As the dust settles on what was one of the
most disappointing defeats EVER for Hammers fans, we can perhaps look at the
game more objectively. We showed great courage to get ahead twice in a game
where we conceded the lions share of the possession (67%!!!). The principal
factor in this was the resolute defending with Winston Reid in particular
really putting in a massive shift.
That his game ended with a red card was just
one more misfortune in what ended as a sickening day. He will miss the Man
United game which will make it even harder to get a result to lift us away from
the drop zone. Even though we don't deserve to be quite as low in the
Premiership as 17th, as Hammers fans we know that once you go into the drop
zone the bad luck becomes infectious.
Up front Diafra Sakho was a delight to watch.
He hurried and harried the Spurs defence and given his lack of match time over
the past 6 months he put in a tremendous hour's work. Simone Zaza was awful and
messed up a chance to bury Spurs when we were 2-1 up but dallied and the chance
slipped away. He needs a new club. Andre Ayew has yet to play well for us but
its early days.
Which brings us to the Spurs goals. All three
came from moves down our right side. The first involved a hand ball by Janssen,
the second was grave misfortune but a decent right back would have blocked
passage before the ball whizzed across to Harry Kane. Dazza Randolph got a hand
to it but in doing so made Kane's task all the easier. The penalty was a moment
of utter madness from Nordtveit. Randolph almost pulled off a wonder save
despite Kane's precision. Hmmm.
Alvaro Arbeloa must be wondering what is
going on. He silently slipped off the radar a few weeks back for no apparent
reason. He didn't play badly at any point and is not injured. Bilic has changed
our system somewhat - and is once again experimenting with playing our best
attacker in a defensive role! However, there is no such difficulty on the left,
so why not play a specialist right back on the right?
The January transfer window is not the ideal place to look for
decent first team additions or indeed for value, but we need a major clear out.
All of the loan deals have been disappointingly unsuccessful and Tore, Zaza and
Calleri should be let go asap. Nordtveit has been solid (apart from yesterday's
foolishness which will unfortunately be remembered for ever!), Feghouli has
looked interesting but without a cutting edge. Fletcher is developing. Let's hope Sakho is back for real and not just to ready him for a move in January. With Andy Carroll we need to cut our losses and just plan for him not ever being reliably available and enjoy it when he is.
We need to dust ourselves down and focus upon the Old Trafford visits. We deserved at least a draw at Spurs but that's history now. The cup competitions still present a good chance to make our season memorable for positive reasons.
COYI!!!
On rare occasions we are left speechless.
This is one of those.
Just pass me the gin.
All across Ireland this evening the usual scenes of mild antagonism towards Engerland were replaced by an unusual sense of frustration at the misfiring Vardy and Kane show. After their resounding defeat to Belgium, Rep of Ireland needed English and Welsh victories to keep their Euro hopes alive as a win against Italy would leave them with 4 points but a poor goal difference.
Bale and the boys duly obliged while Vardy and Kane were part of the impotent English front line that wasted over two dozen shooting chances!!! England managed to avoid an embarrassing tournament exit by keeping a clean sheet against the Slovaks but the lack of cohesion in their play must have Roy Hodgson worried.
After being given more time than most England managers, it's clear that Roy doesn't know his best team or even formation!!! Hilariously, Dwayne Rooney is playing in a deep midfield position having never done so before! Does anybody believe that Jose Mourinho will follow suit next season at Man United?
The high point of the night was when the Slovak medical team entered the fray to tend to the injured Martin Skrtel allowing their physio to showcase the most impressive pair of manboobs in the tournament so far!!!
All said and done, England could well end up with Portugal in the next round as reward for letting the Taffs top their group. Hmmm.
Midweek rumours suggest that West Ham's response to Tottenham's enquiry about the availability of Cheikhou Kouyate at £15million was to ask for Harry Kane in a swap deal. While this sounds like a typically cheeky David Sullivan put down, in fact you would have to wonder if Spurs would be getting the better deal.
Kouyate has established himself as a major part of the twin-engined West Ham midfield, alongside Captain Claret Mark Noble. However, Kouyate's speed has allowed Noble to press further forward this year knowing that his midfield colleague has the pace to track any counterattack if possession is lost. Moreover, Kouyate also pitches in offensively with his five goals coming at crucial times as he tends to pop out of nowhere to add an extra dimension to what is already a potent Hammers attack.
Many observers feel that Kouyate was unlucky not to receive greater recognition at the recent Annual Awards where, if Dimitri Payet was out of the equation, one suspects that the Senegalese dynamo would have been in the spotlight. In any other year he surely would have scooped up the Hammer of the year award?
Equally, Kane is a tremendous talent and represents exactly the type of forward that West Ham will be looking for in this Summer's transfer window. The best way to look at these rumours is that linking Kouyate to Kane indicates just how highly the Hammers management rate their midfielder. The good news is that having recently signed a five year contract it's clear that Kouyate is going nowhere.
And finally, as his offering at the Annual awards shows, the lad can sing!
In dreadful scenes today at No Heart Lane, the brave Hammers were undone by faulty digital technology that allowed for a bizarre and completely unwarranted FIVE minutes of extra time during which the officials heaped further injustice upon the visitors by awarding a mighty soft penalty in the final seconds of the match!!!
As rumours circulated that the fourth official had been unable to work the timer correctly, or that the device had become infected by a Tottenham virus, the poor Hammers were robbed of a well earned victory.
Crusing with 15 minutes to go and 2-0 ahead after stunning strikes from Kouyate and Sakhoooooo, suddenly a mishit Danny Roseshot bounced over the hapless Adrian and it was game on again.
Then in the final ten seconds, Harry Kane fell over in the box and as the Spurs fans bayed for a penalty the referee crumbled.
There was still time for Adrian to save the penalty but Harry Kane was followingup and slotted the rebound. Dreadful stuff. Truly dreadful.
It's the big one and not surprisingly Big Sam has selected a strong starting line up. Interestingly, Kevin Nolan is on the bench as the dream midfield of Kouyate, Song, Noble and Downing finally gets to start. In Nolan's absence, Mark Noble is captain. The prolific Harry Kane returns for Spurs but West Ham will hope that the similarly returning Winston Reid can stiffle his impact. Up front for West Ham, Sakho is fit and ready to terrorise the Tottenham defence while for his striking partnet Enner Valencia today is the ideal moment to shine.
Rory Nostradamus predicts a thriller with the final score a 2-2 draw
Tottenham
Lloris, Walker, Dier, Vertonghen, Rose, Bentaleb, Mason, Lamela, Dembele, Townsend, Kane
Subs: Vorm, Davies, Fazio, Stambouli, Chadli, Eriksen, Soldado
West Ham
Adrian, Jenkinson, Tomkins, Reid, Cresswell, Song, Noble, Kouyate, Downing, Sakho, Valencia.
Subs: Jaaskelainen, Demel, O’Brien, Collins, Nolan, Jarvis, Cole
