Blind Hammer reflects on a proud victory which guarantees PL Football next Season
I was a nervous man on Saturday morning. For me this was the crucial fixture in our run in. It was the fixture most likely to deliver the points needed to survive. Manchester United on Thursday will be tough despite recent results and I dreaded having to garner crucial points against an Allardyce led Everton with a point to prove. Anything can happen in pressurised final games.
If we could have selected the team we most wanted to play at this moment it would have been Leicester, yet frequently this season we had somehow conspired to allow teams woefully out of form to come good against us. We are one of the tiny numbers of teams that Southampton have won convincingly against. So you could take nothing for granted. Moyes was right in pointing out how much pressure all players were under before this game. At last we can be proud of how they responded in this challenge.
We can all be proud of not only our team but our fans. Southampton felt hard done by at Everton but despite offering subsidised coach travel and concessionary tickets their fans stayed away in their thousands. In contrast, as Jack Collinson predicted,, the West Ham faithful delivered the support our team needed.We have had a chastening couple of games, but Leicester, have been in even worse straits. They were missing nine players, and last time out was taken apart by Crystal Palace. At least we were demolished by Manchester City. The respective levels of confidence showed
Equally important was the positive team selection by Moyes who rejected the ultra-cautious approach of recent games and reintroduced Arthur Masuaku, to provide much needed pace and penetration on the left.
There had been some question about whether a midfield containing both Mario and Lanzini could flourish. This performance went some way to reassuring on this point. Whatever the criticisms of Mario he has now scored a couple of crucial openers, his goal here accompanying his equally vital strike against Southampton at the London Stadium.
This was not a lucky win. West Ham controlled the game with more menace. They also dominated possession with 57%. The main anxiety was the number of chances missed. There is always a risk that this profligacy would come back to haunt us.
Arnautovic’s made up for several missed chances by setting up Mario but was also a constant threat, rattling the crossbar. He did little to dent his status as our Star performer this season though Moyes was desperate for him to involve other attackers. Then again he has scored enough crucial goals to allow some leniency.
Before the game Danny Murphy claimed that he would retain only 5 of the current West Ham Squad and ship out the rest. This was journalistic hyperbole but you could see his point. You can also see why he insisted that West Ham still needed Mark Noble in the 5 retained. If anybody is to define pride in wearing the West Ham shirt it is Mark Noble.
Noble received a lot of stick last season when he played, hiding an injury, performing through the pain barrier. This season his leadership in difficult circumstances has been critical. He is not only Mr. Reliable from the penalty spot but also has a spectacular goal from time to time. I remember his goal in the Payet inspired comeback at Everton. Here he provided a vicious, swerving volley from 25 yards into the right of Hamer’s bottom corner. This was the stunning coup de grace which finally defused any chance of a dangerous Foxes comeback. It allowed the faithful to relax,. For once, it allowed a calm procession to victory.
For the first time this season we can now approach two games without the overhanging pall of negativity which has blighted so much of this season. The setup against Manchester United will be of particular interest. Pressing, hard work and organisation will be needed, for sure. Yet equally surely there is no need now to park the bus and surrender possession in relentless funneling back. . How Moyes and this squad tactically respond may just give some clues to developments in the weeks ahead.
COYI
David Griffith