It wouldn’t be unreasonable to ask the following question. “What could we possibly learn from playing a team that hasn’t won in eleven games and is holding up the rest of the Premier League”?
A lot.
This was a unique position for West Ham. To go into a home game against a team in the relegation zone and have it not be a six pointer. To be not only the favorite to win, but to be universally expected to win in much the same way a Chelsea or Manchester City would be expected to win a similar game. That’s not to say the Foxes went into today’s match as cannon fodder. On the contrary. Despite being at the foot of the table on only ten points, they hadn’t been exactly hammered by anyone.
Pun obviously 100% intended.
West Ham went into the game today with close to a fully fit squad, with only the loss of Mark Noble to be concerned about. Matthew Upson continued to hurt West Ham by not being available for Leicester, denying Sakho or Carroll the pleasure of putting that useless piece of dross over their knees and spanking him. So we saw an unchanged West Ham squad from last week’s draw at Sunderland, both on the pitch and on the bench, which started a mini debate on Twitter. The majority saw the logic in what Sam was doing, given that Carroll had played well since returning from injury. A few, however, argued that it was the Sakho-Valencia tandem that had gotten us here and that it should be the default choice. My opinion changes by the second, so I stayed out of it for the most part.
The past few games, regardless of how they finished, have not seen West Ham begin on the front foot. Today was a bit different, at least for the first five minutes or so. We started by pushing the ball forward with an apparent confidence that Leicester would be hard pressed to cause us many problems. Kouyate, who had his best game in a long time, started the proceedings in the 2nd minute with a cross to Carroll that was cleared for a corner. James Tomkins took a crack at it off that corner and won another one. Then Nolan, with a little help from a deflection, sent in Sakho but his volley was wide and Leicester got to take a deep breath along with a goal kick.
In the 8th minute the visitors started to assert themselves a bit when Jeff Schlupp beat Jenkinson to the byline and sent a cross in that Tomkins had to head out for a corner. Schlupp just missed being the receiver instead of the provider moments later when he couldn’t get on the end of Vardy’s cross. Tomkins cleared the ball out of danger and sent Sakho out on the break, but it was the first of a few times when Sakho showed that despite his remarkable start to the season he still has elements of his game that need work. Like running with the ball through the midfield, which he tried to do and lost control of. Dribbling in tight areas as well. With his level of athleticism and skill, however, I’m not bothered. For the record, I love the guy.
The game settled down into a series of bad passes, wasted possession, and a succession of crosses that floated harmlessly around both goals. Earlier in the week, Sam warned about being complacent. “There are swings and roundabouts in this game and it can all be so unpredictable. There’s no good spouting off what you might or might not do because it might leap back and kick you right in the goolies”. While I am unfamiliar with the word “goolies”, I got his point. We all did, I bet. We looked a bit too comfortable. Heck, even Song missed some passes! It took an Aaron Cresswell run in the 21st minute to wake us up when he chased down a ball just outside the Leicester box and won a free kick. It looked like he said to himself “I’ve had enough of this nonsense, I want to beat these guys”. A scramble inside the box ended with a Sakho lay off for Song, but his shot was blocked.
There are supporters, more than just a few in fact, that are not fans of Andy Carroll nor will they ever be. Fair enough. They were handed a moment that could have been a smoking gun in their view in the 23rd minute when Downing fed a low cross to a wide open Carroll in front of the net. Side foot, top of the foot, heck even a squib off his shin should have put it in. Instead it went miles over the bar. A proverbial sitter. Seconds later, Leicester started a counter. A moment of miscommunication between Adrian and I think Reid almost led to disaster when Adrian found himself outside the safety of his eighteen yard box. His clearance came right back in the form of Esteban Cambiasso. His attempt on goal was blocked by Reid, and cleared by Jenkinson. That should have been the end of a fairly wild couple of minutes.
Nope.
Paul Konchesky got to the ball just inside his own half and thought a back pass to Hamer was the best idea. It was a spectacular idea for Carroll, who intercepted it and placed a lovely little chip over the keeper to give West Ham the lead and himself a bit of redemption for his miss a few minutes earlier.
West Ham 1, Leicester City 0.
The goal seemed to loosen us up a bit, which was no surprise. A lead at home does that. In Reid’s case, it was a bit too loose in the 30th minute when he got the ball on the top of our 18 yard box with space in front of him. The devilish voice on one shoulder told him to run and show he can be a good attacking player, while the angelic voice on the other shoulder told him to do his job and either give it to a midfielder or clear it. He took the wrong advice and launched a long ball right at Hamer. Wherever you end up, Winston, remember which voice to listen to next time.
Leicester invited Adrian into the game in the 35th minute after a James Tomkins giveaway saw the ball end up with Jamie Vardy, who passed to Riyad Mahrez. The visiting midfielder sent his shot towards the top corner, but Adrian was able to push it clear for a corner.
There was a funny tweet in which someone asked how long it would take for Leicester to take out some clubs and proceed to beat Alex Song to death. His influence on the game is so impressive at times the suggestion seemed logical from a Leicester City point of view. Vardy may have been checking Twitter during the game because in a span of a few minutes he tried to chop down our new Talisman not once, but twice. He saw yellow for the second one, and I wouldn’t have been surprised to see him take a second before halftime.
Much has been made of both Cresswell’s and Jenkinson’s ability to attack on the flanks and cross the ball. But Jenkinson in particular does something so well that rarely gets spoken about. When the opposition tries to play a ball down his side for a full back or striker to run onto, he is soooooo good at shielding the ball while it rolls out for a goal kick. He did it for the umpteenth time this season in the 43rd minute….and I felt like pointing it out.
Cresswell ended the half with a tasty hot knife through butter move between two Leicester backs to win a free kick, which led to a corner, which led to Sakho heading the ball to nobody, which led to 15 minutes of downtime.
I got a text from my best Jon during the interval saying many of you guys and gals were on here venting about the style of play. That it was too direct, too much reverting back to the style many supporters protested against. Would Sam make a change earlier than he did at Sunderland? Not at the half, he didn’t.
In the 49th minute, I wondered if Andy Carroll had some long lost relatives in Brazil and was hoping to lobby FIFA to change his affiliation. For the third time in four games, the big man attempted a bicycle kick. This time from a Winston Reid header. It went nowhere, but the lack of fear he showed again was impressive. Then it became terrifying when Carroll tried to chase down a ball heading out, twisted his ankle, fell neck first against the advertising boards and then down into the photographers pit. I was certain he was done, maybe for more than just the game. Yet out he came, running like it was no more than a hangnail.
It’s only December, and West Ham already have numerous worthy candidates for Goal Of The Season. Zarate against Palace, Valencia against Hull, Sakho’s chip against Liverpool. Stuart Downing added himself to the list in the 56th minute. Right in front of Carroll, Sakho decided to ask his partner if he could have a turn on an aerial ball. His knock down went to Downing. He controlled the ball with his left foot like the whole game was in slow motion and curled a 20 yard shot into the far corner. Any player on any team anywhere in the whole world would have been proud to score a goal like that.
West Ham 2, Leicester City 0.
Leicester tried to answer when Danny Drinkwater (had to look and confirm that was a real name and I wasn’t hearing things) tried a very long range shot that flew harmlessly over the bar. If they had any hope of getting back into the game those kinds of efforts wouldn’t help their cause.
Leicester made all three substitutions in the 61st and 62nd minute. Two made sense, the other didn’t. Konchesky and Vardy came off. Konch had not been at his best, and Vardy was on a yellow. Fine. When Cambiasso came off, I was surprised. Because if they had one guy who could possibly perform a bit of magic to bring them back into it, it was him. I’ve been a fan for a long time.
Despite being bottom of the league, Leicester City still tried to make a game of it. Drinkwater was gifted some space in our box but couldn’t get a shot on target, and David Nugent made a nice run around James Collins after he took over for Tomkins, but his shot went over the bar. In between, West Ham did their imitation of Barcelona with a three minute segment of ball control, much of which was handled by Song and Kouyate. If anybody has a count on the number of passes definitely post it.
Enner Valencia replaced Sakho in the 80th minute. I would have liked to see that done earlier, because his speed is so remarkable he looks like cartoon character. Within seconds of coming on, he made a run down the left side that I thought was over before it began because his first touch was so far ahead of himself. But he ran onto his own ball with such ease I felt guilty ever doubting him. The idea that Sam has that kind of option on the bench, when he doesn’t start him, is awe inspiring.
When a goalkeeper isn’t asked to do much for most of a game, he can often be vulnerable to a late quality strike. That type of strike came in the 86th minute when a cross found Nugent and he slammed it towards goal. Despite falling the wrong way, Adrian was able to use just his right palm to guide it over the bar for a corner. A world class save for sure. In added time, Adrian was asked to be a hero again when Ulloa steered a header to the near post but it was fisted away to preserve the clean sheet.
Final score. West Ham 2, Leicester City 0.
Much is made of the table at Christmas. Usually the only thought West Ham have is to not be bottom on December 25th. Being horribly superstitious I have paid close attention to that in the past. But this year will mark the first time West Ham have ever been in a top four spot the day children run to their trees like sharks to a chum line. The final stats were a bit head scratching, though, and I’m guessing they will be the cause of some chat on here. Maybe only because I’m bringing it up. So don’t shoot the messenger, ok? 47% possession, only two shots on target. Against the team at the bottom of the table. Are those numbers relevant? I for one think Sam is more than willing to change things up again, and not necessarily in a predictable manner, when he sees fit. Bottom line is, we won in a professional manner and barely looked challenged at any time.
We are fourth. We are a good team. And this is a special season.
See you on Friday, Jose.