West Ham United Blog | Analysis & News
News, Results, Transfers, Gossip
Joe Cole grabbed the equaliser for West Ham at Upton Park today against Queens Park Rangers.
Loic Remy, an 8Million signing from French outfit Marseille scored the goal for QPR and made it a dream debut for his new side after just 14 minutes.
Remy was quick off the mark and connected onto a ball from Adel Taarabt before putting the ball beyond Hammers’ keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen. [Read more…]
The Black Cats cruised to a three nil win over the Hammers on Saturday equalling their biggest win of the season so far against Reading. Sunderland were quick off the mark and showed the Hammers they wanted to control the game early on.
Sunderland were like Usain Bolt out of the blocks and it took just 12 minutes for Seb Larsson to chalk one up for the home side. [Read more…]
The FA Cup clash third round against Manchester United on Saturday was “a bit of an injustice” to say the least.
We all knew Fergie’s boys were up for it but then again, so were the Hammers, weren’t they? Collins’ two stunning goals knocked the stuffing out of the Red Army who seemed powerless to hold the Irons from coming forward and bringing the game to them.
Joe Cole’s presence was awesome and he played an important part in the 2-2 draw which now goes to a replay. He was the one that provided the sweet crosses for “Ginger” to get on the end of. It was a nice welcome back for the Hammer’s prodigal son.
Joe Cole realised himself how the Hammers under the watchful eye of Sam Allardyce have been transformed. Joe also reckons that he has now found his place at West Ham.
Manchester United’s goals came Tom Cleverley in the first half and then Robin Van Persie’s last minute death blow just before the final whistle. Collins equalised for the Hammers after Cleverley’s goal in the first half from a pinpoint cross that even Beckham would have loved.
Joe Cole said after the game:
“It was great to play again and I really enjoyed it. There’s been a lot of fuss.
“I’m not really one for that. I just wanted to get out there and play football. Individually it was a good performance and collectively I thought we defended really well.
“The reception I got from the fans was amazing. It really choked me up. It’s great to be here.
“The fans, even when I came back here with Chelsea or Liverpool, have always given me a good reception but today was special. Onwards and upwards.”
So, it’s an awesome FA Cup clash replay and to get through this, the Irons have to play the same way with focus, courage and determination. Joe Cole showed us that he’s still a Hammer, we need the rest of the team to follow suit.
West Ham finally got that winning feeling back with a 2-1 victory over Norwich City yesterday.
Mark Noble put West Ham ahead after only 3 minutes were on the clock when we were awarded a penalty after Winston Reid was having his shirt tugged so much it was almost ripped from his back!
Noble is getting better and better with his spot kicks and I have not felt this confident about a penalty take in a long time.
Norwich tried to hit back straight away and were getting in some dangerous areas, the visitors then thought they should have had a penalty of their own when Winston Reid looked to have handled the ball, however the replays show a Norwich player leaning all over Reid and a penalty would have been harsh.
West Ham continued to apply pressure and double their lead on 23 minutes when Joey O’Brien scored from close range with a nice sidefoot at goal after some neat build up play from the Hammers’.
Second Half
Norwich came out looking very lively in the second half and really pushed West Ham back looking for a goal to get back into the match, however the best chance fell to Carlton Cole who somehow spooned his shot over from within the 6-yard-box when it should have been 3-0 and game over.
As the second half went on it became a nervy affair with West Ham looking to hold on having not won in the previous 4 outings, both teams continued to threaten though and both teams hit the woodwork in search of goals.
Norwich could and should have had a penalty when James Tomkins clipped Harry Kane in the box with the forward through at goal, however luck was on West Ham’s side and the ref waved away the protests, however the Canaries did manage to pull a consolation goal back on 90 minutes when defender Martin scored at the death.
Overall West Ham rode their luck a little bit but 3-points is all that matters and now the club need to look at getting some more players in this transfer window.
It was a weekend full of goals, thrills, spills, you name it. Even Fergie managed to get up Pardew’s nose and put in a mention of his famous ref pushing episode. The weekend wasn’t so good for the Hammers though, was it?
We got blindsided by the Royals and they took us cheaply with a cheeky 1 nil win. The winning goal came courtesy of Russian signing Pavel Pogrebnyak after 5 minutes! This left me with a question; what did the Irons do to redeem themselves for the rest of the match?
The games are ticking by and I’m running out of excuses. I know we’ve got injury problems and we’ll probably make up a shed load of points towards the end of the season but to lose 1 nil away to bottom feeding Reading – it’s not good lads.
I’m not even going to blame Collins for his faux pas that led to the Russian’s goal either. Haven’t we got enough firepower to stick a couple in at Reading’s end? Reading have only managed 1 point in 8 outings so it couldn’t have been that difficult, could it?
Ok, rant over. Vaz Té was a welcome sight back in the ranks and he nearly made it one goal apiece with a missed header towards the end of the game. Reading hung on for dear life as the hammers were all over them like a fat kid eating a Happy Meal!
Royals boss Brian McDermott had this to say after the game:
“It was a resilient performance. They put us under pressure with a lot of balls going into our box and it was a real physical game.
“The goal that Pavel scored was a terrific finish one-on-one. I know Collins made a mistake but Pavel had to finish — and it was not an easy finish.
“He’s not had the opportunities because we haven’t created the chances for him we would have liked. But when he does get a chance he hits the target.
Reading took control early on in the match and the Hammers’ frustration came to a head when Mark Noble was booked by ref Michael Oliver for a silly tackle on Royals’ Jimmy Kebe.
The second half saw some more tantrums when big lad Carlton Cole tussled with Alex Pearce and appeared to kick out — but the ref apparently didn’t see it.
After the game West Ham manager Sam Allardyce admitted:
“We’re looking over our shoulders cautiously because we don’t want to get drawn into a fight at the bottom.
“Now we really need a win against Norwich on Tuesday.
“My problem is getting my best team out and I haven’t been able to that because of the injuries.”
I think we can all agree with big Sam. Let’s put this one behind us and get ready to face Chris Hughton’s Canaries – over and out!
