Performance Analysis
When I saw Valon Behrami play his first game for West Ham my heart sank. He was all gangly and seemed to run about the pitch aimlessly. How wrong I was. He proved to be the lynchpin of our revival under Zola and displayed an absolutely awesome workrate. He’s also a tough tackler and great going forward. I’d say he was our buy of the season and I have little doubt that if he hadn’t got injured he would have won Hammer of the Year by a country mile. When he returns from injury next season he will be one of the first names on the teamsheet. The man stands a real chance of becoming a West Ham legend if he plays his cards right. I am told that within days of his injury he was at Chadwell Heath all hours of the day doing everything he could to get back to full fitness. He was there before other players arrived for training and was always the last one to leave.
Strengths:
Workrate, tackling, leadership

Weaknesses:
Er, none that I can think of apart from a lack of goals!

Marks

Consistency 9
Workrate 10
Skill 8
Speed 8
Value to team 9
Leadership 9
Teamwork 9
Ever presence 7
Discipline 7
Season overall 9

TOTAL 85

Stay Or Go
Absolutely stay. There were rumours of a return to Italy, or even a move to Chelsea, but his injury will have put paid to that.

Transfer Value: £8 million at least

Performance Analysis
I’ve never been convinced by Kovac. He flutters around the pitch and flatters to deceive. He looks hyperactive, yet it is difficult to see him as a creative influence. His passing is weak and his first touch sometimes non existent. But the boy can shoot from distance as he proved against Everton. In four months he only made seven starts. Enough said.

Strengths:
Shooting from distance
Weaknesses:
Passing and first touch

Marks

Consistency 6
Workrate 7
Skill 6
Speed 5
Value to team 5
Leadership 6
Teamwork 5
Ever presence 3
Discipline 5
Season overall 5

TOTAL 47

Stay Or Go
Go. He refused to appear in one match because he said he could only perform if he was 100% fit. From that moment on his card was marked.

Transfer Value: £0 (loan player)

The BBC is reporting that West Ham could be sold tomorrow! I suspect this isn’t the case at all – it is just that the consortium of banks is about to take over as previously announced. Or do you interpret THIS report differently?

Performance Analysis
Freddie Sears has not fulfilled the potential he was showing a year ago. He scored on his debut and we naturally went overboard and thought he might be the next Tony Cottee. He has developed, but not as fast as we had hoped. He scores at will in the reserves, but in his four starts and 13 appearances from the bench he has never looked like adding to his total. It’s not that he is too small, he just never seems to get into the danger areas at the right time when he is playing in the first team. It is absolutely right to send him out on loan to a championship side next season. Regular first team football will hopefully make a man of him.

Strengths:
Speed, eye for goal in the reserves.
Weaknesses:
Easily knocked off the ball, lack of first touch
Marks

Consistency 5
Workrate 8
Skill 6
Speed 8
Value to team 5
Leadership 5
Teamwork 6
Ever presence 4
Discipline 8
Season overall 5

TOTAL 59

Stay Or Go
Immaterial, he is out on loan next season. Would I sell him now? No.

Transfer Value: £1.25 million

Luis Boa Morte 7.78
Junior Stanislas 7.53
Lucas Neill 7.42
Robert Green 7.35
Matthew Upson 7.31
James Collison 7.19
Carlton Cole 7.17
Kieron Dyer 7.00
Mark Noble 6.68
Herita Ilunga 6.63
Jonathan Spector 6.12
Radoslav Kovac 5.83
Diego Tristan 4.29
David Di Michele 4.20

I’ll be publishing the full season player performance ratings during the week.

Performance Analysis

For a player who has only made 15 appearances this season, Jack Collison has made a tremendous impact. Injury has restricted him over the last few weeks, and he has been sorely missed, but I think we all know that he will be in Zola’s starting eleven in August. He’s scored three goals and always looks dangerous in attack. He’s willing to shoot from distance and take on players, and he’s also tenacious in defence.

Strengths:
Shooting from distance, energy, dribbling.
Weaknesses:
None are obvious so far.

Marks

Consistency 9
Workrate 9
Skill 8
Speed 8
Value to team 8
Leadership 8
Teamwork 8
Ever presence 6
Discipline 9
Season overall 8

TOTAL 81

Stay Or Go
It’s pretty obvious. He ain’t goin’ nowhere!

Transfer Value: £8 million

This was an odd game. The first half was slightly tedious. We dominated but never really got out of third gear. We didn’t really have to as the opposition was lamentable. Apart from their goal they barely had a shot on target. Perhaps this was not surprising as they had eight players in their lineup who I had never heard of.

Zola tinkered with the starting eleven, dropping Tristan and Di Michele to the bench, although both came on in the second half as substitutes. But throughout the game, we too looked light up front. It was difficult to see who was playing where. Cole seemed to be on his own for most of the game, with the midfield five playing all over the place. Boa Morte and Stanislas continually swapped wings. Kovac was all over the pitch, while Noble was the star of the first half, at the centre of everything in midfield. Collison too had a cracking game, storming and rampaging forward at every opportunity. Indeed, Collison, Stanislas and Kovac seemed to be willing to shoot from distance as often as they could, and that hasn’t really happened this year at all.

Defensively, Rob Green had little to do and could not be faulted for the goal. Lucas Neill and Matthew Upson were superb in defence. Lucas Neill was brilliant in the second half. Was he playing for a new contract or wanting to impress on his final appearance? I have no idea. Jonathan Spector failed to impress at right wing, while Herita Ilunga had one of his weakest performances of the season.

I never thought I would say this, but Boa Morte had me on my feet clapping and cheering at one point, when he won the ball then dribbled half the length of the pitch. I hope you are sitting down for this, but I make Boa Morte my man of the match. See, I can be objective!

Junior Stanislas improved as the game went on and by the end he was almost on a par with Boa Morte. The goal gave him some confidence, but I do wish he’d have the confidence to dribble and take defenders on. I wonder if it is wise to keep swapping wings. He’s clearly not comfortable on the left.

Jack Collison was immense, as usual. He is going to be a key player for us next season. Carlton Cole never really got into the game. He was better after the goal, but failed to win much in the air or hold the ball up as well as he can.

Perhaps the brightest aspect of the whole game was the performance of Kieron Dyer when he came on in the second half to replace Mark Noble. He still has some lightning quick speed and was unlucky not to get a goal. We really are blessed with some stunning midfield talent. To be honest, I am not sure where they will all fit in next season if they are all fit. Collison, Noble, Parker, Dyer, Behrami, Kovac, Stanislas, Boa Morte – how do you pick four from them?

Anyway, we won. And we won at a canter. I thought we might go on to get a hatfull, but then Di Michele and Tristan came on…. And so to the marks

Green 8
Spector 5
Ilunga 5
Neill 8
Upson 7
Stanislas 7
Boa Morte 8
Noble 7
Kovac 6
Collison 7
Cole 6
Dyer 7
Tristan 5
Di Michele 4

If you saw the match on TV or were at the game, please rate the player performances for the Middlesbrough game.

Vote HERE.

The final game of the season is always a little special, especially when the opponents are playing for their lives. We haven’t done too well against Middlesbrough this season so in some ways it would be nice to finish the season with a vintage performance.

There will be one enforced change this afternoon as James Tomkins is suspended after his sending off last week. Assuming James Collins is fit, he will be the replacement, otherwise Jonathan Spector will fill in at right back with Lucas Neill filling in in the centre.

In theory this could be Lucas’s last game at Upton Park as he is still refusing to sign the new deal which has been offered him. The same goes for WHTID Hammer of the Year Rob Green and Matthew Upson.

Carlton Cole could well make a very welcome return up front in place of Diego Tristan or Di Michele. Other than that, I doubt if there will be many changes to the starting lineup against Everton, unless Zola decides to fully blood one of the youngsters.

I hope we all give the team and the management a rousing cheer at the end. I doubt whether many of us thought we would finish the season so high, after the dark days of the end of the Curbishley era. We’re now playing fantastic football and have the potential to become one of the best teams Upton Park has ever seen. If we can retain our best players in the summer and add a couple of strikers, we can be very optimistic about next season.

And now of course we can look forward to three months of transfer gossip. Lovely jubbly!

1. Robert Green 21%
2. Herita Ilunga 19%
3. Scott Parker 17%
4. Valon Behrami 14%
5. Matthew Upson 12%
6. Carlton Cole 7%

Congratulations to Robert Green. The fact that the votes were spread around is a good sign and shows the level of performance that many of our players achieved.