
"Our American Cousin" to go and have a drink at a saloon next door. While he
was getting smashed, John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln and
Parker struggled to get much more work in the bodyguard field, although he
did later turn out a couple of times at right back for West Ham.
That's it Michail, into the corner
At one point in the first half of this game I was beginning to wonder if it
was possible to write an article about a match where nothing happened. Even
Sartre would have found this all a bit challenging to describe, as two very
poor teams engaged in a battle to see who could do least with most.
And then the game sprang into life. Wilfried Zaha broke into the box and
went down in a tangle with Jose Fonte. I thought it looked a bit innocuous,
but would have probably wanted it given at the other end. As it was, Bobby
Madley waved it away and we then swept upfield with a glorious move that
culminated in Chicharito slotting home his fourth of the season. The goal
was fairly reminiscent of Lanzini's winner in the corresponding fixture last
year, as Cresswell served it up on a plate and the Mexican cleverly flicked
it in with the outside of his boot.
Prominent in the build up to that goal was Andre Ayew, playing just off the
striker and getting on the ball very nicely, and he was at it again a few
minutes later. This time he latched on to a loose ball courtesy of some good
pressing by Fernandes, and drove forward, turned Scott Dann so many times he
could have opened a bottle of Merlot with him, and then smashed it in to the
top corner from outside the box. He probably should have slipped in
Fernandes outside him, but when you're having the kind of week he is, you
can't blame him for taking it on.
As it is, all West Ham players should probably be shooting from everywhere
at Selhurst Park as we only ever seem to score screamers against them.
So a two-nil lead at half time seemed fairly sustainable against a team who
had scored twice all season, but as this shot map from Caley Graphics shows,
you can make an argument that we were fortunate to get anything at all such
was the dominance of the home team. But football games aren't played on
spreadsheets and when you get to the 97th minute of a game with the lead
then you expect to leave with three points. This one was a gut wrencher.
***
When whoever it is that assembles the playing staff at West Ham decided to
put together the oldest, slowest backline in the league I'm fairly sure that
they weren't envisioning games like today. We are now ten games into the
season and have the third worst goal difference in the league, Zabaleta has
been booked five times, we have been beaten 3-0 by two promoted teams and
have conceded four penalties.
Today it was Angelo Ogbonna who decided to forget everything he had learned
playing for Juventus and Italy, and brainlessly nudged over Andros Townsend
right at the start of the second half. It was soft as ice cream in a sauna
and wouldn't have been a penalty in 1985, but as far as arguments go that's
not actually a very good one. The penalty went in and suddenly we lost any
momentum rolling over from Spurs and instead found ourselves penned back as
the home team bombed forward.
Moments after that goal, Yohan Cabaye hit the post and we were wobbling
mightily. It was good timing then, for Joe Hart to start illustrating quite
why we'd gone out and paid so much money to get him when Adrian is a
perfectly capable Premier League keeper. Wave after wave of home attacks
were repelled with a combination of last ditch blocks and brilliant Hart
saves.
Among a number of fine stops, he kept out a Cabaye free kick that looked
destined for the top corner and somehow tipped a James Tomkins header on to
the bar. In truth, much of the Palace threat came from set pieces as they
looked for all the world like West Ham 2014/15 under Sam Allardyce,
featuring long deep crosses to Tomkins that were then kept alive in the box
for onrushing attackers. It took a decent amount of World War One style
Tommies in the trenches defending to keep them out, which was fitting as we
were wearing our new third kit which is apparently a homage to our first
ever strip in 1900.
Joe Hart, ladies and gentleman
So Hart probably deserved better than to be beaten by Zaha's 97th minute
equaliser, but in reality we couldn't complain. Had we not wasted so much
time throughout the second half we wouldn't have been on the pitch to have
given up the goal. As it was, Lanzini and Antonio took a free kick in the
87th minute and decided to keep it in the corner. This was particularly
ironic as Palace would score their second a whole ten minutes later, but
perhaps more crucially still - neither one of them took it in the fucking
corner.
***
Ah yes, taking the ball into the corner to protect a one goal lead. It's
boring and negative when it's done against you, and the height of
professional game management when your team does it. And now this morning,
Antonio has been roundly criticised for failing to do exactly that in the
minute before the goal.
The problem I have with this is that had Antonio ignored the three on one
situation in the Palace box, where Ayew, Lanzini and Chicharito were waiting
for any kind of decent cross, and gone over to the corner flag it's still
possible that the same thing could have happened. He could still easily have
lost the ball, and Palace could have broken away and scored and everybody
would have lost their shit that he was being so negative and spurned a gold
plated opportunity to seal the win.
Therefore, my issue with Antonio doing what he did isn't that he did it, but
more that he did it so badly. The worst part of it all is that any half
decent ball would surely have resulted in a goal, which is of course the
absolute best way to kill off a game. As it was, Dann chested the laziest
pass of all time back to Speroni, and Palace worked it out to Zaha who did a
bizarre loop with the ball before driving the winner through a crowd of legs
and thousands of West Ham fans muttered "Of course he fucking did" to
whomever they were with at the time, before crying like we were watching a
walrus trying to find a bit of ice left at the North Pole to park her kid
on.
That said, we had so many opportunities to launch late breakaway counters
and we seemed clueless as to how to do it. I haven't seen a group of people
so unsure of how to attack since the villagers in The Magnificent Seven.
As such, I have no issue with Antonio doing what he did - he should have
just done it better. And maybe the players in the box could have actually
chased back, but then I guess when we all moan that the team doesn't look
remotely fit enough, we can't really complain when they can't physically
match other teams in the late stages of games.
And so the rollercoaster surges on.
***
What is interesting after games like this is how we all fall very easily
into the trap of telling each other how obvious and predictable it was that
this would happen. Truthfully that's not really very fair as we are no worse
than any other team when it comes to defending two goal leads. However, as a
club we are pretty bad for letting in late goals, and we also have
exceptional timing, meaning that we would of course throw away a two goal
lead just two days after skewering Spurs in the same way. It's more West Ham
than Bubbles, Bobby Moore and getting drawn away in the cups to Big Clubs
(T).
Under Bilic our record in this situation is actually pretty good:
2-0 Up: W11 D1 L1
2-0 Down: W1 D3 L21
So, with a two nil lead this is only the second time that we've failed to
win under Bilic. The other was when we were ahead against Watford at the
London Stadium and then Troy Deeney got upset about rabonas and everybody
forgot how to defend and instead just rode around on unicycles squirting
water in each others faces.
It would perhaps be better if you tried to ignore how often we have gone 2-0
down under Bilic unless you want to completely lose your mind.
***
And what of Bilic? What does this game tell us about him? We routinely lead
the league in defensive errors that lead to goals and that shows no sign of
abating. You can argue that he isn't responsible for experienced defenders
giving away needless penalties or you can say that when people keep
continually making mistakes in his teams that perhaps the structure in which
they are playing isn't conducive to error free football.
As it is, we don't really know anything today that we didn't already know
yesterday. He still seems cursed with bad luck, he still can't organise a
defence, and juggling all his attacking options around seems to befuddle
him. Here he pushed Kouyate back into a trio of centre backs and he did
pretty well, perhaps unsurprisingly given that the 3-4-3 came back into
fashion when Barcelona started dropping their central midfielders between
their centre backs and sending their full backs off like auxiliary wingers.
The problem is that without him in midfield we lacked the ability to carry
the ball or break up play, and even Manuel Lanzini looked peripheral as we
struggled to get him in possession.
We also scored with our only two shots on target which either shows a
pleasing level of efficiency or a desperate lack of creativity, depending on
your world view. While all of that was happening Obiang, Antonio, Carroll
and Arnautovic were on the bench and you couldn't help but return to that
question one more time - what the hell were we trying to achieve with our
summer transfer activity?
So Bilic will wander onwards, because when he was given two games to save
his job it didn't make any particular sense, but once you say that then you
probably can't fire him after a win and a draw even when the circumstances
of those results were so crazy.
It will surprise none of you to know that I don't think a great deal of our
Board and their management structure, but I have some sympathy over this
decision. How can you assess this? It's impossible to sift through all the
madness of those two matches and draw anything concrete from it. And
realistically, this constantly undulating graph of our performance that
reflects a Himalayan skyline is probably reflective of where we are as a
club. Everything is chaotic, there's loads of wild stuff happening behind
the scenes and in the end that was always going to bleed out on to the
pitch.
Changing the manager might help, purely because they might be able to
organise our defence to at least recognise each other occasionally, but I
don't think it would make too much difference. This is the problem when you
choose not to back a manager by giving him a new contract, but also choose
not to fire him. So Bilic exists in this strange footballing purgatory
because we all accept that you can't get anyone better in November,
especially when you're down with the dead men, but we all know he won't be
staying beyond July. In some respects it's probably a testimony to his man
management skills that the players pay any attention to him at all given the
circumstances, but even though that may be true, I really do wish he'd sort
out our back four.
So on we roll, back on the rollercoaster.
***
In a week where the growth of English youth football is on everyone's mind,
it's worth noting that England have won both the Under 17 and Under 20 World
Cups without any West Ham players. This has been a common theme this summer,
as most of the best kids seem to come from the same academies - Manchester
City, Chelsea and Arsenal are prominent - and it does lead me to wonder
quite what is happening with our scouting.
It's not to say we don't have kids at these tournaments as Dan Kemp and
Nathan Trott were squad players at their respective Toulon and European
Finals, while Domingos Quina also represented Portugal in the latter. But
what is striking is how so many of the kids that represent England at these
tournaments come from London and how we really seem to be struggling to
identify and attract those kids.
Quina was picked up from Chelsea and the likes of Toni Martinez and Martin
Samuelson were also transferred for decent sums. Not that this isn't a
reasonable way to acquire players but what I'm referring to is the older
method of picking up a boy at the age of 9 or 10 and bringing him through
your system, moulded as the kind of player you want. We've been struggling
with this for a while, and maybe Declan Rice and Reece Oxford will prove us
wrong but it's starting to concern me that London kids might now be
presented with three other better options for their footballing development
at Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal.
A friend of mine took his very talented nine-year-old to West Ham recently
at the club's request, and when they arrived he was bunched in with a huge
number of other children and nobody took any notice of them. His main
observation after watching his son learn precisely nothing in an
hour's-worth of coaching, was that "they fail primarily as human beings".
One persons experience isn't indicative of anything, but at some point we
may want to ask why our youth policy isn't delivering players in the same
way as other teams. Declan Rice might very well be one such player but our
London rivals are currently producing Premier Leaguers at a rate of far
higher than once every five years, as we tend to do.
I don't know enough to comment fully on this, but I highlight it just to
make the point. More help from the Academy is needed.
Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are those of the
author and do not necessarily represent the views of, nor should be
attributed to, KUMB.com.
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Tottenham issue lifetime bans to urine-throwing fans
By Sky Sports News
Last Updated: 30/10/17 4:48pm
SSN
Tottenham have issued lifetime bans to two supporters involved in throwing
urine at West Ham fans during their Carabao Cup tie last Wednesday. A video
which circulated on social media after the match at Wembley showed one fan
urinating into a pint glass before the other fan threw its contents at the
travelling fans.
Tottenham told Sky Sports News they were investigating the footage and urged
fans who had information about "anything untoward" at the game to contact
either the club or the police. Spurs have since concluded their
investigation, having identified the two men and subsequently banned them
from attending their matches in the future. A club spokesman said: "This
kind of behaviour is not acceptable and we shall be issuing lifetime bans to
both individuals in the video." In the second clash of the season between
these two clubs, Mauricio Pochettino's side led 2-0, but Slaven Bilic's West
Ham managed to score three second-half goals - ensuring their place in the
quarter-final of the competition.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
SHAKY HAMMERS PUNISHED FOR OWN NEGATIVITY - SHAME THE SEASON CAN'T BE OVER
ALREADY
By HamburgHammer 30 Oct 2017 at 08:00
WTID
I am still fuming. And shocked. I feel angry and embarrassed. Sick and
tired. As a football fan sometimes you can see your team throwing a game
away, frightening early signs indicating where things are heading to with
alarming predetermination, you can clearly make out the jaws of victory,
beckoning in the distance, but you're also painfully aware of defeat
creeping ever closer to those jaws, ready to get snatched at the final
moment in place of the aforementioned victory, yet there is nothing you can
do, especially if you can only watch the events unfolding on a dodgy
internet stream from an armchair 500 miles away from London.
The Saturday for me personally was pretty much a footballing disaster, with
two disappointing draws in totally winnable games. First Cordi only drew 1:1
at FC Turkiye (wrong side of the river, shocking atmosphere plus a terrible
referee), conceding the softest of penalties (sound familiar ?) in a wet and
windy contest on a cabbage field disguised as a football pitch before
luckily scoring the equaliser five minutes from time. Turkiye are a shocking
football team matching the quality of their home pitch, still Concordia
failed to have a proper gameplan and also gave away the ball far too often -
the only good thing from that encounter was that I got home fairly quickly
after that shocker of a game, just in time to catch Ayew's screamer late in
the first half to give us a comfortable 2:0 lead. Or so I thought.
Surely this is it I said to myself, settling into my comfy armchair,
screwdriver in hand. This won't be yet another false dawn. We will score
another goal or two and that'll be it. Then my internet stream started to
play up. It crashed every two minutes or so, replayed the same passage of
play three times over and came alive again suddenly with a few minutes of
play lost in the abyss. Still I was able to witness Ogbonna conceding the
penalty early in the second half Just what the doctor ordered.NOT.
As a professional defender you simply can't challenge your opponent in your
penalty box like this - yes, it was a soft penalty, but there was definite
contact and if you give the other guy the opportunity to go down nine times
out of ten he will gladly oblige and the referee will blow the whistle,
given a chance, and I blame neither the Palace player nor the referee in
this instance.
That goal was the big game changer. It threw Palace a lifeline, it breathed
new life into a shellshocked home crowd and it made our team nervous for the
remainder of the second half. Still, this is what I just don't get: Why do
you allow the opposition to put yourself under the kosh like this ? It's
Palace after all, not Manchester City or Barcelona for crying out loud!
Let's then jump to roundabout the 80th minute - from then on we were
negative and unprofessional beyond belief. How can you begin passing
freekicks to the corner flag, trying to waste time rather than creating
another goalscoring opportunity to kill off the game for good ?
There were several instances where one of our guys was in a good position to
run at the defenders in the Palace box, take them on, make something happen.
Yet we tried to win the game by killing time. Again and again.
(Except once right at the end when Antonio didn't actually keep the ball in
the corner which gave Palace the chance to equalise.)
We actually killed our chances of winning by choosing that negative approach
coupled with bad decision making by the players. I felt embarrassed watching
us in the second half. Even if we were a better team at keeping the ball and
wasting some time (which we are not) I don't like to see that kind of
approach from my team.ever. It just feels wrong.
Same as diving, playacting or recklessly tackling an opposition player,
embracing the possibility of causing a fellow professional a bad injury in
the process.
It's plain wrong.
Best way to win in my book has always been playing positive football, trying
to score, thereby making it harder for the opposition to get back into the
game.
I really don't blame Palace here, they got a much deserved and hard fought
point. But who in Bobby Moore's name was responsible for that negativity
shown by us in the second half ? Virtually the ENTIRE second half.
Was it our manager who told the players to timewaste our way to victory ?
Was it the players who simply didn't trust their own ability to score
another goal or two against basement boys Palace who, let's be frank, aren't
exactly world beaters ?
Shooting ourselves in the foot like this again and again won't help our team
to gain some much needed confidence, it's always one step forward and two
steps back for us.
We never play a complete game, giving a professional performance from start
to finish, two halves of full effort, desire or swagger. Why is that ?
Just like at Burnley we threw away what would have been a very valuable away
win right at the end of the game. It's doing my nut in.
If we can't beat a team like Palace after carving out a 2:0 halftime lead
against them, what does that say about the character of our team ? It's nice
of course to beat Spurs in the fashion we did last Wednesday in the League
Cup. But it's not much good if you then follow it up with an utterly
unprofessional display in the second half like we delivered at Palace.Maybe
we should change our name from West Ham United to What If United.
There always is a catch or caveat when it comes to our club. Of course we
have seen all of this before and with all our practise we should be used by
now to the sheer stupidity and sloppiness of it all, but as a fan you never
get used to it, do you ? It still hurts like hell. It stings. And yes, it
also stinks.
Once again my screwdriver ended up getting chucked to the floor violently in
a fit of anger and disappointment. The season already feels lost to me.
Not in a sense that we will get relegated. We won't get relegated. But we
will keep hovering between 10th and 15th place in the table all season.
Throw in the football we're playing and it's not a combination you want to
fill a 60k stadium next season.
Unfortunately we still have plenty of games to play, but it's hard to see us
even winning two in a row this season. World class players in a world class
stadium, you're havin' a bubble mate! As mentioned in my column last week,
both club and team look rotten right now, things just don't appear to sit
right from top to bottom.
There were merely two things that gave me a genuine reason to smile at the
weekend, West Ham wise. One was our development squad beating their
Manchester City counterparts with a 2:1 scoreline (and Martinez scoring
again). The other was seeing Declan Rice come on as a substitute. I am very
impressed with the lad and hope he will get many more opportunities in this
nightmare of a season to gain more PL experience and subsequently grow in
stature. With Bilic unlikely to be a permanent feature for West Ham now,
players like Rice (or Martinez, Quina, Kemp, Burke, Cullen and Holland)
continue to give me a valid reason to cheer on the Hammers and hope for
better times for the boys in claret and blue.
Take note Messrs. Gold and Sullivan - just because you're decking out our
players in a Man City coloured shirt it doesn't mean that the players will
suddenly have the same skills and quality. It takes more than that. A lot
more.maybe more than you are capable or prepared to deliver. COYI!!!
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Slaven Bilic still on thin ice at West Ham - and now must deal with
defensive crisis ahead of visit by Liverpool
The Hammers boss's job is on tenterhooks with his side 16th in the Premier
League
The Mirror
Darren Lewis
22:30, 30 OCT 2017
Slaven Bilic remains on thin ice at West Ham after his players threw away
the chance to lift the pressure on him. Bilic is also facing a defensive
crisis for the visit of Liverpool on Saturday with a number of his defenders
unavailable. Pablo Zabaleta is suspended, James Collins still has an ankle
injury, Winston Reid missed the 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace because of a
calf strain and Jose Fonte picked up a foot injury in that match, leaving
the field in the second half. Bilic's side have still lost only two of their
last nine in all competitions. But with the club 16th in the table on just
nine points, the Croat desperately needs victories to ease the pressure.
His London Stadium bosses are known to have been dismayed at the way that
his team threw away a two-goal lead against struggling Palace. While the
focus has been on Michail Antonio's decision to give away the ball in the
final minutes, Angelo Ogbonna is also in the spotlight for his rash
challenge on Andros Townsend to concede a penalty at 2-0 up. Bilic held his
weekly debrief with West Ham's owners on Monday with his side's impressive
League Cup comeback at Tottenham last week extremely timely. It served as
evidence that the players - who themselves came from 2-0 down at half time -
remain committed to his cause. But the priority for club chiefs is to move
up the Premier League table quickly. After Saturday's Liverpool game, West
Ham go to Watford before a home game against Leicester.
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
WHUFC.com
A West Ham United fan has paid tribute to the fellow supporter who saved his
73-year-old father's life at Wembley Stadium. Ian Perry and son Wayne were
queuing outside turnstile entrance C minutes before kick-off in the Carabao
Cup tie between their beloved West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur, when Ian
collapsed.
Thankfully, among the other members of the Claret and Blue Army waiting to
enter the stadium was fellow Season Ticket Holder Ian Pearse, who
immediately recognised that his fellow fan had suffered a cardiac arrest and
began administering cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). West Ham supporters
created space for Pearse to work, while the emergency services were called
and arrived within minutes. Police medics then delivered a dose of electric
current to Perry's heart and, having re-established his regular heartbeat,
he was taken to Wembley's in-stadium medical centre. With the experts
looking after Ian, Pearse and his son Luke went into the stadium to watch
the match. When his father had stabilised, Wayne took to social media in a
bid to find the man who had saved his Dad's life.
"We were waiting to get into the ground when Dad collapsed," Wayne
confirmed. "There were a lot of people around and it all got a bit chaotic,
but then a gentleman approached my friend Eddie and said he knew what to do.
He ripped open Dad's shirt and started doing CPR on his chest. "Without
Ian's intervention, the doctor said my Dad would not have lived. This is
about something more important than football, and that's saving lives. After
watching Ian and the medics bring my Dad back, I would urge everyone to get
training to do CPR, because it can be a matter of life or death. "The
support we have received on social media, from the fan sites and the Club
themselves have been awesome. This just shows what a special group of
supporters West Ham fans are."
After spending a few days in the Harefield Hospital in nearby Uxbridge, the
grateful grandfather was allowed to return to his home in the Essex village
of Rayne.
"Dad was taken to hospital and underwent surgery and had two stents put in
his heart, so he's probably in better shape now than he was before he fell
ill," Wayne added. "Everyone was brilliant - the fans, the medical staff at
Wembley and Ian, of course. "He came home on Saturday afternoon and we had a
birthday party for my daughter, so the whole family were here. We kept tabs
on the Crystal Palace game and he was spitting feathers when they equalised.
When he's moaning about the football, we know he's definitely on the way
back to being in good health!"
For Pearse, he was happy to put the CPR training he was given nearly three
decades away into practice. "My son spotted Ian collapse and my training
just kicked in. I made my way through the crowd and told them I knew what to
do and they allowed me to start doing cardiac massage, with the aim of
maintaining circulation of oxygen around his body. "I shouted and asked a
policeman to get a defibrillator and this arrived within a few minutes with
the police medics, who then took over working on Ian. "I was delighted to be
contacted by Wayne and to learn that he is now home and on the mend. We are
going to meet up at a West Ham match in the future, too. "I always used to
joke that I'd done a CPR course over 25 years ago and never needed to use
it, but I won't be able to say that any longer!"
Fans interested in taking a CPR/Basic Life Support course should contact the
London Ambulance Service.
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Ogbonna - 'I can't believe we got just one point'
WHUFC.com
Angelo Ogbonna has admitted his disbelief that West Ham United left Selhurst
Park with just one point after a 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace. Goals from
Chicharito and Andre Ayew had put Slaven Bilic's side in control at
half-time against Palace on Saturday but a 97th minute finish by WIlfried
Zaha meant the game ended in a tie, after Luka Milivojevic scored from the
penalty spot early in the second half. The result leaves West Ham waiting
for their first league away win of season but Ogbonna is still shocked the
Irons did not claim it on Saturday. And the defender believes vital lessons
must be learned from the result. The Italian said: "I cannot believe that we
got just one point. It should be three but you know the game. We are focused
for the next game. "It's a lesson. It's a big lesson for us. We have to have
to keep the ball."
Ogbonna also revealed that the nature of Saturday's result and the context
of the draw meant the squad felt like they had suffered a loss against
Palace. "It's a defeat for us," Ogbonna added: "It's a defeat because we
played well and we stayed in the game until the last minute. Everybody saw
then what happened."
The 29-year-old nonetheless insists that the side are still completely
committed to playing at their very best and must do so for themselves, for
manager Bilic, and for the everybody else associated with the team. "In the
game anything can happen so we have to play not just for the manager but for
ourselves. For our Club and for everybody."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Reece Oxford makes Borussia Monchengladbach debut
WHUFC.com
Reece Oxford made his Borussia Monchengladbach debut on Saturday as the
German outfit beat Hoffenheim 3-1 in the Bundesliga. The West Ham United
centre-back, who joined Die Fohlen on loan during the summer, replaced Lars
Stindl in the final few minutes to help his team hold onto the victory which
saw them move above their opponents in the league table.
Hoffenheim took the lead after 25 minutes when midfielder Kerem Demirbay
volleyed in from range. In the second period, however, Dieter Hecking's team
came out fighting and equalised just after the hour mark when Thorgan Hazard
- brother of Chelsea's Eden - squeezed in from a tight angle after Vincenzo
Grifo had centred. Monchengladbach were not satisfied with the point,
though, and went in search of the winner. It came with eleven minutes left
to play, Grifo again the man with the assist as Matthias Ginter finished.
Three minutes later, the visitors put the result beyond any doubt, as Jannik
Vestergaard scored from close range to make it 3-1. Oxford was introduced
with a minute of normal time left to play, helping his side hold onto the
points at Rhein Neckar Arena. Though the appearance was Oxford's first in a
competitive fixture, the defender did play a number of times for the side
during pre-season, scoring in a 2-1 win against Spanish side Malaga. The
18-year-old has previously been an unused substitute in every other
Bundesliga fixture this campaign.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Noble - I thought we had done enough to beat Palace
WHUFC.com
Mark Noble thought West Ham's resilience in the face of Crystal Palace
pressure was going to carry them over the line to three precious points at
Selhurst Park on Saturday. The Hammers led 2-0 at the break, only for the
Eagles to come roaring back in the second period, scoring an early penalty
and then remaining on the front foot for the rest of the game. Joe Hart
saved brilliantly from Wilfried Zaha and Yohan Cabaye, and when ex-Hammer
James Tomkins hit the bar in stoppage time, it looked as if Palace's chance
had passed. West Ham skipper Noble was convinced his team was going to hold
on, only for Zaha to snatch a couple of points away from them with the last
kick of the game, meaning the No16 travelled back over the Thames with a
feeling of frustration. "I didn't think the game was over at half-time," he
explained. "Obviously we played Spurs on Wednesday and we were 2-0 down at
half-time in that game. The game is never over, but we gave them two goals
really. "We scored two great goals, two goals away from home and we dug in.
I thought the defenders played tremendously well, but as I have said many,
many times, you get punished if you make mistakes in this league and that's
what we did. "We've got to learn how to see games out, it's as simple as
that. As you can tell I'm really disappointed because I thought we did
enough to win the game. They had a lot of pressure in the second half, but
you're going to get that."
Noble returned to the starting XI for the trips to Spurs and Palace this
week and he was pleased to play his part in those performances. He added:
"We've got a really big squad - we had Andy Carroll, Marko Arnautovic,
Michail Antonio and Arthur Masuaku sitting on our bench at Palace. You're
not going to play every week, we know that, and normally if you win every
week it's an easier job for the manager, but if you're not he has to make
some changes and that's what he's done.
"I did say that it's a team game, not an individual game, and the fightback
against Spurs was fantastic. "The games don't get any easier, we have
Liverpool at home and after not playing well enough in our last home game we
have to be better on Saturday."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Hammers hoping to book place in Checkatrade Trophy knockout rounds
WHUFC.com
West Ham United will be hoping to book their place in the second round of
the Checkatrade Trophy when they take on Bristol Rovers on Tuesday night.
The Hammers, an U21 side in the competition though five overage players are
permitted, go into the game with three points from three on the Southern
Group C table following their win over Swindon Town in the competition in
August. And should Terry Westley's youngsters secure another win at the
Memorial Ground, they could already have their spot in the second round with
one match to spare should the Robins draw with Wycombe Wanderers. If there
is a winner in the other tie on the same evening, the east Londoners would
still look a good bet to progress providing they gain three points against
the Pirates. Goalkeeper Nathan Trott, who was part of the Hammers team which
beat Swindon 3-2 earlier this campaign, is confident his team can qualify
for the next round. He said: "We have a really strong squad this season, and
when everyone is fit, it's a really great team. All eleven players on the
pitch are really talented and so are the guys on the bench who come on and
help us out. "I think we can win anything this season. Our objectives at
the start of the season were a top six finish but how well we are doing in
the league, we can look even better than that. "Our form shows how much we
are working at the moment and how high the concentration levels have been
all season. If we continue like that we will keep getting good results like
this."
Last season, Westley's team exited the competition after the group stages
after tough defeats against Coventry City and Wycombe before a penalty
shootout victory over Northampton. Earlier this campaign, the Academy opted
to field a strong, experienced side against Swindon and it paid off, as the
exciting side beat their League Two opponents. Tuesday's challenge comes in
the form of a League One side, however after Saturday's Premier League 2
victory over Manchester City, Trott believes the whole squad is extremely
high on confidence. "The whole team were great and it was a good performance
against City," the keeper continued. "We did well and I was also happy with
my own performance. "I just want to continue with this form and help out the
whole team and get more positive results like this."
West Ham supporters wishing to support the side at the Memorial Ground will
be able to purchase tickets on the day of the game from Bristol Rovers'
matchday ticket office.
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Crystal Palace 2-2 West Ham (And Other Ramblings)
KUMB.com
Filed: Monday, 30th October 2017
By: HeadHammerShark
"Now I've swung back down again, it's worse than it was before If I hadn't
seen such riches, I could live with being poor" - James, "Sit Down"
So in a week where we learned exactly how long it takes to rig a league cup
quarter final draw (it's two hours) we learned how long we are allowed to be
happy. It's two days. Two bloody days of savouring that win at Wembley and
then we're back on the rollercoaster once again. Even Pontius Pilate got
three days of thinking he'd sorted out his Jesus problem before reality
started to bite.
The worst thing is that viewed in isolation, it isn't that terrible or
surprising that we can't beat the bottom team in the league. Over the last
two years we were the only team around who struggled to beat Sunderland and
if it wasn't for nine dropped points against relegated teams, we would have
finished level on points with runners up Arsenal in 2015/16.
If, if, if - the clarion call of the desperate and the dreamers, but still.
Shit.
This. The whole article basically boils down to this.
One thing that did hit me as I watched this game, is how difficult it really
is to get a handle on West Ham. We so rarely play in the same formation, or
with the same tactical approach or even with the same level of efficiency,
that opinion tends to swing wildly from game to game. And so far, every game
has come with a caveat: injuries, sendings off, the desperate need to just
get a win so we just take what points we can get and then worry about the
performance later.
Someone - and I apologise to whomever it was because I can't remember who
posted it and can't find it again now - appeared in my Twitter feed after
this game making the point that we haven't played well yet this season. My
immediate thought was that this was ludicrously harsh, but if you take that
to mean a complete ninety minute performance then that's probably true. Even
the Miracle of Wembley required a disaster in the first half, in order for
the whole thing to be miraculous.
So I thought I'd list out our league performances so far and see if it's
really true that each game has had a sizeable caveat attached to it, and
whether any of them can really be said to be good, front to back, 90 minute
displays:
Opposition/Result/Caveat
Man Utd (0-4): They'll beat everyone, loads of injuries
Southampton (2-3): Ten men, played well second half, ref
Newcastle (0-3): Loads of injuries, everything will be better at home
Huddersfield 2-0: All that matters is the result, it's hard at home
West Brom (0-0): Nobody plays well against West Brom
Spurs (2-3): Good start, we played Andy Carroll
Swansea (1-0): All that matters is the result
Burnley (1-1): Ten men, did you see that one move in the 2nd half?
Brighton (0-3): Erm, we didn't play Andy Carroll
Palace (2-2): Our players have no brains. None of them.
OK, so my immediate thought is that the Burnley game was probably our best
performance of the season and it involved seventy minutes with ten men, an
assist from our goalkeeper and featured another late equaliser. Overall I
think we played well, but draws against Burnley do not contented supporters
make, especially when they get followed up with 3-0 defeats at home to
Brighton.
Our two victories were both fairly dire, albeit we were the better team on
both occasion. We're just so inconsistent from game to game, from half to
half and even from one passage of play to another, that any kind of
objective assessment feels impossible. But what fans really want is a
complete display from start to finish, with all areas of the team
functioning and a resounding victory, because that allows us to stop
thinking of sustained competence as being a hypothetical concept.
***
Take this game for instance. How can you moan about a team being two nil up
at half time, with two superbly engineered and wonderfully taken goals?
Well, I suppose the reality is that at the interval everything did seem to
going swimmingly, even if we did have to rely upon an absolutely amazing
double save from Joe Hart to keep us in front at 1-0. So what though, that's
what he's there for, after all.
But then the came the worst second half defensive performance since John
Parker left Ford's Theatre, Washington DC, 1865 during the intermission of
"Our American Cousin" to go and have a drink at a saloon next door. While he
was getting smashed, John Wilkes Booth assassinated Abraham Lincoln and
Parker struggled to get much more work in the bodyguard field, although he
did later turn out a couple of times at right back for West Ham.
That's it Michail, into the corner
At one point in the first half of this game I was beginning to wonder if it
was possible to write an article about a match where nothing happened. Even
Sartre would have found this all a bit challenging to describe, as two very
poor teams engaged in a battle to see who could do least with most.
And then the game sprang into life. Wilfried Zaha broke into the box and
went down in a tangle with Jose Fonte. I thought it looked a bit innocuous,
but would have probably wanted it given at the other end. As it was, Bobby
Madley waved it away and we then swept upfield with a glorious move that
culminated in Chicharito slotting home his fourth of the season. The goal
was fairly reminiscent of Lanzini's winner in the corresponding fixture last
year, as Cresswell served it up on a plate and the Mexican cleverly flicked
it in with the outside of his boot.
Prominent in the build up to that goal was Andre Ayew, playing just off the
striker and getting on the ball very nicely, and he was at it again a few
minutes later. This time he latched on to a loose ball courtesy of some good
pressing by Fernandes, and drove forward, turned Scott Dann so many times he
could have opened a bottle of Merlot with him, and then smashed it in to the
top corner from outside the box. He probably should have slipped in
Fernandes outside him, but when you're having the kind of week he is, you
can't blame him for taking it on.
As it is, all West Ham players should probably be shooting from everywhere
at Selhurst Park as we only ever seem to score screamers against them.
So a two-nil lead at half time seemed fairly sustainable against a team who
had scored twice all season, but as this shot map from Caley Graphics shows,
you can make an argument that we were fortunate to get anything at all such
was the dominance of the home team. But football games aren't played on
spreadsheets and when you get to the 97th minute of a game with the lead
then you expect to leave with three points. This one was a gut wrencher.
***
When whoever it is that assembles the playing staff at West Ham decided to
put together the oldest, slowest backline in the league I'm fairly sure that
they weren't envisioning games like today. We are now ten games into the
season and have the third worst goal difference in the league, Zabaleta has
been booked five times, we have been beaten 3-0 by two promoted teams and
have conceded four penalties.
Today it was Angelo Ogbonna who decided to forget everything he had learned
playing for Juventus and Italy, and brainlessly nudged over Andros Townsend
right at the start of the second half. It was soft as ice cream in a sauna
and wouldn't have been a penalty in 1985, but as far as arguments go that's
not actually a very good one. The penalty went in and suddenly we lost any
momentum rolling over from Spurs and instead found ourselves penned back as
the home team bombed forward.
Moments after that goal, Yohan Cabaye hit the post and we were wobbling
mightily. It was good timing then, for Joe Hart to start illustrating quite
why we'd gone out and paid so much money to get him when Adrian is a
perfectly capable Premier League keeper. Wave after wave of home attacks
were repelled with a combination of last ditch blocks and brilliant Hart
saves.
Among a number of fine stops, he kept out a Cabaye free kick that looked
destined for the top corner and somehow tipped a James Tomkins header on to
the bar. In truth, much of the Palace threat came from set pieces as they
looked for all the world like West Ham 2014/15 under Sam Allardyce,
featuring long deep crosses to Tomkins that were then kept alive in the box
for onrushing attackers. It took a decent amount of World War One style
Tommies in the trenches defending to keep them out, which was fitting as we
were wearing our new third kit which is apparently a homage to our first
ever strip in 1900.
Joe Hart, ladies and gentleman
So Hart probably deserved better than to be beaten by Zaha's 97th minute
equaliser, but in reality we couldn't complain. Had we not wasted so much
time throughout the second half we wouldn't have been on the pitch to have
given up the goal. As it was, Lanzini and Antonio took a free kick in the
87th minute and decided to keep it in the corner. This was particularly
ironic as Palace would score their second a whole ten minutes later, but
perhaps more crucially still - neither one of them took it in the fucking
corner.
***
Ah yes, taking the ball into the corner to protect a one goal lead. It's
boring and negative when it's done against you, and the height of
professional game management when your team does it. And now this morning,
Antonio has been roundly criticised for failing to do exactly that in the
minute before the goal.
The problem I have with this is that had Antonio ignored the three on one
situation in the Palace box, where Ayew, Lanzini and Chicharito were waiting
for any kind of decent cross, and gone over to the corner flag it's still
possible that the same thing could have happened. He could still easily have
lost the ball, and Palace could have broken away and scored and everybody
would have lost their shit that he was being so negative and spurned a gold
plated opportunity to seal the win.
Therefore, my issue with Antonio doing what he did isn't that he did it, but
more that he did it so badly. The worst part of it all is that any half
decent ball would surely have resulted in a goal, which is of course the
absolute best way to kill off a game. As it was, Dann chested the laziest
pass of all time back to Speroni, and Palace worked it out to Zaha who did a
bizarre loop with the ball before driving the winner through a crowd of legs
and thousands of West Ham fans muttered "Of course he fucking did" to
whomever they were with at the time, before crying like we were watching a
walrus trying to find a bit of ice left at the North Pole to park her kid
on.
That said, we had so many opportunities to launch late breakaway counters
and we seemed clueless as to how to do it. I haven't seen a group of people
so unsure of how to attack since the villagers in The Magnificent Seven.
As such, I have no issue with Antonio doing what he did - he should have
just done it better. And maybe the players in the box could have actually
chased back, but then I guess when we all moan that the team doesn't look
remotely fit enough, we can't really complain when they can't physically
match other teams in the late stages of games.
And so the rollercoaster surges on.
***
What is interesting after games like this is how we all fall very easily
into the trap of telling each other how obvious and predictable it was that
this would happen. Truthfully that's not really very fair as we are no worse
than any other team when it comes to defending two goal leads. However, as a
club we are pretty bad for letting in late goals, and we also have
exceptional timing, meaning that we would of course throw away a two goal
lead just two days after skewering Spurs in the same way. It's more West Ham
than Bubbles, Bobby Moore and getting drawn away in the cups to Big Clubs
(T).
Under Bilic our record in this situation is actually pretty good:
2-0 Up: W11 D1 L1
2-0 Down: W1 D3 L21
So, with a two nil lead this is only the second time that we've failed to
win under Bilic. The other was when we were ahead against Watford at the
London Stadium and then Troy Deeney got upset about rabonas and everybody
forgot how to defend and instead just rode around on unicycles squirting
water in each others faces.
It would perhaps be better if you tried to ignore how often we have gone 2-0
down under Bilic unless you want to completely lose your mind.
***
And what of Bilic? What does this game tell us about him? We routinely lead
the league in defensive errors that lead to goals and that shows no sign of
abating. You can argue that he isn't responsible for experienced defenders
giving away needless penalties or you can say that when people keep
continually making mistakes in his teams that perhaps the structure in which
they are playing isn't conducive to error free football.
As it is, we don't really know anything today that we didn't already know
yesterday. He still seems cursed with bad luck, he still can't organise a
defence, and juggling all his attacking options around seems to befuddle
him. Here he pushed Kouyate back into a trio of centre backs and he did
pretty well, perhaps unsurprisingly given that the 3-4-3 came back into
fashion when Barcelona started dropping their central midfielders between
their centre backs and sending their full backs off like auxiliary wingers.
The problem is that without him in midfield we lacked the ability to carry
the ball or break up play, and even Manuel Lanzini looked peripheral as we
struggled to get him in possession.
We also scored with our only two shots on target which either shows a
pleasing level of efficiency or a desperate lack of creativity, depending on
your world view. While all of that was happening Obiang, Antonio, Carroll
and Arnautovic were on the bench and you couldn't help but return to that
question one more time - what the hell were we trying to achieve with our
summer transfer activity?
So Bilic will wander onwards, because when he was given two games to save
his job it didn't make any particular sense, but once you say that then you
probably can't fire him after a win and a draw even when the circumstances
of those results were so crazy.
It will surprise none of you to know that I don't think a great deal of our
Board and their management structure, but I have some sympathy over this
decision. How can you assess this? It's impossible to sift through all the
madness of those two matches and draw anything concrete from it. And
realistically, this constantly undulating graph of our performance that
reflects a Himalayan skyline is probably reflective of where we are as a
club. Everything is chaotic, there's loads of wild stuff happening behind
the scenes and in the end that was always going to bleed out on to the
pitch.
Changing the manager might help, purely because they might be able to
organise our defence to at least recognise each other occasionally, but I
don't think it would make too much difference. This is the problem when you
choose not to back a manager by giving him a new contract, but also choose
not to fire him. So Bilic exists in this strange footballing purgatory
because we all accept that you can't get anyone better in November,
especially when you're down with the dead men, but we all know he won't be
staying beyond July. In some respects it's probably a testimony to his man
management skills that the players pay any attention to him at all given the
circumstances, but even though that may be true, I really do wish he'd sort
out our back four.
So on we roll, back on the rollercoaster.
***
In a week where the growth of English youth football is on everyone's mind,
it's worth noting that England have won both the Under 17 and Under 20 World
Cups without any West Ham players. This has been a common theme this summer,
as most of the best kids seem to come from the same academies - Manchester
City, Chelsea and Arsenal are prominent - and it does lead me to wonder
quite what is happening with our scouting.
It's not to say we don't have kids at these tournaments as Dan Kemp and
Nathan Trott were squad players at their respective Toulon and European
Finals, while Domingos Quina also represented Portugal in the latter. But
what is striking is how so many of the kids that represent England at these
tournaments come from London and how we really seem to be struggling to
identify and attract those kids.
Quina was picked up from Chelsea and the likes of Toni Martinez and Martin
Samuelson were also transferred for decent sums. Not that this isn't a
reasonable way to acquire players but what I'm referring to is the older
method of picking up a boy at the age of 9 or 10 and bringing him through
your system, moulded as the kind of player you want. We've been struggling
with this for a while, and maybe Declan Rice and Reece Oxford will prove us
wrong but it's starting to concern me that London kids might now be
presented with three other better options for their footballing development
at Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal.
A friend of mine took his very talented nine-year-old to West Ham recently
at the club's request, and when they arrived he was bunched in with a huge
number of other children and nobody took any notice of them. His main
observation after watching his son learn precisely nothing in an
hour's-worth of coaching, was that "they fail primarily as human beings".
One persons experience isn't indicative of anything, but at some point we
may want to ask why our youth policy isn't delivering players in the same
way as other teams. Declan Rice might very well be one such player but our
London rivals are currently producing Premier Leaguers at a rate of far
higher than once every five years, as we tend to do.
I don't know enough to comment fully on this, but I highlight it just to
make the point. More help from the Academy is needed.
Please note that the opinions expressed in this article are those of the
author and do not necessarily represent the views of, nor should be
attributed to, KUMB.com.
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Tottenham issue lifetime bans to urine-throwing fans
By Sky Sports News
Last Updated: 30/10/17 4:48pm
SSN
Tottenham have issued lifetime bans to two supporters involved in throwing
urine at West Ham fans during their Carabao Cup tie last Wednesday. A video
which circulated on social media after the match at Wembley showed one fan
urinating into a pint glass before the other fan threw its contents at the
travelling fans.
Tottenham told Sky Sports News they were investigating the footage and urged
fans who had information about "anything untoward" at the game to contact
either the club or the police. Spurs have since concluded their
investigation, having identified the two men and subsequently banned them
from attending their matches in the future. A club spokesman said: "This
kind of behaviour is not acceptable and we shall be issuing lifetime bans to
both individuals in the video." In the second clash of the season between
these two clubs, Mauricio Pochettino's side led 2-0, but Slaven Bilic's West
Ham managed to score three second-half goals - ensuring their place in the
quarter-final of the competition.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
SHAKY HAMMERS PUNISHED FOR OWN NEGATIVITY - SHAME THE SEASON CAN'T BE OVER
ALREADY
By HamburgHammer 30 Oct 2017 at 08:00
WTID
I am still fuming. And shocked. I feel angry and embarrassed. Sick and
tired. As a football fan sometimes you can see your team throwing a game
away, frightening early signs indicating where things are heading to with
alarming predetermination, you can clearly make out the jaws of victory,
beckoning in the distance, but you're also painfully aware of defeat
creeping ever closer to those jaws, ready to get snatched at the final
moment in place of the aforementioned victory, yet there is nothing you can
do, especially if you can only watch the events unfolding on a dodgy
internet stream from an armchair 500 miles away from London.
The Saturday for me personally was pretty much a footballing disaster, with
two disappointing draws in totally winnable games. First Cordi only drew 1:1
at FC Turkiye (wrong side of the river, shocking atmosphere plus a terrible
referee), conceding the softest of penalties (sound familiar ?) in a wet and
windy contest on a cabbage field disguised as a football pitch before
luckily scoring the equaliser five minutes from time. Turkiye are a shocking
football team matching the quality of their home pitch, still Concordia
failed to have a proper gameplan and also gave away the ball far too often -
the only good thing from that encounter was that I got home fairly quickly
after that shocker of a game, just in time to catch Ayew's screamer late in
the first half to give us a comfortable 2:0 lead. Or so I thought.
Surely this is it I said to myself, settling into my comfy armchair,
screwdriver in hand. This won't be yet another false dawn. We will score
another goal or two and that'll be it. Then my internet stream started to
play up. It crashed every two minutes or so, replayed the same passage of
play three times over and came alive again suddenly with a few minutes of
play lost in the abyss. Still I was able to witness Ogbonna conceding the
penalty early in the second half Just what the doctor ordered.NOT.
As a professional defender you simply can't challenge your opponent in your
penalty box like this - yes, it was a soft penalty, but there was definite
contact and if you give the other guy the opportunity to go down nine times
out of ten he will gladly oblige and the referee will blow the whistle,
given a chance, and I blame neither the Palace player nor the referee in
this instance.
That goal was the big game changer. It threw Palace a lifeline, it breathed
new life into a shellshocked home crowd and it made our team nervous for the
remainder of the second half. Still, this is what I just don't get: Why do
you allow the opposition to put yourself under the kosh like this ? It's
Palace after all, not Manchester City or Barcelona for crying out loud!
Let's then jump to roundabout the 80th minute - from then on we were
negative and unprofessional beyond belief. How can you begin passing
freekicks to the corner flag, trying to waste time rather than creating
another goalscoring opportunity to kill off the game for good ?
There were several instances where one of our guys was in a good position to
run at the defenders in the Palace box, take them on, make something happen.
Yet we tried to win the game by killing time. Again and again.
(Except once right at the end when Antonio didn't actually keep the ball in
the corner which gave Palace the chance to equalise.)
We actually killed our chances of winning by choosing that negative approach
coupled with bad decision making by the players. I felt embarrassed watching
us in the second half. Even if we were a better team at keeping the ball and
wasting some time (which we are not) I don't like to see that kind of
approach from my team.ever. It just feels wrong.
Same as diving, playacting or recklessly tackling an opposition player,
embracing the possibility of causing a fellow professional a bad injury in
the process.
It's plain wrong.
Best way to win in my book has always been playing positive football, trying
to score, thereby making it harder for the opposition to get back into the
game.
I really don't blame Palace here, they got a much deserved and hard fought
point. But who in Bobby Moore's name was responsible for that negativity
shown by us in the second half ? Virtually the ENTIRE second half.
Was it our manager who told the players to timewaste our way to victory ?
Was it the players who simply didn't trust their own ability to score
another goal or two against basement boys Palace who, let's be frank, aren't
exactly world beaters ?
Shooting ourselves in the foot like this again and again won't help our team
to gain some much needed confidence, it's always one step forward and two
steps back for us.
We never play a complete game, giving a professional performance from start
to finish, two halves of full effort, desire or swagger. Why is that ?
Just like at Burnley we threw away what would have been a very valuable away
win right at the end of the game. It's doing my nut in.
If we can't beat a team like Palace after carving out a 2:0 halftime lead
against them, what does that say about the character of our team ? It's nice
of course to beat Spurs in the fashion we did last Wednesday in the League
Cup. But it's not much good if you then follow it up with an utterly
unprofessional display in the second half like we delivered at Palace.Maybe
we should change our name from West Ham United to What If United.
There always is a catch or caveat when it comes to our club. Of course we
have seen all of this before and with all our practise we should be used by
now to the sheer stupidity and sloppiness of it all, but as a fan you never
get used to it, do you ? It still hurts like hell. It stings. And yes, it
also stinks.
Once again my screwdriver ended up getting chucked to the floor violently in
a fit of anger and disappointment. The season already feels lost to me.
Not in a sense that we will get relegated. We won't get relegated. But we
will keep hovering between 10th and 15th place in the table all season.
Throw in the football we're playing and it's not a combination you want to
fill a 60k stadium next season.
Unfortunately we still have plenty of games to play, but it's hard to see us
even winning two in a row this season. World class players in a world class
stadium, you're havin' a bubble mate! As mentioned in my column last week,
both club and team look rotten right now, things just don't appear to sit
right from top to bottom.
There were merely two things that gave me a genuine reason to smile at the
weekend, West Ham wise. One was our development squad beating their
Manchester City counterparts with a 2:1 scoreline (and Martinez scoring
again). The other was seeing Declan Rice come on as a substitute. I am very
impressed with the lad and hope he will get many more opportunities in this
nightmare of a season to gain more PL experience and subsequently grow in
stature. With Bilic unlikely to be a permanent feature for West Ham now,
players like Rice (or Martinez, Quina, Kemp, Burke, Cullen and Holland)
continue to give me a valid reason to cheer on the Hammers and hope for
better times for the boys in claret and blue.
Take note Messrs. Gold and Sullivan - just because you're decking out our
players in a Man City coloured shirt it doesn't mean that the players will
suddenly have the same skills and quality. It takes more than that. A lot
more.maybe more than you are capable or prepared to deliver. COYI!!!
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Slaven Bilic still on thin ice at West Ham - and now must deal with
defensive crisis ahead of visit by Liverpool
The Hammers boss's job is on tenterhooks with his side 16th in the Premier
League
The Mirror
Darren Lewis
22:30, 30 OCT 2017
Slaven Bilic remains on thin ice at West Ham after his players threw away
the chance to lift the pressure on him. Bilic is also facing a defensive
crisis for the visit of Liverpool on Saturday with a number of his defenders
unavailable. Pablo Zabaleta is suspended, James Collins still has an ankle
injury, Winston Reid missed the 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace because of a
calf strain and Jose Fonte picked up a foot injury in that match, leaving
the field in the second half. Bilic's side have still lost only two of their
last nine in all competitions. But with the club 16th in the table on just
nine points, the Croat desperately needs victories to ease the pressure.
His London Stadium bosses are known to have been dismayed at the way that
his team threw away a two-goal lead against struggling Palace. While the
focus has been on Michail Antonio's decision to give away the ball in the
final minutes, Angelo Ogbonna is also in the spotlight for his rash
challenge on Andros Townsend to concede a penalty at 2-0 up. Bilic held his
weekly debrief with West Ham's owners on Monday with his side's impressive
League Cup comeback at Tottenham last week extremely timely. It served as
evidence that the players - who themselves came from 2-0 down at half time -
remain committed to his cause. But the priority for club chiefs is to move
up the Premier League table quickly. After Saturday's Liverpool game, West
Ham go to Watford before a home game against Leicester.
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http://vyperz.blogspot.com
Monday, October 30
Daily WHUFC News - 30th October 2017
Ladies secure QPR victory at Family Fun Day
WHUFC.com
West Ham United Ladies booked their spot in the next round of the WPL Plate
after a fantastic 3-1 home win against QPR. A Chloe Burr header and an Amber
Stobbs wonder-goal put the Hammers in control at half-time, but QPR were
back in the game just after the break thanks to a low shot. Chenise Austin
secured the win in the second period with a confident penalty. The Hammers
played some excellent football in front of a lively and engaged home support
at Rush Green as just over a thousand fans turned out for a Family Fun Day.
The opening chance of the game came early on as Molly Peters tested the QPR
goalkeeper from distance, before again seeing an effort go over from close
range after a goalmouth scramble. Amber Stobbs looked eager to find the net,
twice hitting the bar from distance, and it was the first of these that led
to the opening goal. After the N010 struck the bar Burr was on hand to head
home the rebound, giving the Irons a deserved lead. Stobbs again came close
when she saw a shot saved at the near post, while Jasmine Auguste stopped
QPR from threatening a leveller not long after Burr's opener when she made a
tremendous tackle in the box. And Stobbs found the net in stunning fashion
on the stroke of half-time, netting a looping effort from distance to put
the Irons in control going into the break. QPR halved the deficit just
moments into the second period as a low shot squeezed under Rowlands, but
seven minutes later West Ham again had a two-goal advantage. There was a
clear foul in the box and Austin confidently stepped up to dink a delightful
penalty kick into the top left corner. Rosie Kmita pulled an effoert just
wide of the far post while Chong attempted a spectacular volleyed effort, as
the Hammers sought to entertain the lively Rush Green home crowd.
Goal-scorer Burr went in goal for the final ten minutes of the match and
substitute Andreya Ezekiel-Meade twice went close, as the Irons held out for
a deserved 3-1 win.
West Ham United Ladies: Rowlands (M Kmita 79;); Mackie, Wheeler, Austin,
Auguste; Chong, Cooper (c), R Kmita (Ezekiel-Meade 75'), Burr, Stobbs
(Georgioiu 84'); Peters
Subs not used: Walker
Goals: Burr 15', Stobbs 45', Austin (p) 56'
QPR Ladies: Kasirye; Peacock, Young, Deluca, Chimbima, Lynch, Petit, Ismael,
Adeyemo, Knell, Netschova
Subs not used: Haridas, Gardiner, Young
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Chenise Austin: I love penalties!
WHUFC.com
Chenise Austin has proclaimed her love for penalties after the defender
netted from the spot in the 3-1 victory against QPR Ladies. Austin netted
West Ham Ladies' third goal of the match on Sunday from 12 yards to book the
Club's place in the next round of the WPL Plate. Chloe Burr and Amber Stobbs
had put the Irons into the lead at half-time but QPR got a goal back just
after half-time at the near post. But Austin's penalty - a delightful dink
into the top left corner - earned the deserved win for the Hammers in front
of over a thousand fans at Rush Green. And the summer signing has revealed
how much she adores getting the chance to score goals from the spot. "It's
one of those I quite enjoy doing," Austin told whufc.com: "It's a funny one.
I don't tend to get up quite often and get the opportunity to score, apart
from corners. I love a good penalty. "Don't tell anybody but I might go the
same place when I take the next one."
The centre-back says that the Ladies are delighted with Sunday's result,
admitting that the team let themselves down last weekend in the loss to
Crystal Palace.
Austin continued: "We're buzzing. We came into this off the back of last
weekend when we didn't have a good first half performance. Based on the
score-sheet we should have won today and we did so I'm happy. "We had a lot
of chances and we could have put away a few more. It was a sloppy goal we
conceded too but that's just the way it goes. It's another win under the
belt. Confidence is growing and the team is getting better. We're showing
what we're about."
Last weekend's defeat to Palace eliminated West Ham from the County Cups
which, according to Austin, makes this win against QPR all the more
important as the team pursues a run in the WPL Plate this campaign. "The
league is our bread and butter but you've got nothing to lose in a Cup game.
We are out of one already so we want to take this one as far as we can, just
like we try to in the league."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Manning: It's been an outstanding October
WHUFC.com
West Ham United U23s assistant manager Liam Manning was full of praise for
the Hammers' young professionals after they completed an outstanding October
in Premier League 2 Division 1 with a thrilling 2-1 victory over Manchester
City. Goals from Nathan Holland and Toni Martinez and a determined defensive
effort saw West Ham follow up victory over Manchester United and a draw at
Chelsea with a deserved win. After seeing his team rise to third in the
table, Manning discussed Saturday's success, the exciting football being
played by the U23s and Tuesday's Checkatrade Trophy tie at Bristol Rovers.
Our pressing paid off
I thought it was very exciting from the start, both teams attacked really
well and there were loads of chances and if the score had been 4-4 at
half-time, that would have been a fair reflection on the game. It was a
really exciting game and obviously we're really delighted to come out with
the 2-1 win and the three points. We spoke before the game and said there
was a big emphasis on getting after the ball and pressing them as we knew
they'd play out from the back in a way similar to their first team, and the
way Pep Guardiola plays. We wanted to put pressure on them high up the pitch
and we adjusted a couple of things at half-time, pushing Josh Pask further
up the pitch and had our full-backs Rosaire Longelo and Ben Johnson
(pictured, below) watching the wide lads slightly more closely and I think
it worked in the second half. We regained the ball in the middle third quite
a bit and set up a lot of attacks from there.
Our attackers carry a real threat
To give the players credit, we look a real threat going forward. It was
similar at Chelsea last week, where we drew 0-0 and obviously didn't score,
but the number of chances we created was probably enough to win two games.
Domingos Quina was a lot sharper in what was his second game back from
injury and our front lads carried a constant threat, as they have done all
season. Toni Martinez has got an absolute hammer of a right foot and it
doesn't surprise me that he scored another goal like that. Nathan Trott
(pictured, below) made numerous saves to keep us in the game and with his
feet as well, his distribution was excellent and helped us play out from the
back. He's doing well at the minute.
An outstanding October
We looked at the Premier League 2 Division 1 fixtures for October and knew
we had a really hard month, starting with Manchester United, then going to
Chelsea and hosting Manchester City, so picking up seven points from those
games was a real achievement from the boys and staff involved. We're really
pleased with that because it's a tough league and we're moving up.
We're ready for a different type of test
We were obviously delighted with Saturday's win, but now our focus turns to
Tuesday night and a Checkatrade Trophy tie against a senior League Two team
in Bristol Rovers. That's what is brilliant about the games programme this
season - we play against one of the best young teams in the country and now
we'll be playing against seasoned professionals who know all the little
tricks needed to win them games. It's a completely different challenge and
playing these games outside the international windows is a big difference
from last season, which helps us massively. Hopefully we'll go to Bristol
Rovers and get the win, because that'll put us through to the next round.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
'Bitterly disappointed' Joe Hart impresses again in Palace draw
WHUFC.com
West Ham United's Joe Hart was "bitterly disappointed" his side could not
hold out for a win against Crystal Palace despite a sensational showing by
the goalkeeper. Finishes from Chicharito and Andre Ayew put the Hammers in
control at half-time but a penalty from Luka Milivojevic and a late Wilfried
Zaha effort earned the Eagles a 2-2 draw. Zaha's 97th minute leveller was
particularly harsh on Hart, who had put on a brilliant showing to deny
Palace a number of opportunities. The 30-year-old made an amazing double
save in the first period to deny James Tomkins and then Zaha in very quick
succession, and also fantastically tipped away a Yohan Cabaye free-kick in
the second-half. Unfortunately, despite Hart's best efforts, it wasn't
enough to earn the Irons a first away league win of the campaign. "I can't
believe we've done that," Hart said after the game: "I can't believe we've
fought all the way to the end and then been so unprofessional at the end.
"It's a little bit speechless in the dressing room. No one does things on
purpose in this team but it's two points dropped - as simple as that. I
hadn't switched off but it was a good finish by Zaha, through legs, and I'm
bitterly disappointed."
Hart made seven saves for West Ham in the draw at Palace, easily a league
high, with Jonas Lossl of Huddersfield Town closest to the England
international with four. Four of those saves by Hart were diving, with the
shot-stopper making some great efforts to keep out Palace in the contest.
Furthermore, Hart claimed the ball a massive seven times, each without fail,
in the contest, showing just how dominant in his area the goalkeeper can be.
The West Ham goalkeeper has given credit to Palace for their effort in
fighting back but has called on the team to learn from their errors in time
for the next match, against Liverpool. He said: "Football's a funny game. I
thought Zaha and Sako played well and, in giving credit to them, I thought
we played well. You've got to keep the ball in the corner, it's that simple,
and you can't let people keep running through you and getting chances.
"Today counts for a point but that's about it. We learn simple things. We
obviously shouldn't have given away a penalty so early in the second half.
Mark Noble said at half-time that on Wednesday we were 2-0 down, and the
game was by no means over. "Palace fought well and we're disappointed. But
we've got to learn from it. The beautiful thing about football is it gives
us another chance next week to play at home, against Liverpool, and we have
to iron out the negatives and take the positives, and move on."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Ayew - We'll learn from our mistakes
WHUFC.com
Andre Ayew says West Ham United will learn from their mistakes after letting
a two-goal lead slip through their grasp at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Ayew's superb 20-yard strike doubled the visitors' advantage at Selhurst
Park after Chicharito had opened the scoring, with West Ham seemingly on
their way to a second win in four days. But Luka Milivojevic's penalty five
minutes afrer the restart gave the Eagles hope, eventually leading to
Wilfried Zaha's heartbreaking leveller seven minutes into stoppage time.
Ayew admitted that conclusion to the contest left the 2-2 draw feeling like
a defeat, although he said it is important that they don't dwell on the
disappointment with another crucial game aganst Liverpool to come next
weekend. "It felt like a defeat," he said. "We're disappointed. It was a
tough game, and it's always difficult to hold to the end when you come out
after half-time and concede a goal inside the first five minutes. "They had
opportunities, but we're disappointed that it ended 2-2. We need to forget
about the disappointment and correct what we did badly in the second half
when we play Liverpool next week. "We didn't hold the ball as well as we did
in the first half and that put our defenders under pressure the whole time.
We'll learn from that. "The response to Brighton has been not bad, because
of the victory we had at Wembley, but to be honest we should have left
Crystal Palace with three points and had two wins in a row."
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LONDON STADIUM ARTICLE-APOLOGY!
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 29 OCTOBER 2017 AT 7:27PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
We would like to issue an apology for an article that was written by one of
our writers about the London Stadium. It included incorrect facts about the
financial situation of the stadium operators. We would like to apologise
for any misunderstanding that has occurred and the facts should have been
checked before we reported them.
Our articled stated that the operator of London Stadium is close to
bankruptcy. VINCI, are the operators of London Stadium. E20 are the owners
of London Stadium. We re-reported other reports of financial distress at
E20, the stadium owners, without verifying the facts of the matter. For
clarity, E20 is owned by LLDC and the London Borough of Newham. They in turn
awarded a 25-year contract to VINCI to operate the stadium. E20 are not the
operators and have no shareholding in VINCI. Similarly, VINCI has no
shareholding in E20.
There is no financial distress at VINCI and this should have been made clear
in the article.
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JAMES COLLINS- ONE MORE YEAR?
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 29 OCTOBER 2017 AT 5:56PM
TheWesTHamWay.co.uk
Written by Andy Phipps @andyjphipps
I'm writing this in the aftermath of the 2-2 draw with Palace and whilst the
subject may seem a little premature, I can't help but look to the future
right now. In the words of the band D:Ream, things can only get better.
Considering we'd most probably take Fulham's Tim Ream over the excuses of
centre halves that we've got at the moment, I make no apologies in creating
a discussion about tying down one of our better club assets. For another
year at least.
Okay, I accept that if there was a fountain of youth then we'd throw the
Ginger Pele straight into the deep end for a good few hours, regardless of
whether he had hair to wash or not. Time is against him now. Having turned
thirty four when we played Cheltenham, it would mean that he would be as
good as thirty five when we kicked off next year. As you'd expect, some of
his pace and movement has gone even if his positional sense and ability to
read a game is still top notch. Those who remember the James Collins of
2005-2009 will fondly recall his marauding ability to make a perfectly timed
slide tackle that most full backs would be proud of, let alone a six foot
four centre back with tank like tendencies. Again, this is part of his game
that has disappeared with the wear and tear of injuries and the passing
years.
Now, if you've ever seen an episode of Top Gear, you'll know the formula
that's followed whenever Jeremy Clarkson reviews a car. If he hates it, he
starts off praising it to the ground and then wrinkles his nose and says
that he doesn't 'want one' and how you can get something else for a much
cheaper price. Predictably, the opposite is true when he does like the car.
The inside panel is made of plastic, it's 0-60 is way over ten seconds but
it makes him feel like he's twenty again and all he wants to do is put the
pedal down and drive somewhere. Anywhere, it doesn't matter. That's exactly
how I feel about James Collins.
The thing about James Collins is that, like Mark Noble, he embodies the old
school West Ham spirit of putting in a shift and having respect for the
fans. Not only does he put his head through anything that dares to be
floated in front of him on the pitch, he will regularly go and talk to fans
afterwards and give his shirt away to a youngster. I remember a game, a few
years ago, when he received an injury that looked like it might lead him to
being stretchered off. After a good while, Collins was brought to his feet
and he seemed to 'run off' whatever had been inflicted upon him. Whilst we
don't want players to exacerbate an injury by displaying unnecessary
bravado, it was certainly a sight to behold. In the dressing room, it has
been commented that he has a huge amount of influence on the team. A man of
few words, one can imagine that he doesn't suffer fools gladly but drives
everyone to do their best, much like Zabaleta does. This was evident at the
end of last season when Sam Byram had a cracker of game against Swansea and
Nobes and Collins were slapping him on the back and rubbing his hair.
Judging by Sam's reaction, this meant a lot.
We all know West Ham fans love a bit of passion and nostalgia, let's be
honest it's our cat nip, but it's still clear that he has something to
offer. When Collin's gets fit again, there will be few that wouldn't put him
straight in our team. Yes, he will make the odd mistake but it won't be for
the want of trying- unlike many others we could name. Even next year when
one prays that we make some signings (we've got enough dead wood to have a
bonfire on the fifth, he makes for a handy back up player. In spite of some
niggling injuries, he also looks after himself well and stated himself that
he follows Teddy Sheringham's advice of not reducing your training intensity
just because you're older. With Fonte lacking the kind of cool head and
composure that he had playing for Southampton and Ogbonna showing that
scoring a last minute goal against Liverpool doesn't make you a world class
defender (Yes, I'm looking at you fans who seemed to think so), he's still a
great option.
So yeah, for me, give him an extra year. I don't think it's too early to do
this. The reward of a new contract will galvanise him and show that he's
wanted at the club, allowing him to focus on his game and hopefully salvage
something from an all too familiar shockingly bad season. Whether we are in
the Prem or (dare I say it) taking a cold trip to Barnsley on a Tuesday
night, he'll perform admirably for us. I remember when we went down in 2003.
Even at the tender age of thirteen, I thought that a thirty six year old
John 'the Maggot' Moncur would be a real asset for us for our promotion push
with his grit and determination. Sadly, Glenn Roeder released him and
brought in the injury prone Rob Lee whose spirit was willing but flesh was
weak at the eye watering age of thirty seven. A good player? Reasonably, but
just not on his game anymore. Collins would provide what we need wherever we
end up. With a change of manager looking more and more likely, whatever
happens, I think he'd be a real asset to anybody coming in. So to me it
makes sense. Sign him up.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Why Burnley's Sean Dyche would be an excellent appointment at West Ham
HITC
Antony Martin
The Burnley manager has been linked with West Ham United over this past
week. Slaven Bilic is an extremely popular figure amongst Hammers fans,
mostly because of his strong affiliation with the club as a player way back
in the mid 90's. Irrespective of how popular he is in east London though, he
must start to string together a strong run of results, if he is to remain in
charge at West Ham. Clarets boss Sean Dyche is a man who has been heavily
linked with the job at the London Stadium, and it is little wonder,
following the excellent job that he has done during his time at Turf Moor.
The Daily Mail go as far as claiming that the Hammers are already preparing
a financial package to lure him away from Lancashire. So would the
46-year-old be a good appointment at West Ham, if Bilic does of course lose
his job? The clear and obvious answer is absolutely yes. Most notably
because first and foremost, Dyche knows how to organise a team defensively
and tactically, something that Bilic seems rather unable to do. The
46-year-old has a fantastic understanding of how to get his players working
together as a unit, and defend as a team, with nobody having a so-called
'free role' in his side. And whilst Hammers fans love to see open, expansive
football played, their shambolic defending of late must be infuriating to
watch to say the very least. Dyche is also a superb motivator and
man-manager - two attributes that the Hammers desperately need in their
manager, with the amount of overpaid prima donnas currently at the club.
Most importantly, however, Dyche has a clear philosophy of how to play the
game, and with his growing reputation in football, he will undoubtedly be an
absolute coup for whichever club manages to secure his services.
And one thing is for sure, West Ham could do a lot worse than the
46-year-old Burnley boss.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Slaven Bilic press conference: Every word from the West Ham boss on Palace
draw & Antonio error
The Hammers boss wasn't in the best of moods in his press conference after
the Eagles' late goal
Football London
Sam Inkersole
18:35, 29 OCT 2017
What happened there?
You saw. Nobody can say they [Palace] didn't deserve a point. It was a good
performance in the second half and got that first goal very early. We were
under pressure, we knew we would be but hoped that we would exploit the
space we had towards the end of the game. We had, I don't know how many
situations to keep the ball or punish them. They had scored before from set
pieces or Zaha and Townsend before but to concede the goal in that manner is
very frustrating. All we had to do was keep the ball five seconds in that
position. But, the last couple of minutes we made a couple of, lets say
wrong decisions, once. We didn't keep the ball in the last seconds, we
wanted to make a cross to score instead. They made a good move after that
but we gave them opportunity but we shouldn't have done that. We should have
killed the game off, we didn't and we should have kept it, we didn't, it was
very fustrating. Two mistakes for the goals, does that make it even more
frustrating Yes.
We had some players who played on Wednesday night and they were tired as the
game went on. Unfortunately we had to make a couple of subs we didn't want
because of the injuries. We maybe wanted to put one extra man in midfield in
the second half because those three played 90 minutes a few days ago but we
couldn't do it because of those substitutions. But anyway, it's more
frustrating because we gave them the opportunities to create and put us
under pressure. We had Joe Hart who was excellent in goal so what I am
saying is everything was there for us to take three points and it is
frustrating to give it away like that.
Have you spoken to Michail Antonio?
Of course, he knows that now. He knows that he is the one that can keep the
ball one v one on the line forever, you know? But unfortunately he opted for
a cross.
Do you expect more from experienced players?
Of course but it is a team game, you know.
It is unusual for Mark Noble to get involved in a skirmish like that at the
end?
I didn't see it so I can't comment
But it is out of character for him?
I didn't see it.
At the end, you were so close, you looked very emotional.
I was, of course I was. We knew how important this game was after Brighton
and after Spurs game, we knew it was going to be hard when 2-0 up thanks to
great goals. We took the ball out of them in great spaces, the first goal
was a brilliant move and then we went 2-0 up and we thought three points,
but we gave that penalty too early for them to get back in the game. We
resisted but to concede like that is a killer. It feels like a defeat but it
isn't and wasn't a defeat at this point.
The players gave everything again. They ran, defended, some of them played
90 minuets three days ago, I saw them struggling with energy but wanted to
close them down and we were doing that. That goal [Zaha's] has nothing to do
with attitude or being sloppy or anything, not in my position. It was just a
bad decision that shouldn't happen at this level of football. Nothing to do
with the atittude.
Could you sense it coming?
No because we went there, Mikey he went there with no ideas of going towards
the goal, for a few seconds he was keeping the ball there. Then we had a
player in the box, I think it was Lanzini and they didn't run back, it
looked like although it was very far from the bench that he was going to
keep it a few more seconds.
But we can talk about it now, he should have kept it. Very frustrating, it
[the three points] was there.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Javier Hernandez admits all of his West Ham goals have disappointed him so
far
West Ham fans have immediately welcomed Javier Hernandez to east London
Football London
Kevin Beirne
17:00, 29 OCT 2017
Javier Hernandez has admitted that although he loves scoring goals, he is
left disappointed each time he scores for West Ham because they have not won
his team any games. The Mexican striker arrived in east London to high
expectations and much fanfare as his signing was heralded as a sign of the
club's ambition to push on and challenge to so-called big clubs. But so far
in his brief Hammers career, things have not been quite so simple for
Chicharito. The 29-year-old has scored four goals so far this season and was
on target again yesterday as West Ham were held to a 2-2 draw by Crystal
Palace. Hernandez's goal had given his side the lead before Andre Ayew
doubled the Hammers' advantage over their London rivals but the home side
would fight back and earn a point in stoppage time with the last kick of the
game. Speaking after the game, Chicharito says he would swap his goals for
points if he could as the Hammers have picked up just one point from the
three games in which he has scored. "It's nice and it gives you lot of
confidence," he told the club website. "I'm a striker and goals give you
that but the goals I have so far for the team haven't got us points or a
victory so far, so I'm a little disappointed also. "I always say I'd prefer
to win matches and change those goals to points. But yeah it was good
feeling for Andre Ayew and me. We are both strikers and we scored one goal
each."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
'I can't believe we've done that' - Joe Hart brands West Ham's Crystal
Palace capitulation as 'unprofessional'
By talkSPORT - @talkSPORT
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Joe Hart branded West Ham's late capitulation at Crystal Palace
"unprofessional" and said it left his team-mates lost for words. Hart was
unable to stop Wilfried Zaha scoring a 97th-minute equaliser at Selhurst
Park to complete a dramatic comeback and deny West Ham a morale-boosting
victory. Javier Hernandez and Andre Ayew had put the Hammers two up at
half-time, but Luka Milivojevic converted a penalty early in the second
period before Zaha's stoppage-time strike earned Palace a 2-2 draw. Hart was
unfortunate not to finish a victor. The England goalkeeper pulled off a
string of excellent saves, including one with his finger-tips to keep out a
James Tomkins header late on. "I can't believe we've done that," Hart told
the official club website. "I can't believe we've fought all the way to the
end and then been so unprofessional at the end. "It's a little bit
speechless in the dressing room. No one does things on purpose in this team,
but it's two points dropped - as simple as that. "I hadn't switched off, but
it was a good finish by Zaha, through legs, and I'm bitterly disappointed."
West Ham came under sustained pressure in the last 10 minutes, but they were
naive too at the end. "You've got to keep the ball in the corner, it's that
simple, and you can't let people keep running through you and getting
chances," Hart said. "Today counts for a point, but that's about it. We
learn simple things."
Zaha admitted Hart looked unbeatable, but his shot into the far corner
ensured Palace avoided defeat for only the second time this season. They
remain bottom of the table, however, with West Ham just five points better
off. "It was beginning to look impossible to beat him," Zaha told the
official club website. "We did in the end though and managed to get a very
important point for us."
Zaha's goal was his second in three games as he continues to enjoy the new
role further forward given to him by manager Roy Hodgson. The 24-year-old
says he also feels the extra weight of responsibility playing up front. "I
do at times feel that pressure from the stands and get nervous at times as
maybe people expect too much from me," Zaha said. "But I don't mind that and
I take it on and do what I have to do for the team. In my current position
in the team I know I don't make the normal striker runs, but it's been a bit
easier because it gives you a bit more of a free role. "It allows me to pick
the ball up deeper from the midfielders and take on the centre-back and if I
go past them it is just the goalkeeper and I have enjoyed it so far."
Palace visit Tottenham next weekend, while West Ham host to Liverpool.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
http://vyperz.blogspot.com
WHUFC.com
West Ham United Ladies booked their spot in the next round of the WPL Plate
after a fantastic 3-1 home win against QPR. A Chloe Burr header and an Amber
Stobbs wonder-goal put the Hammers in control at half-time, but QPR were
back in the game just after the break thanks to a low shot. Chenise Austin
secured the win in the second period with a confident penalty. The Hammers
played some excellent football in front of a lively and engaged home support
at Rush Green as just over a thousand fans turned out for a Family Fun Day.
The opening chance of the game came early on as Molly Peters tested the QPR
goalkeeper from distance, before again seeing an effort go over from close
range after a goalmouth scramble. Amber Stobbs looked eager to find the net,
twice hitting the bar from distance, and it was the first of these that led
to the opening goal. After the N010 struck the bar Burr was on hand to head
home the rebound, giving the Irons a deserved lead. Stobbs again came close
when she saw a shot saved at the near post, while Jasmine Auguste stopped
QPR from threatening a leveller not long after Burr's opener when she made a
tremendous tackle in the box. And Stobbs found the net in stunning fashion
on the stroke of half-time, netting a looping effort from distance to put
the Irons in control going into the break. QPR halved the deficit just
moments into the second period as a low shot squeezed under Rowlands, but
seven minutes later West Ham again had a two-goal advantage. There was a
clear foul in the box and Austin confidently stepped up to dink a delightful
penalty kick into the top left corner. Rosie Kmita pulled an effoert just
wide of the far post while Chong attempted a spectacular volleyed effort, as
the Hammers sought to entertain the lively Rush Green home crowd.
Goal-scorer Burr went in goal for the final ten minutes of the match and
substitute Andreya Ezekiel-Meade twice went close, as the Irons held out for
a deserved 3-1 win.
West Ham United Ladies: Rowlands (M Kmita 79;); Mackie, Wheeler, Austin,
Auguste; Chong, Cooper (c), R Kmita (Ezekiel-Meade 75'), Burr, Stobbs
(Georgioiu 84'); Peters
Subs not used: Walker
Goals: Burr 15', Stobbs 45', Austin (p) 56'
QPR Ladies: Kasirye; Peacock, Young, Deluca, Chimbima, Lynch, Petit, Ismael,
Adeyemo, Knell, Netschova
Subs not used: Haridas, Gardiner, Young
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Chenise Austin: I love penalties!
WHUFC.com
Chenise Austin has proclaimed her love for penalties after the defender
netted from the spot in the 3-1 victory against QPR Ladies. Austin netted
West Ham Ladies' third goal of the match on Sunday from 12 yards to book the
Club's place in the next round of the WPL Plate. Chloe Burr and Amber Stobbs
had put the Irons into the lead at half-time but QPR got a goal back just
after half-time at the near post. But Austin's penalty - a delightful dink
into the top left corner - earned the deserved win for the Hammers in front
of over a thousand fans at Rush Green. And the summer signing has revealed
how much she adores getting the chance to score goals from the spot. "It's
one of those I quite enjoy doing," Austin told whufc.com: "It's a funny one.
I don't tend to get up quite often and get the opportunity to score, apart
from corners. I love a good penalty. "Don't tell anybody but I might go the
same place when I take the next one."
The centre-back says that the Ladies are delighted with Sunday's result,
admitting that the team let themselves down last weekend in the loss to
Crystal Palace.
Austin continued: "We're buzzing. We came into this off the back of last
weekend when we didn't have a good first half performance. Based on the
score-sheet we should have won today and we did so I'm happy. "We had a lot
of chances and we could have put away a few more. It was a sloppy goal we
conceded too but that's just the way it goes. It's another win under the
belt. Confidence is growing and the team is getting better. We're showing
what we're about."
Last weekend's defeat to Palace eliminated West Ham from the County Cups
which, according to Austin, makes this win against QPR all the more
important as the team pursues a run in the WPL Plate this campaign. "The
league is our bread and butter but you've got nothing to lose in a Cup game.
We are out of one already so we want to take this one as far as we can, just
like we try to in the league."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Manning: It's been an outstanding October
WHUFC.com
West Ham United U23s assistant manager Liam Manning was full of praise for
the Hammers' young professionals after they completed an outstanding October
in Premier League 2 Division 1 with a thrilling 2-1 victory over Manchester
City. Goals from Nathan Holland and Toni Martinez and a determined defensive
effort saw West Ham follow up victory over Manchester United and a draw at
Chelsea with a deserved win. After seeing his team rise to third in the
table, Manning discussed Saturday's success, the exciting football being
played by the U23s and Tuesday's Checkatrade Trophy tie at Bristol Rovers.
Our pressing paid off
I thought it was very exciting from the start, both teams attacked really
well and there were loads of chances and if the score had been 4-4 at
half-time, that would have been a fair reflection on the game. It was a
really exciting game and obviously we're really delighted to come out with
the 2-1 win and the three points. We spoke before the game and said there
was a big emphasis on getting after the ball and pressing them as we knew
they'd play out from the back in a way similar to their first team, and the
way Pep Guardiola plays. We wanted to put pressure on them high up the pitch
and we adjusted a couple of things at half-time, pushing Josh Pask further
up the pitch and had our full-backs Rosaire Longelo and Ben Johnson
(pictured, below) watching the wide lads slightly more closely and I think
it worked in the second half. We regained the ball in the middle third quite
a bit and set up a lot of attacks from there.
Our attackers carry a real threat
To give the players credit, we look a real threat going forward. It was
similar at Chelsea last week, where we drew 0-0 and obviously didn't score,
but the number of chances we created was probably enough to win two games.
Domingos Quina was a lot sharper in what was his second game back from
injury and our front lads carried a constant threat, as they have done all
season. Toni Martinez has got an absolute hammer of a right foot and it
doesn't surprise me that he scored another goal like that. Nathan Trott
(pictured, below) made numerous saves to keep us in the game and with his
feet as well, his distribution was excellent and helped us play out from the
back. He's doing well at the minute.
An outstanding October
We looked at the Premier League 2 Division 1 fixtures for October and knew
we had a really hard month, starting with Manchester United, then going to
Chelsea and hosting Manchester City, so picking up seven points from those
games was a real achievement from the boys and staff involved. We're really
pleased with that because it's a tough league and we're moving up.
We're ready for a different type of test
We were obviously delighted with Saturday's win, but now our focus turns to
Tuesday night and a Checkatrade Trophy tie against a senior League Two team
in Bristol Rovers. That's what is brilliant about the games programme this
season - we play against one of the best young teams in the country and now
we'll be playing against seasoned professionals who know all the little
tricks needed to win them games. It's a completely different challenge and
playing these games outside the international windows is a big difference
from last season, which helps us massively. Hopefully we'll go to Bristol
Rovers and get the win, because that'll put us through to the next round.
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
'Bitterly disappointed' Joe Hart impresses again in Palace draw
WHUFC.com
West Ham United's Joe Hart was "bitterly disappointed" his side could not
hold out for a win against Crystal Palace despite a sensational showing by
the goalkeeper. Finishes from Chicharito and Andre Ayew put the Hammers in
control at half-time but a penalty from Luka Milivojevic and a late Wilfried
Zaha effort earned the Eagles a 2-2 draw. Zaha's 97th minute leveller was
particularly harsh on Hart, who had put on a brilliant showing to deny
Palace a number of opportunities. The 30-year-old made an amazing double
save in the first period to deny James Tomkins and then Zaha in very quick
succession, and also fantastically tipped away a Yohan Cabaye free-kick in
the second-half. Unfortunately, despite Hart's best efforts, it wasn't
enough to earn the Irons a first away league win of the campaign. "I can't
believe we've done that," Hart said after the game: "I can't believe we've
fought all the way to the end and then been so unprofessional at the end.
"It's a little bit speechless in the dressing room. No one does things on
purpose in this team but it's two points dropped - as simple as that. I
hadn't switched off but it was a good finish by Zaha, through legs, and I'm
bitterly disappointed."
Hart made seven saves for West Ham in the draw at Palace, easily a league
high, with Jonas Lossl of Huddersfield Town closest to the England
international with four. Four of those saves by Hart were diving, with the
shot-stopper making some great efforts to keep out Palace in the contest.
Furthermore, Hart claimed the ball a massive seven times, each without fail,
in the contest, showing just how dominant in his area the goalkeeper can be.
The West Ham goalkeeper has given credit to Palace for their effort in
fighting back but has called on the team to learn from their errors in time
for the next match, against Liverpool. He said: "Football's a funny game. I
thought Zaha and Sako played well and, in giving credit to them, I thought
we played well. You've got to keep the ball in the corner, it's that simple,
and you can't let people keep running through you and getting chances.
"Today counts for a point but that's about it. We learn simple things. We
obviously shouldn't have given away a penalty so early in the second half.
Mark Noble said at half-time that on Wednesday we were 2-0 down, and the
game was by no means over. "Palace fought well and we're disappointed. But
we've got to learn from it. The beautiful thing about football is it gives
us another chance next week to play at home, against Liverpool, and we have
to iron out the negatives and take the positives, and move on."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Ayew - We'll learn from our mistakes
WHUFC.com
Andre Ayew says West Ham United will learn from their mistakes after letting
a two-goal lead slip through their grasp at Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Ayew's superb 20-yard strike doubled the visitors' advantage at Selhurst
Park after Chicharito had opened the scoring, with West Ham seemingly on
their way to a second win in four days. But Luka Milivojevic's penalty five
minutes afrer the restart gave the Eagles hope, eventually leading to
Wilfried Zaha's heartbreaking leveller seven minutes into stoppage time.
Ayew admitted that conclusion to the contest left the 2-2 draw feeling like
a defeat, although he said it is important that they don't dwell on the
disappointment with another crucial game aganst Liverpool to come next
weekend. "It felt like a defeat," he said. "We're disappointed. It was a
tough game, and it's always difficult to hold to the end when you come out
after half-time and concede a goal inside the first five minutes. "They had
opportunities, but we're disappointed that it ended 2-2. We need to forget
about the disappointment and correct what we did badly in the second half
when we play Liverpool next week. "We didn't hold the ball as well as we did
in the first half and that put our defenders under pressure the whole time.
We'll learn from that. "The response to Brighton has been not bad, because
of the victory we had at Wembley, but to be honest we should have left
Crystal Palace with three points and had two wins in a row."
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
LONDON STADIUM ARTICLE-APOLOGY!
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 29 OCTOBER 2017 AT 7:27PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
We would like to issue an apology for an article that was written by one of
our writers about the London Stadium. It included incorrect facts about the
financial situation of the stadium operators. We would like to apologise
for any misunderstanding that has occurred and the facts should have been
checked before we reported them.
Our articled stated that the operator of London Stadium is close to
bankruptcy. VINCI, are the operators of London Stadium. E20 are the owners
of London Stadium. We re-reported other reports of financial distress at
E20, the stadium owners, without verifying the facts of the matter. For
clarity, E20 is owned by LLDC and the London Borough of Newham. They in turn
awarded a 25-year contract to VINCI to operate the stadium. E20 are not the
operators and have no shareholding in VINCI. Similarly, VINCI has no
shareholding in E20.
There is no financial distress at VINCI and this should have been made clear
in the article.
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JAMES COLLINS- ONE MORE YEAR?
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 29 OCTOBER 2017 AT 5:56PM
TheWesTHamWay.co.uk
Written by Andy Phipps @andyjphipps
I'm writing this in the aftermath of the 2-2 draw with Palace and whilst the
subject may seem a little premature, I can't help but look to the future
right now. In the words of the band D:Ream, things can only get better.
Considering we'd most probably take Fulham's Tim Ream over the excuses of
centre halves that we've got at the moment, I make no apologies in creating
a discussion about tying down one of our better club assets. For another
year at least.
Okay, I accept that if there was a fountain of youth then we'd throw the
Ginger Pele straight into the deep end for a good few hours, regardless of
whether he had hair to wash or not. Time is against him now. Having turned
thirty four when we played Cheltenham, it would mean that he would be as
good as thirty five when we kicked off next year. As you'd expect, some of
his pace and movement has gone even if his positional sense and ability to
read a game is still top notch. Those who remember the James Collins of
2005-2009 will fondly recall his marauding ability to make a perfectly timed
slide tackle that most full backs would be proud of, let alone a six foot
four centre back with tank like tendencies. Again, this is part of his game
that has disappeared with the wear and tear of injuries and the passing
years.
Now, if you've ever seen an episode of Top Gear, you'll know the formula
that's followed whenever Jeremy Clarkson reviews a car. If he hates it, he
starts off praising it to the ground and then wrinkles his nose and says
that he doesn't 'want one' and how you can get something else for a much
cheaper price. Predictably, the opposite is true when he does like the car.
The inside panel is made of plastic, it's 0-60 is way over ten seconds but
it makes him feel like he's twenty again and all he wants to do is put the
pedal down and drive somewhere. Anywhere, it doesn't matter. That's exactly
how I feel about James Collins.
The thing about James Collins is that, like Mark Noble, he embodies the old
school West Ham spirit of putting in a shift and having respect for the
fans. Not only does he put his head through anything that dares to be
floated in front of him on the pitch, he will regularly go and talk to fans
afterwards and give his shirt away to a youngster. I remember a game, a few
years ago, when he received an injury that looked like it might lead him to
being stretchered off. After a good while, Collins was brought to his feet
and he seemed to 'run off' whatever had been inflicted upon him. Whilst we
don't want players to exacerbate an injury by displaying unnecessary
bravado, it was certainly a sight to behold. In the dressing room, it has
been commented that he has a huge amount of influence on the team. A man of
few words, one can imagine that he doesn't suffer fools gladly but drives
everyone to do their best, much like Zabaleta does. This was evident at the
end of last season when Sam Byram had a cracker of game against Swansea and
Nobes and Collins were slapping him on the back and rubbing his hair.
Judging by Sam's reaction, this meant a lot.
We all know West Ham fans love a bit of passion and nostalgia, let's be
honest it's our cat nip, but it's still clear that he has something to
offer. When Collin's gets fit again, there will be few that wouldn't put him
straight in our team. Yes, he will make the odd mistake but it won't be for
the want of trying- unlike many others we could name. Even next year when
one prays that we make some signings (we've got enough dead wood to have a
bonfire on the fifth, he makes for a handy back up player. In spite of some
niggling injuries, he also looks after himself well and stated himself that
he follows Teddy Sheringham's advice of not reducing your training intensity
just because you're older. With Fonte lacking the kind of cool head and
composure that he had playing for Southampton and Ogbonna showing that
scoring a last minute goal against Liverpool doesn't make you a world class
defender (Yes, I'm looking at you fans who seemed to think so), he's still a
great option.
So yeah, for me, give him an extra year. I don't think it's too early to do
this. The reward of a new contract will galvanise him and show that he's
wanted at the club, allowing him to focus on his game and hopefully salvage
something from an all too familiar shockingly bad season. Whether we are in
the Prem or (dare I say it) taking a cold trip to Barnsley on a Tuesday
night, he'll perform admirably for us. I remember when we went down in 2003.
Even at the tender age of thirteen, I thought that a thirty six year old
John 'the Maggot' Moncur would be a real asset for us for our promotion push
with his grit and determination. Sadly, Glenn Roeder released him and
brought in the injury prone Rob Lee whose spirit was willing but flesh was
weak at the eye watering age of thirty seven. A good player? Reasonably, but
just not on his game anymore. Collins would provide what we need wherever we
end up. With a change of manager looking more and more likely, whatever
happens, I think he'd be a real asset to anybody coming in. So to me it
makes sense. Sign him up.
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Why Burnley's Sean Dyche would be an excellent appointment at West Ham
HITC
Antony Martin
The Burnley manager has been linked with West Ham United over this past
week. Slaven Bilic is an extremely popular figure amongst Hammers fans,
mostly because of his strong affiliation with the club as a player way back
in the mid 90's. Irrespective of how popular he is in east London though, he
must start to string together a strong run of results, if he is to remain in
charge at West Ham. Clarets boss Sean Dyche is a man who has been heavily
linked with the job at the London Stadium, and it is little wonder,
following the excellent job that he has done during his time at Turf Moor.
The Daily Mail go as far as claiming that the Hammers are already preparing
a financial package to lure him away from Lancashire. So would the
46-year-old be a good appointment at West Ham, if Bilic does of course lose
his job? The clear and obvious answer is absolutely yes. Most notably
because first and foremost, Dyche knows how to organise a team defensively
and tactically, something that Bilic seems rather unable to do. The
46-year-old has a fantastic understanding of how to get his players working
together as a unit, and defend as a team, with nobody having a so-called
'free role' in his side. And whilst Hammers fans love to see open, expansive
football played, their shambolic defending of late must be infuriating to
watch to say the very least. Dyche is also a superb motivator and
man-manager - two attributes that the Hammers desperately need in their
manager, with the amount of overpaid prima donnas currently at the club.
Most importantly, however, Dyche has a clear philosophy of how to play the
game, and with his growing reputation in football, he will undoubtedly be an
absolute coup for whichever club manages to secure his services.
And one thing is for sure, West Ham could do a lot worse than the
46-year-old Burnley boss.
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Slaven Bilic press conference: Every word from the West Ham boss on Palace
draw & Antonio error
The Hammers boss wasn't in the best of moods in his press conference after
the Eagles' late goal
Football London
Sam Inkersole
18:35, 29 OCT 2017
What happened there?
You saw. Nobody can say they [Palace] didn't deserve a point. It was a good
performance in the second half and got that first goal very early. We were
under pressure, we knew we would be but hoped that we would exploit the
space we had towards the end of the game. We had, I don't know how many
situations to keep the ball or punish them. They had scored before from set
pieces or Zaha and Townsend before but to concede the goal in that manner is
very frustrating. All we had to do was keep the ball five seconds in that
position. But, the last couple of minutes we made a couple of, lets say
wrong decisions, once. We didn't keep the ball in the last seconds, we
wanted to make a cross to score instead. They made a good move after that
but we gave them opportunity but we shouldn't have done that. We should have
killed the game off, we didn't and we should have kept it, we didn't, it was
very fustrating. Two mistakes for the goals, does that make it even more
frustrating Yes.
We had some players who played on Wednesday night and they were tired as the
game went on. Unfortunately we had to make a couple of subs we didn't want
because of the injuries. We maybe wanted to put one extra man in midfield in
the second half because those three played 90 minutes a few days ago but we
couldn't do it because of those substitutions. But anyway, it's more
frustrating because we gave them the opportunities to create and put us
under pressure. We had Joe Hart who was excellent in goal so what I am
saying is everything was there for us to take three points and it is
frustrating to give it away like that.
Have you spoken to Michail Antonio?
Of course, he knows that now. He knows that he is the one that can keep the
ball one v one on the line forever, you know? But unfortunately he opted for
a cross.
Do you expect more from experienced players?
Of course but it is a team game, you know.
It is unusual for Mark Noble to get involved in a skirmish like that at the
end?
I didn't see it so I can't comment
But it is out of character for him?
I didn't see it.
At the end, you were so close, you looked very emotional.
I was, of course I was. We knew how important this game was after Brighton
and after Spurs game, we knew it was going to be hard when 2-0 up thanks to
great goals. We took the ball out of them in great spaces, the first goal
was a brilliant move and then we went 2-0 up and we thought three points,
but we gave that penalty too early for them to get back in the game. We
resisted but to concede like that is a killer. It feels like a defeat but it
isn't and wasn't a defeat at this point.
The players gave everything again. They ran, defended, some of them played
90 minuets three days ago, I saw them struggling with energy but wanted to
close them down and we were doing that. That goal [Zaha's] has nothing to do
with attitude or being sloppy or anything, not in my position. It was just a
bad decision that shouldn't happen at this level of football. Nothing to do
with the atittude.
Could you sense it coming?
No because we went there, Mikey he went there with no ideas of going towards
the goal, for a few seconds he was keeping the ball there. Then we had a
player in the box, I think it was Lanzini and they didn't run back, it
looked like although it was very far from the bench that he was going to
keep it a few more seconds.
But we can talk about it now, he should have kept it. Very frustrating, it
[the three points] was there.
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Javier Hernandez admits all of his West Ham goals have disappointed him so
far
West Ham fans have immediately welcomed Javier Hernandez to east London
Football London
Kevin Beirne
17:00, 29 OCT 2017
Javier Hernandez has admitted that although he loves scoring goals, he is
left disappointed each time he scores for West Ham because they have not won
his team any games. The Mexican striker arrived in east London to high
expectations and much fanfare as his signing was heralded as a sign of the
club's ambition to push on and challenge to so-called big clubs. But so far
in his brief Hammers career, things have not been quite so simple for
Chicharito. The 29-year-old has scored four goals so far this season and was
on target again yesterday as West Ham were held to a 2-2 draw by Crystal
Palace. Hernandez's goal had given his side the lead before Andre Ayew
doubled the Hammers' advantage over their London rivals but the home side
would fight back and earn a point in stoppage time with the last kick of the
game. Speaking after the game, Chicharito says he would swap his goals for
points if he could as the Hammers have picked up just one point from the
three games in which he has scored. "It's nice and it gives you lot of
confidence," he told the club website. "I'm a striker and goals give you
that but the goals I have so far for the team haven't got us points or a
victory so far, so I'm a little disappointed also. "I always say I'd prefer
to win matches and change those goals to points. But yeah it was good
feeling for Andre Ayew and me. We are both strikers and we scored one goal
each."
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'I can't believe we've done that' - Joe Hart brands West Ham's Crystal
Palace capitulation as 'unprofessional'
By talkSPORT - @talkSPORT
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Joe Hart branded West Ham's late capitulation at Crystal Palace
"unprofessional" and said it left his team-mates lost for words. Hart was
unable to stop Wilfried Zaha scoring a 97th-minute equaliser at Selhurst
Park to complete a dramatic comeback and deny West Ham a morale-boosting
victory. Javier Hernandez and Andre Ayew had put the Hammers two up at
half-time, but Luka Milivojevic converted a penalty early in the second
period before Zaha's stoppage-time strike earned Palace a 2-2 draw. Hart was
unfortunate not to finish a victor. The England goalkeeper pulled off a
string of excellent saves, including one with his finger-tips to keep out a
James Tomkins header late on. "I can't believe we've done that," Hart told
the official club website. "I can't believe we've fought all the way to the
end and then been so unprofessional at the end. "It's a little bit
speechless in the dressing room. No one does things on purpose in this team,
but it's two points dropped - as simple as that. "I hadn't switched off, but
it was a good finish by Zaha, through legs, and I'm bitterly disappointed."
West Ham came under sustained pressure in the last 10 minutes, but they were
naive too at the end. "You've got to keep the ball in the corner, it's that
simple, and you can't let people keep running through you and getting
chances," Hart said. "Today counts for a point, but that's about it. We
learn simple things."
Zaha admitted Hart looked unbeatable, but his shot into the far corner
ensured Palace avoided defeat for only the second time this season. They
remain bottom of the table, however, with West Ham just five points better
off. "It was beginning to look impossible to beat him," Zaha told the
official club website. "We did in the end though and managed to get a very
important point for us."
Zaha's goal was his second in three games as he continues to enjoy the new
role further forward given to him by manager Roy Hodgson. The 24-year-old
says he also feels the extra weight of responsibility playing up front. "I
do at times feel that pressure from the stands and get nervous at times as
maybe people expect too much from me," Zaha said. "But I don't mind that and
I take it on and do what I have to do for the team. In my current position
in the team I know I don't make the normal striker runs, but it's been a bit
easier because it gives you a bit more of a free role. "It allows me to pick
the ball up deeper from the midfielders and take on the centre-back and if I
go past them it is just the goalkeeper and I have enjoyed it so far."
Palace visit Tottenham next weekend, while West Ham host to Liverpool.
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