Daily WHUFC News - 30th November 2014

Hammers battle past ten-man Toon
WHUFC.com
Aaron Cresswell's first West Ham United goal earns his side all three points
against Newcastle United
29.11.2014

Barclays Premier League
West Ham United 1-0 Newcastle United

West Ham United returned to winning ways in the Barclays Premier League on
Saturday, as Aaron Cresswell's first goal for the Club proved sufficient to
see the Hammers past high-flying Newcastle United at the Boleyn Ground. On
the back of five successive league wins, Alan Pardew's men were always
likely to prove a stern test and so it proved in a competitive if uneventful
opening 45 in east London. But the game turned on a slice of good fortune
and a fabulous finish in the 56th minute, as Cheikhou Kouyate's scuffed
strike fell for Cresswell in the box, whose first-time finish in front of
the Bobby Moore Stand was unerring. Moussa Sissoko lost his head late on to
earn two cautions in a matter of seconds and leave his side a man light, as
Sam Allardyce's men stood strong to secure a first win in four and climb
back up to fifth.
Following their respective injuries on international duty, Stewart Downing
and Cheikhou Kouyate returned to the fold, though Saturday's clash came too
soon for Diafra Sakho, Enner Valencia and Alex Song. With Winston Reid
suspended, Matt Jarvis was handed his first start of the campaign, while
Andy Carroll again led the line for the Hammers. Mark Noble, meanwhile,
shook off the knock that forced him off prematurely at Goodison Park to take
his place in the XI and in doing so surpass Steve Potts' Club record of 204
Premier League appearances.

It was the visitors, however, who were first into their stride and went
close inside three minutes. Ayoze Perez controlled Yoan Gouffran's centre,
but thankfully dragged his effort wide of Adrian's goal. At the other end,
Carroll's flick-on sent Jarvis in the clear and after he had squared to
Downing, Rob Elliot was called into action to gather the England man's low
drive. With quarter-of-an-hour gone, Massadio Haidara's left-wing cross
caused alarm in the Hammers box, but the alert Aaron Cresswell was on hand
to snuff out the danger. Kouyate then led the charge on the break, but
slipped at the vital minute and so sliced his attempted cross into the away
fans stationed in the Sir Trevor Brooking Stand.

Forward the Toon came again, this time through Sissoko. He fed Perez and as
the Spaniard looked to engineer the space for a shot, James Tomkins stuck
out a boot and stopped the No.17 in his tracks. The Spaniard was involved
again soon after, applying a deft touch to Sammy Ameobi's left-wing cross,
only to see his clever effort career into the side netting. With three
first-half minutes still to play, Carroll rifled a shot into Williamson and
though West Ham appeals were vociferous, referee Mike Dean was unmoved. So
goalless at the break in a game that regularly threatened to burst into
life, but never quite did.

Downing was straight back into his running after the interval and having
collected from Kouyate, cut inside onto his weaker right foot and blazed
over the angle from 20 yards. Jack Colback had a go too, but his effort
sailed into the crowd as well. Visiting 'keeper Elliot was soon breathing a
sigh of relief as he came flying off his line to punch a James Collins
free-kick away, missed it altogether and watched it drift wide of the near
post. Their escape was short-lived, however, with Cresswell soon celebrating
his first goal in Claret and Blue. Downing rolled it across the box to
Kouyate, whose scuffed effort fell perfectly into the path of the full-back.
Having continued his run from deep, Cresswell finished with aplomb, steering
past Elliot with the outside of his boot.

In reply, Haidara's long-range effort from a free-kick was wayward, before
Sissoko's minute of madness saw the midfielder depart the scene early. The
No.7 was firstly carded before booting the ball away in disgust and then
seconds later received a second caution for an ill-advised challenge on
Carroll.

With Newcastle now, by necessity, pushing men forward, West Ham had several
an opening to land the killer blow. Downing, for one, broke free down the
left, but his ball across the face was tucked behind before Carroll could
get there at the far post. Zarate tried his luck from the edge of the box
and was denied a second goal in as many weeks by a flying stop from Elliot.
From the resulting corner, Tomkins' header looked to be heading in, only to
cannon in to substitute Kevin Nolan on the line and out of harm's way.
Downing also had a chance late on to settle it, but from an acute angle he
dragged his effort wide as West Ham would have to endure a nervy four
minutes of stoppage time to see out a sixth league win of the campaign.

West Ham United: Adrian, Jenkinson, Cresswell, Tomkins, Collins, Noble (c),
Kouyate (Nolan 85), Downing, Amalfitano, Jarvis (Zarate 70), Carroll
Subs: Jaaskelainen, Demel, O'Brien, Vaz Te, Cole

Goal: Cresswell 56

Booked: Noble, Amalfitano, Zarate

Newcastle United: Elliott, Janmaat (Taylor 74), Haidara, Williamson,
Dummett, Colback, Tiote (c) (Cisse 63), Gouffran (Cabella 63), Sissoko,
Ameobi, Ayoze
Subs: Alnwick, Anita, Riviere, Armstrong

Booked: Williamson, Colback, Sissoko
Sent off: Sissoko

Referee: Mike Dean

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Cresswell - 'It's a dream come true'
WHUFC.com
Aaron Cresswell sealed a dream day on Saturday by scoring the winner against
Newcastle United
29.11.2014

Scoring the winner in a Barclays Premier League game meant Aaron Cresswell
fulfilled a boyhood dream on Saturday. The 24-year-old full back popped up
in the Newcastle United box to convert Cheikhou Kouyate's mis-hit shot,
ending the Magpies' six-game winning streak and sending the Hammers back up
to fifth in the table. The victory was West Ham's first in four games and
Cresswell was delighted to get back to winning ways. He explained: "It's
what I've dreamt of since I was a little boy, scoring a goal in the Premier
League, and thankfully Cheik's shot-cum-pass has fallen to me today and I've
put it in the net. "I just carried my run on, and I think Cheik's gone for
the shot but luckily it fell for me. I tapped it in and I couldn't be any
happier. "We had a look at the Villa game and we deserved to win that one
but couldn't score, then we had a tough one at Everton, where maybe we could
have taken something from it. "So to get back to winning ways on Saturday
was great. We've got another tough game at West Brom on Tuesday and we'll be
looking to bring three points back from there."
As well as his goal, Cresswell also had a clean sheet to celebrate and the
former Ipswich Town man wants more of the same at West Bromwich Albion on
Tuesday. He added: "It was a good day all round. As a defender you can't ask
for much more than a clean sheet. "We got that and if you can get an assist
or goal as well then great. I've scored my first goal in the Premier League
and I'm very proud of that."

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Sam hails 'outstanding' Cresswell
WHUFC.com
Sam Allardyce was delighted to see Aaron Cresswell secure a valuable victory
over Newcastle United
29.11.2014

Sam Allardyce hailed match-winner Aaron Cresswell following West Ham
United's valuable 1-0 Barclays Premier League victory over Newcastle United
on Saturday. The left-back continued his outstanding start to life in a
Hammers shirt by capping a fine individual display with a smartly-taken goal
eleven minutes after half-time. Cresswell, who has not missed a minute of
West Ham's opening 13 league matches since his summer move from Ipswich
Town, ran onto Cheikhou Kouyate's mis-hit shot to slot the ball confidently
beyond goalkeeper Rob Elliot.
"He was outstanding," Big Sam confirmed. "The natural progression on his
career meant it looked like it would always be the case that he would play
in the Premier League. The fact he is an ever-present is always nice and his
record tells us we'll get 40 games out of him every year. "Aaron has shown
our front lads how to score because it was a brilliant finish. He continued
a run when he must have thought he had no hope of getting it, because it was
a mis-hit shot, but he took it brilliantly."

West Ham produced a professional display to end Newcastle's five-match
winning run and extend their own unbeaten run at the Boleyn Ground to five
matches. A fourth home win of the campaign lifted Big Sam's side back into
fifth place ahead of Tuesday's trip to West Bromwich Albion. The manager is
hoping his players can build on Saturday's success as they embark on a busy
December that will see them play no fewer than six league matches. "We got
better as the game went on. You've got to remember that Newcastle were the
in-form team in the Premier League and arrived on the best run of victories
in the division, including Chelsea. "We knew it was going to be a difficult
game. In the first half, you could see Newcastle's confidence and we found
it difficult to get our passing game going and create any of the sort of
chances we expect to at home. "I said to the players that we should work on
the clean sheet scenario and that when a chance came along we would score
it. It came to the unlikeliest person on the field, but the most important
thing was the quality of the finish, when you get these opportunities. "When
they went down to ten men, we should have got to two or three and avoided
the nervousness, but their 'keeper made a couple of saves and we wasted a
couple of chances and we didn't make it easier for ourselves. It's an
outstanding victory for us against Newcastle."

Big Sam welcomed Stewart Downing and Kouyate back from injury, while Mark
Noble shrugged off a knock to his Achilles to make a record-breaking 205th
Premier League appearance for the Club. The boss was delighted to see the
midfielder break Steve Potts' record and paid tribute to the Academy
graduate's consistency and unerring commitment to the Club he has supported
his whole life. "It's rare today - you see it at Man United, Steven Gerrard
at Liverpool and John Terry at Chelsea, but such loyalty is few and far
between, so it's a fantastic achievement for a lad who dreamed of playing
for West Ham when he was at school. "Coming through the ranks, playing for
his local club, being an ever-present and showing such a level of
consistency is fantastic for a lad who is not that old, either. Who knows
where he will end up in his career in terms of how many games he plays for
West Ham."

Looking ahead to Tuesday's trip to The Hawthorns, Big Sam warned his players
that nothing will come easy against West Brom, who will be eager to bounce
back from their 1-0 home defeat by Arsenal on Saturday. "I watched that game
on telly because it was the lunchtime kick-off with great interest and saw
an Arsenal side go there and not look in too much danger, apart from when
West Brom went gung-ho with four players up front and played from back to
front very quickly. "So, containing Saido Berahino has been the main focus
for every team playing against them and I think that'll be our focus on
Tuesday night, because he has scored more goals than everybody else. "If we
get that right and show the defensive solidity we seem to be showing, then
our creative players can take the game to West Brom whenever they get the
opportunity. "West Brom have only won one home game this season, so their
fans are starved of victory at the moment and we have got to pray on what
might be a little lack of confidence. If we can keep the ball and move it
around like we did on Saturday, then we might be able to make the West Brom
fans a little nervous."

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U18s seal dramatic comeback victory
WHUFC.com
Steve Potts' youngsters scored three late goals to secure a 4-2 victory over
West Bromwich Albion
29.11.2014

West Ham United scored three goals in three amazing minutes to overcome West
Bromwich Albion 4-2 in the Barclays U18 Premier League on Saturday. The
Baggies went ahead early on at Little Heath when George Cater punished the
Hammers for not clearing the ball inside their own penalty area, before
Bermudian-born attacker Djair Parfitt-Williams drew the hosts level. As the
Hammers looked to push ahead, Tyler Roberts looked to have stolen the points
for the visitors. However, three goals in as many minutes from Emmanual
Onariase, Kieran Bailey and Decarrey Sheriff secured a dramatic victory for
West Ham. U18s manager Steve Potts made four changes to the starting XI that
lost 4-3 away at Tottenham Hotspur on Wednesday. Clarke Bogard was replaced
by Sam Howes in goal, Alex Pike made way for Onariase, while Marcus Browne
and Bailey were dropped to the bench. Josh Pask started in the middle of
midfield alongside Academy regular Noha Sylvestre and Jordan Brown returned
from injury to start up front. After four defeats in their previous five
fixtures ahead of the meeting with the Baggies, Potts' men soon found
themselves behind when Carter took advantage of the home defence failing to
clear their lines by stabbing the ball past Howes. The home side came back
into the game and they began to pressure the visitors. Pask smashed a shot
off the crossbar as the Hammers chased the equalizer before half-time.
After the break, the hosts kept up the pressure and had a handful of chances
on goal, but Oscar Borg, Parfitt-Williams and Jerry Amoo were finding it
impossible to beat Albion goalkeeper Ethan Ross. They did find the
breakthrough, however, and it was Parfitt-Williams who finished into the
corner of the net from 12 yards after receiving the ball inside the penalty
area from Amoo. Within ten minutes of pulling themselves level, however,
West Ham were punished for a defensive mistake. As the ball was crossed into
Roberts in the penalty area, the Hammers allowed the 16-year-old time and
space to turn and bury his shot low into the corner of the net. That goal
set the stage for an amazing climax. West Ham equalised just two minutes
later when Onariase ran unmarked meet Borg's right-wing corner and make it
2-2.
As the visitors investigated where they went wrong in conceding the
equaliser, West Ham took advantage and pushed in front just a minute later.
The ball was worked down the left wing at speed by the Hammers, with a low
cross being met and finished by Bailey at the near post.
If that goal was not enough to shock the Midlands side, West Ham scored a
fourth goal a minute later, when Sheriff finished well from inside the
penalty area. Saturday's result takes the Hammers back into the top four in
the Barclays U18 Premier League Southern Division, with 22 points from 14
games.

Potts' side travel to Southampton U18 in the FA Youth Cup third round on
Tuesday 9 December for their final fixture of 2014. Kick off at St.Mary's is
at 7pm.

U18s: Howes, Akinola, Burke (Sheriff), Onariase, Neufville, Sylvestre, Pask
(M.Browne), Amoo, Borg, J.Brown (Bailey), Parfitt-Williams
Subs not used: Ware, Elsom

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West Ham 1 Newcastle 0
29 November 2014
Last updated at 17:52
By Saj Chowdhury
BBC Sport

Aaron Cresswell scored his first Premier League goal as West Ham moved up to
fifth in the table with victory over 10-man Newcastle.
The former Ipswich defender's 56th-minute strike ended the Magpies' run of
five successive league wins and handed the Hammers their first in four.
Newcastle finished with 10 men when captain Moussa Sissoko was shown two
yellows in the space of 46 seconds. Their best chances fell to Ayoze Perez
whose two efforts went a foot wide. Both those shots were in the first half
which was a drab spectacle. The players were guilty of repeatedly losing
possession and some awful shooting, with the Magpies marginally the more
creative in attack. Spain Under-21 striker Perez looked the most likely to
make a breakthrough in the first period, firing a shot that went a foot wide
and a backheel flick that found the side-netting. As for West Ham, they were
relying on their ex-Newcastle man Andy Carroll to trouble the Newcastle
backline but, bar a hopeful shout for a penalty, when his shot hit the arm
of Mike Williamson, he was well-marshalled. So it came as a surprise in the
56th minute when a defender popped up to open the scoring. Full-back
Cresswell took the chance to break forward and was positioned perfectly when
Cheikhou Kouyate's shot fell into his path. The Liverpool-born full-back
steadied himself and poked in past Rob Elliot.

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew brought on Remy Cabella and Papiss Cisse as
they searched for an equaliser, but moments after making the changes his
attacking options were reduced when his skipper lost his cool. Sissoko, who
has been a leader by example for the Magpies this season, was shown his
first yellow when he kicked the ball away and less than a minute later he
was shown a second card for his late challenge on Carroll. Despite going a
man down, Newcastle pushed for an equaliser and even sent keeper Elliot up
for a late corner. They were almost left to rue that decision when
substitute Mauro Zarate broke forward on the counter, but then failed to
find the finish with the keeper only just back in his goal. The miss did not
matter as West Ham held and got back on the winning trail.

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce: "We have to say it was a fantastic finish
from Aaron Cresswell. It was fortuitous he got in that position. He's a
full-back and carried on his run into the box. It was always going to be a
1-0. "We get back on the winning trail going into December. Newcastle are an
in-form side. It's massive win for us."

Newcastle manager Alan Pardew: "I'm disappointed the six-game winning run
has come to an end - at some point it had to. "It was a tight game - they
had a major break on the goal. It probably decided the game. We tried to
push the best we could. "He [Moussa Sissoko] needs to learn - it was a
minute of madness. He's usually such a controlled player. I thought we were
pretty good right up until the goal.

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Allardyce on... Newcastle United
KUMB.com
Filed: Saturday, 29th November 2014
By: Staff Writer

There may not be any champers on the menu at Chateau Allardyce tonight but
Big Sam was nonetheless in high spirits after his team ground out a 1-0 win
over in-form Newcastle. Read his full, post-match press conference
exclusively here on KUMB...

Champagne out tonight, Sam? As opposed to the red wine?

Ha! I think it's a massive victory for us today. The opposition came here
today with the best run of results in the Premier League recently, even
better than Chelsea. That's saying something considering how Chelsea are
going this season, but they're on a fantastic run of victories that has
brought them up [the table] and above us before we started today's game.

Our game plan was obviously to try and win the game but I always thought it
was going to be a tight match - and that ended up being the case. For me, it
was telling the players: "Do not concede the first goal, because the way
Newcastle are playing at this moment in time you will find it hugely
difficult to get back in the game if you do".

Whilst it was a little scrappy in the first half we got better in the second
and I have to give Aaron Cresswell a huge amount of praise for the quality
of his finish. He showed our more attacking and creative players how to put
the ball in the back of the net today which was really pleasing, because
while he was quite lucky to get the chance - from a mis-hit shot - he never
gave up on it and his quality of finishing was fantastic.

I felt we should have gone on and won the game more comfortably when they
went down to ten men, but a couple of good saves and a couple of bad misses
meant we were pretty nervous at the end. To get the victory to go fifth and
up to 21 points is huge for us and a huge push going into a very quick game
at West Brom on Tuesday and then Swansea next week. We've started off with
three points in what could be a massive week for us all, playing three games
in seven or eight days.

How's the injury situation?

Well hopefully no injuries today, which is very important but I don't know
about Valencia, Sakho or Song just yet. Saying that, I hope nobody wakes up
tomorrow morning and finds they've got a problem. We're keeping the squad
together to go off to West Brom now and try to continue this undefeated run
again, so we'll see how we go there.

Certainly Valencia, Sakho and Songy are reasonably close - whether they're
close enough for Tuesday I don't know, but certainly if not Tuesday then I
think most of them will be back for Swansea.

Tomkins had an outstanding game, I thought?

Yes he did. He covered up an awful lot and made some very good
interceptions. He read the game very well today. We have the added bonus
that Winston Reid has now overcome his suspension. Coping with missing
players is hugely difficult against the most in-form team in the Premier
League at the minute; winning shows the strength and depth of our squad and
is paying dividends, up to now.

Andy [Carroll]; no goals, but quite influential?

Yes. He's getting better and better, as is his match fitness the more games
he plays. I'll have to assess him for tomorrow and Monday to know whether
he's got the capability or the energy to play at West Brom. When you're only
two games into your pre-season - which is what Andy is - the last thing I
want to do is risk playing him whilst he's fatigued, not recovered in time
and risking another injury. Even though Andy will disagree! That will be
determined by me and the staff on Monday or Tuesday morning. Let's hope we
can go to West Brom and finish this week undefeated.

Do you worry sometimes about him throwing himself into tackles?

I do, yes. It does concern me that he has no fear. Sometimes having no fear,
or not sensing danger could ultimately end up with him injuring himself
rather than somebody else injuring him. With a little bit more experience
perhaps he'll sense that a little bit more but he does throw himself at
everything, doesn't he!

A quick word on Mark Noble; a record number of Premier League games for West
Ham?

Only 26, isn't he. A marvellous achievement, outstanding credit to Nobes.
It's rare today that a man dedicates himself to one club as he has done.
You've see it with Liverpool and Steven Gerrard, at Man United and John
Terry at Chelsea, but the way players move round and change clubs today make
it a massive bonus for West Ham and a massive achievement for Mark.

I can't remember the last time West Ham had 21 points before Christmas; just
how far do you think this team can go? Is this above expectations?

At the moment we're above expectations but we realised those levels a few
weeks ago here when we beat Liverpool and we beat Man City. My challenge to
the players was to sustain that level [of performance]. It's hard to get
there; it's even harder to stay there. Today's victory gives us an
opportunity, going into December, to see if we can sustain it.

If we can sustain it through December and into January then we can
reschedule where we think we should or might finish if we continue. So we'll
wait until then. Historically, December and January have been difficult
months for us over the last two seasons. We've started a hectic period today
with a victory and three points, so let's hope we achieve a lot more points
than we have done in the last couple of seasons.

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West Ham boss Sam Allardyce welcomes hard-fought win over Newcastle
Last Updated: 29/11/14 8:06pm
SSN

Sam Allardyce admitted that West Ham enjoyed a slice of fortune during their
1-0 win over Newcastle at Upton Park. The Hammers moved up to fifth in the
Premier League after Aaron Cresswell's first goal for the club secured the
points against Newcastle, who had Moussa Sissoko sent-off in the
second-half. Cheikhou Kouyate's miskick had fallen perfectly for the
full-back in the build-up, but Allardyce felt his side earned their luck
after a run of three games without a victory. "We have to say it's a
fantastic finish from Aaron Cresswell, but rather fortuitous that he got in
that position," he told Sky Sports. "You wouldn't expect your full-back to
think this maybe comes to me when he's running into the box, so we give him
all the credit for the anticipation that he's shown. But it was a wonderful,
wonderful finish. "I think it was always looking like a one-nil today apart
from when Newcastle went down to 10-men and then we had several chances to
kill the game off and you've always got that little bit of anxiety that any
slip when you are 1-0 up may cost you, even against 10 men. "It was a
fantastic victory for us and I think that in the end the victory was more
important, because we have played much better than that. The 1-0 was well
received by everybody today."

West Ham, without summer recruits Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia, still
managed to succumb an in-form Newcastle side and Allardyce was grateful for
the points ahead of a hectic festive schedule. He said: "Getting back on the
winning trail, if we are at this stage at the season, going into December
and certainly with the injuries that we've got at the moment, you've got to
overcome and overcoming it is by making sure the team that goes out there
gets a result. "When you consider that Newcastle are the in-form team in the
Premier League, six wins on the trot, it's a massive, massive victory for
us."

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Aaron Cresswell seals West Ham win over Newcastle at Upton Park
Last Updated: 29/11/14 7:16pm
SSN

Aaron Cresswell scored a second-half winner as West Ham continued their
unexpected push for a top-four position with a 1-0 home win over Newcastle.
The Hammers full-back scored his first goal for the club, lifting them into
fifth in the Premier League table, and Moussa Sissoko's late dismissal
capped off a frustrating afternoon for Newcastle at Upton Park on Saturday.
Newcastle started with a confident swagger after six straight wins and Ayoze
Perez nearly snatched an opener, spinning and shooting past the far post
after he was teed up by Yoan Gouffran. Andy Carroll, facing his former club,
gave a glimpse of his aerial power with a flick-on and Stewart Downing's low
drive tested Newcastle goalkeeper Rob Elliot.

West Ham were settling well, starting to show the slicker brand of football
which has propelled them up the table. But Cheikhou Kouyate spoiled a
sweeping counter attack with a horribly sliced cross. Starved of possession,
Newcastle were reliant on Perez for much of their attacking threat. The
Spaniard was denied by a timely tackle from James Tomkins, but then fired
into the side netting from a tight angle.
West Ham appealed passionately for a penalty just before the break, with
Carroll convinced that Mike Williamson had blocked the ball with his arm,
but referee Mike Dean was unmoved. Downing sent a rising shot over the bar
during a frantic start to the second period, while Newcastle's Jack Colback
was equally wayward, ballooning the ball into the crowd. But it was the
Hammers who took the lead soon afterwards in scruffy fashion. A mishit shot
from Kouyate bounced perfectly into the path of Cresswell (56), who steered
his shot into the bottom corner.

Newcastle searched for an instant response and Adrian smothered a near post
shot from the lively Perez. But an uphill task for the Magpies was made to
appear even steeper when Sissoko (76) was sent-off. The French midfielder
earned a second yellow with a crunching challenge on Carroll. West Ham
were unable to take advantage in the dying minutes as Downing's low cross
drifted across the box, while substitute Mauro Zarate was crowded out after
bursting clear.

Soccer Saturday reaction - Matt Le Tissier

A draw would have been a fair result. Neither of the sides dominated for
great periods of time. Neither of them created a load of chances. The goal
was a bit of a fluke as well. Kouyate hit a shot so badly it trickled past
the Newcastle defence, it fell into Creswell's path and he finished it well.
It wasn't a game of great quality and it was probably appropriate that a
goal that wasn't of great quality settled it.

Williamson and Dummett played Carroll very well and kept him quiet. Anything
that came into the box, they were very tight on him and didn't allow him any
free headers at goal. They marshalled him pretty well and he was
ineffective. As for Moussa Sissoko's red card, he got two yellows in about
a minute. The first was for kicking the ball away, which was a little silly
and seconds later he appears to scrape his studs down Carroll's shin and
push him in the chest. The ref thought that was worthy of a second yellow
and he was off. I like the look of Perez. His movement is good up front,
he's always showing for the ball, he's always lively and he caused a few
problems for the West Ham defence. He's going to be a very good footballer.
Newcastle didn't look like a team that had won six on the bounce, though.

PLAYER RATINGS

West Ham: Adrian (6), Jenkinson (6), Collins (6), Tomkins (7), Cresswell
(8), Noble (6), Kouyate (6), Amalfitano (6), Downing (7), Jarvis (6),
Carroll (7)

Used subs: Nolan (6), Zarate (6)

Newcastle: Elliot (6), Janmaat (6), Williamson (6), Dummett (5), Haidara
(6), Tiote (6), Colback (6), Gouffran (6), Sissoko (6), Ameobi (5), Perez
(7)

Used subs: Cisse (6), Cabella (5), Taylor (5)

Man of the match: Aaron Cresswell

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WEST HAM 1, NEWCASTLE 0. LUCKIER THAN GOOD?
By David Hautzig 29 Nov 2014 at 19:05
West Ham Till I Die

Writing these reports has taught me a few things not only about my
relationship with our club, but about how many irrational dislikes I have
for other clubs. Today, for example, brought one Alan Pardew back to Upton
Park. Or as a few of my mates call him, That P@#*k Pards. You can probably
guess the middle word if you give yourself a minute or so. It's not a view
shared by many. In fact, I have read many an article hoping for his return
to West Ham. I don't understand why. It's not like his record with us,
Charlton, Southampton and now Newcastle is anything to do somersaults over.
Player and staff unrest, fall outs with chairmen, and the rumours about
his….uhhhh….various relationships.

No thank you.

Having said that, you have to give credit where credit is due. Lazarus would
be proud of Pards resurrection this season. Five straight league wins, with
a draw against Swansea before that, has given Newcastle 16 out of a possible
18 points. When I studied our fixtures leading up to Christmas a few weeks
ago I saw this as a game against a team struggling near the drop zone. Now
it's a game battling for some extra games next season.

As for us, the injury crisis that took us by surprise last week got a little
better. Kouyate, Downing and Noble were all in the starting eleven, but
Valencia, Song and Sakho were still out. Then yesterday we got word that
Sakho was basically mugged by the physio for Senegal and may out for at
least a month. Yet for me the biggest surprise was the player that started
on the bench, Zarate. If there was one lesson learned last week it was that
Zarate should have been the one partnered up front with Carroll. Sam,
however, didn't get the memo and for reasons I could not get my head around
Jarvis got a start instead. Jacob Steinberg tweeted that Downing would be
out wide to play to Carroll's strengths. Enter the wormhole and travel back
in time to lobbing it in to one up front.

Ayoze Perez has been on fire for Newcastle during their terrific run of
form, and in the opening minutes we saw why. First he cut between Tomkins
and Collins after receiving the ball from Gouffran but his shot went wide.
Then Sissoko fed a nice through ball for him, but his foul on Tomkins
stopped play. Minutes later, the Sissoko to Perez party was on again. This
time Kouyate was there to clear. Three chances from the same pair in the
first five minutes did not put me at ease to watch the game.

West Ham looked like they started the game in the eighth minute when Jarvis
chased down a flick on from Carroll. Jarvis passed to an oncoming Downing
whose shot was straight at Rob Elliot. That was the only bright moment of
the first ten minutes, and I use that term lightly. Despite a lineup that
looked like it was set up to play to Carroll's supposed strengths, the big
man looked lonely. The support he needed was not there. In any form. Not in
crosses, not in players there to run on to his flicks.

Meaning, no Zarate.

In the 13th minute, Carroll did have someone run into a space to collect a
ball off of his head. That someone was Downing. But when Downing tried to
return the favor with a cross into the box, nobody was there to cash in. A
few minutes later Kouyate and Amalfitano tried to get in on the sort of
action when the Frenchman laid a good ball for Kouyate to run onto down the
right. His cross was blocked by Gouffran and it eventually ended up as a
goal kick. A minute later Cresswell made a run down the left to get on the
end of a ball from Downing but his cross was blocked by Sissoko. There was a
bit of hope that West Ham would start to assert itself on the game.

Mike Williamson became the first player to go into Mike Dean's little black
book when he caught Jarvis with something that would have looked better on a
dance floor than a football pitch. A sneaky little back heel as Jarvis tried
to go past him. Not the booking we will all look back on, but noteworthy for
how odd it was.

The 24th minute crystallized why we miss our injured strike tandem. Kouyate
won the ball at midfield on pure power and fed Jarvis down the left. That is
when Valencia and Sakho would be darting in and around the box like ants
when you disturb their colony. Try to step on em, and all you get is dust.
But Jarvis had nobody to pick out, nor did anybody try to get onto the end
of his cross. It made the whole thing pointless, other than wasting time if
you are trying to play for a nil-nil draw. In fact, neither team did all
that much with the ball in the first thirty minutes. There were more errant
passes than accurate ones, and I wondered if the first team to simply
control the ball for a minute or so would score first.

One trait that will never go un-noticed or unappreciated by West Ham
supporters is tenacity. If you put in a shift, if you work your socks off,
we will never turn on you. If today was the last game ever for James Tomkins
and Ginge, they would be immortalized. They both made so many world-class
defensive plays that try as I will to include them all I will likely miss
some. The first came in the 33rd minute when Sissoko and Perez combined
again on a dangerous counter attack. Tomkins snuffed out what looked like a
1-0 Newcastle lead in the making with a great block on Perez. A few minutes
later, after Noble fouled Sissoko and gave up a free kick in a dangerous
area, Tomkins got his head on both the ball into the box and Carroll's
outstretched foot. A bit of treatment and he was back to work.

Perez continued his strong performance in the 38th minute when Ameobi fed
the ball to him close to Adrian. If he had a better angle the ball could
have caused problems, but his cheeky shot off the back of his foot went into
the side netting. The next seven minutes plus one minute of added time were
barely noteworthy, and it was nil-nil at halftime.

When I watch games to do these reports, I jot down notes on scrap paper and
then do my best to construct decent sentences out of them afterwards. So
little happened in the first half that I only used two pieces of paper as
opposed to my normal four or five. The unfortunate fact was that with Andy
Carroll playing alone, all we looked like was a slightly better version of
last year's team. To think that this formation can score more than a goal
per game with any regularity is….wait for it…..deluded. Would Sam diagnose
himself the way he tried to diagnose all of us a few years ago and put
Zarate on? I hoped so, with Jarvis coming off despite the fact that he
hadn't played that badly. Maybe even better than Amalfitano in the first
half. But given the choice I'd rather have the Frenchman.

The second half did not start with the substitution most us were hoping for,
but at least it started with West Ham on the attack. Kouyate started a
counter after some nervy moments in our own end and passed to Carroll. AC
finally saw a pass of his end up on a teammate by the name of Stuart Downing
on the left. When Downing put the ball on his right foot to cut inside,
hopes of a shot on target rose. Then they were dashed when his shot went
over the crossbar.

James Tomkins continued his co-Man Of The Match day in the 50th minute when
he used the basic footballing principle of positioning when he forced Perez
to lose the ball over the touchline for a goal kick. Nothing spectacular.
Just excellent. A minute later West Ham were on the break when Collins
cleared another Perez chance to Noble, who found Cresswell streaking down
the left. Maybe it was youthful exuberance, but whatever it was made him
hoof the ball into the crowd instead of finding a teammate in the box. He's
still learning, and a great student overall so all was forgiven.

Rob Elliot hadn't done much wrong as Tim Krul's stand in to this point. In
the 54th minute, however, he showed how a split second of indecision by a
keeper can cause problems. Elliot couldn't handle a long ball into the box,
and the ball was inched away from any West Ham player doing nothing more
than toe poking it in for a 1-0 lead. Two corners followed, both with
Carroll being out jumped, and Newcastle were left unscathed.

There is a cliché in American sport. "I'd rather be lucky than good". It's
been attributed to Vernon Louis "Lefty" Gomez, who played baseball for the
Yankees in the 1930's. When the ball came to Downing on the left, I was
talking to my mate Jon. We both could not understand why Sam was being so
stubborn in not putting Zarate in. "We won't score unless he does" I said.
Just then, Kouyate got the ball from Downing at the edge of the area and
attempted a shot. He missed. But the ball rolled slowly onto the path of an
onrushing Cresswell, who showed the composure of a seasoned striker to put
it behind Elliot.

West Ham 1, Newcastle 0.

It could have been 1-1 two minutes later when Williamson and Perez (yeah,
him again) combined. Perez drove his shot right at Adrian, and with
teammates running around the box he may have been better suited to try and
find one. Thankfully for us, he didn't.

The 63rd minute saw Newcastle make two changes. Tiote made way for Cisse,
and Cabella replaced Gouffran. The TV cameras showed Pards having a word
with Perez, seemingly telling him to play farther back now that Cisse was
on. So it isn't only Sam that tells his most effective and creative player
to move away from the goal. That's kind of comforting.

Still no Zarate, but Amalfitano made a case for himself being the one to
come off if and when a change was made with a bad cross and a giveaway in
Newcastle's area. On the counter, Noble brought down Cabella and gave up a
free kick. Oh god. How many times have we seen a free kick given up by
Noble, even when it isn't his fault, which leads to a goal. Were we going to
see the latest edition of the script we all know? Luckily for West Ham,
Haidara's shot from the free kick went wide.

In the 70th minute, just like last week at Everton, the clubs official
Twitter account announced that Zarate was ready to come on. I got the
feeling that it was more than just information. It was the person in charge
of those Tweets joining in on the call for such a creative force. Within
seconds, Zarate forced a corner when he passed to Jenkinson. The Arsenal
loanee saw his cross blocked out by Ameobi, but the question that I wanted
answered was why it took so long to get Zarate on? A minute later, a ball
into Carroll was headed into space which Zarate was running to. He didn't
get on the end of it, but at least he tried. Please tell me you saw that,
Sam. Twice fooled, shame on you.

The 75th minute saw the most eventful thirty seconds of the match, and one
of the more brainless displays by a professional footballer this season.
First, with Newcastle attacking in numbers, Jenkinson played Sissoko
perfectly to stop his progress. For that effort, he got a push in the back.
And for that, Sissoko saw yellow. Thirty seconds later, a reckless challenge
on Carroll in midfield earned him an upgrade from Yellow to Red. If Sam were
his manager, he'd have been on his way to Siberia by now.

After being butchered last week, Amalfitano might have decided the best form
of self defense is to attack. So he took Haidara down from behind and got
booked. This is where some good ol fashioned West Ham paranoia crept in. Ten
men, huh? Didn't go so well against Spurs. Hull last year was no fun,
either. Is this the crazy reason why we give up the equalizer?

The whole idea behind signing Zarate was to give Carroll a partner up front
who was anything but like for like. We saw glimpses of that in the final ten
minutes. First, Zarate fed a through ball for a running Carroll but it was
just a bit heavy and went out for a goal kick. Then they got in each other's
way when they both went for a ball in midfield, allowing Newcastle to
counter. Nothing happened. Then Zarate led another counter with a pass to
Downing, whose cross was deflected out for a corner by Haidara. It was
inches away from 2-0 a minute later when Jenkinson found Zarate on the left,
who cut to the center and drilled a beautiful shot towards the top corner of
the net. In his finest moment of the day, Elliot made a finger tip save to
rob the Argentine-Chilean.

Nolan came on for Kouyate in the 85th minute in what could only have been
based on Kouyate running out of fuel. Not that Nolan has any fuel to begin
with.

Ameobi broke forward in the 89th minute, and despite being down to ten men
Newcastle looked dangerous on this attack. My heart skipped a beat before
Collins came to the rescue and took the ball away just outside the box.

In the second minute of the four added on, Zarate and Downing came close to
making it 2-0. Zarate fed a rushing Downing on the left. Elliot came out to
meet him, and Downing aimed for the far post. In real time it looked very,
very close. On replay, it only looked kind of close. Still, who started it?
The man named Mauro.

A final corner in the dying seconds of injury time gave the Toon army a
reason to stand, but Collins and Tomkins told them to sit back down because
the game was over.

Final score. West Ham 1, Newcastle 0.

We should all be happy for the three points. Considering our strong start to
the season, two draws and a loss from our last three games felt like a
letdown. Add the injuries and Newcastle's fantastic form coming in, a loss
would not have surprised anybody. So a mini crisis has thankfully been
averted.

Or has it?

I'm not trying to bring us down here, but for the second consecutive game
our most influential player was left on the bench at the start of the game.
Why? When asked, I'm sure Sam will give not only an explanation as to why
but also an explanation as to how he was 100% correct to do it. If he does
do that, he will be alone in that thinking. It took great defending and a
lucky bounce to get us the three points today. On another day, we may not be
so lucky. And we have the players to avoid what we saw for long stretches of
the game. I know it. You know it.

I only hope Sam knows it.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham 1-0 Newcastle: Hammers return to winning ways thanks to Aaron
Cresswell strike
The Mirror

Aaron Cresswell's first goal for West Ham ended ten-man Newcastle's winning
streak. The 24-year-old left-back, bought for just £2million in the summer -
pounced 11 minutes after half time to end his club's run of three games
without a win. The effort wrecked Newcastle's bid to equal a seven-match
sequence of victories in all competitions last achieved 19 years ago under
Kevin Keegan. Cresswell pounced as Cheikou Kouyate miscued an attempted
drive from just outside the Magpies' box. The ball trickled beyond the
despairing lunge of midfielder Cheick Tiote and Cresswell swept it home for
his first West Ham goal and the 14th of his career. The effort, and the
three points, were well deserved for West Ham. The overall quality of the
match, however, was poor. Newcastle were toothless and showed little
ambition until they fell behind. A difficult afternoon for Alan Pardew's men
was worsened in the second half by the dismissal of Mo Sissoko for two
yellow cards within 60 seconds. His first, in the 75th minute, was for
dissent. Sissoko angrily kicked the ball away in frustration at a decision
not going his way. His second was for a foul on Andy Carroll under the nose
of referee Mike Dean. West Ham had chances to increase their advantage even
further but substitute Mauro Zarate had a curling effort parried by reserve
Toon keeper Rob Elliot and Stewart Downing fired a diagonal late effort
wide.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

http://vyperz.blogspot.com



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