West Ham 1 Hull City 0 - Half Time Report - So Far So Sufficient

After an electric start, with West Ham coming out of the traps like Burnley at Turf Moor, it has settled down into a bit of an attritional battle. Our passing is poor and we are not finding the front men when the ball is hoofed forward. At the back we have looked tight but we are still making really crass errors. Tomkins, Faubert and Cole have all put us on the back foot losing possession stupidly within 25 yards of our own goal. When are we going to stop making these school boy errors?

I'm nervous about saying it at this stage, but Green has been excellent, making one superb save from Boetang and commanding his area when high balls are played into the box. Fingers crossed this continues!

Cole doesn't look at his best and Franco is in a war with McShane. I would fancy a bet on a sending off in the second half with McShane, Fagin, Zaki, Franco and Diamanti favourites to see red. There are lots of niggling things going on out there and players are reacting. Sooner or later, the referee is going to see an elbow or a raised hand and go for the card. Zola needs to tell Franco, in particular, not to respond!

The goal was finished superbly by Behrami. Significantly, possession was won by Kovac who is playing suprisingly high up the pitch. Did Franco mean to play in Behrami? I don't think so, it looked to me as if he just lost control of the ball. Our best move saw Myhill save brilliantly from Behrami. Once again, we saw the virtue of playing Diamanti on the left because he skinned the full back and sent in a wonderful cross. How many more chances would we have created if Zola had not buggered around with a right footer on the left and a left footer on the right? Faubert crossed for Cole's goal against Birmingham and only a fantastic save prevented a goal created on the opposite flank today. Case proven methinks!

One goal is a flimsy lead. We need a second. A crucial 45 minutes is about to start.