Wherefore art thou Lukaku? Swansea 0 - 0 West Ham United

West Ham United started this game with the Premier League’s worst shot accuracy this season and that statistic will not have been improved by this trip to the Liberty Stadium.

A lively first half, where West Ham dominated and had a number of excellent chances,  ended 0-0 and how West Ham rued not putting at least one opportunity into the onion bag. Starting the game again, with the ‘false number 9,’ the Hammers were energetic and looked certain to open the scoring. One of the best chances fell to Guy Demel who stretched out a toe but couldn’t get any contact and poke the ball home.

But West Ham did not stop there; the ever-present Ravel Morrison had a shot cleared off the line, Demel had another good chance saved and Stewart Downing a shot blocked also. In total, West Ham had eleven attempts in the first half as opposed to Swansea City’s two.

The second half was a different affair with the Swans getting a stronger foothold in the game. West Ham’s stout defence limited the chances and all in all what started as a cracker of a game, petered out into a dour draw. Swansea dominated possession but could not break down Big Sam’s defensive system. Incidentally, West Ham have only conceded one away goal this season and that was Robbie Brady’s controversial penalty at Hull City.

The second half saw the long awaited return of Carlton Cole to the West Ham side. More importantly, it saw us playing with a striker which is more than pleasing to see for the West Ham faithful. However, his impact was minimal making a few important defensive headers but nothing really at the business end of the pitch.

Joe Cole came on and made a late appearance for Ravel Morrison and it was disappointing not to see more of him earlier on. The manager’s continual support of Kevin Nolan despite poor form and a plethora of midfield opportunities at his disposal, is not helping the goal scoring situation. Despite a dominant first half, Nolan was conspicuous by his absence, the only incident of note, where he took the ball off the feet of in-form Ravel Morrison, preventing the young man from pulling the trigger.

So, pleasing to see another clean sheet away from home, yet concern once again at our inability to finish chances. Had you have offered most West Ham fans a draw before the game, they probably would have taken it. But after our completely dominant first half, it was a different story, highlighting in glorious technicolor our need for an effective back up striker. It is important to mention the performance of Mark Noble who was magnificent. West Ham fans have known of his contributions for years now and I only hope tongues start to wag outside of East London, as he continues to impress week in, week out.

We once again mixed it against a very good side and we continue to show great promise. The defensive frailties of yesteryear are long gone  (think Reading’s 6 – 0 demolition in 2007), however the presiding feeling is that Big Sam’s inability to capture a big name striker in the summer has once again come back to haunt us. God only knows where we would be if Lukaku had moved to the Hammers, it doesn’t even bear thinking about.

Next week we entertain Aston Villa at the Boleyn Ground where nothing but 3 points will do for Big Sam’s men.

Jaskeleinen 7

Solid once again

Demel  7

Had a good game

Reid 8

Dominant in defence. Turning into a world class player

Tomkins 7

Could not be faulted

Rat 7

Looking solid at the back and good going forward

Noble 9

A flawless display. Does not get the credit he deserves

Morrison 6

Had one cleared off the line, but not his best game

Downing 6

Looking more effective with more games

Diame 6

Not his best game in claret and blue

Nolan 5

Poor – surely on borrowed time now

Vaz Te 5

Wrist injury forced him off

Carlton Cole 5

Good defensively – not many chances up top 

Matt Jarvis 6

Some good balls into the box

Maidstone United 0 - 2 Boreham Wood

One positive aspect of the International break is that I get to catch up with the local team down at the Gallagher Stadium. I do enjoy the vibe at the Stones. If it's not the two old ducks sitting in the 'club shop' then its popping over to the 'sizziling' burgers (that's right sports fans) at the far end of the ground. There is a feel of real football here and this is backed up by the immense footfall that the club gets every week. This week saw an official attendance of 1,781, a little under previous weeks, but maybe that was due to the quite abysmal turn out from the 'Boring' Wood faithful. Either way the Stones fans were in terrific voice at the Town End and cheered their side vociferously from the off.
As it was an FA Cup qualifier, Steve Ward kept on his wig and beard combo as promised, to which the crowd roared 'you're not ginger any more!' He didn't look too impressed but on the whole the banter was rife and well received from all and sundry. Even two non-assuming PCSO's caught a bit of flack, to which they just smiled before moseying on to somewhere quieter in the ground.
So the football...did I mention those 'sizziling' burgers? I wonder if the owner of the van knows it's spelt wrong? Perhaps they don't care but I remember looking at the sign for a large part of the first half and wondering, what was going on. Anyhoo, the football was dire. Boreham Wood proved a bit more savvy than the Stones throughout the match and this really proved to be the difference between the two sides.  Zak Attwood hit the side-netting in the first half and Wood's striker Simmonds popped up with a gifted chance from an Orlando Smith mistake, but fired deep into the Town End stand.
The noise continued, the banter got more cheeky and the football became more tepid. Something had to be done to change things going into the second half. No it wasn't the Stones banter about the Wood skipper being a he-she, it was some quite incredible refereeing decisions from man in black Nigel Lugg. Now, I am aware that I have moaned about refs quite a bit in my reports, but today's offering was truly woeful. You could see the cogs turning in old Luggy's mind, 'right we need a winner here, best do something...' and lo and behold the opposition team from the higher division were 1-0 up!
To be fair, Wood's first goal was extremely soft and a throw in into the box was headed into the corner of the net, by 'Stones own Jack Sullivan, much to the surprise of all around the ground. The three Boring Wood fans that made the journey celebrated and the rest of us were left to scratch our heads.
The second was a shocker though from the Luggster. A perfectly-timed tackle saw a howl of protest from the Wood bench. The Luggster again pondered his earlier predicament and gave a penalty. Soft, soft, soft. And thus endeth the game as Luke Garrard beat Worgan and the Stones were left thoroughly deflated.
However, they showed a bit of spirit and pressed hard, but the damage was done and Boreham Wood eased into the next round of the cup.
Luggy had a couple more tricks up his sleeve though as he sent off Mills for what seemed again like a very good challenge (damn, this lower league lark and their lack of video replays!) He also sent off one of the Wood team for an off the ball incident that appeared to be a headbutt. I am not 100% sure because by this stage I was off to the pub like a number of other fans.
Disappointing to say the least. However not as disappointing as waking up with a horrendous bug keeping me on the sofa for a majority of Sunday. I am loathed to blame those 'Sizziling' burgers, so it must have been old Luggy and his bewitching form of voodoo, leaving his final mark in the heart of Kent. As he made his way back to Hell and I felt sorry for myself under two layers of duvet, I am sure Team Saunders were dusting themselves off and getting ready to continue their impressive assault on the Ryman League. After all, there is always next year.

Tottenham 0 - 3 West Ham United

One of the most anticipated fixtures of the West Ham calendar went off with a bang as the Irons ran out 3-0 winners over their North London rivals.
The West Ham fans started proceedings with the chant, 'We will sing what we want' but on the whole there was little naughtiness from the travelling contingent as a bright start kept the eyes firmly focused on the football. Vaz Te came in for the beleagured Modibo Maiga and James Tomkins kept his place ahead of James Collins. However, it was the midfield that dominated the show from the off and kept the Spurs players at bay and hunting for the ball for most of the opening exchanges. It would be wrong of me not to mention the fact that the West Ham team that took the field cost a mere £13 million. That would be half a Saldado or a third of a Paulinho. This must be a shoe-in for in form Spurs, against a West Ham side with a woeful away record, right? In fact the last time the Hammers won here was 14 years ago when messrs Ian Wright and Marc Keller provided the goals, so not a great deal of hope then for even the most optimistic of the Claret and Blue army.
It wasn't long before Tottenham began to get a hold on the game and had a string of good chances in the first half. But West Ham were resilient and set up quite brilliantly by the old master Big Sam and Spurs found themselves frustrated by a switched on Irons defence. In fact, it was the Hammers who had the best chance of the half when Mark Noble chipped a free kick over the Tottenham wall and into the path of a waiting Kevin Nolan, who saw his shot drift agonisingly wide. He should really have done better.
The second half started brighter for the home side and Defoe missed a gilt-edged chance when he was set up by livewire Christian Eriksen. It makes a change because the little so and so normally scores against us, but this was not to be his or Spurs day at all.
West Ham found their feet and had some periods of excellent pressure.  We knocked the ball around well and Vaz Te up front revitalised the team to say the least. However it was from a Mark Noble corner that West Ham took the lead, Winston Reid needing two bites of the cherry to put West Ham 1-0 up.
Spurs went on the attack but to no avail, as the Irons defensive set up left them wanting and allowed us to break with pace. It was Ricardo Vaz Te, who was put through and broke well for the second goal. He only had Hugo Lloris to beat which he did with aplomb, despite the despairing goalkeeper getting a hand to the ball. 2 - 0 West Ham and cue a lot of eye rubbing and clock watching from the Claret and Blue Army.
The third goal was an absolute delight to watch. Ravel Morrison picked the ball up in our half and broke with venom through the centre. He skipped past Dawson and then Vertonghen like they weren't even there and placed the ball deftly in to the bottom left hand corner to finish off proceedings.
A wonderful goal from a startling talent. I must say I have not been this excited about a West Ham youngster since Joe Cole burst onto the scene. The boy has serious talent and rightfully deserves his England U21 call up.
So a potential banana skin for Tottenham well and truly slipped on. Speaking of slipping they are down to 6th in the table and hopefully this result will bring an air of reality back to Arsenal's noisy neighbours.
They can't blame the lasagna this time, the big spenders of North London were truly outplayed by a better side on the day. Morrison's creativity and West Ham's unending work-rate were just too much for them in a game that could have put Spurs on top of the premier league. Oh well, it wasn't to be.

So where does this leave West Ham going into the international break? Perhaps we will win the league? Who knows but we are certainly in a far better place than before the game started. Noble did take a knock and came off late, so we will need to see how bad the injury is. Downing started and Joe Cole made a welcome return from the bench. Vaz Te had a point to prove and did it rather well and a normally toothless attack, played with gusto and confidence today; long may it continue.
Did I mention that this game was against Spurs? And they were at home?

Great result for West Ham, bring on Man City on October 19th.


Jussi 7
Did all he needed to do
Demel 7
a solid game
Reid 8
Fabulous as usual. Scored the opener
Tomkins 7
Handled a tricky Tottenham attack well
Rat 7
Looking threatening going forward
Noble 8
Classy as usual
Diame 6
Not his best game but was solid in defence
Downing 7
Played well
Morrison 9 *
Outstanding game - sublime goal
Nolan 7
A good display
Vaz Te 8
Brought a spark back to the team