Slaven has two games to save his job.
Save Our Season.
Watershed moment.
Blah blah blah. We’ve heard it all before. I was almost surprised that I was so annoyed before today’s match as opposed to my regular feelings of despair. I said after the Newcastle match that the sample size was big enough to make a strong argument for a change at the top. The cat was already out of the proverbial bag, yet the board were supposedly still contemplating. Reviewing. And after reading a superb piece on Claret & Hugh by Bobby Galbraith, http://www.claretandhugh.info/west-hams-thinking-must-change-from-bottom-to-top/, I don’t feel much confidence that the club as a whole can climb out of the ditch we always find ourselves in. And yes, I do know what we did Wednesday night. It was enthralling and brilliant. But a nice meal and a film with your partner doesn’t mean a relationship that has been awful for a year should continue. Three points today would ease the pain. Control the rot. Maybe I’m being dramatic, which those who know me won’t be surprised by. But I stand by my opinion, and today only reinforced it.
One statistic that has driven me nuts lately is that West Ham have played the most long balls in the Premier League, precisely what supporters hated during the days of He Who Shall Not Be Named. So what did we do twenty seconds into the match? Ogbonna sent a long ball to nobody that ended in a Palace goal kick. Another area of concern has been our defensive mistakes. So what did Lanzini do two minutes later? Commit a silly foul just outside the West Ham penalty area, giving Palace a dangerous free kick. The more things change, etc.
The opening fifteen minutes were a combination of dire and boring. With a few injuries for good measure. Hideous giveaways, passes to phantom players, and virtually zero skill. Even Hernandez gave the ball away time and time again. Like a tennis match with unforced errors all over the place. Neither team looked even remotely Premier League quality….yeah, I know what you’re thinking, but I ain’t gonna write that. In fact, I didn’t know what to say at that point. My trip to the garbage dump this morning to unload an old set of stairs was significantly more exciting. So I decided silence in the written form, along with some coffee, was my best bet.
Like an alarm clock when you are fast asleep, West Ham woke us up in the 31st minute. After Zaha and his fellow Palace players wanted Madley to call a penalty on Fonte, West Ham broke on the counter. Lanzini fed Ayew on the top of the box. The man with the brace on Wednesday rolled a pass to Cresswell on the left, who then whipped a low cross that Hernandez guided in with the outside of his right foot.
Crystal Palace 0
West Ham 1
West Ham almost doubled their lead a few minutes later when Lanzini sent a corner into the box that Ogbonna should have done better with but the ball rolled out for a goal kick. Moments later, Palace earned two quick corners, and on the second Hart showed the qualities that made him one of the better keepers in England for a few years. Palace had a number of unmarked headers in the box, a potentially bad sign for sure, and the third one came off the noggin of James Tomkins. It was headed for goal but Hart somehow got his right hand on it. The rebound fell to Schlupp two yards out, but his shot hit Hart’s left armed and went over the bar. If that series of events happens 100 times, 99 result in a goal. So West Ham got one of a few mulligans for the day.
When Andre Ayew signed for Swansea, reportedly over West Ham, I knew a few supporters who were royally disappointed. When he jumped the Welsh ship for us last year, many were pleased in spite of the price tag. He has scored a few goals, but overall he has been a disappointment. But Wednesday gave us a glimpse of what he can do if he fires on all cylinders. In the 43rd minute, Milivojevic took a turn playing the Horrible Giveaway game, and Ayew went to the races. He turned Dann inside out before rifling a shot past a dining Speroni.
Crystal Palace 0
West Ham 2
Zaha earned Crystal Palace a corner in the dying seconds of first half added time. The set piece flew into the West Ham penalty area, and again it looked like no West Ham defender had any interest in, well, defending. Dann had a free header that he sent to Loftus Cheek at the near post. Hart may have had it covered, but he didn’t need to because the ball went wide.
Halftime
Crystal Palace 0
West Ham 2
The second half brought an unexpected substitution from Slaven Bilic, with Cresswell coming off for Masuaku. As an attacking move I could see it. But at two-nil up, it had to be an injury to Cresswell. There were reports on Twitter that Cresswell was seen limping at the end of the opening forty five minutes. Masuaku was beaten by Townsend on the right, but Palace couldn’t capitalize. But moments later, a pass into the West Ham penalty area was run down by Townsend. Ogbonna stupidly bumped him in the area, and Madley pointed at the spot. Milivojevic, the man responsible for sending Ayew off on the run for West Ham’s second goal, stepped up and put it past Hart.
Crystal Palace 1
West Ham 2
Palace went right back on the front foot after their goal, and couldn’t have come any closer to an equalizer if they tried. After good work by Zaha on the left, the ball went to Cabaye near the top of the penalty area. His shot hit the inside of the far post and rebounded out to safety. For years I have always feared two-nil leads. One of those crazy West Ham neuroses we all have in some form or another. My fear felt appropriate.
Antonio came on for Zabaleta in the 60th minute in what could only be thought of as injury related again. At least I hope so, because if that was a tactical move you would be hard pressed to find anyone to defend it.
With 17 minutes to go, Fonte went down and signaled his day was done. To those who wanted to see youth given a chance to show what they can do, Declan Rice entered the game while Fonte hobbled off. Despite the desire for The Academy Of Football to return, it was the kind of moment West Ham fans know can be a turning point for the worst.
Moments after the switch, Hart again came to the rescue with a lovely save off of Zaha. A minute later, Ogbonna was again at fault for a bad challenge, giving Palace a free kick at the top of the penalty area. I couldn’t watch. I walked out of the room but heard the groans. Thankfully the replay was the same as the live action as Hart dove to his left to make the stop.
Crystal Palace kept up the pressure and won their ninth corner of the match in the 81st minute. The ball bounced around before Milivojevic fired a shot well over the bar. A few minutes later Masuaku saw yellow for continued infringement, and Cabaye whipped in a set piece that West Ham handled well. Then Townsend again beat Masuaku on the right but nobody was in the box to get on the end of his cutback.
I fired another antacid tablet down my throat.
In the 88th minute, my stream died. I got a little bit of audio, most of which sounded like Tony Gale saying West Ham were sloppy and daring Crystal Palace to level the match. Hart made a great save on Tomkins again, and Rice made a good play to intercept a cross. But West Ham had chances to kill off the game, and in the end couldn’t. I’m told Antonio was downright negligent when he flipped the ball to Speroni with two Hammers in the box. Zaha beat Kouyate and Rice to score in the final seconds of added time, and we dropped a 2-0 halftime lead to a team that had conspired to lose 29 games this year while not scoring in 17 of them.
Final Score
Crystal Palace 2
West Ham 2
We are on a path that is eerily similar to the season under Grant. If we don’t act soon, and in my opinion it’s already later than it should have been, we could suffer the same fate. And if the board don’t realize relegation at the London Stadium would be far different than it was at Upton Park, they are sadly mistaken. Which doesn’t mean I have any faith in them fixing what appears to be broken. They would rather put tar on a hole in their roof than replace the roof itself. So I still expect Bilic to be in charge in May.
I only hope it’s more like Zola than Grant and we stay up.