At some time just after 4PM Sunday, emanating from the skies above North-West England, a huge sonic-click was heard as Pellegrini’s superstars finally gelled and proved themselves a team to be reckoned with. It was a clicking I was wondering might happen as the form of all of our previous opponents was well and truly franked again at the weekend with Liverpool looking like top two contenders, Bournemouth thumping Leicester, Wolves condemning Burnley to a nicely warmed bottom spot and Goon playing well to do Toon.
I don’t know whether Pellegrini had a positive spiritual encounter when back in Chile during the international break or maybe the Feng shui of the club has dramatically improved after Sakho’s super car was finally moved (if it ever existed or indeed has ever been moved) but the positive energy coming from the team has just become a good deal more intense. There were many intricate reasons why the team clicked on this occasion, we all hope it will continue to be the way of things, so just for a change lets have a look at what went so well.
The midfield worked both as a unit and as five outstanding players.
The team selection clearly showed some semblance of what many of us have been crying out for. Three hard working defensive minded midfielders in Rice, Obiang and Noble. This facilitated Anderson and Yarmolenko to get on the front foot and also allowed Obiang to expose the centre of the Everton defence as seemingly absent. There were further chops and changes though with Fredericks and Cresswell shown no mercy from their Shearer mauling and Masuaku once again risked at left back but more about him in a bit.
Obiang was back to his best, I did wonder at times if we had forgotten who Obiang was? The man who played to a high level before the injury including the goal of the season at Wembley, it was so good to see him back with the ingenuity and quickness of mind which made goals and frankly made us look like West Ham again. Maybe the great one touch move for the first goal was almost up there with the great Carlton Cole goal away at I think Wigan several years ago.
Rice was given a start again and thoroughly justified this from the outset. The energy and passion of Rice is beginning to become fused with a hint of footballing prowess and this is a recipe for greatness. Generally working, sticking out a foot, running to chase down the ball, all things #rice did continuously against Everton and combined with Noble’s dogged harrying and Obiang’s intuition we have the makings of a central midfield which can out-think, outwork, out-pass but maybe not outrun many other midfields. For the first time this season it seems like there is a core of success building.
Anderson proved again I think that he is very likely to adjust to life in the Premier League. He resisted the temptation to run into walls and lose possession and is clearly a very skilful player who can keep the ball and therefore act as a good hold up attacker who can collect and redistribute. Sometimes I do wish he would just go for it and take a defence apart but maybe we will see this yet and currently his comfort with the ball at his feet and ability to hit cross-field passes (the one which he hit to Yarmolenko was a beauty) means he is a definite threat to opposing sides and must be utilised.
Noble did what Noble always does when he gets dropped and just shrugs of criticism and gets back to work and often finds himself reselected very swiftly. Noble is West Ham’s man we just cannot leave out as we saw against Everton, Noble’s harrying ability is a real problem for backfoot midfields and on several occasions opposition players were forced back by the presence of Noble leaving them opting for a sideways pass rather than a killer ball.
Can our full backs support Andry the enigma?
Yarmolenko has certainly shown glimpses of ability prior to the Everton game and at Goodison it really did all come together for him. Arnie’s unselfishness for the first means Andry was rewarded with a well taken opening goal and this proved to be the catalyst for the superb second which went like a laser guided dart into the top corner. This is what Yarmolenko does best if he gets possession in the opposition half of the pitch. The size and skill of Yarmolenko and Arnie with a possible Carrol to come in also means we have a physically powerful attacking unit and one which can be effectively fed by Anderson and Obiang. What a far cry from four games, no points, Avram Grant blah, blah blah!
There is another side to this particular coin and one which, although nobody likes a moany-pants after we beat the scousers away, needs looking at now as it could create a series of knock-on problems. Yarmolenko was cheaply and cruelly dispossessed at least four times in the Everton game and in defensive duties looked very unsure. This may have happened before and should it lead to a goal it will cause our main man to be criticised and possibly scapegoated. This brings in the problem of whether we have full backs which can adequately cover and link up to counter this threat which someone like Chelsea may exploit. Fullbacks are the one area where we seem least convincing. Does it seem like Zabaletta can provide enough mobility and punch to add the final cog to the right hand side? On the other flank Masuaku today in my opinion defensively looked inept and even struggled going forward. The head-step move which got him a yellow card was an example of how irrational Arthur can be on the back foot and this limits the extent we can exploit the left flank. If there was a plus side to the full back problem which there isn’t it would be that it might only limit us to sixth or seventh rather than being a major relegation flaw. This position(s) must be a focus for January or September depending on our stomach for mid-table mediocrity or rather the stomach(s) of the powers that be. A final point of critique must be aimed at Sanchez. I know coming on away and holding a lead isn’t easy playing where he does but almost every contribution was disastrous, so bad the laws of probability suggest he will likely have a good game next week just through chance.
h3, Now we need to step it up a gear
All in all we are now in a position to be far more optimistic about the season. Again we saw a few times that we have a goalkeeper who is a stable defensive influence as well as a talented shot-stopper. Diop and Balbuena are beginning to get to know each-other and some of our better players are now being played. Even Antonio ran the ball into the corner in the last minute, gawd bless him. It now turns out that Liverpool are steamrollering people, Bournemouth are on a purple patch and there are lots of teams still to play who will not fancy taking on our front five when on form. Lets go into the Chelsea game full of cheer, full of optimism and most of all full of hope that Arnie’s knee feels better tomorrow. What truly could have been the beginning of the end has thankfully become the end of the beginning and if this carries on it will be season to remember. Well done the Hammers and COYI!
PS Carlton Cole’s goal