Tottenham 0 - 3 West Ham United

One of the most anticipated fixtures of the West Ham calendar went off with a bang as the Irons ran out 3-0 winners over their North London rivals.
The West Ham fans started proceedings with the chant, 'We will sing what we want' but on the whole there was little naughtiness from the travelling contingent as a bright start kept the eyes firmly focused on the football. Vaz Te came in for the beleagured Modibo Maiga and James Tomkins kept his place ahead of James Collins. However, it was the midfield that dominated the show from the off and kept the Spurs players at bay and hunting for the ball for most of the opening exchanges. It would be wrong of me not to mention the fact that the West Ham team that took the field cost a mere £13 million. That would be half a Saldado or a third of a Paulinho. This must be a shoe-in for in form Spurs, against a West Ham side with a woeful away record, right? In fact the last time the Hammers won here was 14 years ago when messrs Ian Wright and Marc Keller provided the goals, so not a great deal of hope then for even the most optimistic of the Claret and Blue army.
It wasn't long before Tottenham began to get a hold on the game and had a string of good chances in the first half. But West Ham were resilient and set up quite brilliantly by the old master Big Sam and Spurs found themselves frustrated by a switched on Irons defence. In fact, it was the Hammers who had the best chance of the half when Mark Noble chipped a free kick over the Tottenham wall and into the path of a waiting Kevin Nolan, who saw his shot drift agonisingly wide. He should really have done better.
The second half started brighter for the home side and Defoe missed a gilt-edged chance when he was set up by livewire Christian Eriksen. It makes a change because the little so and so normally scores against us, but this was not to be his or Spurs day at all.
West Ham found their feet and had some periods of excellent pressure.  We knocked the ball around well and Vaz Te up front revitalised the team to say the least. However it was from a Mark Noble corner that West Ham took the lead, Winston Reid needing two bites of the cherry to put West Ham 1-0 up.
Spurs went on the attack but to no avail, as the Irons defensive set up left them wanting and allowed us to break with pace. It was Ricardo Vaz Te, who was put through and broke well for the second goal. He only had Hugo Lloris to beat which he did with aplomb, despite the despairing goalkeeper getting a hand to the ball. 2 - 0 West Ham and cue a lot of eye rubbing and clock watching from the Claret and Blue Army.
The third goal was an absolute delight to watch. Ravel Morrison picked the ball up in our half and broke with venom through the centre. He skipped past Dawson and then Vertonghen like they weren't even there and placed the ball deftly in to the bottom left hand corner to finish off proceedings.
A wonderful goal from a startling talent. I must say I have not been this excited about a West Ham youngster since Joe Cole burst onto the scene. The boy has serious talent and rightfully deserves his England U21 call up.
So a potential banana skin for Tottenham well and truly slipped on. Speaking of slipping they are down to 6th in the table and hopefully this result will bring an air of reality back to Arsenal's noisy neighbours.
They can't blame the lasagna this time, the big spenders of North London were truly outplayed by a better side on the day. Morrison's creativity and West Ham's unending work-rate were just too much for them in a game that could have put Spurs on top of the premier league. Oh well, it wasn't to be.

So where does this leave West Ham going into the international break? Perhaps we will win the league? Who knows but we are certainly in a far better place than before the game started. Noble did take a knock and came off late, so we will need to see how bad the injury is. Downing started and Joe Cole made a welcome return from the bench. Vaz Te had a point to prove and did it rather well and a normally toothless attack, played with gusto and confidence today; long may it continue.
Did I mention that this game was against Spurs? And they were at home?

Great result for West Ham, bring on Man City on October 19th.


Jussi 7
Did all he needed to do
Demel 7
a solid game
Reid 8
Fabulous as usual. Scored the opener
Tomkins 7
Handled a tricky Tottenham attack well
Rat 7
Looking threatening going forward
Noble 8
Classy as usual
Diame 6
Not his best game but was solid in defence
Downing 7
Played well
Morrison 9 *
Outstanding game - sublime goal
Nolan 7
A good display
Vaz Te 8
Brought a spark back to the team

Hull City 1 - 0 West Ham United

Another week, another conversation about the referee. What is it about these guys? Perhaps Big Sam gives them the hump from the off with his hooting and hollering. I don't know but I don't think I have ever seen a softer penalty in my life. 12 minutes gone after a bright West Ham start, Brady goes down like a sack of spuds after the slightest of contact from Joey O Brien, penalty Hull City. O'Brien was looking at the ball yet Mr. Friend deemed it worthy of a spot kick in what would prove to be the decisive goal in the match.
Now there has been a lot of doom mongering amongst the West Ham faithful about terrible starts and easy teams played. Also the fact that we have not scored away from home in seven hours, doesn't make pretty reading. However, if you do your homework it is not all doom and gloom.  We had 60% of possession and had two more shots on target than the Tigers. It was a bad time to play Hull as they are riding the crest of a wave at the minute, which a la Blackpool, I can't see lasting forever. They didn't create anything else really and Bruce's excellent organisation prevented what looked like a certain West Ham goal. Tomkins header was cleared off the line and any other day could have gone in not to mention in the second half Roland Rat fired wide when really he should have scored.
The final saving grace is that dear Mr. Friend twisted the knife slightly more by not awarding the Hammers a second half penalty. Jake Livermmore stuck his arm out, moved towards the ball, the ball hit his arm, no penalty. It was a blatant one, still no dice for the irons.
So plenty of reason to feel aggrieved but after mulling the result and performance over, I am not too concerned. Yes we have a tough run, yes we still haven't scored, but we dominated the game and really deserved to win. We have had some atrocious luck and as has been widely documented the make up of the side is not quite right at present.
It was pleasing to see Tomkins back in the line up who didn't put a foot wrong. He provides a far greater aerial threat than any other of our defenders from set pieces and I think he could form a formidable partnership with Reidy at the back for years to come.
Ravel stills looks like a beautiful little dynamo and is causing a fascinating headache for Big Sam as the big boys like Cole and Downing return from injury. It will be interesting to see if he has the cajones to drop Kevin Nolan as I believe he rightly should on recent performances. Not to mention the fact that he could have very easily been sent off for a two-footed challenge on Leroy Rosenior in the opening ten minutes, his performances have been lacklustre of late.
So I am remaining positive - could actually see the irons getting something over at White Hart Lane next week and spoiling their party for once. Lest we not forget despite the disappointing start, we have had injuries and two weeks now of refereeing howlers. Our squad is stronger and more capable than this time last year. Obviously there are the striking issues, but sooner or later the luck has to turn and we find ourselves on the receiving end of some refereeing generosity. Defoe sent off, Noble penalty,  West Ham 1-0 next week? Dare to dream guys..!

Jussi 6
Went wrong way for penalty. Otherwise solid
Rat 6
Getting better each week. missed a howler
Joey O'Brien 7
Well played. Desperately unlucky for the penalty
Tomkins 7
Solid and an aerial threat
Reid 7
Very good as usual
Noble 7
Typically energetic
Diame 6
Out of position and struggling
Nolan 5
Poor once again. Could have been sent off
Jarvis 6
Not a lot too write home about
Morrison 7 *
Getting better ever game
Maiga 5
Gettting better. Still little goalscoring threat

Vaz Te 6
Could be worth a start soon
Downing 5
Poor. Not one good cross
Petric 6
Not hugely effective today

Beautiful Eggs and Rotten Ones

The Happy One confirmed his thoughts about the Chelsea squad, claiming he had 'beautiful young eggs' he needs to keep 'warm'. An amusing interview, which depicted the reason why English football needs Mourinho back in the Premier League. His demeanour was calm and as a football fan, you could see by his cutting wit when asked twice about 'the worst start to a Premier League season,' that he is calm and relaxed about the long term future of his team.

But what about the Mighty Irons though? I read a tweet last night that informed me that with all our midfielders fit, we have a 'stunning' selection of players. I would agree we have an impressive array of talent in that area and the coming of age of Ravel, can only add pace and guile to it.

But my question and major concern lies with the other areas. The defence has been impressive this season but does it have the legs and do we have the back up to the ever-present Reid and Collins to last a lengthy season? What if, heaven forbid, there is a cup run? Tomkins will play but will he be Premier League fresh to stand in if required? Is Dan Potts ready? Will he get his chance at all? Is Rat good enough? Early suggestions on limited viewings suggest not. My point is that Big Sam has done a tremendous job of making silk purses out of some hairy ears. Collins is still prone to a howler see Swansea away last year, Southampton on Saturday, but is big strong and reliable. Fair enough. Demel, who looked like a fish out of water has held his own and can produce going forward. The turnaround of Joey O' Brien and George McCartney (when fit) is nothing short of spectacular in my opinion. Finally - Winston Reid. In all honesty, I never thought he would make it in the Premier League, yet Big Sam has turned him into one of the Premier League's most reliable central defenders. Behind these trusty few - what is there though? Not a lot by my reckoning and a majority of the aforementioned are at the peak of their powers at this moment in time.

This leads me nicely onto the strikers. I literally shift in my seat and feel a wave of nausea when this over-egged (excuse the pun) issue comes up. I am sick to death of talking about the whys and wherefores of Andy Carroll's injury. A lot of people in the know, had him pegged as a long term injury problem. Some have mooted that this is a career-ender. West Ham fans will wait with baited breath. Absence certainly makes the heart grow fonder in East London and granted the team need him back. But he is not the second coming. He will not be reintroduced in a hail of lightning and thunder, leaving defenders in his wake and destroying goal mouths with every strike. That's right West Ham fans; he is merely mortal and will take time and games to get anywhere near where he was at the end of last year.

The concern comes from the lack of options and quite frankly the short-sightedness of all involved at our predicament. Yes we do not concede many. In fact the only goal conceded so far was a set piece that quite frankly should not have been awarded. But can someone scream in Big Sam's ear, we may need to score a goal or two this year?

It's ok though, Sam has a backup plan. Trusty Carlton Cole. Oh, actually not him, he is not fit enough to return to Premier League action. Plan B? Phew, good work Big Sam. Mladen Petric. Petric, you say? He did ok at Fulham didn't he? Excellent, get him straight in and up top! Oh, one small problem he too, is FIVE WEEKS away from fitness. What is going on?

So we are left up top with rotten eggs and ugly ducklings for now. There will certainly be no shopping in Waitrose for us. The Beautiful Young Eggs behind, will have to do their best and hopefully keep us afloat until January, the transfer window or the Second Coming arrives in East London.

Anyway, what are West Ham fans predictions about this year? I reckon 14^th. I think with the weaknesses up front we will struggle away and be acceptable at home. 

What are other people’s thoughts?