City lights shine too brightly for the Hammers

There was a certain inevitability about the result tonight, I think what we all wondered was how exactly it would manifest.  I don't think many of us were expecting Behrami, Upson, Collison and Dyer all to be out, which certainly wasn't going to help the cause.  No matter what the results, injuries really have not helped us this season.

City are a very good team, and one that spends over £100m more on transfers than us should frankly be beating us at home.  What the Hammers must do, however, is starting winning the bread and butter games, starting at Fulham next week.

Performance wise, no point doing ratings to be honest, everyone was around a 5 or a 6.  I thought Da Costa had a decent debut considering who he was up against.  Jiminez can certainly provide a link between midfield and attack and Diamanti takes an awesome set piece.  We also had further proof that Faubert is a luxury at right back and we need a proper defender in that position.  Strangely, I thought Noble had a better game in terms of his positioning, but again too many attacks broke down due to a poor ball from him.  I'm starting to think he may be turning into Frank Lampard, in terms of needing a move to a different club to kick start his career, it may well be the best thing for both parties in January.

Kovac does not do enough for me, especially when you compare him to someone like De Jong who was awesome and, alongside players like Palacios, have the build to be a tough defensive midfielder.  I need to see more from him before I am convinced.

The plan to counter our fitness seemed to be bring on the young ones on 70 mins, but the game had gone beyond us at that point and I think it's harsh on Hines that he did not get a start.

433 does not really seem to be working for us, though I do understand why Zola thinks it should.  However,Cole really does need someone buzzing around him and either Hines or Diamanti need to take that role.  442 must be the way forward in the short term.

So, I'm not going to pretend to be surprised by the result, it's Sunday that will illustrate what kind of Winter we are in for, let's hope it's a brighter one than in currently feels like.

Comments

[thfc1882]

west ham lose. LOL you always lose and your going down. Look forward to us smashing you at the lane on and of the pitch on boxing day COYS

[Paddybenhammer]

I agree totally with your comments, we must change to 442 with the players we have available. I was gutted last night to see the gulf between us and them. It wasn't that we weren't trying we just are not good enough - I think that is the first time I have ever admitted that. The old saying is if its not broken then don't fix it, but I am afraid we are broken and we need to fix it NOW. Fulham is the real test.