Let me see if I can keep all of this straight. Anderson injured in training. No, wait. He’s got a stomach bug. Haller back in, playing two up front with Antonio. Or is he wide right? Pellegrini has today to save his job. Until Boxing Day, when he’d be in the line of fire again. Eddie Howe, the assistant coach whose name I cannot recall, Tony f-ing Pulis, the return of Moyes. Am I getting all of that right? I had more than a little wine yesterday and my head still hurts a bit, so all of this thinking isn’t helping. Maybe that’s the key? Don’t think about any of this. We are who we are, we may go down, we may stay up. Whatever. At least I will feel comfortable wearing a West Ham sweatshirt this week.
To be fair, West Ham started a little brighter than the Saints. A quality free kick by Snodgrass was headed into the back of the net by Rice, but he was flagged for offside. Then the Hammers won three corners in quick succession, none of which caused any threat to the home side. But as long as the ball was on that side of the pitch Southampton could not score. There. I said something positive. Proud of me?
In a strange way, Southampton’s first real look at goal was a quintessential example of everything wrong with West Ham. Hojbjerg had the ball on the left in the 13th minute, surrounded by Hammers. Yet he still lofted a cross to Long in the box. Long was in between Ogbonna and Cresswell, yet he still managed to get to the ball and put a looping header on goal. Martin handled it, kind of, and West Ham didn’t allow a very West Ham goal.
Cresswell won a free kick in the 23rd minute on the outside of the Southampton eighteen yard box when Djenepo brought him down. Instead of putting the ball into the box, a cheeky back pass to Noble at the top of the area got the nod. Basically West Ham tried to make Beef Bourguignon when a burger would have sufficed. Moments later, West Ham had what looked like a legitimate shout for a penalty when Bertrand appeared to take Antonio down in the box. Antonio was incensed, but VAR disagreed and the game continued.
West Ham continued to dominate, winning yet another corner in the 29th minute. Two up front seemed to be causing Southampton problems, but with no goals, no shots on target, and no real quality to show for it the West Ham Worry was in full force.
The worry receded a bit in the 37th minute when Antonio beat Bertrand on the right side of the eighteen yard box. He passed back to Snodgrass, who crossed to the far post to Fornals. The young Spaniard, who has looked far better in recent weeks, headed the ball back to Haller 10 yards in front of McCarthy. The Frenchman sent a low bouncing shot off the post and into the net.
Halftime
Southampton 0
West Ham 1
The second half opened with what should have been Fornals first goal but McCarthy made a superb save on hard strike from inside the box. Maybe the kid will turn out to be an OK signing after all? Moments later, VAR disallowed what would have been Antonio’s second goal of the season for a handball in the buildup. But the link up play between Haller and Antonio, with Fornals in support, should be a glimpse of what the second half of the season will hold. At least in terms of setup and formation.
West Ham won…actually, Antonio won a corner in the 59th minute when he outran Cedric to chase down a pass from Fornals. His brute strength and speed won a throw a minute later. West Ham could not capitalize on either thoroughbred run by our game-changer.
As the second half ticked away, I kept writing the start of something only to stop because in reality nothing happened. West Ham would start a counter, and wouldn’t get a shot off. Then the hosts would come down and West Ham would clear. But in the 70th minute Southampton had a moment that came inches from leveling the match. Djenepo set up Ings in the box, a man with 9 league goals this season for a team in the bottom three. His strike was excellent, but it came off the crossbar and bounced a yard off the line. No VAR needed.
West Ham came very close to a second goal when a good cross from Antonio found the head of Haller in front of goal. He put the ball low and towards the far post, but McCarthy got his hand out to make the stop. Minutes later Antonio started another attack, but Yarmolenko couldn’t finish the job after being set up by Fornals.
Sanchez for Haller? That substitution made me very, very twitchy. If it ain’t broke, why fix it?
Antonio and Yarmolenko worked the ball on the right side in the 82nd minute and won a corner for their efforts. They moved the ball around the Southampton half after the set piece, taking a few seconds off the clock. But Danny Ings took advantage of some sloppy interplay between Sanchez and Noble and went on a run that would have been a candidate for goal of the year had it ended in the back of the net. Instead Balbuena stepped in and cleared. The truth was that the Sanchez for Haller move looked bad and seemed to be the fulcrum of every positive move from the home side.
Southampton won a free kick right outside the box in the 89th minute when Balbuena stuck his foot in front of Djenepo. The Mali international went down, and West Ham looked vulnerable. Thankfully for us the set piece flew directly into the arms of Martin. In the 92nd minute, with West Ham frantically holding on, the home side won a corner as their supporters were heading to the exits. And then, in what was almost a surreal moment, Martin went down injured after a free kick. On the bright side, West Ham had used all three of their substitutions so Roberto couldn’t come on.
Final Score
Southampton 0
West Ham 1
The main presenter here for NBC is Arlo White. Midway through the second half, he made a few points that we all know but I wondered what a neutral would think. First, in the ten years Sullivan and Gold have owned West Ham we have been involved in five relegation battles. Second, the most they have ever spent on a non-attacking midfielder was 7 million pounds on Kouyate. And finally, the most they ever spent on a fullback was 6 million pounds on Masuaku. And that assumes you are willing to classify Masuaku as a fullback.
I’m not being a moaner here, despite what you may think. We won. I’m thrilled we did. I hope playing two up front will finally make sense to Pellegrini and he will stick to it. He said something to that effect in his post match interview. Even if he does, however, I cannot see us having anything other than a rough year that will once again see us finish in the bottom half, perilously close to the drop zone. We played a rather bad team today, and it still wasn’t easy. Then again, when is it easy for us? As for the manager, I don’t know what to think. To say he keeps his job because of one win is ridiculous. Just as ridiculous as saying a manager should lose his job because of a single result.
Sam Wallace had a fantastic article in The Telegraph yesterday where he made the very cogent and logical case against our owners. “West Ham find themselves in the classic managerial death-spiral of disenchanted underperforming players who will be expensive to remove. It needs a fresh start, new direction and a vision for the club but why would you trust the same people to deliver it?”
I don’t.