Daily WHUFC News - 13th January 2013

Big Sam seeks cure to travel sickness
WHUFC.com
The manager is determined to put things right on the road after suffering a
3-0 defeat at Sunderland
12.01.2013

Sam Allardyce said his West Ham United team must improve their away form if
they are to enjoy a comfortable second half to the Barclays Premier League
season. The Hammers' travel sickness continued as they slumped to a 3-0
defeat at Sunderland on Saturday - their sixth defeat in ten away league
games in 2012/13. Sebastian Larsson climaxed a dominant opening from the
Black Cats by lashing the hosts in front on 12 minutes. West Ham kept their
deficit to one goal until half-time, despite losing James Collins to a calf
injury, only for a 47th-minute defensive mix-up to allow Adam Johnson to
double Sunderland's lead. With the Hammers chasing the game, James McClean
added a third. Speaking to West Ham TV, Big Sam said his players had simply
not produced the goods on the road again at the Stadium of Light. "It was
the time and the way that we conceded the second goal that was most
frustrating. We had a free-kick and a chance to score a goal to get us back
in the game at 1-1, we had set up nicely and the ball went in with us having
two defenders sat midway inside Sunderland's half without a Sunderland
player anywhere near them. "The ball gets headed out and, in the space of a
few seconds, Stephane Sessegnon is running down their right in behind Guy
Demel and he passed it across the box and there is James McClean stood all
on his own. God only knows where our defenders had gone. "Jussi Jaaskelainen
gets us out of the mire by making a great save and then we go and mess up
the clearance and Johnson puts it in. It probably summed our day up from
start to finish. I don't know why the players have shown what they showed
today because it wasn't anywhere near our best, as we know. "They can play
but it's away from home that is becoming a bit of a concern for me because
of the lack of performances and goals we're getting. It's becoming a big
concern for me and I have got to make sure I put it right for Wednesday
because otherwise we'll be looking at a real thrashing at Old Trafford and
that won't be good for confidence going into the home game with QPR next
weekend. "Our home form and performances are outstanding but our away
performances are the reverse of that - they are just not good enough."

Just a few months on from a promotion season that saw West Ham win a club
record-high 14 away league matches, the Hammers have managed just two
victories and five goals in ten away league matches. Big Sam was also
concerned at the drop-off in performance compared to that produced in the
2-2 FA Cup with Budweiser third-round draw with Manchester United at the
Boleyn Ground the previous weekend. "We didn't look like the same set of
players this week who played last week, with no disrespect to Sunderland
because they are not as good as Manchester United, and managed to close
Manchester United down and nearly shut them out. "We couldn't shut
Sunderland out today - in fact we let them do what they wanted, attack when
they wanted and play to their strengths when they wanted. Whenever they
attacked and got around our box they looked like they were going to score.
"We showed no organisation or desire to stop them doing what they wanted to
do, and we did all of that perfectly well against Manchester United, so it
baffles me that the application to stop the opposition playing at home and
to get the fans excited wasn't there. "On the back of that, we're unlikely
to go and win a game. We've got to win the right to play and stop the
opposition when we're playing on their patch and then we can look to play
from there on. We never did that today at all."

While West Ham remain eleventh in the table, Big Sam called on his squad to
collect points as quickly as possible to avoid being dragged into a
relegation battle. "We have a game in-hand but it's Arsenal away and we're
not playing very well away from home at the moment." Having already lost
Mark Noble to a slight calf injury in the lead-up to the game, Big Sam was
forced to reshuffle his defence when Collins was forced off with a more
serious calf problem midway through the first half. With George McCartney
and Joey O'Brien also on the sidelines, the manager said he aimed to delve
into the transfer market again this week to bolster his defence. "Losing
James is a massive blow. With Joey not here and George out with a
long-standing medial knee ligament injury, to lose Ginge to a tear in his
calf leaves us threadbare defensively and I need to get somebody in as
quickly as I can. "We need either a centre-back or a left-back - at least
one of them - by the time we play QPR. We have to look very carefully at who
we play on Wednesday and then for the following Saturday. "We have to take
it on the chin and admit we were second-best today. We do lose games of
football and we have to accept that we will lose, but I cannot accept how we
played today when I saw how well we played seven days ago. "

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U18s earn their Spurs
WHUFC.com
Steve Potts' U18s start the Tier One Stage with a 1-0 win over Tottenham
Hotspur at Little Heath
12.01.2013

West Ham United started their Barclays U18 Premier League Tier One campaign
with an encouraging 1-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur at Little Heath on
Saturday. A well-taken finish from midfielder Ben Marlow straight after
half-time gave newly-appointed manager Steve Potts a perfect start in his
new job.
The match started with both teams looking to control the game from the
midfield, with Hammers midfielder Josh Cullen getting involved in the centre
of the pitch, winning possession of the ball and attempting to start the
attacking moves. As the game got into its flow, Tottenham began to adapt and
take over the majority of the play, passing the ball around the pitch and
pushing their attacking players further into West Ham's half in search of a
goal. Spurs' dominance in the first half almost saw them take the lead on
several occasions. Daniel Akindayini twice found himself behind the Hammers
defence, but West Ham goalkeeper Gines Guzman Rosique was equal to all that
the forward fired at him. The Hammers tried to work their own opportunities,
with Thomas Gogo, Taylor Tombides and Nana Boakye-Yiadom all causing a
threat to the Spurs back four with their pace. Tottenham's hard work to
dominate the first half was ripped apart straight after the break.
Centre-half Jamie Harney clipped the ball into Cullen, who looked up and
found Gogo running in behind the Spurs defence. Gogo laid the ball into the
path of Marlow, who finished confidently into the bottom corner. The Hammers
were boosted by the goal and began to frustrate their opponents by keeping
possession of the ball, making the Tottenham youngsters chase to earn the
ball back. Tottenham's best effort of the second half came from Akindayini,
but his powerful shot was again turned away by an impressive save from
Rosique. The Hammers were under pressure in the closing stages as Spurs
hunted for the equaliser, but as the home defence held strong, substitute
Marcio Martins could have wrapped the game up for West Ham when he was
through on goal, but the young striker was just denied by the leg of an
opposing defender as he prepared for a shot. Today's victory gives the
Hammers the best-possible start to their Barclays U18 Premier League Tier
One campaign, with Potts' men travelling to face Stoke City for their next
league fixture on Saturday 19 January.

West Ham United U18s: Rosique, Siafa, Page (Homans), Marlow, Harney,
Girdlestone, Gogo, Cullen, T.Tombides (Martins), Makasi, Boakye-Yiadom
(Pike)

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U21s start with Manchester United trip
WHUFC.com
The Development Squad start the Elite Group Stage with a visit to Manchester
United on Monday
07.01.2013

West Ham United will start the Barclays U21 Premier League Elite Group Stage
with a trip to Manchester United on Monday 14 January. Nick Haycock's
Development Squad qualified for the Elite Group by winning the Group 1 title
before Christmas and will now play for the right to be named as the
country's best U21 side. To do so, the Hammers will need to finish in the
top three to reach the end-of-season play-offs. The winners of the Tier One
and Tier Two Stage groups will play-off to meet the winners of the Elite
Group in one semi-final, while the second and third-place Elite Group
finishers will contest the other. The winners of the two semi-finals will
contest the final. Following Monday's trip to Altrincham FC's Moss Rose
ground to face the Red Devils, the Hammers open their home slate of fixtures
with the visit of Group 3 title winners Liverpool to Rush Green on Friday 18
January, kick-off 7pm. The Elite Group also comprises Group 1 runners-up
Arsenal, Southampton, Group 2 winners Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich
Albion - who finished third in Group 1 - and Wolverhampton Wanderers. One
home fixture will be played at the Boleyn Ground - the visit of Tottenham on
Monday 8 April, kick-off 7pm.

2012/13 Barclays U21 Premier League Elite Group Stage fixtures
(Home matches in Bold)
Mon 14 Jan Manchester United 7pm (at Altrincham FC)
Fri 18 Jan Liverpool 7pm (at Rush Green)
Mon 28 Jan Arsenal 1pm (at Colney Training Ground)
Mon 4 Feb Tottenham Hotspur 12noon (THFC Training Ground)
Fri 8 Feb West Bromwich Albion 7pm (Rush Green)
Fri 15 Feb Southampton Home 7pm (Rush Green)
Tue 26 Feb Wolverhampton Wanderers 7pm (AFC Telford United)
Fri 1 Mar Manchester United Home 7pm (Rush Green)
Mon 11 Mar Liverpool Away 2pm (The Academy, Kirby)
Fri 15 Mar Arsenal Home 7pm (Rush Green)
Sun 31 Mar West Bromwich Albion 2pm (WBA Training Ground)
Mon 8 Apr Tottenham Hotspur Home 7pm (Boleyn Ground)
Mon 15 Apr Southampton Away 7pm (Eastleigh FC)
Fri 19 Apr Wolverhampton Wanderers Home 7pm (Rush Green)

Competition notes -
The top two sides and two best third-place teams from three First Group
Stage groups will go forward to the Elite Group Stage.
The other third-place team, fourth and fifth-place teams and best
sixth-place teams will go forward to Tier One Stage. The two other
sixth-place teams, seventh and eighth-place teams will go forward to Tier
Two Stage.
The Tier One and Tier Two winners will play-off to meet the winners of the
Elite Group in one semi-final, while the second and third-place Elite Group
finishers will contest the other. The winners of the two semi-finals will
contest the final.

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Sunderland 3 West Ham 0
12 January 2013
Last updated at 17:27
By Kevin Darling
BBC Sport

Impressive Sunderland brushed aside woeful West Ham with an emphatic win to
ease relegation fears on Wearside. Sebastian Larsson's 25-yard thunderbolt
lit up a dour first half, before Adam Johnson pounced after a Dan Potts
error to double the lead from close range. Jack Colback hit the woodwork as
West Ham began to crumble, before James McClean finished from a tight angle.
The visitors failed to threaten until the end, when Ricardo Vaz Te and James
Tomkins were denied by Simon Mignolet. The 3-0 scoreline was no less than
Sunderland deserved for taking full advantage of an abject display by the
visitors. West Ham have scored only five goals on their travels this season
- the lowest of any Premier League side. Larsson's sublime opener was the
only real moment of quality in the first half, but after the break the Black
Cats tormented their opponents with some slick counter-attacking football.
Sunderland now sit one point behind the Hammers as both sides' seasons take
on a distinctly mid-table feel. On this evidence, Sam Allardyce's side
should be the more concerned about the possibility of being dragged into a
relegation battle, but they could do nothing about Larsson's spectacular
12th-minute strike.

When Alou Diarra's headed clearance fell to the Swede, he took two touches
before slamming a swerving left-footed drive past the helpless Jussi
Jaaskelainen for his first goal of the season. Sunderland were content to
keep 10 men behind the ball after taking the lead, and West Ham lacked the
guile to break them down, with the absence of injured midfielder Mark Noble
keenly felt. West Ham then contributed to their own downfall for the crucial
second goal: a Premier League debut moment to forget for their 18-year-old
defender Dan Potts. After Jaaskelainen did superbly to save McClean's
strike, Potts dallied on the rebound and the ball fell for Johnson to finish
clinically from five yards. The visitors were then lucky to not concede
again when Colback smashed an effort against the woodwork following some
sloppy defending.

Allardyce's side failed to muster even a corner until the 62nd minute, and
they fell further behind to a strike with a touch of comedy about it. The
impressive Stephane Sessegnon raced into the box but completely miscued his
shot, which fell fortuitously into the path of McClean to tuck away from an
acute angle.
West Ham introduced loan signing Marouane Chamakh and finally began to
create chances in the closing stages. Vaz Te and Tomkins forced fine stops
from Mignolet, but the Hammers could not add to their paltry tally of five
away goals for the season - the lowest in the Premier League.

Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill : "The win was important for us. I think
anybody in the bottom half of the table still has to be looking anxiously
over their shoulder. "We were brilliant from start to finish. We were
energised after having a couple days off after the Bolton game. "We put West
Ham on the back foot from the beginning, and a great goal from Seb (Larsson)
settled us down." "I think it's our fourth win in seven games in the
Premier League and in the context of things, it was good to win."

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce: "We didn't have the appetite for defending
correctly and we never passed the ball as well as we know we can. "(The
second goal) was pathetic, wasn't it? We have a free-kick and we let the
opposition score. "The level of difference in performance between this game
and last week against Manchester United is just staggering. "There are too
many of my defenders injured; George McCartney, Joey O'Brien and today James
Collins. I am really going to have to go and try to strengthen that area in
the next few days."

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Allardyce slams West Ham's shoddy defending
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 13th January 2013
By: Staff Writer

A disappointed Sam Allardyce conceded that his team deserved nothing from
today's match at Sunderland whilst criticising his team for what was, at
times, woeful defending. "We didn't make Sunderland work very hard for their
victory today; we've let them enjoy their time out there on the pitch for
the whole 90 minutes which really disappoints me," he told the BBC. "Against
Manchester United, the time we spent snuffing out one of the best attacks in
Europe, never mind the Prmeier League, and limiting them to so few chances
was fantastic. But here today, Sunderland opened us up with ease time after
time - which was baffling for me. "Our work ethic away from home has to be
about stopping the opposition, about earning the right to play and not just
going out thinking it's going to happen. That's how it looked today. "Whilst
we hadn't played well in the first half we were just 1-0 down and if we put
it right and played better then we might have had a chance to get ourselves
back in the game. "Then, all of a sudden we have a free kick, the free kick
gets cleared and lo and behold, they're shooting at our goal with nobody
anywhere near him. Jussi made a great save - and then we messed it up and
allowed them to score. I think that just summed our day up."

The second goal - a mix-up in which Danny Potts was heavily involved having
failed to clear the ball - was the turning point as far as Allardyce, who
also retains major concerns about his team's inability to find the net away
from home, was concerned. "That should have been easily cleared by us and
would have kept us in the game," he insisted. "We've scored so few away
goals this season and it's a big concern for me at this moment in time. We
created a lot of chances today - albeit after Sunderland were 3-0 up - but
we want to be putting them in the back of the net to gain confidence. "It's
a concern; we've only scored five goals away from home this season, it's the
lowest scoring rate in the Premier League. We're going to have to sort out
not just the defensive side but also the goalscoring side. "But tthe players
have to accept responsibilty today for not playing their best and making
sure they get back on track against Manchester United on Wednesday and then
next Saturday against QPR."

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Allardyce seeking defensive reinforcements
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 13th January 2013
By: Staff Writer

Sam Allardyce reacted to the loss of James Collins by insisting that he will
seek to bring in an additional defender as soon as possible. The Welsh
defender is the latest addition to West Ham's long injury list having torn a
calf muscle in the first half of today's 3-0 defeat at Sunderland; an injury
that could potentially keep him sidelined for several weeks. That leaves
Allardyce with just James Tomkins and Winston Reid as established first team
central defenders - a problem that Allardyce suggested tonight he is keen to
rectify sooner rather than later. "Losing James is a massive blow," he
admitted. "With Joey O'Brien not here and George McCartney out with a
long-standing, medial knee ligament injury to lose Ginge to a tear in his
calf leaves us threadbare defensively. "We're struggling for defenders a
bit at the moment so we need to scour the market for one of those. I need to
get somebody in as quickly as I can. "We need either a centre-back or a
left-back - at least one of them - by the time we play QPR [next week]. We
have to look very carefully at who we play on Wednesday and then for the
following Saturday."

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Sunderland 3 West Ham 0: Sebastian Larsson sets up impressive win
Last Updated: January 12, 2013 11:55pm
SSN

Sunderland ended a run of two consecutive Premier League defeats with an
impressive 3-0 win over an under-par West Ham United at the Stadium of
Light.

Best of the Match

Man of the Match: David Vaughan may not have had a hand in any of the goals,
but his energetic and combative performance epitomised the spirit of the
victory.
Goal of the Match: Sebastian Larsson got Sunderland off to a great start
with a superb, long-range strike that rocketed into the roof of the net.
Save of the Match: Sunderland's Simon Mignolet was superb throughout, but
his best save came when he pushed Ricardo Vaz Te's close-range strike wide.
Gaffe of the Match: Dan Potts is only 18 - and his inexperience was exposed
when he failed to make a routine clearance, allowing Adam Johnson to score.
Talking Point: West Ham were a shadow of the team that took Manchester
United to the wire last week and once again paid for the inconsistency that
had dogged them all season.

Sebastian Larsson got them off to a perfect start with a superb 12th-minute
opener, before second-half strikes from Adam Johnson and James McClean
sealed a comfortable victory. Martin O'Neill's side were the better team
throughout and are now six points clear of the relegation zone. West Ham,
meanwhile, failed once again to record back-to-back league wins after a poor
performance both in defence and up front. Sunderland raced out of the blocks
and could have gone ahead within three minutes when David Vaughan sent a
drilled left-footed shot narrowly wide from the edge of the box. They
continued to push forward both at pace and in numbers, and Steven Fletcher
was the next to threaten with a goal-bound right-footed effort that was
deflected just wide. West Ham were being overrun and the pressure finally
told after the ball was half-cleared to Larsson 25 yards out. The Swede took
two touches to shift the ball on to his left foot and then let fly a
brilliant shot that rocketed past the helpless Jussi Jaaskelainen and into
the roof of the net. The hosts then strangely let their tempo drop and
allowed West Ham to create their first chance of the game through Matt
Jarvis' low drive, but the visitors were disjointed throughout the opening
period and rarely troubled Simon Mignolet in the Sunderland goal.

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce sent on Ricardo Vaz Te at the break as he
looked to mount a fightback, but his side gave a second goal away within two
minutes of the restart. Stephane Sessegnon squared to McClean in acres of
space on the left and after his low shot was saved by Jaaskelainen,
18-year-old defender Dan Potts failed to clear, allowing Johnson to hook
home. The visitors continued to press forward in a valiant bid to get back
into the game, while Sunderland were content to play on the counter-attack.
And the tactic worked perfectly for the hosts, when Johnson broke down the
right and fed Sessegnon, whose miscued shot fell perfectly for McClean to
sidefoot home from an angle.

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Sam Allardyce disgusted with West Ham's performance in 3-0 defeat at
Sunderland
Last Updated: January 12, 2013 11:57pm
SSN

West Ham boss Sam Allardyce was disgusted with his side's performance in the
3-0 defeat at Sunderland. Sebastian Larsson put the home side in front after
12 minutes at the Stadium of Light, with Adam Johnson and James McClean
firing second-half goals to cap off a forgettable day for the Hammers.
Allardyce was particularly unhappy with the defending that led to
Sunderland's second goal, where a comedy of errors allowed Johnson to score.
He said: "Just look at it, it was pathetic, wasn't it? We have a free-kick
and we let the opposition score. "Jussi (Jaaskelainen) gets us out of jail
in the first place by making a really, really good save, and then we mess up
the clearance and they score, so it probably sums us up today. "We didn't
defend correctly, we didn't have the appetite for defending correctly and
nullifying the opposition's strengths, we never passed the ball as well as
we know we can. "It was really an all-round performance that makes life
extremely difficult for me to accept, the performance I have seen based on
how well we played just seven days ago against Manchester United.
"The level of difference in performance between that game and this is just
staggering."

Allardyce admits he will launch a recruitment drive for defenders after
James Collins limped off with a hamstring tear, joining George McCartney and
Joey O'Brien on the sidelines. "The big blow for me is not having enough
defenders at the moment. There are too many of my defenders injured," he
said. "We have had too many injuries recently, but the injury situation with
defenders with George McCartney not being here, Joey O'Brien not being here
and James Collins getting injured today means that the defensive side of our
team is particularly weak and short of numbers now. "I am really going to
have to go and try to strengthen that area in the next few days."

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