We haven’t had it easy this season moving into our new home with relegation a possibility. Just when 2017 was starting to look brighter, Payet requested a move elsewhere. With our star man out, we had to show everyone that we are not a one-man team. We needed something going into this match and we got it: a gem was unearthed and polished ready for the game.
Enter Manuel Lanzini. The Jewel had a reputation to uphold of scoring in crucial matches. In May 2013, he scored in the Superclásico derby after just 43 seconds against the Boca Juniors. He is still remembered by the River Plate fans for that moment of magic. No stranger to a difficult climate having played for al-Jazira with Summer temperatures of 45C, he delivered in the way only an Argentinean legend could.
Having scored into an open net, he went and jumped into the crowd who embraced the new legend in the making. What a way it was to assert his position at the top! Manu has scored a goal in each of his four PL appearances against Crystal Palace; double the amount he’s scored against any other PL club. It was reminiscent of Tevez scoring his first goal against Tottenham, as yet another Argentine ran into the crowd scoring in a derby.
He has been left out of the starting XI on a few occasions, however Lanzini knew the importance of playing, regardless of whether it was his preferred position or not, as he took on more defensive roles. Even Antonio got the message, as he has been directly involved in more Premier League goals than any other West Ham player this season – 11 (eight goals, three assists). It is important that our current players take initiative in light of recent events.
Slaven has the full support of the club and fans alike, as he has handled the situation terrifically. When Payet revealed his true intentions of leaving, it was seen as a sign of betrayal. Why was he not upfront when Slav had asked him a few days before when he had the chance? The manager has handled the situation very well. Despite what was happening, he even invited Sam for “a glass of wine after the game whatever the result.” He probably didn’t want to appear disrespectful, so didn’t say pint of wine, though that’s probably what Big Sam ordered. That’s our Slav! He can read the situation well.
Bilic was right to have a meeting to discuss things with Payet. You don’t even need to have any affiliations with the club or watch the matches to know that Payet is unhappy. His last Instagram post of him in a West Ham shirt was back in October! It is no surprise that Payet wants to leave. He hasn’t even seemed that bothered this season. In 2010, while with Saint-Etienne, he was accused of showing a lack of aggression by teammate Yohan Benalouane. When team captain Blaise Matuidi suggested the same thing, the pair had to be separated.
The following year, when his club said he could not move to PSG, he refused to turn up for training and was demoted to the reserves. The Frenchman hasn’t changed at all. He may have the talent, but that is the only reason why he has been tolerated. I’m afraid it will take a lot more than a free kick for his standing at the club to change. At the moment, Payet says he has a bad back to avoid being docked wages. With a move to the wealthy Chinese Super League the second-likeliest transfer according to the bookies, it is clear what Payet has his heart set on.
The first half was very nervy with both sides struggling to get a foothold of the match. Even though we have more than enough quality to beat Palace, we were under a bit of a malaise as we hadn’t played without Payet for quite some time. The expectation was immense. But some of our players were really up for it. Carroll’s passing was simply unreal, and he also did well in the air. Lanzini was getting constantly fouled whenever he was looking dangerous. So far, we didn’t look too different without Payet, as Lanzini stepped up. We didn’t pose much of an attacking threat, but neither did Palace.
Tomkins had the best chance of the game so far, but dragged his shot wide from close range. It reminded me of when we comfortably scored against Rob Green when we played for QPR a few seasons ago or like when Paul Koschesky’s poor backpass was intercepted by Carroll who scored. Wins on those days was a good sign watching this match. At HT, it was goalless.
Now, Slav must have had an awful lot of pressure on him during that HT team talk. We will never know what was said, but it was the unheard harbinger that massively eased everyone around the club. It has given us tremendous belief that we can turn it around. I think Carroll says it best: “No player is bigger than the club. We showed that today and came together as a team to get a result.” Truer words were never spoken. If it’s Dimitri, then just make the la-la sound. Turn it into a sing-song tune to annoy him as well. Our enhanced Dimi chant is catching up as well.
There were several good performances out there. Given that most of us were closely examining the attacking players (as we played without one of our top creators – had to be said), it is wonderful to see our most attacking players all play a part in those goals. For all three of them to score (Carroll, Feghouli, and Lanzini) showed that they wanted to desperately win this. Even when we were 1-0 up, we still put a bit of emphasis on attacking… and it worked! The big man Andy Carroll could have headed the goal in. But what’s the fun in that? Palace have conceded too many worldies. Dele Alli, Andy Carroll, a move with over 20 passes with Lanzini scoring, and a good free-kick from a garcon mauvais (that’s French for “bad boy”) have scored them. We went from losing 5-0 at home to winning 3-0! That is easier said than done.
A special mention has to go to Michail Antonio. He deserved to show off another 90’s celebration, but got three assists instead. He is the first West Ham player to provide three assists in a Premier League game since Paolo Di Canio vs Coventry in April 2000. Cult hero. Now just don’t go all political like Paolo did with his fascism, and turn into Mikhail Gorbachev. Then, we’ll have no reason to doubt you. At the moment, he is quickly turning into Mr. West Ham. Sure, he came from Tooting & Mitcham in South London, but he rejected Spurs. That’s our man!
Michail Antonio was in bed with flu yesterday, got out of bed pulled on his shirt & played magnificently today – that's dedication for you
— Lady Brady (@karren_brady) January 14, 2017
Finally, we have to sign a striker sooner or later. It is worth keeping in mind that spending a lot of money is not necessarily the answer. Palace spent £32.5M to get Benteke, but he was missing in the match. He even missed a penalty against us in the reverse fixture. At the time, we thought that it was a good buy from them. But given the fact that he has only scored eight goals in the league so far this season, you have to be smarter then that. Given our record of Championship purchases, we need to keep spending there until one of them flops, then we’ll know that our luck has changed. We can expect a draw at the very least against Boro given that they have failed to score in five of their last seven Premier League games, recording just one win in that period. But it is all about the three points to be quite frank.