Wednesday, September 15, 2010

West Ham v Chelsea and a look ahead to Stoke.

Well nothing changed against Chelsea as we let in three goals for the 4th game on the trot, although we did score 2 at the other end - a great piece of team play that allowed Carlton Cole to score, only to be ruled off-sided by a step and a sublime individual goal from Scotty Parker 10 minutes before time.

Although this was a much improved display, especially in the 2nd half, the same problems are still there! The most concerning is the defence which has to be the worst currently in English football – highlighted drastically by Chelsea’s second goal when a Rob green fumble was then cleared terribly by Upson off the back heal of Esienne and back over the top of Green. Comical errors for anyone watching - except us long suffering Hammers fans!

Positives were the excellent debut of Obinna alongside Cole – given time, and if Cole can get into second gear, you can see this being a good strike force. Piquionne can also step into the role of Cole, so the only worry there is if Obinna gets injured as we don’t have a like for like player to step into his shoes. Other than that the continued fitness of Dyer is a huge bonus – why wasn’t he on from the beginning? Maybe to rest him for the Stoke game and use him as an impact sub against Chelsea?

The key to our success this season is for Avram to choose his first choice defenders and stick with them. Only after half a dozen games will we see if we have a back 4 that can really work well together. If we keep leaking 3 goals a game then we aren’t going to win many this season!

Looking ahead to Stoke and this is the game we should be looking at to turn our season around. On paper, if the tactics are right, Stoke are a team that we can get a result from. For me a clean sheet and a win (2-0 would be nice), coupled with a confident display, could be just what we need ahead of the Spurs game at home. Loose against Stoke and I think we will have our heads down against Spurs and will struggle. It’s amazing how much difference a good display and a decent result can make!!

I’m going to stick my neck out and go for a 2-0 win to us. With Grant not there who will be in charge of tactics I wonder??!!

Watch the game live as always at www.hammerstv.com...

C.O.Y.I

No comments:

Post a Comment