A toothless and lacklustre display ensured the Hammers were
well beaten by their West London rivals at Upton Park.
Having never been to this fixture before, I was excited to
say the least. I assumed there would be nothing less than a gutsy performance,
matched with an electric atmosphere-neither of these materialised. Chelsea were
impressive in patches but it was the Irons who carved out the better
opportunities in the opening minutes. West Ham continued to pass the ball well
and found a couple of openings through Stewart Downing on the left hand side to
no avail.
Frank
Lampard as always, found himself the butt of the home-faithful jokes and right
in the centre of the action. It was he who had the last laugh in the 21st minute, when Guy Demel fluffed a backpass to the helpless Jaaskalienen, the
veteran keeper had no opportunity to come rushing out to heed the danger. Sadly
his 38-year old legs were not as nimble as those of Oscar’s for the Blues and
the West Ham keeper sent him tumbling for an undisputable Chelsea penalty.
Up steps
East London’s not-so favourite son to fire into the roof of the net and put
Chelsea 1-0 up. Cue OTT celebrations from a man who should really know better
and the atmosphere started heating up.
In the
Trevor Brooking Lower, there are a number of what I would call ticking
timebombs. Old fellows who lived through the dark days of the 70s, in black
bomber jackets and lengthy trenchcoats. There are winks and nods to security
guards. Everyone seems to know each other except me and there is a feeling that
the place could erupt at any minute and it did as soon as the penalty hit the
back of the net. The West Ham faithful launched themselves towards the Prawn
sandwich brigade with ferocity, shoes were being waved in the air, police were
panicking – I have no idea about the shoes by the way, however it was carnage.
The Chelsea
travelling fans replied
with the affluent nonchalance we have come to expect nowadays. Gone are the
fiery encounters of the eighties and even nineties, the social divide now plain
for all to see. It was like a doctor taking a blood sample from a patient,
except in 2013 the patient is Chelsea and the sample is footballing passion.
Anyway back
to the action and Chelsea were well in control. The way they passed and moved
with confidence was sublime at times with Oscar and Hazard proving the hub of
the majority of their attacks.
West Ham
were not without their chances too. A ball played into the box, landed in the
melee and struck goalwards by Joe Cole, only to be whipped clear by the Chelsea
defense.
After 34
minutes another defensive lapse put the Blues 2-0 up. Calamity-a-game James
Collins went sprinting to meet the sprightly Oscar, leaving himself woefully
out of position and the defense vulnerable. Quite predictably, he was turned by
the young star who headed goalwards and snuck a low drive into the bottom
corner.
2-0 down at
home with little more than half an hour gone and Big Sam was prompted into
action. A double substitution with Mo Diame and Modibo Maiga brought on in
place of Jack Collison and Joe Cole. It was not a popular decision mind you,
especially pulling off Cole, whose shirt was promptly ripped off and thrown
somewhere in the vicinity of the subs bench. ‘You don’t know what you’re doing’
rang around the ground as the fans turned on the manager whose insistence on
the 4-6-0 had seemingly got us into this mess in the first place. Ho hum.
It was
clear that a lot of fans left at half time as West Ham started the second half
slightly brighter but Chelsea having the better opportunities. Impressive,
attacking moves resulted in Lampard nearly getting on the end of another
Chelsea attack. It was coming.
West Ham in
fairness passed the ball better in the second half and did dominate periods of
possession. Ravel picked out some lovely passes and wide balls, but once again
up front we were toothless. At the risk of repeating myself once again, how can
Kevin Nolan remain on the pitch when as the leader of our ‘attack’ he consistently
fails to make an impression on the goal? It beggar’s belief. Maybe Big Sam’s
sheer stubbornness will be the death of him, I fear anything but a win against
Fulham and the big man is in a lot of trouble.
Eventually,
with 15 minutes to go, Big Sam relented and brought on Matt Jarvis for his ever-present
leader. I was quite surprised to hear boos go around the ground when Nolan came
off and only a spattering of handclaps also. Perhaps, the tide is seriously
beginning to turn at Upton Park. Whilst reading the programme notes at half
time, Nolan talks of his desire to lead the team out at the Olympic Stadium.
This sent a shiver of harrowing fear down my spine as I read. God forbid!
By this
stage, I had seen enough and headed for the toilet, before the walk to the car.
A thunderous roar came from above me as Lampard’s second and Chelsea’s third
went in, I bolted for the cold East London air.
In brighter
news, I didn’t get a £65 parking ticket and managed to stick the car close to
the A13 for a hasty exit. Also, I was petrified about the bitter cold on this
London evening but this too was managed with aplomb by moi. Armed with my
wife’s leggings as long johns and my daughter’s West Ham socks over mine, I
felt relatively cosy whilst Chelsea pulled our pants down. Trev 1, Life 0.
So, what
next for West Ham United? It does seem that the penny has dropped for Big Sam
regarding the striker situation. If the papers are to be believed the Irons are
in for every aging striker across Europe, so in some respects that is a
positive sign. The numerous other questions remain however. Why sign Carlton
Cole and not play him? Was it a Sullivan signing? Why does one of our best
players, Diame not start? When he does play why he is on the sodding wing? Why,
oh why does Kevin Nolan continue to get the nod? Where is the fight in the dog?
Next
Saturday we host Fulham at home and this has truly become a must win game for
the Irons.
Jussi 6
Doesn’t like coming out to crosses.
Demel 5
Has skill – but defensive error cost us
Tomkins 6
Solid
Collins 4
Groan. Another defensive lapse costs us
O’Brien 6
Fine
Downing 6
Lost of endeavour - very little cutting edge
Collison 5
Taken off after 40 minutes
Cole 6
Taken off after 40 minutes
Noble 6 (MOM)
Lots of endeavour – still playing well
Ravel 6
Picks a great pass – our best player but needs to pull the
trigger more
Nolan 4
Good at chasing down the opposition keeper
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