Cheikhu Kouyate is presently shadow of his former self. More notable among his current shortcomings is his terrible touch, poor mobility and he often seems to be caught out of position. I find this extremely sad and one of the most detrimental aspects of this poor season to date. It seems an eternity ago that Tottenham coveted the Senegalese box to box midfielder. A personal favourite of mine he’s the only player I’ve ever seen go shoulder to shoulder with Yaya Toure, at the height of his powers, and come away with the ball. His attributes weren’t only useful in deep positions, either, as you’d often find him arriving in a timely fashion at the edge of the box, making, Billy Bonds style, surging runs forward or getting on the end of set pieces to score. So what’s happened to one of the former lynchpins of the team? I’ve seen, and heard, a fair few derogatory comments towards him recently. Despite this David Moyes seems to be keeping faith with ‘Chek’. So why would this be?
Form is temporary but class is permanent. For me Kouyate’s poor form is down to him having to play through the pain of his wrist injury. Since his operation I feel that he’s still recovering and it will be a little while before we see a return to his previous self. He is a class act, IMO, so I genuinely hope that we do see him back to his best. He’s just turned twenty eight years old and should be coming in to his prime. If he can bring back his old physical presence but with a more experienced head then we’ll have one top class player again. Not sure I’d be playing him for full 90 minutes of games, and I was surprised that it wasn’t him to make way, but Obiang instead, on Tuesday night, but it’s clear that David Moyes sees him as an integral part of the first team. I genuinely hope he’s ‘back on it’ as soon as possible.
My two lads and I enjoyed the game against West Brom. Their last game at the OS/LS was the 5-0 cup drubbing against Man City. Both commented on how the atmosphere does seem to be improving. Despite the half time boos, which I’d never be a part of, I also found it pretty good. When the crowd gets going there’s no disputing the fact it’s a very good noise that we generate within the ground. There was, however, a noticeable difference between the first and second halves of the game this week. Despite, what seems, the general consensus I thought we edged the first half and if it wasn’t for an excellent performance by Ben Foster we’d, at the very least, gone in on equal terms at the break. We had the better of the chances but, notwithstanding those opportunities that the boys carved out, it was frustrating watching. West Brom were poor and we were only a smidgeon better. What concerned me the most was the lacklustre nature of our movement. On the ball especially there were so few options due to the static nature of the players. It was no better without the ball and how McClean was allowed the time and space he got for their goal is beyond me. It was at that point I lost my voice – so loud I screamed at them (mainly Winston Reid) to close down.
Nobes is a revelation of late. He changed the game. When he came on for the second half there was more energy, movement, determination and positivity. We closed down quicker. We moved the ball at a higher pace and were more purposeful. It’s so great to see him returning to his best. He could have been saved for his favourite fixture, in which he always seems to play above himself, tonight but I’m glad he got a full half of football ahead of the derby with the Spudz. If he can influence the game as much as he usually does then we may well have a great contest to watch. Certainly hope so.
Carroll stuck at it and took both goals extremely well after fluffing his lines with an earlier chance. A decent run from him before his, seemingly inevitable next injury, could be invaluable to our season. Not for the first time could we be in a position, during a season, when a post Christmas boost is spearheaded by his goals and great contribution. What pleased me in particular, following my recent ‘Imperative to hoof’ article, was the low number of up-field punts during the match. Just goes to show – your don’t have to ‘go long’ to get the best out of ‘Wor Andy’. And wasn’t it a peach of a ball from Cresswell for the first? Cressers dipped in and out a bit for me but there’s no disputing the quality of his delivery at times.
Arnie’s great form continues. If there’s one thing he clearly needs to work on it’s his finishing and decision making when he gets in the box but his contribution is huge at present. He looks, and must feel, a massive threat to opposition defenders. Long may it continue and his confidence grow. I’ve mentioned it before but he seems to be striking up a good understanding with Lanzini. Manu was magical at times on Tuesday. Although he sometimes drifts out of games for periods he’s one who seems to come up with those match changing moments. His burst forward in the final minute of the game against West Brom, along with the quality of the ball played in to Arnie’s stride, made a huge contribution to the winner but the moment that I enjoyed most was the beautiful footwork to carve out his shot from inside the box in the first half. Were it not for the excellent goalkeeping of Foster it would have been an absolute beaut of a goal.
The entertainment wasn’t restricted to the on pitch fayre served up by the team. There was some superb banter. Particularly loved the response to the Baggies fans ‘chim chimney cheree’ from a crew of lads sat behind us with the line ‘we are Considerably Richer Than Yauuuu’ as well as the final line to Masuaku’s new chant except with the words ‘he sometimes gives the ball away’. Just added to my feeling that we’re beginning to make the stadium a ‘home’. Despite claims that the fans didn’t provide a vociferous support before our first goal my experience was that the first half frustration from the crowd was ‘par for the course’ but from the first kick of the second half it was loud, positive and provided a decent atmosphere. Fan for fan home support is never as good as away but what I heard was better than most games at Upton Park in the final few years after the pitch moved. The distance to the pitch will always be ‘orrible, unbearable for some in fact, but I hope the atmosphere continues to improve.
Declan Rice continued to impress. First time I’d seen him in a full back position and he did a sterling job. Absolutely love his body position when going in to challenge – textbook stuff that some of the more experienced players in our team could learn from IMHO. Sincerely hope he continues his journey towards establishing himself as a first team regular – a role I believe he’s already capable of fulfilling.
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I’m going to end it there, on a positive note, rather than talk about more players who are currently struggling other than to say I hope we get stronger at the back – starting against our local rivals tonight.
COYI! West Ham 4 The Cup!
Addendum. What a superb strike and great defensive performance last night. Four points from six in the two games this week were more than I’d hoped for. Now that the team have come through the difficult run of fixtures let’s hope we don’t see the typical West Ham response but continue picking up points instead.