Daily WHUFC News - 14th January 2018

Arnautovic and Lanzini star in four-star show
WHUFC.com

Huddersfield Town 1-4 West Ham United
Premier League, John Smith's Stadium, Saturday 13 January 2018

Three goals in a devastating 16-minute spell at the start of the second half
gave West Ham United a memorable 4-1 Premier League victory at Huddersfield
Town.
The Hammers were ruthless in front of goal with Marko Arnautovic and Manuel
Lanzini in unstoppable form. The No10 scored twice, while Arnautovic
registered a goal and two assists as his fine run of form continued. David
Moyes' resurgent side have lost just one in eight, are up to eleventh in the
table and have completed their first league 'double' of the season. Earlier,
Mark Noble had given the visitors a 25th-minute lead with a cool finish from
inside the area, before Joe Lolley – whose error gifted Arnautovic the ball
in the lead up to Noble's goal – atoned for his error by levelling from the
edge of the box. West Ham did not let their heads drop and attacked in
clinical fashion on the game's resumption, taking the game away from their
hosts with those three unanswered goals – the first within 12 seconds of the
restart through Arnautovic. The Hammers welcomed back Arnautovic, James
Collins and Aaron Cresswell from injury and the trio all came straight into
the starting eleven. However, it was the hosts who saw most of the ball
inside the opening ten to 15 minutes, although all they had to show for it
was a header glanced wide of the target by Christopher Schindler from a
right-wing corner. West Ham slowly began to impose themselves on the
contest, with Lanzini and Arnautovic looking to link up in attack, and it
was the latter's persistence which led to their opener Huddersfield
goalkeeper Jonas Lossl played the ball short to Lolley, but the midfielder
was not reckoning on Arnautovic closing him down so quickly. The Austrian
stole the ball and played it through to Noble, who calmly finished inside
the near post. After taking the lead, West Ham looked relatively comfortable
in the advantage until Lolley took up the mantle to make up for his error
five minutes before half-time. He drove at the Hammers' defence, and as they
backed off he took advantage of the space to curl a fine shot beyond the
grasp of Adrian.
The Hammers did not let that setback affect them though as they set about
Huddersfield with wonderful efficiency at the start of the second period.
Straight from kick-off the visitors made it 2-1. After Lanzini kicked-off,
the ball was played long forward to Cheikhou Kouyate, whose touch found
Arnautovic. His flick left Tommy Smith standing and there was no doubt the
Austrian would fire home for his sixth goal in seven top-flight matches.
With 56 minutes on the clock Arnautovic was involved again to set up a
beautiful goal for Lanzini. After fine work from the impressive Kouyate and
Pedro Obiang, the No7's stepover bamboozled Zanka and allowed him to pass
through perfectly for Lanzini to slam home from 15 yards. Huddersfield could
not live with the Hammers' attacking duo and they combined again for the
fourth just five minutes later, as Arnautovic burst into the box, running
from right to left. He couldn't pull the trigger, but Lanzini was there in
support and he fired into the roof of the net to give Lossl no chance.
Terriers debutant Alex Pritchard had a deflected free-kick which Adrian did
well to readjust and save 15 minutes from the end, but there was no way back
for the hosts as West Ham continued their unbeaten start to 2018.

Huddersfield Town: Lossl, Smith (Kongolo 71), Zanka, Schindler, Malone,
Hogg, Mooy, van La Parra, Lolley (Pritchard 65), Ince, Depoitre
Subs not used: Coleman, Sabiri, Williams, Mounie, Hefele
Goal: Lolley 40
Booked: Smith

West Ham United: Adrian, Collins, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Zabaleta, Obiang,
Kouyate, Noble, Masuaku, Lanzini (Rice 85), Arnautovic (Ayew 82)
Subs not used: Hart, Chicharito, Burke, Cullen
Goals: Noble 25, Arnautovic 46, Lanzini 56, 61
Booked: Cresswell

Referee: Jonathan Moss
Attendance: 24,105

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Moyes revels in historic Huddersfield victory
WHUFC.com

David Moyes praised his 'terrific' West Ham United side after they scored a
4-1 Premier League victory at Huddersfield Town. The Hammers were inspired
at the John Smith's Stadium, going ahead through Mark Noble, then recovering
from conceding an equaliser to score three more times in a devastating
16-minute spell immediately after half-time – first through Marko Arnautovic
and then twice through Manuel Lanzini. While he was not getting carried
away, Moyes was rightly proud of becoming the fourth manager to 200 Premier
League wins in front of the watching Sir Alex Ferguson. "We've got a long
way to go, but the players have done brilliantly well since we came in and a
lot of praise must go to them," said the Scot. "I thought they were terrific
today, beating an opponent who was one of the teams around us in the league,
so it's really important."

With six goals and three assists in his last seven Premier League
appearances, Arnautovic is in the form of his life, but it was his work-rate
– his challenge set up Noble for the opener – which impressed the manager as
much as anything else. "I'm really pleased with Marko. Everybody told me he
hadn't performed before I came, but everybody knew how good he was at Stoke
City, and that's why we paid a big fee for him. Giving him a freer role up
front has given him a chance to show other sides to his game as well, with
the effort and the way he has worked. "Manu could have played him in a
couple of times in the first half but he didn't get the pass. In the end, it
was Marko playing in Lanzini to score, so his all-round play was very good.
He's done really well. "The two centre forwards were a threat all day. Every
time it went to them, it looked like they were causing problems. It was a
real, terrific team effort. Everyone worked hard and did their jobs and I
have to praise them all."

Moyes confirmed that Arnautovic's goal just seconds into the second half,
when he beat Huddersfield captain Tommy Smith to Cheikhou Kouyate's flick
before slamming low past Jonas Lossl, was the turning point of the game.
"Undoubtedly the goal in the opening seconds of the second half was a
game-changer. You need bits to go for you in football matches and we got a
goal right from the kick-off, which gave us a great start to the second
half." That goal put West Ham on course to join Ferguson, Arsene Wenger and
Harry Redknapp among the select band of bosses with 200 Premier League
victories to their names. "Those names are all great managers so to be in
that position is great. I've enjoyed it, I've had good times, I've had bad
times but ultimately you want to win the games and I'm glad I've won a few!"


West Ham have now climbed to their highest position of the season, and Moyes
has challenged his players to keep their run going when they host AFC
Bournemouth at London Stadium next weekend. "I think you stay up in the
division by winning your home games and we've sorted it out in the main and
have picked up there, but when you're not doing that you've got to win a few
games away from home. "We've had a couple of really good wins away from home
and we're also scoring goals. We are a threat and have people capable of it,
and people on the bench capable of it as well, so at this moment in time I
think we're capable of scoring. "I'd like to give them better service, so
let's keep hoping that we keep winning the games that we need to."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
We were just on fire in Huddersfield win - Arnautovic
WHUFC.com

Marko Arnautovic said West Ham United were 'on fire' during the 16-minute,
three-goal salvo that downed Huddersfield Town. The Hammers went into
half-time level at 1-1 at John Smith's Stadium, but the Austrian's superb
strike just 12 seconds into the second period put his side on the way to a
comprehensive 4-1 Premier League victory. With six goals and three assists
in his last seven top-flight appearances, the No7 is in the form of his West
Ham career so far, but was keen not to take all the praise for himself. "I
thought our performance was good, even in the first half, when we just
couldn't complete the final pass," said Arnautovic. "We had a lot of space
in front and we just always missed the last pass. "But in the second half,
it was just on fire and even then we missed some last passes. It could have
been a festival for goals but unfortunately... not unfortunately, because we
scored four goals so we are very happy because this was a massive win for
us!"

Arnautovic said the Hammers always felt they could turn their season around
after collecting just ten points from their opening 15 games. With 15 from
their last eight top-flight matches, the Hammers are up to eleventh and
targeting a strong top-half finish, rather than a nerve-jangling relegation
battle. "We know that we have a lot of quality in the squad but the first
ten or 12 games were not West Ham. We try hard, we work hard and first of
all we try to defend and hold a clean sheet, then in front we have to be
creative and score goals. We've done that in a couple of games now. "We are
doing well, but the season is not over. We've got some very hard games to
come, so we're going to keep going."

Arnautovic's interplay with Lanzini was mesmeric at times, with the pair
combining superbly for West Ham's third and fourth goals. The former
unsurprisingly enjoys playing alongside the diminutive Argentinian, who
scored his second and third of an improving season, while also adding two
assists to take his tally to an impressive eight in 17 appearances. "We
always try to do our best, but Manu Lanzini told me I never give him any
assists for goals, but today he got two! Now I think he needs to be quiet
until the next game! "Well done also to the defence. They always worked and
did a brilliant job, and also a massive shout to our fans, who were perfect,
like always. We keep going."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Huddersfield Town 1-4 West Ham United
By Emma Sanders
BBC Sport

West Ham manager David Moyes says the board "want to add more players" after
his side thrashed Huddersfield 4-1. The Scot refused to blame the club's
owners for a lack of transfer activity so far in the January transfer
window, explaining it was "just the difficulty of the month". Saturday's win
means Moyes is just the fourth manager to win 200 Premier League matches.
His side have gone five games unbeaten in all competitions, move five points
away from the drop zone and overtake Huddersfield in the process. It was
skipper Mark Noble who led the way - pouncing on a lazy pass from goalkeeper
Jonas Lossl to put the visitors in front. Joe Lolley equalised with a superb
curling effort before Marko Arnautovic scored within seconds of the restart.
He later assisted Manuel Lanzini twice as the visitors ran away with it in
the second half - inflicting just a fourth home defeat on Huddersfield this
season. David Wagner gave league debuts to new signings Terence Kongolo and
Alex Pritchard, and said they will "help Huddersfield reach their target" of
securing Premier League safety. "The two signings we made very much made
sense," Wagner said. "I am absolutely happy they are with us."

The Terriers remain four points above the relegation zone before a trip to
Stoke and a home match against Liverpool. Arnautovic was forced to miss the
1-1 draw with Tottenham on 4 January but was straight back into the starting
line-up at John Smith's Stadium. Moyes knew he needed his best players on
the pitch and Arnautovic did not let him down - contributing two assists and
a goal. He terrorised Huddersfield's defence all afternoon and, despite not
making much impact in the first half, there were signs he would become a
danger. His link-up play with Lanzini was on show in the opening stages as
the pair created space for each other out wide and constantly switched
positions. The dynamism and creative flair ultimately opened things up, but
it was Arnautovic's determination off the ball that got the early
second-half goal as his side regained the lead. He weaved in and out of
defenders to create Lanzini's first before the pair linked up again to make
it 4-1 and seal the victory. Arnautovic said his team were "on fire in the
second half" - but it was his partnership with Lanzini that earned the three
points.

Although the defeat does not cause too much damage to their league position,
it was one of the heaviest Huddersfield have suffered this season. They have
lost at home on four occasions in all competitions - to Manchester City,
Chelsea and Tottenham, who are all competing in the Champions League. That
shows what a good result it was for Moyes' side, but also puts into
perspective the success Huddersfield have had so far this season. Their
performance against West Ham was out of character. They made three key
errors which Wagner described as leading to "own goals" as the Hammers
unpicked them in the second half. Lossl's weak pass to Lolley in the first
half kick-started a string of individual errors and, although Arnautovic was
creative in his own right, he was helped immensely by a poor Huddersfield
display.

Moyes' Premier League record puts him behind only Sir Alex Ferguson (528),
Arsene Wenger (468) and Harry Redknapp (236), and he said having his name
alongside those "great managers" was a "good feeling". "I'm just glad I have
managed to win a few," he joked. Since being appointed West Ham manager, he
has turned things around and the Hammers are now creeping their way slowly
up the table. The festive period was a particularly impressive one for
Moyes' side. They have picked up eight points from their past five games,
including draws against Tottenham and Bournemouth away from home. Victory at
John Smith's Stadium has given them some distance above the drop zone but
they still have a long way to go before securing safety.

Hammers on the up - the best of the stats
West Ham have won eight points in their past four Premier League away games
(W2 D2 L0), as many as in their previous 15 combined.
Some 69% of Huddersfield's home goals conceded in the Premier League this
season have been against London clubs (11/16).
Huddersfield have conceded seven goals in their past two Premier League
games, this after conceding six across their previous six.
Lanzini scored his first ever double in the Premier League, on what was his
78th appearance in the competition.

What the managers say
Huddersfield 1-4 West Ham: David Moyes praises 'terrific' Hammers
West Ham manager David Moyes: "We have a long way to go but the players have
done brilliantly well since we came in and they did very well today. "I'm
really pleased with Marko Arnautovic. Everybody knew how good he was at
Stoke and maybe giving him a freer role up front has given him a chance to
express himself.
"Andy Carroll wasn't fit. We decided not to bring him to the game because we
have a game on Tuesday."

West Ham's goals were too easy - Wagner
Huddersfield head coach David Wagner: "It's not about the position in the
table - this is a good one - but our performance was below par, especially
individually.
"The first three goals [for West Ham] were more or less like own goals. We
are not able to win a football match in the Premier League by doing that. It
is too easy and that is why we lost. "There were things which we cannot do
at this level. We made three of those mistakes in one game - hopefully we
will make none in the next."

Man of the match - Marko Arnautovic

What's next?
Huddersfield travel to Stoke in Saturday's 15:00 GMT kick-off while West Ham
host Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday in their FA Cup third-round replay (19:45).
Moyes' side return to league action on Saturday against Bournemouth (15:00)
at home.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
HUDDERSFIELD 1-4 WEST HAM – MATCH REPORT
AUTHOR: BRIAN KNOX. PUBLISHED: 13 JANUARY 2018 AT 6:36PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Match Report by @WestHamAmerican

A flurry of goals early in the second half of play gave West Ham a 1-4
victory in the premier league today over Huddersfield Town as David Moyes
grabbed his 200th league victory and West Ham secured a much needed three
points while away at John Smith's Stadium today.

The opening half featured none of the Hammers' usual suspects at forward, as
Andy Carroll and Diafra Sakho were not on the roster. Havier Hernandez,
after a sub-par FA cup tie, spent the day on the bench. Moyes did have both
Manuel Lanzini and Marko Arnautovic up top and they made the most of their
opportunity but waited until the second half of play to come to life.

The first 45 minutes were largely forgettable football other than Mark Noble
capitalizing off a poor pass from Hudderfield's keeper as the errant Jonas
Lossl pass was snatched up by the West Ham captain and he put it past the
near post to take the early lead.

The Terriers' fans were brought back into the match moments before the break
when Joe Lolley cut through traffic and fired a beautiful left-footed shot
that curled beyond Adrian's reach. With the score knotted 1-1 neither
manager made any half time changes to the lineup.

Whatever David Moyes said in the changing room, it must have motivated his
side as Arnautovic took a pass from Kouyate and having only Tommy Smith to
beat he fired it from the edge of the penalty area and scored only 14
seconds after the kick off.

Now playing on the front-foot, West Ham were in attack mode and Arnautovic
seemed somewhat determined to involve Lanzini more as he took the ball
through the defense and played the Argentine through. Lanzini then sent it
past Lossl into the far corner of the net.

The Arnie- Lanzini combination found a fourth when Arnautovic drove into the
penalty area, and was taken down by Christopher Schindler. He managed to
play to Lanzini before he lost possession and once again Manu sent Lossl the
wrong direction and the visiting club picked up a 1-4 lead.

Other than the early goal, West Ham's defending was more spirited than other
matches against bottom-half of the table competition. James Collins playing
in place of Winston Reid added some stability to the back line. In the 73rd
the hosts looked to climb back into the match as Alex Pritchard took a free
kick from only 25 yards in front of goal. The ball deflected off of
Johnathan Hogg and almost was disaster for the Hammers, if not for Adrian's
spirited dive to the right to push it away from goal.

The final moments saw neither side threaten too seriously. After four
minutes of added time, Jon Moss ended things and West Ham found themselves
11th in the Premier League table. January and February might turn out to
be the club's best chance to earn permanent safety as there are no top ten
opponents a visit to Liverpool on February 24. The near-term challenge for
Moyes, besides a non-productive January transfer window, is how to set up
for a FA cup replay Tuesday night against Shrewsbury Town. The League One
side showed no fear last week. Weighing any risk to the likes of Lanzini
and Arnautovic while they are playing in good form is a tough call for the
manager. An honest run at the FA Cup would be good for West Ham, but only
five points from safety it's a bit of a gamble.

Huddersfield Town: Lossl, Smith, Malone, Schindler, Zanka, Hogg, Mooy, Van
La Parra, Ince, Lolley, Depoitre.
Subs: Kongolo (71'), Sabiri, Coleman, Williams, Pritchard (65'), Mounie,
Hefele

West Ham: Adrian, Cresswell, Zabaleta, Ogbonna, Collins, Masuaku, Obiang,
Noble, Kouyate, Lanzini, Arnautovic.
Subs: Hart, Hernandez, Burke, Cullan, Rice (85'), Ayew (83')

Referee: Moss

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
David Moyes hails West Ham team effort in win over Huddersfield
Last Updated: 13/01/18 7:18pm
SSN

David Moyes praised his forwards but insisted it was a team effort as West
Ham won 4-1 at Huddersfield in the Premier League. West Ham manager David
Moyes hailed his team's collective performance after they brushed aside
Huddersfield with an impressive 4-1 victory at the John Smith's Stadium.
Manuel Lanzini scored twice to add to strikes from Mark Noble and Marko
Arnautovic as the Hammers moved up to 11th in the Premier League table. West
Ham are upwardly mobile under the Scot, with eight points in their last four
away games, and the victory was Moyes' 200th as a Premier League manager.
"It's a really big win," he said. "The teams from 10th down, anyone can beat
the other on any given day so it's a big win for us. "I was a bit
disappointed going in 1-1 at half-time, and we told them that. I was
disappointed with bits of our play but right from the off [in the second
half], we got a break and Marko scored. "I was delighted with the front two,
who caused them problems all day, but it was a real team effort. They all
worked hard doing their jobs so I have to praise them all."

Moyes also praised the travelling support who were treated to a clinical
display of counter-attacking football after the break, and he hopes the
recent improvement in form will attract more players to the club this month.
Moyes becomes the fourth person to achieve a double century of Premier
League wins after Alex Ferguson (528), Arsene Wenger (468) and Harry
Redknapp (236) - and the 54-year-old is understandably proud of his
achievement. "I am proud because it's not easy to manage in the Premier
League," he added. "It's difficult to stay in the jobs for a long period of
time. I was very fortunate in the early part of my career to have good
chairmen who gave me time to collect those wins. "It's a good achievement
and there's some really big names who have won those number of games and
more as well."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Huddersfield 1-4 West Ham: Manuel Lanzini scores twice as Hammers romp to
win
By Ben Grounds
Last Updated: 13/01/18 7:53pm
SSN

West Ham produced a devastating second-half display to thump Huddersfield
4-1, with Manuel Lanzini scoring twice to give David Moyes the 200th Premier
League win of his managerial career. Mark Noble capitalised on a mix-up
between Jonas Lossl and Joe Lolley to give the Hammers the lead with a cool
finish (25), before Lolley made amends five minutes before the interval with
a sublime equaliser for the Terriers. Marko Arnautovic restored West Ham's
lead just 11 seconds into the second period when he latched onto Cheikhou
Kouyate's flick, and the Austrian then turned provider for Lanzini's first
away Premier League goal since November 2016 (56).
Lanzini completed the rout five minutes later following another swift
counter-attack as the Hammers moved above their opponents into 11th in the
table, with Huddersfield dropping to 13th place. Moyes has now completed a
double century of wins in the English top flight, with only Harry Redknapp,
Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson - watching on from the stands at the
John Smith's Stadium - having achieved more. After a cagey opening, West Ham
profited from a disastrous breakdown in communication between Huddersfield
'keeper Lossl and Lolley from a goal-kick, as Arnautovic forced the
midfielder into conceding possession on the edge of his own penalty area,
allowing Noble to sweep in the 50th goal of his career. But Huddersfield,
and in particular Lolley, responded well to the setback. Lanzini over-ran
the ball to Mathias Jorgensen and, once Tom Ince had invited Tommy Smith
forward from the right, the ball was worked wide by Aaron Mooy to Lolley and
he stepped inside Noble to curl a wonderful strike into the bottom corner.

David Wagner's side finished the half in the ascendancy but they were made
to pay for a sluggish start to the second period as, from the kick-off,
Angelo Ogbonna's long ball forward was flicked on by Kouyate to Arnautovic,
who lifted the ball over Smith before firing low to Lossl's left and into
the net. The Terriers were rocked by the bolt out of the blue, and their
problems increased as, five minutes later, Arnautovic sped away from
Christopher Schindler to lay the ball into Lanzini's path and the
Argentinian flashed his shot across Lossl for a slick third. Moyes was
delighted to call upon Arnautovic after he recovered from a hamstring
injury, and further signs of his blossoming relationship with Lanzini were
on show for West Ham's fourth as the Austrian winger spun Schindler on the
touchline before allowing Lanzini to take the ball off his toes to cut
inside and blast his second into the roof of the net.

Opta stats
This was David Moyes' 200th win as a manager in the Premier League, becoming
the fourth person to achieve this feat after Alex Ferguson (528), Arsene
Wenger (468) and Harry Redknapp (236).
West Ham have won eight points in their last four Premier League away games
(W2 D2 L0), as many as in their previous 15 combined.
69 per cent of Huddersfield's home goals conceded in the Premier League this
season have been against London clubs (11/16).
Huddersfield have conceded seven goals in their last two Premier League
games, this after conceding six across their previous six.
Marko Arnautovic is the sixth player to score in 3+ consecutive Premier
League away games for West Ham and first since Diafra Sakho in October 2014.
Mark Noble has now scored (35) or assisted (27) 62 Premier League goals for
West Ham - only Paolo Di Canio (78) has had a hand in more for the club.

The managers
David Wagner: "It was a frustrating day because we made too many easy
mistakes. The first is an individual mistake that should never happen. With
the second one we needed to be stronger and we tried to play offside for the
third. "West Ham have creative individuals who were able to hurt us. We had
too many players who were below par today. "We have to make sure this never
happens again, but we know exactly what went wrong. Unfortunately not
everything in football goes to plan."
David Moyes: "It's a really big win. The teams from 10th down, anyone can
beat each other on any day so it's a big win for us. "I was a bit
disappointed going in 1-1 at half-time, and we told them that. I want our
fans to see what we can be like, we're giving fans a reason for coming away
from London for away games. "We had fantastic support and hopefully this
attracts more players to the club."

Moyes hails team effort
David Moyes praises his forwards but insists it was a team effort as West
Ham won 4-1 at Huddersfield in the Premier League.

The pundit
Matt Le Tissier: "Arnautovic was outstanding this afternoon. He was
different class and was the difference between the two teams He was a thorn
in the Huddersfield side. "I don't know what Moyes has done to him, but he
looked like an absolute world-beater today. "Once West Ham got in front in
the second half, Huddersfield over-committed men forward and Lanzini was
able to profit from that. On the counter, they looked very dangerous."

Man of the match - Marko Arnautovic
Arnautovic was absent from West Ham's goalless draw with Shrewsbury Town in
the FA Cup third round, but David Moyes' decision to protect him was
vindicated as the Austrian returned to torment the Huddersfield defence with
another display of his improvement since the Scot's arrival. It's now six
goals in his last seven games for Arnautovic, who provided Manuel Lanzini
with both his strikes - meaning for the first time in his Premier League
career, the forward was involved in three goals in a single game.

What's next?
Huddersfield will look to regroup when they head to the bet365 Stadium to
face Stoke City next Saturday, while West Ham have an FA Cup third-round
replay against Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday before entertaining Bournemouth at
the London Stadium next Saturday.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
HUDDERSFIELD TOWN 1, WEST HAM 4. SING IT, MICK!
By David Hautzig 13 Jan 2018 at 17:20
WTID

Players and managers often have Matchday routines and plans. So did I. You
see, today is my sons eleventh birthday. He was supposed to take his first
archery lesson this morning while my daughter was at school (yes, her
current school has morning classes on Saturday). Then we were going to go
out for lunch, come home to open presents, make his chosen dinner of
Spaghetti & Meatballs, play with the aforementioned presents, and then call
it a night. However, Mother Nature interfered yet again. Ice, freezing rain,
and snow after 60 degrees and torrential rain yesterday made the roads
treacherous. I expected to be home alone during the match, but that didn't
happen. And on your kid's birthday, you shouldn't say NO to a request
because you are watching West Ham. At least I wouldn't. Thankfully, he
didn't ask for much and I had a lovely morning watching football.

As always, there was drama for West Ham before a ball was kicked. Andy
Carroll didn't make the trip because….exactly. Rice was dropped because….no
clue. Moyes only named six subs to the bench because….temporary insanity? I
know the U23 squad played yesterday and Moyes reportedly decided it was more
important for certain players to play that match than sit today. But he
couldn't decide on one? Whatever.

The first opportunity of the match fell to Huddersfield when they won a
corner in the sixth minute. The delivery was good, as was the flick on into
the space right in front of Adrian. Fortunately for West Ham nobody on the
home side made a run to go for that second ball and it rolled out for a goal
kick.

As the first half moved into the 20th minute, The Hammers started to at
least try to assert themselves a bit more. Lanzini made a couple of runs, as
did Arnautovic, and Kouyate just mistimed a run onto a pass from Ginge. But
despite that bit of endeavor, there was still no end product. In fact, there
wasn't even an attempt on goal. The only positive ball came from the reborn
Noble, but it only went out for a goal kick.

I'm so used to watching West Ham make silly mistakes and get punished for
them that when they happen to the opposing team I barely know how to react.
In fact, I generally expect to see a good chance wasted. So when Lossi sent
a short goal kick in the 26th minute to Lolley and Arnautovic pressured
Lolley into losing the ball to Noble all alone in front of the Huddersfield
goal, I saw Noble channeling his inner Carlton Cole (bless him) and skying
it to the atmosphere. Instead, he showed experience and skill and easily
slotted it home for his 50th career goal.

Huddersfield 0
West Ham 1

Irony. Only one different letter from Irons. Yet so appropriate for our
club. In the 42nd minute, Huddersfield broke down the right. The ball came
to Lolley. The man responsible for West Ham's opener. Noble, the man who
scored after that error, had a chance to challenge Lolley on the right side
of the box ran right past him. Lolley then had nothing but pasture in front
of him and ran into it. He cut to his left and let rip a left footed
screamer that beat a diving Adrian.

Halftime
Huddersfield 1
West Ham 1

I won't lie. I was with my son when the second half started. I tried to keep
an eye on the clock to know when to get back downstairs for the start of the
second forty five minutes. So when I did get back to the IPad plugged into
the television, I had to put my glasses on to make sure I saw the screen
correctly. The replays were thankfully as wonderful as the live action.
Arnautovic showed the kind of skill we lived for from DiCanio and Le Snake
by passing to himself over Smith's head and drilling it past Lossi only
eleven seconds after the re-start.

Huddersfield 1
West Ham 2

Minutes after West Ham regained the lead, they won a corner. Cresswell's
delivery found Ogbonna in the box. His bouncing header was touched by
Kouyate and looked destined for the back of the net. But Mooy was stationed
on the line, and perhaps on another day before goal line technology a bad
ref or linesman would have ruled it a goal. But technology was there, and
the ball only went halfway in. Horseshoes and hand grenades as they say.

The visitors stayed on the front foot, and after some nifty one touch
passing between Kouyate, Obiang, and Arnautovic the latter was sent free by
Kouyate. Lanzini cut across and into the box, and our Austrian Talisman
rolled a perfectly weighted ball to the little Argentine. Smith held his
hand up, but since the linesman is decidedly not a preschool teacher he
didn't call on the Huddersfield right back. Lanzini ran onto the ball and
put a low shot past Lossi.

Huddersfield 1
West Ham 3

Huddersfield was obviously in a position where they had to chase the game.
West Ham were ready to pounce, almost to a degree I had a hard time
believing. Kouyate, having his best game in ages, won the ball on the right
side of the West Ham penalty area. His long ball was brought down by
Arnautovic, and he was off to the races. He wanted to finish what he
started, but Schindler caught up to him and forced Arnie to rethink his
plan. Which he did, with a pass to Lanzini in the box. A delightful finish
into the top corner was next, and West Ham were up by three.

Huddersfield 1
West Ham 4

The home side had a chance to make the final fifteen minutes a bit more
interesting when new signing Alex Pritchard stepped up to take a free kick
from twenty five yards out. His shot was poor, but it took a deflection off
the wall and Adrian had to dive down to his right to palm the ball out for a
corner. West Ham were given a small gift on the ensuing set piece when
Smith's shot from inside the box clearly went off Obiang and out for what
should have been another corner. Instead, Moss pointed to Adrian for a goal
kick. After that, it was just good ol' Moysie shutting them down.

Final Score
Huddersfield 1
West Ham 4

No, you can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
You can't always get what you want
But if you try sometime you find
You get what you need

I am going to guess that most West Ham fans despaired and expected the worst
when Lolley equalized. I know I would have settled for a draw at that point.
A second half goal explosion was about as likely as a progressive comment
from Donald Trump. For all of the calls for a young, aggressive manager, I
don't think we have the infrastructure and management to support such a
project. Eight years in and if there has been progress under the current
regime I'd love for someone to point it out to me. That's why I was OK with
Moyes coming in and am willing to give him a shot at this longer term.

We are now eleventh in the table, albeit a table tighter than the suit I got
married in. But to start the run of games that by most accounts will define
our season with a comfortable win away from home is brilliant.

Happy Birthday, Son.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
West Ham boss David Moyes eyes raid on old side Everton for young midfielder
Tom Davies
The Hammers are also set to offer Declan Rice a new contract, but it's
unlikely Robert Snodgrass will return early from his loan spell at Aston
Villa
The Mirror
ByNeil Moxley
22:30, 13 JAN 2018

David Moyes will test Everton's resolve to keep hold of ­midfielder Tom
Davies. The West Ham boss is keen to take the teenager to the London Stadium
as he seeks to rebuild the Eastenders. Toffees' chief Sam Allardyce has a
­top-heavy squad at Goodison Park and will listen to offers for several of
his players. Whether that includes Davies ­remains to be seen – but Moyes
wants to add the 19-year-old to his engine room. Allardyce does not have a
reputation for blooding young talent and Everton supporters would be unhappy
if one of their academy graduates was allowed to leave on the cheap. Former
boss Ronald Koeman handed the England youth ­international his chance in the
first team last season. Since then, he has built up a ­considerable body of
experience without establishing himself and Moyes is hoping to trade on that
– as well as handing Davies a hefty pay rise. The Scot has been assessing
his ­resources in the capital and wanted to bring Robert Snodgrass back from
his ­temporary spell at Aston Villa. However, the Hammers banked a hefty
loan fee from Villa – understood to be in the ­region of £2million – and
Steve Bruce would ­demand that was repaid before any move could be
sanctioned. Snodgrass, 30, also suffered the ­embarrassment of Hammers
co-owner David Sullivan questioning his £10.2m signing from Hull last
January. Sullivan said his kids begged him not to buy Snodgrass, although
previous boss Slaven Bilic wanted the deal done. It is understood the fact
that cash needed to change hands has scuppered any chance of the Scotland
international returning from Villa during the window. Meanwhile, West Ham
are set to offer Declan Rice a new contract that will more than double his
wages. The 18-year-old defender has made a huge impression on Moyes and his
assistant Stuart Pearce. He has played in central defence and also in
midfield and was outstanding against Tottenham in the 1-1 draw in the
Premier League. Rice was also one of the few Hammers to come out of the
goalless draw at Shrewsbury in the third round of the FA Cup a week ago with
any credit. Rice – who has played for the Republic of Ireland at Under-21
level and is rated by Irish boss Martin O'Neill – has a deal that runs out
next year and ­currently earns around £10,000 a week.

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

http://vyperz.blogspot.com