What happened?
Another 0-0 draw away from home but, more importantly, it was another clean sheet. And it was a thoroughly deserved shut-out, too.
The defence put in another solid performance to keep out a Swansea side who would have been buoyant from their 4-0 victory over Sunderland at the Liberty Stadium last weekend.
The likes of Winston Reid and James Tomkins, as well as keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen, have all helped ensure we have have picked up six points on the road already this season, which is almost half of the total we picked up on our travels last term.
But yesterday showed that our problems in front of goal are continuing. Stewart Downing had a couple of efforts saved early on, while Guy Demel missed two sitters from six-yards out. We perhaps should have been out of sight by half-time, but we just couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net, which has been our problem for most of the season.
Swansea also went close once or twice, but we did well to frustrate them throughout the 90 minutes and were arguably the better side all game.
The Swans also had a late penalty shout turned down after Joe Cole allegedly handled in the area, but the referee waved away the hosts’ protests. It would have been a harsh decision if he had pointed to the spot, because Cole couldn’t have done much to prevent the cross from hitting his elbow.
Carlton Cole came on for his second Hammers debut in the second-half, but a lack of service stopped him from enjoying a hero’s return.
One of the only negatives that came from the game, though, is Ricardo Vaz Te‘s departure early on with a dislocated shoulder. He was beginning to show the form that made him so popular in his first season at the club and he’ll be gutted to have suffered a set-back after scoring in the Hammers’ last two games against Tottenham and Manchester City.
Why?
There just doesn’t seem to be much quality up front, which we have known for most of the season. Big Sam went went for a 4-6-0 approach but the players failed to finish at least one of the 15 attempts we had on goal.
There was a moment when we caught Swansea on the counter attack and Ravel Morrison broke in to the Swansea area with Mohamed Diame running in at the back post. Instead of squaring it, Ravel went for goal and his effort trickled wide. It was good play from West Ham and Morrison, but you can’t help but feel the decision making when attacking also needs to be improved on in the coming games.
That said, the 0-0 stalemate was mainly testament to the quality of defending on our part. Reid and Tomkins both put in solid shifts, while Demel and Razvan Rat were also faultless.
We’ve been consistent at the back all season, which makes a huge change from previous years when we’ve struggled to keep clean sheets or unexpectedly conceded a truck load after a couple of clean sheets.
All we need to do is sort out our problems up front and we’ll no doubt begin climbing the table.
Did we deserve it?
The only game in which we haven’t got the result we deserved this season is the 3-2 home loss to Everton. We were well worth a point at the Liberty Stadium yesterday and we would’ve also deserved the three points had we got them. That’s the consistency we’ve craved for a long time, and should also see us well clear of the drop zone by Christmas.
Who stood out for the Hammers?
There wasn’t a bad performance from a single West Ham player but, if there was one player who could’ve picked up their game a bit more, it would be skipper Kevin Nolan.
He went missing on various occasions and was a shadow of his former self, and he hasn’t been at his best since the opening day of the season.
Ravel Morrison, Mark Noble and Stewart Downing were all stand out performers in midfield. All three did what they needed to do, and Downing’s tendency to cut inside from the right and shoot will no doubt see him score a few this season. He went close twice with carbon copy efforts against Swansea and on another day at least one of them would have hit the back of the net. The threat his offers going forward is one we desperately need given the lack of striker options, so his form is crucial to us at the moment.
Who’s next?
We travel to Burnley on Tuesday night for a Capital One Cup 4th round clash that should see Big Sam ring the changes, especially as it comes so soon after the draw at Swansea.
It would come as a surprise if he opts to go 4-6-0, with either Mladen Petric of Carlton Cole more likely to be handed a start up front.
That said, it would be nice to see a relatively strong side make the trip to Turf Moore. We haven’t had a decent cup run since the year we were relegated under Avram Grant (that 4-0 victory over Manchester United at the Boleyn Ground will never be forgotten), and we’ve exited both the Capital One Cup and the FA Cup at the early stages in both of the seasons in which Allardyce has been manager.
He had excuses for not wanting to have a cup run back then, though, with promotion and then Premier League survival the main priorities, but this season should see us try and push on a for a trip to Wembley. We saw Swansea and Bradford do it in this competition last season, so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t give it our best shot.
Petric was injured for Swansea match so he probably wont be risked on Tuesday either but you never know….
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