When you think about it, the supporter narrative around our club changes at the blink on an eye. Or one result. Going into Burnley last week, the mood felt a bit grim. We had lost midweek to Spurs in the whatever the heck it’s called now Cup, ten days after losing to them in the league. We had given up a 90th minute goal to drop two points at Leicester City. Third lowest point total after ten games since EPL started. Our record signing looked a lost cause. On and on and on.
And then we beat Burnley.
Hey! You know what? Leicester got a damned lucky bounce off Balbuena’s butt, and Ogbonna should have won it at the end. Yarmolenko should have buried that cross against Chelsea. Oh, and Arnie missed a sitter against Brighton. Those are five points right there and we’d be top half! Yeah, we are just fine!
See what I mean? So today against Huddersfield, the mood was good. Optimism that we would win consecutive EPL matches for the first time since 2017 was high. Foolish of us.
You know what I learned at the start of the match? My NBC app does not support a wired connection to a TV. As I scrambled to change setups, first with AirPlay through Apple TV (which is as inconsistent as a certain football club), and then resorting to simply using my Ipad, the first three plus minutes had come and gone.
In the 4th minute, Diangana showed again why he might just be a keeper from the Academy. After beating his man with a lovely little turn around, he sent a near perfect through ball for Arnautovic. The Austrian Talisman was in all alone on Lossl. He had a choice of finding Anderson in the middle or going it alone. He tried alone, and his attempted curl around the keeper was palmed out for a corner.
Declan Rice has made very few mistakes in his short but impressive West Ham career. But when Huddersfield pressed him after a Fabianski clearance, he made one. And the home side pounced. Pritchard’s low shot didn’t look too dangerous. I thought it was about to roll wide. But when I saw the net ripple, the ever present fears of a let down after a win took over.
Huddersfield 1
West Ham 0
Huddersfield came absurdly close to doubling their lead in the 15th minute when Billing sent what was almost certainly a cross when he let it go. But in mid-air it morphed into a shot and clanged off the far post. It bounced parallel to the line, could have hit Fabianski in the back, and went past the near post. Goal Line Technology confirmed we were still only a goal down.
As great as Diop has been, he has also been prone to the occasional mind shut down. He had another in the 25th minute with a complacent pass out of the zone and Mounie pounced. He ran at goal with just Fabianski to beat but the West Ham keeper made himself big and made a very fine save.
As the first half hit the half hour mark, West Ham were unfortunately limited to long, hopeful balls upfield. Not the possession play that had given us whatever limited success we have had this season. Add the defensive errors and the effective Huddersfield setup and a longer afternoon than expected looked in the cards.
The first half rolled towards its conclusion without much to talk about, other than a nasty looking collarbone injury to Chris Lowe. That added five minutes of added time, precisely what the visitors didn’t want. A decent cross by Snodgrass gave West Ham a final roll of the dice with a corner. But they came up snake eyes.
Halftime
Huddersfield 1
West Ham 0
Pellegrini began the second half with a change, removing Diangana for Chicharito. A positive move in terms of experience, and I trust the manager to make it clear to the youngster that he didn’t do anything wrong and it wasn’t a punishment.
He almost made an immediate impact when a lucky deflection came to him in the box. His first shot was smothered by Lossl. The ball bounced high in the air, and Hernandez tried a looping header that landed on the top of the goal.
West Ham tried to implement its style on the game, but with virtually no success. The home side kept The Hammers pegged back, and when they did make it forward there were numbers to deal with. West Ham weren’t sharp, had no creativity, and looked complacent. It started to look almost exactly like the loss to Brighton. So when my best mate Jon bet me we would win, I took the wager. Why not? I would have gladly paid a few bucks for the three points, or taken some money as a salve.
In the 55th minute West Ham could have fell victim to a missed offside call when Pritchard got on the end of a long ball and went in alone on Fabianski. Diop recovered well and forced Pritchard to his left and the shot went wide. Minutes later West Ham looked brighter, and if Snodgrass and Arnautovic hadn’t run into each other in the box there might have been an end product. Instead, it all ended with a terrible high shot by Anderson.
Pellegrini made another positive change in the 65th minute when Antonio replaced Obiang. But the first chance after that came to Huddersfield when Mounie challenged Diop in the West Ham eighteen yard box and almost got a gift shot on goal. Moments later the home side won a corner, but the delivery was so bad you’d think Anderson took it.
I rarely report on substitutions as they happen because I choose to add them as points after the fact. But today was so bereft of things to talk about, well, here is another one. Zabaleta was replaced by Fredericks in the 74th minute. Unless the new signing believes in Karma, his entry had little to do with what came next. Anderson sent a cross into the box. Hernandez was denied. Then Antonio. Finally, Anderson was there to smash it into the upper corner.
Huddersfield 1
West Ham 1
The pendulum looked to have swung all the way to Claret & Blue a minute later when West Ham won a corner. The delivery into the box was near perfect, and Diop sent a powerful header at goal that was cleared off the line by Mooy. Minutes later it was Huddersfield that gave the crowd a reason to gasp when Durm attempted a long shot that went just wide.
I totally understand the talent that is Felipe Anderson. And I totally understand the need to keep him in the lineup as much as possible. But there are times, like his lazy pass that could have sprung Arnie in alone in the 86th minute that drives me bonkers. Rant quick, and over.
The Hammers had a couple of half chances in second half injury time when Arnautovic had the ball near the top of the Huddersfield box. He tried to thread a ball to Hernandez but Huddersfield cleared. In the dying moments, Huddersfield won a corner and the very fact they didn’t score was probably enough for me.
Final Score
Huddersfield 1
West Ham 1
We played a side that had only scored one goal at home all year, and it was an OG. Pritchard takes that shot 100 more times Fabianski saves 99 of them. If we couldn’t break that snide of not winning two consecutive matches today, I’m not that hopeful of seeing us do it anytime soon. I am not happy with the point. Nor am I happy with the display.
Neither should Pellegrini.