So optimism and expectation was high going into the Everton game. Morale was up, confidence was good. That, it would seem, is often a problem for West Ham – perhaps we just get carried away too quickly?

It’s fair to say that we had the best of the game last night – the players were hungry (particularly Parker and Behrami), we were creating chances and I felt were up for it. And then, out of nothing, Saha just decides that it was about time he put the ball in the back of the net…so he did.

Strikers and chances

Was that the difference between the two sides? The ability to put chances away…we certainly had the lion’s share of chances (I think 18 attempts on goal compared to their 9), yet we only manage a poor 4 on target (compared to their 5). How we were not 1 or even 2 up at half time, I don’t know.

It was becoming frustrating at times – my mentality was becoming, “well even if we are in a good position, I just can’t see us scoring”. That’s never a good sign.

Tactics

However…was the difference more to do with tactics? From where I was standing, and this is not a criticism of Parker or any other midfielder, but I felt the decision to start with Jiminez in a forward position (think it may even have been a 4-3-3 setup from the outset) was a wrong one. Fellani was having a lovely time in the middle of the park and he, to me, was running the show. Every instance the ball was at his feet, he seemed to have time to do something with it. That should never have been the case. I really felt we were crying out for an extra man in the middle – and although he’s had some criticism this year, that man needed to be Noble.

The only good thing to come out of playing against Fellani yesterday was the song that originated from the back of the STB lower…

“He’s got an old bird’s muff, on his head”

The ‘Ref’

Or perhaps, and finally, we were subject again to a poor refereeing performance. Running the risk of sounding sounding like Steve Bruce here, but are the refs getting worse and worse every week? I don’t think it’s an excuse for all those chances we spurned, and equally he was bad for both sides, but was Franco not onside when he put the ball in the back of the net in the closing minutes? Did he not warn Fellani over and over again for a) some of his challenges and b) for arguing back- yet fail to book him until late in the game?

I’m sure Everton fans could probably chip in with some bookable offences that he missed for them them too – so it’s not a complaint of bias here, more a complaint (again) of inconsistency.

When and Everton player went down in the second half, the ref felt it correct to stop the game for him – despite the fact he was standing up. And then not ask him to leave the pitch for treatment – they’re just small things, but refs need to be consistent in these decisions. If he was injusred, yet still standing, make him leave the field for treatment. Is that not how it should work?

Some positives…

- Scott Parker, to me was immense…and I am left scratching my head a little as to why Jenas and co get picked for the England side over him (well, Parker at his best anyway)

- Da Costa seems to me to be brilliant in the air – although not 100% convinced, my opinion of him is growing by the game

- I don’t think we’re far from clicking as a team – and when that happens, I’m confident we’ll make ground on Liverpool

COYI

Sam

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We needed a huge performance from every player on the pitch today and in my opinion, we got it. It was an ugly game to watch and was distant from the football we have been getting used to under Zola, but then again, we won.

There are a couple of points that I really feel should be mentioned in light of this victory, starting with James Collins.

James Collins

The defensive side [of our game] was unbelievable. The four defenders, along with the midfield were fantastic – particularly Matthew Upson and James Collins, they were really outstanding – Zola

This guy today was absolutely immense at the back. The tactics from Sunderland were, correctly or not, clear from the start; to spread the ball wide quickly and early and to whip as many crosses into the box as possible. In all fairness to them for long spells of the game they deployed this tactic very well and on several occasions their deliveries met the wastfeul red striped Cisse. The rest of the time the crosses were met by our own thoroughbred redhead, Collins. Time after time he would meet their balls into the box, he was a force to strong for Cisse and Jones and a dominating presence that we have so lacked this year. (Not to take any of the plaudits away from Upson who was equally impressive).

I have mentioned it before that what we have needed at the back is a leader, a character and generally a presence. Neill, being both a right back and not very good, doesn’t offer this for us. Upson, clearly benefitting from his time with England, and Collins today for me showed where our backbone of leadership can and hopefully will, come from. It’s no suprise that with these two in this form we were able to keep a clean sheet, and long may it continue!

Jones and Cisse are both talented forwards, if a little ugly. They are a handful for many teams in this league and have been for us in the past. Sunderland set their stall out early on and Collins and Upson duly stepped up and responded, it was great to see. And about time too.

Formation & Style

Zola this evening switched his formation around to a more traditional 4-4-2. I personally think that had he not done this, it could have spelt big problems for us and a lot of credit needs to go to him and Clarke for being aware of Sunderland and their style of play.

Had he stuck with a 4-3-3 we would have easily been stretched as they continued to play their game down the flank. We would have had too few bodies in the middle of the park to break the game down and not had any width of our own when going forward. I don’t think that we should always play 4-4-2, but the time was right for it today.

The added width that we had in our setup meant Faubert and Behrami both playing, with the latter on the left side. I thought Faubert looked a lot more at home in midfield, and it would seem that wherever Behrami plays, he puts in 110% and is proving to be a very good signing.

I felt that when we was on the ball today often we found ourselves rushed by the eager Sunderland, but when we were able to obtain our compusure, we once again showed some slick passing moves. Crisp, pacy passing, but only at times; those times however we did carve out some opportunities for ourselves, it’s just a shame that once again our finishing went walkabouts.

For me though, today was an example of where game-plan and tactics were favoured over aesthetics. A real sign of a maturing Zola as a manager. Often since he took over we have heard comments like, “I want the players to enjoy their football”, or “the players played with a smile”. This is all well and good when we are winning comfortably. Which we haven’t been doing. Today however, I got a sense of Zola and his strategy waking up to smell the coffee and he sent a team went out there with a knowledge of our situation and that we had a job to do.

We did it.

It was by no means our greatest ever performance, but the balance seemed to be about right today. Something we have dearly missed.

End Product

There was once again one glaring problem with our game today (plus a few niggly ones), end product. I was going to name this section ‘finishing’ but unfortunately the problem spanned more than just finishing. Whether is was a cross or a shot, more often than not today it was wasted. Sometimes even the most simple of passes were wasted. It has to be sorted out because in the games that are coming up, a simple case of Behrami finishing the effort he put against the bar, could be the difference between winning and losing. With the league as tight as it is at the minute, that could also mean the difference between securing a UEFA cup spot or a relegation place.

In my opinion, this problem also stems from decision making. It would seem to me that if we were to sort out some of our decisions, it would help rectify the final ball or shot. There were plenty of occasions where I was screaming for the ball to just get layed off, or for someone to whip in a cross, and it never came. At times there was too much fannying about when a simple effort on goal would suffice. In my opinion, the man on the ball needs to make his decision quicker, if he is to do this, then when he attempts to execute whatever he has decided to do, it will be with purpose. No more half-hearted hospital balls, no more thinking about crossing but choosing to dribble into a crowd of players.

I personally see this as an issue that could easily undo all our hard work in games; take Everton and Arsenal as examples. It needs to be sorted.

In Conclusion…

I think that although a very scrappy affair today, it is these types of games we have to be winning. It was always going to be a hard place to go to and get any kind of result, so to come away with all three points, no matter how it was done, is a massive boost.

Liverpool won’t be an easy game by any stretch of the imagination, but it will be a different game played in a different manner. I would argue that if we can sort out our end product and decision making, that we could be in with a chance against the Scousers. I won’t go into what I think will happen if we don’t sort it out because it will just put a dampner on things!

Here’s to a hard fought victory, COYI

Sam

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Rob Green
I personally feel a little sorry for Rob. He knew full well that the first (and in my opinion the second) goal was his fault, and acknowledged it as his mistake as soon as it happened. He doesn’t make many ‘clangers’ like these in the course of a season, and I suppose we can all find the grace in us somewhere to forgive him. The main problem I have with these mistakes however is actually rooted in some of our midfield frailties that we showed today. Both of his errors came in some respect from a high ball into the box, the second indirectly.

I personally felt that for most of the game we were giving away sloppy and frankly unecessary freekicks in dangerous areas of the pitch. By doing this the outfield players are putting pressure on Rob Green that could easily be avoided…and against teams like Bolton, should be avoided. They are a tall, physical side whose aerial presence is very hard to deal with, particularly with Nolan up front. It happened on plenty of occasions today and we were making life difficult for ourselves.

So although they were fundamental errors from Green, I would argue that had Zola’s tactics been different, they may never have happened.

Tactics
I have so far been very impressed with the way that Zola has got us playing fluent football with the ball on the floor. I think to introduce a 4-3-3 system back at Upton Park has been a brave thing to do and I think done well, it is the right thing to do. However I would argue that today was not the day to play that system. It became evident at times during the first half, but mainly after the two goals the way Bolton intended to play, two banks of 5.

It’s always the same with Bolton, long ball stuff and men behind the ball. By playing 4-3-3, I feel that we narrow down our options, quite literally, with the way we play. Yes, the ball is being played on the floor (which we all like and encourage) but it was at times today restricted to centre of the field. Maybe by bringing Matty back into a more familiar left wing role, we could have packed out the midfield a little more during the times when Bolton had the ball (that was 35% of the time) and when we were in posession, it would have encouraged the use of the wings a lot more. Spreading the play to the wider areas would have also spread the defensive unit that Bolton quite sucessfully parked in front of the goal. We tried too hard today to play the ball around and weave our way through the Bolton defense. Quicker, more decisive football that made more use of the wings would have been ideal. The tactics that Zola set out just didn’t, in my opinion, suit our opposition.

I would also add that I feel the lack of bodies in our small, lightweight, 3-man midfield was one of the reasons that in the middle of the park we were continually giving away unecessary freekicks. The extra man in there would helped break up any Bolton play without the need to lunge in because we were stretched.

Zola
As I mentioned previously, I am a firm favourite so far of what Zola is trying to do with the side. Before they took the lead today our football was looking slick. The passing was crisp and we were playing with an air of confidence.

As he stood on the touchline shouting “Chin-up” after the second goal, you just felt the connection that he has with the players. They are all playing with what appears a new found lease of life, Matty in particular. He is clearly trying to instill in them an ethic of enjoying the football that they play whilst adopting the correct mental atitude in regards to effort and teamwork.

Early on today, we saw a team who were playing as a unit. When the ball was on the floor, we looked in control of the game an the players were working together. Sometimes in football, stuff happens that is unfortunate…Rob Green. Other times the guys in charge get their tactics wrong and sometimes the opposition get it just right. Credit to Bolton, they did just that. I think though that what is important to take away from the game even though at times it was frustrating to watch is that under Zola, we will be getting what we, the fans, have been calling for for two years. Entertaining football.

I think it is an exciting time for us as a team, and I just hope that what is happening off the pitch stays off the pitch. On that note, I am holding the arbitration ruling, all 40 or so pages, in my hand. Cannot wait to read it.

COYI

Sam

It’s also always very nice to know that even though we lost, we are still a mere 10 points above Spurs. I really am suffering from back ache you know.

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With the confirmation coming from the club that Bellamy is now out for about a month with a hamstring injury almost beggars belief. He can now be included with the group of players who have already picked up injuries during the pre-season (Cole, Dyer, LBM, Anton).

But like I said…a whole lot more positive….!

So here is my question, how do you think that Curbishley will work the team this year, ie in terms of formation/who he plays where.

I thought a bit more about this since the release of Ljungberg….because as far as I was concerned at the time (and still now), it should have been Ljungberg who was released first instead of Solano. Now in my opinion, Solano would be an ideal substitute right winger and it’s looking like maybe we should have kept hold of him.

Anyway, in terms of the formation, where does everyone fit in? Do we play Lucas Neill at left back, with Behrami at right back to fit in Faubert at right wing? Personally I don’t think we should.

Do we play Linda at left back, Neill at right back and Behrami right wing and then push Faubert up front with Ashton for the time being?

And as another thought is anyone else concerned that maybe since Cole and Bellamy have both picked up knocks (although Cole is expected to be fit), Curbishley will now keep hold of LBM and perhaps use him as a forward? I personally sincerely hope not and I think, based on these poll results, people generally agree.

Here is my added positive bit….whatever happens (and if people stay fit), the right side of our team is looking somewhat strong. That’ll do for now, wouldn’t want to get carried away!

Sam

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