I woke up yesterday morning feeling confident and excited for the final home game against Southampton and the women’s FA cup final at Wembley. My confidence certainly lessened upon hearing Rice and Anderson were unavailable due to a virus. Without two of our most influential players, the game looked as if it might turn out to be more of an even contest.
It came as a surprise to hear Fraser Forster would be starting in the opposition goal after 494 days out of the Saint’s first team setup! He looked rusty and thankfully that rust probably told with the team and Arnautovic’s second goal. I do not want to give a detailed match report as the brilliant David Hautzig has already done one, and my attempt at a report would not be as successful! In many ways, David is the Mark Noble: experienced and consistently putting in good performances (Nobes was superb yesterday). Whereas in writing terms, I like to think of myself as Grady Diangana, some promise but definitely not the finished article (Grady did reasonably well I think).
The defence looked solid, a special mention for Ryan Fredericks as he played very well from a defensive standpoint and then scored that well worked goal in the 72nd minute. I look forward to seeing how Fredericks performs next season as the starting right back, his pace is blistering which is always a bonus… Obiang and Noble dovetailed well, and Lanzini did well stitching the play between midfield and attack. Great to see Arnautovic working hard and bagging two goals, his future remains a talking point, and may well dictate some of the business done in the summer. Wilshere came on and looked good: he moves with the ball so effortlessly, and I hope we see more of that next campaign.
I was watching a stream which had former West Ham player, Don Hutchison commentating. I’ve heard of Hutchison before, my Dad tells me he was a committed midfielder who also featured as a forward at times. Hutchison felt that Noble was the man of the match, and he was definitely significant again. In the first half he was pulling the strings as Southampton sat off us. He is never afraid to collect the ball and his assist for the opening goal was exquisite.
I very much enjoy playing football and fancy myself as a holding midfielder, and I’d like to think my playing style mirrors our 31 year old captain’s! In the final season at Upton Park he was magnificent and certainly should have earned an England call up. Noble has played under the various managers we have had, and that is testament to his ability. The strongest aspect of my game, and the most appreciated by the boys in my six a side team, is my passing and vision. My point ultimately is that Noble has always been an underrated passer, and he more often than not impacts the game positively when given time and space. The man from Canning Town is also partial to a cheeky Cruyff turn, much like myself! Perhaps I’m the long term replacement for Mark…
Massive credit has to go to West Ham women’s who did brilliantly well to get to the final. They worked very hard in the first half but unfortunately came up against a team with more experience. Each and every West Ham player did themselves and the club extremely proud, but the ladies side look to be going in the right direction.
With yesterday’s brilliant performance against Southampton and Rice and Anderson to come back in for the final game against Watford, I hope we can finish in 10th position with a win at Vicarage Road. Watford may well rest players for the FA cup final against City, so maybe we can win a third game in a row and finish the season on a high.
I look forward to watching the local team Tonbridge Angels play Merstham on Monday in the Bostik Premier Playoff final. If they win the game, they will need to beat either Met. Police or Poole Town to gain promotion. If they can win both games they will be playing in the Conference South next season which would be brilliant. I hope they achieve promotion and West Ham beat Watford to leave me happy going into Summer!