So where do I begin with this one? West Ham’s 4-3 defeat to Bournemouth yesterday was, I’m sure, very entertaining; if you were a neutral or a Bournemouth fan. As someone who is neither what I saw yesterday was verging on shambolic. So what did we learn this week? (I will try my very best not to despair too much)
1. Would the real West Ham defence please stand up?
This one could take a while. Four goals conceded, all of them as a result of a defensive mistake. Bournemouth’s first – Cresswell dispossessed attempting to shield the ball out of play. Bournemouth’s second – Cresswell lays on the perfect assist for Wilson. Bournemouth’s third – no one is strong enough to win the ball and then Jenkinson dives in rather than staying on his feet. Bournemouth’s fourth – Jenkinson loses possession to Gradel before he brings him down in the box to give away a penalty. These were just a handful of the mistakes on show in the game.
Jenkinson and Cresswell, two of our stars from last season, both had days to forget. They looked clumsy and, rather worryingly, frightened. We desperately need these two to return to form. Full back has arguably become the most important position in football and these two have the quality. I hope second season syndrome isn’t going to become a recurring theme.
Of course, the centre backs didn’t have a great day. Compounded by the fact that Ogbonna was hooked off after just 34 minutes. The quality is there, but the players are not applying themselves right now.
A lot of defensive work needs to be done on the training ground right now to produce a solid unit. Concentration, commitment, composure, positional sense and defensive awareness all need to be improved. If we continue to be as leaky as this then we will be looking down rather than up for the majority of the season. That Arsenal game seems a long time ago now…
2. Stay on the front foot
Straight after half time it was all guns blazing for the Hammers and they played superbly for about 10 minutes. This is when we scored the two goals to get back level. When we look to attack we actually look pretty good. Unfortunately there is a reluctance, for whatever reason, to play like this continuously. Once we equalized the team sat back and we returned to a playing poorly and in a clumsy fashion. Last week against Leicester was the same. Straight after half time, with nothing to lose, we attacked and looked good. Payet scored his goal during that time period. But, again, that only lasted for about 20 minutes before it was time to take the foot of the gas again.
We look good when that foot is firmly on the accelerator. Maybe we should keep it there for longer and also before we go 2-0 down. Just a thought.
3. Where’s our structure?
Would anyone like to take a guess as to what formation we were playing in the game? Nope didn’t think so. There was absolutely no shape to the side and, unsurprisingly, Bournemouth exploited this. Sometimes Nolan was up top ahead of Sakho. Sometimes Sakho was out wide and Payet was in the middle.
I could name plenty of other examples and it just kept changing throughout. Now I’m all for versatility but that was ridiculous. It looked like there was confusion as to where individuals should be playing. This reflects badly on the players but also the management team for not getting the message across correctly. If that system was the plan all along it’s time to get back to the drawing board very hastily.
4. Red card number five
This is beginning to get f*cking tedious now. The lack of discipline throughout the squad is costing us dear. I pay to watch 11 v 11, not 11 v 10.
5. Who chooses the man of the match award?
Five minutes to go, unsuccessfully trying to get back on level terms and the stadium announcer declares that the ‘West Ham man of the match is… Darren Randolph’. Seriously? We’ve let in four goals. Now he did do himself proud with a couple of decent saves, particularly as it seemed he was about to get pushed out of the West Ham door the day before, but conceding four would not be considered a good day at the office for a goalkeeper. The announcement was almost patronizing so whoever selected him needs a lesson or two into how football works. Also on a day like that it’s probably best just to do away with the award and congratulate the ball boys or catering staff.
