Sunday, November 20

Daily WHUFC News - 21st November 2016

Lanzini and Arbeloa inspire youngsters
WHUFC.com

Lanzini shows off his hockey skillsManuel Lanzini and Alvaro Arbeloa made it a day to remember for the pupils of George Carey Church of England Primary School.

The Argentine midfielder and former World Cup winner wasted no time getting involved in the action as they took on the pupils playing hockey, handball and of course a game of football.

The West Ham foundation continues to work hard behind the scenes in the local community and this was another successful outing as the children got to meet some of their West Ham heroes.

Lanzini says he was thrilled to spend time with some of the next generation of Hammers supporters and knows the importance of the Club working hard in the local area.

Lanzini said: "It is very important to take part in these kind of activities. You could see how much the children enjoyed it and I love to see their happy faces.

"I am aware of the hard work that foundation does in the local community and it is so important for the Club. It helps everyone realise that we are all the same and that is very important."

Arbeloa has plenty of experience helping promote football in the local community and says he used to participate in a number of similar events when he was playing for Real Madrid.

Arbeloa said: "I think it is always important for us to do things like this in the local area.

"It was funny to take part in the different sports and they seemed to really enjoy it. "We had similar things when I was playing at Real Madrid. You can see that the children are really happy to see us come along and we know the importance of these events."

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Stat's a Fact - Peerless Reid
WHUFC.com

He may have ended the game sat in the West Ham United dressing room, having been sent-off, but Winston Reid could leave White Hart Lane with his head held high on Saturday evening.

The centre-half returned from a calf injury and one-match ban to produce an imperious defensive display.

In short, the New Zealand international was hugely unfortunate to end his evening in north London on the losing side and facing another suspension.

Statistically, the No2 was peerless for 92 minutes.

Reid made three times as many clearances as any of his teammates with 15, positioning himself superbly and getting his head and boots to virtually everything the home side launched into the Hammers' penalty area.

Such was Reid's outstanding reading of the game that he also totalled seven interceptions – four more than the next-best West Ham player, Michail Antonio.

No Tottenham player made more than Jan Vertonghen's seven clearances, while Mousa Dembele and Harry Winks led the way with two interceptions each.

Auckland-born Reid also found time to assist Antonio for the opening goal of the game, firing a cross-shot into the six-yard box after defensive partner Cheikhou Kouyate had headed Dimitri Payet's corner against the crossbar.

Reid's evening looked to be ending on a winning note as the game went into added time, only for Darren Randolph to inadvertently palm Hueng-min Son's cross into the path of Harry Kane, who then netted the winner after Havard Nordtveit had fouled the South Korea forward.

To add further insult to what had looked to be a near-perfect night's work for Reid just moments earlier, the defender was booked for fouling Son before being shown a second yellow and a red for a challenge on Kane.

While he may have disputed his second booking, one thing is for sure - Reid will be sorely missed when West Ham head to Manchester United next Sunday afternoon.

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Obiang - We have to stay positive
WHUFC.com

Obiang in action at White Hart LanePedro Obiang insists the players have to stay positive despite the heartbreaking defeat against Tottenham and says they will be looking to bounce straight back against Manchester United next week.

The Hammers looked as if they were heading for all three points at White Hart Lane until Harry Kane scored two goals in two minutes to help Tottenham come away with all three points.

Obiang says the players need to learn from their mistakes and ensure they come back even stronger at Old Trafford next Sunday.

Obiang said: "We were very upset in the dressing room after the final whistle. It was a great game and we tried everything to win but in the final few minutes we lost the points.

"Normally in football if you don't see the game out it is normal that the other team will try to come back and we need to improve and not make little mistakes.

"We need to be positive because we had played well but in recent games we have lost games in the second half and we need to change something."

On a positive note, Obiang says he was thrilled to see Diafra Sakho play his first game of the season and hopes he will grow even stronger in the coming weeks and months.

With the Hammers now preparing for another big game against Manchester United, Obiang says the players will work even harder in training to put things right.

Obiang added: "We have another big game next week against Manchester United and we know it will be another tough game.

"If we had won against Tottenham it would have made things easier for us going into that game, but we have to keep going.

"We have to take the positives out of the game. It was good to see Sakho and Andre (Ayew) back in action and Darren (Randolph) made some good saves so we have to stay positive."

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REF WATCH – TOTTENHAM V WEST HAM – MIKE DEAN
BY BRIAN KNOX ON 19 NOVEMBER 2016 AT 9:45PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk

Written by Sam Royden-Ryell

I'm starting to find the international breaks very tedious especially watching England and thankfully the final international break of 2016 has passed and we can focus on the Premier League again! It was great to see Aaron Cresswell being called up to the England squad and making his England debut against Spain. Cresswell has been the standout performer for West Ham for the last couple of seasons and it was more than deserved. This week, FIFA opened disciplinary proceedings against England and Scotland for wearing poppy's on Armistice Day. I find this completely ridiculous and unnecessary by FIFA. Law 4 (Equipment) from the Laws of The Game states that "equipment must not have any political, religious or personal slogans, statements or images. Players must not reveal undergarments that show political, religious, personal slogans, statements or images, or advertising other". From my understanding of the law, neither the English nor Scottish FA have broken Law 4 and it's disappointing that England and Scotland are likely to receive punishment for their actions.

West Ham currently sit in a very uncomfortable position just above the relegation zone and today we visited White Hart Lane for a highly anticipated London derby against Tottenham in which we needed 3 points. Mark Noble was missing from the squad from after picking up 5 yellow cards this season and Slaven Bilic made some surprising but encouraging changes. Darren Randolph replaced Adrian in goal and Diafra Sakho was back from injury and making his first start of the season. The referee appointed for this fixture was Mike Dean.

Mike Dean had a good first half in this London derby making some good decisions. It was Dean's assistant that made the first good decision of the game to correctly flag Christian Erikson's goal offside. The Spurs playmaker was offside by about a foot and it was a great decision. We've seen that throughout the Premier League, holding in the penalty area is still an issue and this season referees are cracking down on it. Mike Dean is one of the consistent referees to do this having awarded 7 penalties in 9 games so far this season and at least a 4 of them have been for holding. Angelo Ogbonna needed to be careful in the first half as he continued to hold Harry Kane in the penalty area and we couldn't afford to give Dean a decision to make.

The first caution of the first half went to West Ham's Manuel Lanzini. The Argentine was tracking back and caught Danny Rose with a sliding challenge. It was a little reckless by Lanzini and a caution was the correct decision. Cheikhou Kouyaté was in the wars in the first half and found himself face down in the technical area after a challenge by Vincent Janssen. Janssen was late on Kouyate and after some delay and getting the brunt of Bilic's anger, Dean awarded a free-kick. Mousa Dembélé was the second player to be cautioned in the first half after throwing the ball away in frustration. Dean awarded a free-kick against Dembélé after the Belgium body checked Diafra Sakho.

Within the first 5 minutes of the second half, Dean had to make two big decisions. The first was to determine whether Jan Vertonghen fouled Dimitri Payet inside the penalty area. The answer is no; Vertonghen challenge was perfectly timed and Dean and his assistant got this spot on. However, the second decision I don't think Mike Dean saw it and there is no excuse. In the build up to the Spurs equaliser, in my opinion, I felt that Vincent Janssen controlled the ball with his arm before having a shot on goal which Randolph saved and then the ball ricocheted into the path of Harry Winks. I do sympathise with Dean as the shot was played at such a pace but the position that you take up outside the penalty area is key.

The third caution of the game went to Kyle Walker. The Tottenham right back was late on Dimitri Payet and the caution was correctly issued. Tottenham felt that they should have had a penalty for hand ball against Michail Antonio. Antonio's back was to the ball and arms by his side when the ball hit his arm and no way was this a penalty in my opinion.

There were two yellow cards given by Dean in quick succession, one to Danny Rose and the other to Antonio. Rose was cautioned for diving in late on Michail Antonio and it was his trailing leg that caught Antonio. After Rose fouled Antonio, Antonio then fouled Rose. Rose was driving to West Ham's penalty area and Antonio lunged into the challenge and caught Rose's foot, both challenges of which yellow cards were issued.

I mentioned earlier about holding in the penalty area and Mike Dean awarded his 8th penalty this season after Vincent Janssen brought down Winston Reid during a West Ham corner. Janssen wrestled Reid to the ground and Dean pointed straight to the spot. Personally, I feel that holding is down to luck and whether the referee focuses on that player. There is so much going on inside a penalty area that the referee has to digest, it's impossible to see everything. However, this was a foul and Mike Dean got this absolutely spot on.

Mike Dean could have given his 9th penalty and second of the game when Ogbonna and Harry Kane were tussling inside the West Ham penalty area. Both players were holding each other within close proximity and it wasn't an obvious intent to foul the Spurs striker. When you look at both incidents in isolation, it was obvious that Janssen wanted to prevent Reid gaining an advantage. However, Dean did award his second penalty of the game after Håvard Nordtveit caught Son after an unnecessary sliding challenge inside the penalty area and which brought Son down. This was a clear decision and you cannot disagree with Dean here, no matter how frustrating. Nordtveit's didn't make contact with Son on his initial challenge but this trailing leg caught Son. Dean has been consistent with this type of foul, of which he cautioned Rose for earlier in the second half. Nordtveit went to ground and he gave Dean a decision to make.

In the dying minutes of the match, Mike Dean sent off Winston Reid for a second yellow card. Reid was cautioned in the 93rd minute after a poor challenge on Son and three minutes later fouled Harry Kane and Dean gave him his marching orders.

I thought that Mike Dean had a good game, and to be frank there were only one or two decisions that I didn't agree with, one of which was the handball from Vincent Janssen before the Spurs goal in the second half. The two penalties that Dean awarded I felt were correct and you cannot disagree with his decision making in this fixture. After going ahead twice in a London derby and being 1-2 in the final 5 minutes of the game to then lose 3-2 is sickening. Right up to 80 minutes, West Ham were so drilled and defended exceptionally well, however the last 10 minutes were a calamity and we lost our heads. Reid will now miss the Manchester United game following his sending off. We need to take the positives away from the game and approach the next couple of tough games in the right way.

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You're taking the Mich! Antonio 'embarrassed' by 'stupid mistakes'
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 20th November 2016
By: Staff Writer

Michail Antonio was pulling no punches as he reflected upon West Ham's latest defeat - this time at Tottenham.

The Hammers were leading 2-1 as the game entered its final few minutes at White Hart Lane, only to end up losing 3-2 after a Harry Kane brace secured the points for the hosts.

And Antonio, the club's current leading goalscorer who opened West Ham#'s account in the first half with yet another a header was clearly furious at the manner in which the team capitulated.

"I don't even know what to say," he told the club's website. "It was one of those games where we were in the lead and stupid mistakes have ended up with us losing.

"I feel embarrassed because we know the importance of this game to the fans. We've done well, we've got the lead, they've come back, we've got the lead again and we've held out until the last seven minutes of the game.

"If we'd held on, we'd have got a good win for the team, moved up the table and moved on, but instead we made mistakes. We thought we'd won the game but we switched off. That's all I can say."

The defeat means that West Ham have now let slip more points from leading positions this season than any other team in the Premier League. Slaven Bilic's side remain the only team in the top flight not to have a goal scored by an out-an-out striker.

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Michail Antonio 'embarrassed' by West Ham's 3-2 defeat to Spurs
By Paul Vinnell
Last Updated: 20/11/16 2:00pm
SSN

Michail Antonio admits he felt 'embarrassed' after West Ham lost 3-2 to London rivals Tottenham.

The Hammers were leading 2-1 but two late goals from Harry Kane earned Spurs a victory that leaves West Ham limping in 17th place, just one point above the relegation zone.

"I don't even know what to say," Antonio said.

"I feel embarrassed because we know the importance of this game to the fans. We've done well, we've got the lead, they've come back, we've got the lead again and we've held out until the last seven minutes of the game.

"If we'd held on, we'd have got a good win for the team, moved up the table and moved on, but instead we made mistakes. We thought we'd won the game but we switched off."

"Our gameplan was working but the last six or seven minutes we just couldn't keep the ball out of our net."

Antonio scored his sixth goal of the season in the game, but he admitted: "The feeling when I scored was special, but that feeling has gone now.

"All I am feeling is pain. It's just one of those things and we need to start over again."

Defender Winston Reid was sent off and will miss next week's Premier League game at Manchester United, a big blow for the Hammers.

"Winston will be a massive miss because he's a big part of our team," Antonio said.

"He played well and we need the players who are playing consistently well and he's one of them. Now, someone else is going to have to step up and show their best."

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West Ham keeping tabs on Dundee teenager James Cowan with several English clubs interested
The 18-year-old is a target for several English clubs with West Ham, Derby and Oxford with the Scottish Premiership club ready to let the midfield prospect move south
The Mirror

West Ham are keen on Dundee teenager James Cowan. Cowan, 18, is a target for several English clubs with West Ham, Derby and Oxford with the Scottish Premiership club ready to let the midfield prospect move south. The Hammers have been keeping tabs on the highly-rated central midfielder.

Slaven Bilic's men are looking for reinforcements in the new year with Watford's Troy Deeney an option to bolster a faltering forward line.

Andy Carroll is injured while Diafra Sakho, whose proposed summer switch to West Brom collapsed, has only made one appearance this season due to a back problem.

Loan strike duo Simone Zaza and Jonathan Calleri have both also failed to make an impact at the London Stadium.

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