How did that Watford game end in a draw ? We played a lot of very decent stuff while lacking some cutting edge upfront and let’s face it: As much effort as Kouyate put in, he is pretty much wasted filling in at RB and while Antonio gave the Watford defenders some headaches on the day he is no out and out striker. Still we gave a good account, playing the right way, positive, attack minded. Zarate, of course, had to win an early and very soft penalty, basically winning Watford their first and only goal.
Considering the way that former players tend to come back and haunt us I almost expected Behrami to score a hattrick against us, but the day Behrami scores three goals in a single game (other than against his kid in his own backyard) will the the day that Donald Trump announces he’s becoming a full time vegan.
I have been impressed with the development of Feghouli in recent games. There is a lot to like about the way he chases about the pitch, both when we are attack and also when we have to defend. He looks a very tidy and useful player to me and just like Obiang before him it could be another case of a guy coming in from abroad simply requiring a bit more time to adapt and needing a run of games in the side before showing their worth to the cause.
One main reason why we failed again to take all three points was Andy Carroll missing out yet again. There have been rumours that our board was ready to sell him to one of three interested clubs in China before the close of their transfer deadline tomorrow. If the money is right it would make a lot of sense from the club’s perspective to cash in and use that money to buy a striker in the summer who can play the vast majority of games during the season instead of just half of them.
We have been discussing the fact for ages that Carroll on his day is unplayable, a nightmare to defend against and a very special asset to have. But all of that counts for little if his body is too fragile to take training sessions and the rigours of regular gametime in the Premier League. It doesn’t matter though if a transfer would be convenient for the board, Carroll would have to be open to a move to the country of crispy duck, fried rice and green tea. With his wife and kids pretty much settled in London now I can’t really see Carroll uprooting his family for the sake of another million or so in the bank.
It was great to see Ayew getting his goal, poaching the way he did. We all know that Ayew is a very good player to have (and we surely spent a lot of money to secure his services), so hopefully he will start to feature more regularly now. We definitely need to find ways to score goals without Carroll in the side because we simply cannot rely on him to play every game for us. In that respect Carroll’s absence may be a blessing in disguise as it forces us to be a bit more creative and clever when it comes to scoring goals.
We should have Sakho back soon enough too and we also have Ayew, Calleri and Fletcher, so there should be no reason whatsoever to keep playing Antonio upfront.
Same with Kouyate. Throw Byram in to play RB time and time again. If he is not available, play Arbeloa while he is still here. In the summer we should definitely spend 10 million on so on a proper RB who knows how to defend properly.
In general though we have quite a decent squad already, a solid foundation to build on with a strong spine throughout the lineup. As long as we get our transfers spot on in the summer we should have good things coming our way. And with Bilic at the helm our football should be pleasing on the eye too which is more important to me personally than the odd position higher up in the table. Ideally of course good football and winning games will go hand in hand anyway.
As for Concordia it has to be said that surely the Oberliga Hamburg promises to be a lot more exciting for the remainder of the season than the Premier League where it’s pretty much guaranteed West Ham will finish anywhere between 8th and 12th. Concordia unfortunately have lost their points cushion in recent weeks after losing twice in a row. Sunday’s home game against Buxtehude, the last placed team in the league table, once again showed how entertaining local football can be. You wouldn’t expect a game between the first and the last placed team in the table to be a close encounter, would you? But it surely wasn’t for the faint of heart…
Buxtehude took the lead against the run of play inside the first ten minutes, but had a player sent off for deliberate handball after 30 minutes (he was the last defender), allowing Cordi to race into a 2:1 lead early in the second half, only for my lads conceding the 2:2 equaliser in the 75th minute in very sloppy fashion. Stunned silence from the disappointingly low crowd of about 100 paying punters, well, I blame the atrocious weather for the embarrassing turnout.
As all the promotion rivals had won their games Concordia seriously could not afford to lose or even draw this! Thankfully Cordi shifted properly into gear after the equaliser, finally making the man advantage count, scoring four goals in the final 15 minutes, ending the day with a satisfactory 6:2 scoreline. We now have four teams fighting for promotion, all pretty much on the same number of points, with Concordia staying in first place thanks to their impressive goal difference.
It’s now another rather long wait until West Ham play again when we will take on Chelsea on Monday Night a week from now. As always, I’m cautiously but hopelessly optimistic we could get a result on our day. Hopefully the Leaping Geordie will be back for this one. COYI!