West Ham were left
frustrated by a well organised Aston Villa side at the Boleyn Ground this week.
The Irons showed
plenty of endeavour for no reward as the now infamous 4-6-0 formation reared
its head once more. The instructions clearly were to get the ball down and play
and on a number of occasions, West Ham were able to cut through their opponents
at will. Sadly, however the final ball was often lacking and as such there were
very few clear cut chances for the home side.
In fact, one could
argue that the best chances of the first half fell to Aston Villa on the break
where Weimann broke dangerously but could only fire the ball at Jaaskelainen,
under pressure from James Tomkins. A second time the wily Villa frontman broke,
he was chased back by Ravel Morrison, who challenged just outside the box
causing Weimann to tumble to the floor. Cue mass gesticulation from the Villa
fans but Howard Webb was unmoved. It was a tricky one, there was definite
contact but it appeared that it was a 50/50 which Ravel managed to win.
After that the
half was dominated by the Hammers and some slick build up play. We passed and
moved well, getting the ball out wide to Jarvis and Downing who often managed
to get balls in the box that were met by Villa defenders. A seemingly good
plan, if we played with a striker. But it did seem quite unbelievable that this
was the gameplan, when we once again started with no recognised frontman. Kevin
Nolan huffed and puffed, Jack Collison (drafted in after an impressive second
half at Burnley) had a shot that hit the side netting, but all in all we looked
a little toothless despite dominating possession.
The second half
started brighter for the visitors, who also rocked by injury looked the more
likely to nick it as the game wore on. West Ham persisted with the
passing/crossing style, Aston Villa continued to defend with relative ease.
The best chance of
the game came from a Villa break which saw Christian Benteke get on the end of
a pinpoint cross, only to head mercifully against the West Ham bar.
A double change
came and the two Coles were introduced. Carlton gave us a much needed target to
aim at in the middle but again found himself frustrated for opportunities. Joe
Cole hustled and bustled and had one of only four West Ham shots on target
towards the end of the game. Kevin Nolan continued his barren run and was clear
through from a sneaky Downing ball but was unable to find the target.
So, it was one of
those days at the Boleyn Ground. It didn’t seem like we would score if we had
another 90 minutes to play. On the positive side, it is yet another clean
sheet, however there were some bemusing occurrences in selection and style of
play. If the 4-6-0 is used for counter attacking, why use it in a game we would
dominate at home? If we start with no striker, why persist in banging balls
into the box time and time again? I don’t know if Big Sam was hoping for second
balls to drop kindly and live off scraps, but either way it did not seem like
the way we should be trying to play in a must win home game.
We desperately
missed the dominance in midfield of Mo Diame who made a belated substitute
appearance in the 88th minute. Surely he is the ideal candidate up
top for the ‘False nine’ system? Kevin Nolan tried hard once again, but in a
midfield required to score, as the most advanced player he once again failed.
Again, it does beg the question, why not start with Joe Cole in these barren
goal scoring times? He is consistently one of our best performers in front of
goal and certainly not short of passion for the shirt.
Next week sees an
away trip to Norwich City fresh from a 7-0 drubbing at the Etihad and possibly
a point to prove. Will Hughton still be at the helm? Difficult to tell, as will
the result come the end of the 90 minutes. Then we have the international break
followed by Chelsea and Fulham at home.
December 3rd sees the short trip to Crystal Palace. You get the
impression as a West Ham fan these next four games will be pivotal to our
season. If we come out of it with 7-9 points, game on. 5 points or less and we
will be somewhere near the relegation zone and struggling for confidence.
Still we have an
away day at White Hart Lane in December to boost morale come what may. Here’s
hoping for a few wins under the belt and the long-awaited return of Big Andy
Carroll much before then.
Jaaskelainen 7
Some
fine stops
Reid 8
Solid
and dominant as always
Rat 6
Tried to link up well
with Jarvis – still needs to improve
Tomkins 7
A
good game – dealt with Benteke generally
Demel
6
Some
endeavour shown
Nolan
6
Huffed
and puffed – nothing to show for it
Jarvis
7
Getting
back to form with some good runs
Noble
8*
A
masterclass of tackling and passing once again
Collison
6
A
good shot and linked up well
Morrison
6
Not
his best game despite a goal-saving challenge
Downing
7
Played
well – beat players and crossed well
Substitutes
- Carlton Cole 6
No
clear cut chances
- Joe Cole 7
Played
some good football – needs more game time
- Mo Diame 6
Showed
what he can do in the 3 minutes he was given
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