Daily WHUFC News - 31st October 2016

Hammers unbeaten run comes to an end
WHUFC.com

West Ham's impressive unbeaten run came to an end after goals from Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley helped Everton record a 2-0 victory at Goodison Park.

Slaven Bilic's side were hoping to make it four consecutive victories following a superb run of form in recent weeks but they failed to make their early pressure count and were made to suffer as Lukaku kept up his formidable record against the Hammers.

The Belgian striker has been a nemesis for West Ham in recent seasons and it proved to be the case once again when he opened the scoring on 50 minutes.

Lukaku made it nine goals from just 11 games – scoring in the last seven consecutive games against West Ham.

Barkley wrapped up the victory for the home side with a volley late in the game and it was hard luck on the Hammers players who had worked so hard to record back-to-back home wins over Sunderland and Chelsea in the last week.

Bilic will of course be looking for an immediate response when the Hammers return to London Stadium next weekend and face Stoke City.

Following the memorable EFL Cup win over Chelsea in midweek, Slaven Bilic opted to make just one change to the starting line-up with Adrian returning to the Hammers goal in place of Darren Randolph.

That meant Michail Antonio was chosen as the man to play through the middle once again why goal hero Edimilson Fernandes retained his place in the starting line-up.

You could see the confidence among the Hammers players following the recent victories and they dominated the opening exchanges at Goodison Park.

After the Everton fans paid a special tribute to former manager Howard Kendall, it was Antonio who could have broken the deadlock after just five minutes.

Dimitri Payet's cross fell perfectly for the England forward inside the box but his close-range effort flew just over the bar.

Payet was involved in the heart of the action once again on 12 minutes when he played the perfect through ball for Pedro Obiang who only had Joel Robles to beat in the Everton goal but he fired his shot just over the bar.

It was all one way traffic at his point and Payet came even closer to getting on the scoresheet just sixty seconds later when his shot produced another fine save from Robles diving low to his left.

The Hammers could have been made to pay for those missed opportunities when Romelu Lukaku broke clear of the West Ham defence on 16 minutes and burst towards goal.

Yannick Bolasie saw his shot well blocked by Mark Noble. The rebound fell to Gareth Barry who curled a shot inches over the bar.

The Hammers continued to create the best openings and had another golden chance on 22 minutes when Manuel Lanzini superbly turned Ramiro Funes Mori and played the ball across goal but there was no Hammers player to turn the ball home.

Everton still looked dangerous on the counter attack and Adrian had to be at his very best to stop Ross Barkley opening the scoring on 26 minutes.

Bryan Oviedo burst clear past Fernandes and crossed in for the England midfielder who looked destined to score but his shot produced a world class one handed save from Adrian.

Adrian was then called upon once again on 37 minutes when he tipped over a cross shot from Mirallas.

Everton made the Hammers pay as they opened the scoring early in the second half.

Seamus Coleman's low shot was well kept out Adrian. Yannick Bolasie beat Winston Reid to the ball with a sliding cross and Lukaku had the easy task of heading home from close-range for his 50th Everton goal.

The Hammers refused to lie down and could have drawn level on 65 minutes when Antonio used his pace to beat Ashley Williams down the left hand side and burst clear into the box but he saw his low shot kept out by the legs of Robles.

Antonio then turned provider on 68 minutes as his pass picked out substitute Andre Ayew but his shot was deflected inches past the post.

Everton put the game beyond West Ham when Barkley added a second on 76 minutes.

Lukaku's cross picked out the Everton midfielder and he made no mistake volleying the ball into the back of the net.

Everton: Joel; Coleman, Funes Mori, Williams, Oviedo; Gueye, Barry, Barkley (Lennon 88); Bolasie (Jagielka 82), Lukaku, Mirallas (Cleverley 71)

Subs not used: Hewelt, Deulofeu, Calvert-Lewin, Holgate

Bookings: Gueye, Oviedo

West Ham: Adrian; Kouyate, Reid, Ogbonna; Fernandes (Zaza 70), Obiang (Ayew 60), Noble, Cresswell, Lanzini (Feghouli 77), Payet, Antonio

Subs not used: Randolph, Nordtveit, Collins, Fletcher

Bookings: Obiang, Reid, Antonio

Referee: Anthony Taylor

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Bilic - Everton were more lethal
WHUFC.com

Slaven Bilic felt Everton's ability to be 'more lethal with their chances was the difference in West Ham United's 2-0 Premier League defeat at Everton.

The Hammers saw their three-match winning streak ended at Goodison Park, where second-half goals from Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley settled what had been a closely-fought game.

Both teams created plenty of chances to score, in truth, but for the visitors Pedro Obiang, Michail Antonio, Manuel Lanzini, Mark Noble and Dimitri Payet all either failed to hit the target or found Toffees goalkeeper Joel Robles in fine form.

At the other end, Adrian produced a stunning save to deny Barkley in the opening half, but he was powerless to prevent Lukaku scoring his ninth goal in nine games against West Ham five minutes after the break.

With the Hammers committing more and more men forward, Lukaku then ran in behind before crossing for the unmarked Barkley to settle matters 14 minutes from full-time.

"I have the feeling that, while you are always not happy after a defeat, I am more disappointed today because we could have taken something from this game," Bilic reflected.

"I'm not saying that they didn't deserve it, because at the end of the day they were more mature when the game was on the line, but we should have done better with the start we had.

"In the first few minutes we were much better than them and we should have built on that. Then they came back in the second part of the first half with their aggression to get to the second balls, and they created a great chance for Barkley and that was a massive save from Adrian.

"With the first goal, I'm really disappointed because we gave a cheap goal away. It was cheap because we had the chance to clear the ball, we waited too long and Bolasie committed himself to the tackle and fortunately it went to Lukaku.

"After that, we had a couple of chances to equalise but they were always dangerous on the counter-attack and they scored the second one.

"It's a big disappointment because I thought we would take something."

While defeat leaves West Ham looking over their shoulders ahead of a difficult-looking November, the manager is not about to panic.

"We didn't go high-flying after the three wins, and likewise we're not going to drop after one defeat," he said. "We showed some good football, but I'm big-time disappointed because I expected us to create some situations.

"When we offered them opportunities, they took them. They offered us chances in the first half and even in the second after they went one-nil up, but we had to penetrate better.

"They were more lethal and more cruel when they were offered something from us. We didn't capitalise on our chances."

When asked for his assessment of West Ham's nemesis Lukaku, the former Croatia defender could not hide his admiration for the Belgium forward, who came into his own in the closing stages of Sunday's game, pulling the visiting defence all over the place forcing Adrian into a fine late save.

"Lukaku is a world-class player," said Bilic. "On one hand it's a pleasure to see him live when the game is open – his pace, strength, physique and the plan in his head – but when we were tight in the first half, we coped with him really good. Of course he's a world-class players and he seems to always do it against us!"

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Adrian - We lost our composure
WHUFC.com

West Ham goalkeeper Adrian said his side lost their composure during a 2-0 defeat to Everton
Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley grabbed goals for the hosts to give them all three points at Goodison Park
Adrian vowed to keep working hard ahead of the Irons' next fixture against Stoke City

Goalkeeper Adrian admitted the Hammers lost their composure during the side's 2-0 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday.

In an even game which was level at half time, Romelu Lukaku broke the deadlock five minutes into the second period, nodding home after Yannick Bolasie's centre.

And Ross Barkley put the result beyond doubt with a quarter of an hour remaining, half-volleying past Adrian to double the Toffees' advantage.

The Spaniard was left disappointed at the final whistle, and said his side struggled to regain a foothold in the clash after they fell behind.

"The play was so open in the first half and us and them both had good chances," he explained. "The first goal for them was a little lucky and then we started to lose our composure and they scored again.

"Everyone is disappointed and the second half was not good enough for us. But we need to keep going and concentrate on the next game.

"Every game in the Premier League is tough. We need to keep working harder for the next game and we will have another good opportunity at home next week."

The stopper was on hand to deny Seamus Coleman in the build-up to Lukaku's strike, diving low to his left to push away the Irishman's effort from the edge of the box.

And it wasn't the first save of note Adrian had made, having denied Barkley in the first half with a superb one-handed block.

"The save in the first half was a deflected shot and then a save, and it was important to save that goal and stay at 0-0," he said. "But at the end of the day, it means nothing because we lost the game.

"Bolasie reacted quickly unluckily for us [for the first goal], but we have to defend. We are not happy with conceding two goals but we must keep going and fighting for the next one.

"We started the season poorly but we changed the situation and got a few good results and we beat Chelsea in the week. Today was a hard game for us because we lost but we have to pick ourselves up and keep working for next week."

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Everton 2-0 West Ham United
BBC.co.uk

Everton ended a sequence of five matches without a win with a scrappy victory against a West Ham side who remain close to the relegation zone.

Romelu Lukaku put Everton ahead, heading home from close range for his seventh Premier League goal against the Hammers.

Everton improved as the match progressed and Ross Barkley, under scrutiny this season for some inconsistent performances, capped a fine display with a half-volley that secured the points for the hosts.

West Ham, who had been unbeaten in October, had chances and were the better side in the first half but were left to rue Angelo Ogbonna's miss, which could have given the visitors the lead.

Despite their recent revival - the Hammers were aiming for a third consecutive league victory - Slaven Bilic's men remain just three points above the relegation places as they continue to pay the price for four straight losses at the start of the season.

Barkley, Bolasie and Lukaku shine

Before the game, Everton manager Ronald Koeman said his offensive players had to improve and provide greater support to top scorer Lukaku.

The Dutchman knows his team's weakness, but there were signs in this match that £25m summer signing Yannick Bolasie and Barkley especially can become the consistent threats he craves.

The Toffees' attackers made little impression in the first half and the hosts had just one shot on target - a rasping, deflected Barkley effort which was saved fabulously by Adrian.

But Everton were more adventurous after the break, with Lukaku, Bolasie and Barkley the bright lights as they put West Ham on the back foot.

Winger Bolasie, criticised for not making an impact since his move from Crystal Palace, was key to the opener.

Adrian could only push Seamus Coleman's low drive a few yards away from goal and it was the DR Congo international who reacted quickest to scoop the ball across for Lukaku, who headed home unchallenged from close range.

Barkley, who has been dropped this season, became a greater influence in the second half and the midfielder made a difficult finish look easy for Everton's second.

Hammers lack ruthlessness

West Ham began with the confidence of a team who have collected seven points from their past three league games and progressed to the quarter-finals of the EFL Cup.

In the first half, Dimitri Payet was the game's creative force and the French playmaker was supported by the lively Manuel Lanzini, with Michail Antonio adding muscle up front.

Payet was involved in the moves that led to six of West Ham's seven shots in the opening 45 minutes and Ogbonna squandered a wonderful opportunity to put his team ahead after being put through by the 29-year-old.

Hammers defeat leaves 'bitter taste' for Bilic
In terms of statistics, there was not much to separate the teams - Everton had 49.1% of possession and West Ham made just 12 passes more than their rivals.
But Bilic's men were lacklustre after the break and failed to make the most of the opportunities they did create. Antonio failed to capitalise on a series of mistakes by Ashley Williams, while Joel Robles saved a Mark Noble effort that was heading into the net and a brilliant tackle by Bryan Oviedo was enough to put off Andre Ayew in front of goal.

Man of the match - Ross Barkley (Everton)
Barkley scored his first league goal since the opening day of the season. He had total of five shots, two of which were on target, and grew in influence as the match progressed

What the managers said

Everton boss Ronald Koeman: "It's a good win - a deserved win. "We played well in the second half. Maybe the first half was not what we expect if we play at home. Maybe because of the last few results we didn't have belief and confidence, and that was the difference between the first and second half." Koeman on Barkley: "That's how he needs to play. He worked very hard, he was running, and that's what you need to do. He had some shots on target, scored the second goal, and that's what we want to see from midfield."

West Ham manager Slaven Bilic: "While you are always not happy after a defeat, I am more disappointed because we could have taken something from this game.
"I'm not saying that they didn't deserve it, because they were more mature, but we should have done better. "They were more lethal and more cruel when they were offered something from us. We didn't capitalise on our chances."

The stats you need to know

Lukaku has scored in his past seven Premier League games against West Ham - only Robin van Persie (eight versus Stoke) has had a longer run.
Lukaku has had a hand in 10 Premier League goals against West Ham (seven goals, three assists).
Koeman is only the third Everton manager to remain unbeaten in his opening five home Premier League games (also Mike Walker and Roberto Martinez).
West Ham have now conceded in their past 17 Premier League games against Everton, their joint-longest run without a clean sheet in the competition.
Barkley has been involved in 19 Premier League goals since the start of last season (10 goals, nine assists). The only English midfielders with more are Dele Alli (22) and James Milner (21).
Bilic's side have lost four of their five Premier League away games this season, just one fewer than they lost in the whole of last term.
What next?

Everton, sixth in the table, will play Chelsea in the league on 5 November, while West Ham host fellow strugglers Stoke on the same day.

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West Ham linked with goalscorer
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 30th October 2016
By: Staff Writer

West Ham have been linked with a move for Manolo Gabbiadini as Slaven Bilic seeks to address his goalscoring problems.

With November less than 48 hours away, West Ham's group of strikers - including Simone Zaza, Andy Carroll, Diafra Sakho and Jonathan Calleri - have failed to score a single goal between them this season.

And that chronic inability to find the net - one of the reason the Hammers are currently perilously close to the relegation zone, ten matches into the Premier League campaign - has led Bilic to cast his eye across Europe once again.

According to reports, one of those being closely monitored by Bilic is Napoli striker Gabbiadini, who whilst hardly prolific has at least found the net already twice this season )once in Serie A, once in the Champions League).

And with current Hammer Zaza said to be admired by Napoli boss Maurizio Sarri, Bilic is rumoured to be hoping to swap the misfiring Italian who is yet to register a single shot on target, let alone find the net, since joining West Ham on loan back in August.

West Ham have been linked with a potential move for Gabbiadini on several occasions in the past, most recently during the summer when Italian media sources claimed West Ham had offered Napoli €23million + bonuses for the 24-year-old.

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Evertonian praises 'fantastic' Hammers fans
KUMB.com
Filed: Sunday, 30th October 2016
By: Staff Writer

An Everton supporter has written to KUMB in order to thank West Ham United's travelling fans for their contribution to the tributes that were held at Goodison Park before and during this afternoon's Premier League meeting between the two clubs.

With today's encounter being the Merseyside club's final home game prior to Remembrance Day on Sunday, 13 November the annually-observed minute's silence was held prior to the game - impeccably, by both sets of supporters.

Four minute's into the match home fans staged a minute's applause to mark the first anniversary of the passing of Everton legend Howard Kendall, who won the League championship as a player in 1970 before leading the team as manager to two further titles in the 1980s and European Cup Winners' Cup success in 1985.

Later, there was extended applause for Everton fan Rhys Jones, the football-mad 11-year-old who was tragically shot and killed in 2007, whose family were guests at Goodison Park this afternoon.

Having returned from the match, Evertonian Lenny Jameson took the trouble to write to KUMB.com in order to express his gratitude to West Ham's travelling supporters for their contribution to the tributes.

"As an Evertonian," he wrote, "I was at the game today, seated with my disabled friend behind the goal right next to the West Ham supporters. The support for their team was first class throughout the whole game.

"My main point however is their reaction to the minute's silence and two different minute's applause that were held today.

"The remembrance day silence was, as it should be, impeccably observed. And the response from the West Ham fans to the minute's applause for Howard Kendall and Rhys Jones was absolutely fantastic.

"The wholehearted way in which they all joined in was a wonderful sight to see. I hope you can pass this message on from us Evertonians and thank them all from the bottom of our hearts."

Mr Jameson, like his fellow supporters left Goodison Park in good spirit this afternoon after watching his team beat former Evertonian Slaven Bilic's Hammers 2-0, thanks to goals from West Ham's current nemesis, Romelu Lukaku, and England midfielder Ross Barkley.

But given the club's recent negative press, which reached fever pitch following the midweek EFL Cup win over Chelsea, he felt it important to redress the balance by extending his best wishes to West Ham's travelling supporters.

"After the negative publicity your club has received during the last couple of weeks, your fans at Goodison today were brilliant in their show of support and respect for another club," he added. "They were an absolute credit to their club and to football."

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WHAT HAS CHANGED BETWEEN THIS SEASON AND THE LAST?
BY EXWHUEMPLOYEE ON 30 OCTOBER 2016 AT 9:49AM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
By @Eoin_Lennon

9 games in and our beloved team is under extreme scrutiny due to an incomprehensibly poor spell. Up until recently the string of losses and bad results are something we all couldn't believe nor understand. But why? Why is this being focused on so intensely are people mixing up our beloved West Ham with Barcelona?

I firstly would like to say last season was the best season I can remember as a West Ham fan. Usually a West Ham fan at 2-0 up there has a stomach churning thought that we would squander our lead, due to the pressure of a bombardment of attacks. But last year on multiple occasions I felt us behind by 2 goals and still likely to win. And we did, with our fans pushing the team on until the very end.

But from this fantastic season I would like to pick out two spells of form. Firstly from Oct 31st until Dec 28th 9 games, the equivalent of our upcoming 9 games. This spell seen us without Dimitri Payet for the first time since the magnificent find. There were hard games in there but there was also a lot of poor teams. Our form here got us 9 points from these 9 game (one less point then our current form). There was not outcry here, no blaming Upton Park and no talks of Bilic getting the boot.

The second period is which seen our season to a close, the last 9 games. This period also had to tough games but not enough to warrant a miserable 13 points (only 3 more than our current run) especially when the team was full of confidence fighting for a champions league place. This means that in a spell of 18 games, nearly half the season, we managed 21 points. That sort of form is very bottom half material yet still it was, without a doubt, the best season I have ever witnessed as a West Ham fan.

I think there is an element of delusion amongst some fans which is being fuelled by media looking at every opportunity to bury the London stadium coupled with pundits slamming West Ham because we constantly made fools of them last year when they predicted we would fail. My biggest fear is seeing fans backing pundits rather than our teams and I see it on social media. West Ham fans agreeing with media and pundits saying the stadium is bringing about the end of West Ham and that Bilic wasted the transfer window. I know what WHU faithful would of told these pundits and media is previous years and it was not an agreeing pleasantry.

So if it's not the form to blame, or Bilic, or the stadium to blame what is it? I fear it is the fans! The fans are divided, a family no more and by our own doing only. We really needed to come together and support the team and we havent. We have fought with the board, fought with away fans, fought with the stewards and to everyone's disgust fought with ourselves. The only difference between this season and last is negativity in our own fans spreading like a disease making everything seem and feel worse when really it's nothing we haven't seen before. Everyone need to see there is only one way around it; stick together, welcome the new support, embrace the stadium and we must because at the end of the day it is our future and I still have belief that it is bright.

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REF WATCH – EVERTON V WEST HAM – ANTHONY TAYLOR
BY BRIAN KNOX ON 30 OCTOBER 2016 AT 5:39PM


Written by Sam Roydell-Ryell

After a great last minute Winston Reid winner against Sunderland last weekend and a very impressive win against Chelsea in the EFL Cup, West Ham go to Everton with bags of confidence and hoping for a win that could've taken West Ham up 7 places into 9th in the league. Anthony Taylor was the referee appointed for this Super Sunday fixture. Taylor was also the referee who officiated this exact fixture last season, when Kevin Mirallas was sent off for two bookable offences and West Ham came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2.

In a first half with only a handful of chances for both teams, it was Anthony Taylor that was causing a lot of the issues for both teams. Taylor was poor in the first half and was very soft on a couple of decisions that he made. Gareth Barry has always been a very physical figure throughout his career and it was business as usual in the first half against West Ham. You can look at Barry's challenges in one of two ways: It's either old school tackling: hard, firm and strong or in the modern game it's a foul. There is no middle ground and referees have different opinions on when a tackle is deemed as fair or dangerous. 9 times out of 10, strong challenges this season have been penalised. Barry made some questionable challenges which Taylor overlooked.

Romeu Lukaku was causing issues for the West Ham defence in the first half including catching one or two players with his eblow/forearm. The Belgium is a big presence and I feel that he does need to be careful when climbing to challenge for the ball. From a players prospective, the use of arms is for elevation and in my opinion Lukaku wasn't actions weren't deliberate to elbow Winston Reid. Idrissa Gueye was cautioned in the first half for clearly pulling Pedro Obiang's shirt and fouling the West Ham midfielder in the process. Gueye was the last man between the ball and Everton's goal but a yellow card was the correct decision as the foul was 30 yards from goal and wasn't denying an obvious goalscoring opportunity. Gueye was also involved with an incident with Michail Antonio and the assistant referee initially flagged for the foul after Gueye caught Antonio with his hand. Taylor decided not take any action and I feel although there was contact by Gana on Antonio, it wasn't deliberate. Mark Noble was in the thick of things in the first half, which included blocking a promising strike from Ross Barkley. Although the ball hit Noble's arm, it wasn't deliberate handball by the West Ham midfielder.



In a second half, where West Ham's defensive mistakes led to two Everton goals, Anthony Taylors performance and decision making was very poor at times. Taylor missed some very obvious fouls but also gave fouls against both teams when the ball was fairly won. Taylor failed to give Payet a yellow card for clearly body checking Funes Mori early in the second half but issued Pedro Obiang a yellow card for the exact foul on Ross Barkley. It's a lack of consistency from Taylor. Winston Reid was penalised for a hand ball and Taylor issued a yellow card which means that Reid will miss West Ham's next game at Stoke for getting 5 yellow cards this season. Bryan Oviedo was the second Everton player to be cautioned after a late challenge on Michail Antonio. West Ham's defence was awful at times and this wasn't any different for Ross Barkley's goal, when 5 West Ham players were rushing to defend and nobody picked up Barkley at the back post. There was a questionable decision by the assistant referee to determine whether Lukaku was offside in the build up to Everton's second goal. This would have been an extremely tight decision and in this instance as it was too tight to call, the assistant gave Lukaku the benefit of the doubt. One decision that the majority of West Ham fans will not agree with me for is that Gueye was fouled by Obgonna inside the penalty area in stoppage time. The Italian tried to get himself between the ball and Gueye but Ogbonna was nowhere near the ball, making contact with the Everton midfielder and brought him down inside the box. In my opinion, I felt that Taylor should have given Everton a penalty 2 minutes inside stoppage time.

Overall, I felt that Taylor was very poor in this fixture. I felt that he was inconsistent with his decision making, allowed challenges to go unpunished and punished certain challenges unnecessarily when they were perfectly timed. The penalty appeals in the final minutes was the icing on the cake on Taylor's performance and as a referee you need to ensure you're switched on from the 1st minute to the 90th plus stoppage time. Regardless of the score and the time remaining in the game, a foul is still a foul. A note on West Ham; I felt that we started very well but then gave Everton too much time to settle especially with their recent poor form. It's concerning that some of the West Ham players are failing to put a shift in this season and as I hate to admit this but Payet really needs to get into the game a lot more. He's been very slow to track back and lost the ball a number of times in promising positions. We sit 3 points above the bottom 3 and our fixture is at home next Saturday against Stoke.

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Slaven Bilic rues West Ham lack of killer instinct in Everton defeat
By James Walker-Roberts
Last Updated: 30/10/16 4:42pm
SSN

Slaven Bilic rued West Ham's inability to capitalise on a bright start as they were beaten 2-0 by Everton at Goodison Park on Sunday.

The Hammers were the better side in the opening 25 minutes and went close through Pedro Obiang, Dimitri Payet and Manuel Lanzini.

But after failing to score, Everton responded and secured victory through second-half goals from Romelu Lukaku and Ross Barkley.

"I am disappointed because we should have taken something," Bilic to Sky Sports. "I am not saying they didn't deserve it, they were more mature when the game was in the balance, but we should have done better, especially after the start we had for the first 20-25 minutes.

"We were much better and should have built on that. When we offered them a little they took it straight away, they offered us a lot, in the first half especially, but you have to be more cruel and penetrate better and score goals. If you don't score you have a big chance of losing the game."

The Hammers boss was also disappointed that his side did not manage to clear the ball before Lukaku made it 1-0.

After Adrian saved from Seamus Coleman, there were a couple of defenders in close proximity, but they were beaten to the rebound by Yannick Bolasie, who crossed for Lukaku to finish.

"We had chances to clear the first goal," said Bilic. "It was a good save from Adrian then we had a chance to clear, we didn't, we waited too long.

"We had the ball at our feet, if you concede like that you have to say it's very cheap."

Despite his disappointment, Bilic praised the performance of Lukaku, who scored his ninth goal in his last nine matches against West Ham.

"He is a world-class player," Bilic added. "Until 2-0 we coped with him really well but he is a world-class player and he is always doing that against us."

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West Ham 'crying out for striker' after Everton loss, says Graeme Souness
Last Updated: 30/10/16 5:39pm
SSN

Graeme Souness thinks West Ham are 'crying out for a striker' after seeing them lose 2-0 to Everton on Sunday. The Hammers signed both Andre Ayew and Simone Zaza over the summer, but the former has only just returned from an injury suffered on the opening day, while Zaza has yet to settle after joining from Juventus. In a bid to solve the issue, the versatile Michail Antonio has been used as a forward in the last two matches. But he was unable to make an impact in the defeat at Goodison Park, leaving boss Slaven Bilic with much to ponder "West Ham are crying out for a striker," Souness said on Sky Sports. "They are playing without a centre forward. "Ayew is short of match fitness and that is the hardest place to play - you have to be bang on it to get goals at the highest level.
"Zaza runs around with no real thought to his game, and they are playing without any real threat at the moment." The Hammers had chances in the early stages against Everton but Pedro Obiang, Dimitri Payet and Manuel Lanzini failed to convert. "West Ham played so well in the first half, but I don't know what happened to them in the second half," said Jamie Redknapp. "They stopped doing all the right things and they were so poor. Zaza runs around with no real thought to his game, and they are playing without any real threat at the moment. Hammers boss Bilic also rued his side's inability to capitalise on their bright start. "I am disappointed because we should have taken something," Bilic said. "We should have done better, especially after the start we had for the first 20-25 minutes.
"We were much better and should have built on that. When we offered them a little they took it straight away, they offered us a lot, in the first half especially, but you have to be more cruel and penetrate better and score goals. If you don't score you have a big chance of losing the game."

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