West Ham United Blog

West Ham 1 Liverpool 2

Well, there wasn't silence but there was plenty to shout about at the end of the night at Upton Park.  The handbags at dawn scrap between Hayden Mullins and Luis Garcia means both will miss the FA Cup Final unless the FA show some leniency, an unlikely event considering our relationship with them over the years.  After all, we're not Man Utd.  Of all the players who one might expect to to be sent off, Mullins is not one of them, he is usually clean in the tackle and not one to go over the top.  And in spite a little inconsistency over the season, here at West Ham blog, we cetainly think he deserves a cup final appearance.  Let's hope the FA see sense....hmmm, for some reason, that line does not fill me with hope!

Lyall family ask for silence

John Lyall's family have requested an observance of the minute's silence before the game against Liverpool.  As discussed in an earlier post, I'm not sure the chanting, well intended as it was, was what Mr Lyall would have wanted and the family have come out and asked that the silence be just that.  So if you're heading to Upton Park tonight, please remember to observe this.

As for the game, well, like the Boro game before the Semi, neither team will be looking to give much away.  I expect a narrow victory for the Hammers, brought on by the home crowd and post Cup euphoria, but it will be a different game in Cardiff.  Still, come on the Hammers!

West Ham in FA CUP Final Shocker!

So much to talk about...what a day.  Let's start with a 'contentious issue.  Ever since the passing of George Best, the minute's silence seems to have been replaced by the minute's applause or in this case, the minute's chanting.  Is this a good thing?  Do people want their lives mourned or celebrated?  It's not my job to act as judge and jury here, my gut feeling is that for a man like John, a dignified minute's silence is what he would have wanted, but hearing that chant that I used to sing like so many others, well, I like to think he allowed himself a wry smile up there in Heaven....

Onwards to the match, I felt quite comfortable with Boro coming out and pressing us like they did.  i wanted them to run themsleves ragged for a bit and then allow us to come back at them, like a boxer looking set to be knocked out and suddenly fighting back with a whirlwind of punches.  I'm not sure that was pards game plan, in fact we were simply out thought with a 3 5 2 formation and some of our players on their way to Tenerife rather than Cardiff.  But what a difference a half makes...

Suddenly, Yossi remembered he was a creative genius, Mattie recalled running down a wing and crossing and even Hayden realised I was watching and wouldn't be able to make my mind up about him again.  The midfield was transformed and we were much stronger for it and more convincing coming forward.  I admired Deano's work rate and even though Marlon looked off boil for most of the day, his finish was fantastic.

Boro for their part contributed to an interesting game and I'm suddenly going to be finding myself rooting for them against Steaua (apologies to our recently delcared Romanian cousins who have now ceased to be useful to us).  I hope Boro realise the injury to Schwarzer was an accidental one and though Deano likes to put himself about, he ain't John Fashanu.

Liverpool in the final, and if Pards positioning of us as underdogs was tenuous in the Semi, it will be clear to all and sundry in the final.  Liverpool are strong and it's going to be a tough day, make no mistake.  But for now, we can look forward to European football again at the academy next season and if someone would have offered that to me at the start of the season, I would have taken it any day of the week....

John Lyall passes away...

John Lyall, the manager who took the Hammers to their highest ever league position, has died today of a heart attack, aged 66.  Lyall was the manager in my first years of going to Upton Park and I am truly saddened by his passing.  My memories of John are many, from watching him about 3 rows in front of me after our last home game against Ipswich in 1986, giving a memorable speech about life as a manager, to the tear-jerking opening in his biography, where the man he knew as Mr Len (Len Cearns) calls on him and sacks him.

I know that various hammers fans and ex-Hammers tried to get John involved in the game in recent years, but that moment with Len had really hurt him and he did not want to dig up old wounds, instead he was happier digging up turf on his tractor and settling into retirement with great dignity.  West Ham Blog would like to send its deepest sympathy to the family of John Lyall and asks readers to reflect on one of our finest managers for a moment...Rest In Peace John and thanks for the memories...

 

Split personalities

Decided to split this post in two, so the mind games start here.  I was going to put my mortgage on a draw at Ayresome Park, sorry, Riverside Stadium, but Boro deservedly edged it.  I thought the managers were going to be playing real mind games with this one and keep it a very cagey affair,  but it was a little more open than you'd expect.   The worst thing to come out of it was the injury to Gabbi which apparently makes him a doubt for Sunday.  If him and Anton are both out, then Yakubu and Hasselbaink (I'd still sign him any day of the week) are going to rip us apart.  But let's see what happens.

What I didn't remember was that Boro are off to Bucharest for a UEFA Semi on Thursday, which is great news.  Some dodgy food, turbulent flight, couple of injuries and we'll be laughing all the way to Cardiff.  never before have I felt such an affinity with our Romanian cousins (?), up the Steaua as they say!

A game of two halves and mind games

A weekend of weakend performances, but with one eye on the cup, I'm not sure we expected much more.  The Man City game showed the Jekyll and Hyde sides of West Ham United.  In the first half, we were pretty solid, Yossi was creating and everyone was working hard.  In the second half we defended too deep and let City come at us and we can count ourselves fortunate that we did not end up sharing the points. 

Plus signs were that Jimmy Walker is excellent cover, if only he were a couple of inches taller, he'd be world class but as it is, he is a great shot stopper.  His problems are coming out for corners and his kicking, which is not great.  Mind you, he was up against James, who can throw the ball to opponent's goal!  Thought Gabbi had another excellent game at the back (more on that in a mo), down sides were Scaloni, who, in spite of making a goal saving tackle, is just too unpredictable at the rigth back position.  Oh, what did I think of Mullins you ask, seeing as I've not been able to make my mind up about him all season?  Thought he had a decent game, I guess the issue for me is that he does not change things for us, just keeps them flowing.  I know we need players like that, but it's just not in the Hammers mould for me.  But I do think we'd be a lesser team without him and that's praise enough.

Oh, don't forget to read thoughts from the City perspective from our chums at the Man City Blog.

There for the taking...

If anyone would have told me I was to come out of a game at the Bridge that we lost 4-1 simply feeling frustrated that we could have won, I would have thought they were mad.  But that is exactly how I feel.  Things were going right, as Collins knocked in a fine header but for me it turned on the sending off.  I remember years ago we had a terrible run when we were up against ten men, not seemingly able to know how to play against them and that is how it was yesterday.  After the deserved offski, Chelsea raised their game, the crowd started to lift them and crucially we still seemed to be inviting them to attack with the 4 5 1 option.  A switch to 4 4 2 and pegging them back would have asked more questions of Chelsea but instead we sat back and allowed them to come at us.

Even then, Collins and Hislop were both suspect at the back, we love Shaka but he is just too slow at this level and does not breed confidence like Caroll does.  Collins is raw and could possibly turn into a decent centre half but for such an important time of the season, we need Anton back sooner rather than later.

By the way, apologies for the lack of updates of alte, they say that 40% of blogs stop being updated after 3 months.  I do not intend to be one of them, to that end I am leaving my job at the end of this week pursue this and some other interests, so hope you bear with me and look forward to an even better blog soon.  Thanks for your patience.

Life begins for Teddy...

The cameras were there, the director had shouted action, everyone was in their places, but someone forgot the script at Upton Park yesterday.  I've got a theory that every palyer scores on his birthday.  Obviously this does not happen all the time but if you listen out for it it seems to happen more often than not.  Teddy has in fact scored on his birthday five times (including at Wigan last season) and he was primed to do the same again yesterday, were it not for a Myrhe-ical save (groan!).

A well organised Charlton managed to frustrate us in our efforts to climb the table.  Although we shaded it, I think the Valliants deserved a point for playing their part in a game which whilst never pretty, intrigued nonetheless.  I think the problem was for the Hammers that no one played particularly badly but no one played especially well either.  Mullins and Collins could be said to have been the stars of the show, with Yossi and Marlon not far behind.  My main concern is Konchesky, maybe the England call up went to his head but his distribution in particular continues to be poor.  Defensively, his form is acceptable but things would be even better if he partnered better with Mattie in the way that Neville/Beckham developed a great understanding for Man United on the right.  Alot to ask I know but alot of our goals come from good wing work and if we can improve then things can only get better.

A 5/6 out of ten performance by the Hammers, want to see better in the future only because I know we are capable of it.  On a completely unrelated note, I watched the Business last night, anyone else seen it?  Trsut me, it is not the business, give me Layer Cake any day!