Bloody hell! That was so close to an epic victory, and yet again incompetent officials determine the result rather than brilliant football. Diame's goal was a classic and deserved to win the game. And so it would have done had the linesman done his job, looked along the line, saw that Van Persie was beyond the last man, and raised his bloody flag.
But that's too much to ask isn't it? Van Persie was no more than 20 yards away from the dick with the flag and at six foot something, he's not easy to miss. How the hell could anybody fail to see that he was offside? As he netted, I wasn't worried. He was off, obviously off. Even Ferguson knew because he looked anxiously down the line expecting to see the flag before he celebrated. Bloody hell!
And that was so cruel because we deserved to win. This wasn't a lucky point, we out battled Man Utd on the night and scored two excellent goals, both from open play. Jarvis set up the first superbly, mirroring Devonshire's dash to the dead ball line in the Cup Final, and standing up a superb cross that screamed out to be directed into the net. Carroll got his radar wrong, but there was Vaz Te, diving in at ankle height to head home. It was too early to score, the Mancs were always going to equalise, but boy was it sweet!
Of course Man Utd equalised, but that goal apart, we were comfortable at the back with Collins again superb, making superbly timed interceptions and blocking shot after shot. I would say that he is back to his best but that would be wrong. He is far better than he has ever been on the evidence of the last three games. How stupid were we to sell him?
Our second was a joy. Back heel from Vaz Te, nice dinked pass from Demel, superb bent shot from Diame, and clever evasive action from Nolan. Brilliant!
O'Neil cleared one off the line after poor marking at a corner and Jussi made a couple of saves - oh and Carroll made a fantastic last ditch intervention in his own six yard box to stop Hernandez scoring. But we didn't look stretched or stressed - in fact we were looking the Champions Elect equals, passing the ball neatly - one terrible O'Neil square ball and one Collison error apart. Long ball football? No. We hit the channels yes, but for the most part we played out from the back with impressive confidence.
Only for the twat with the flag to rob us of a famous victory!
No matter. With Wigan losing, we are safe. Even I'm happy to say that now!
Player ratings: Jussi 7 (should have held Rooney's shot that O'Neil cleared off the line): Demel 6, Collins 9, Reid 8, O'Brien 6; O'Neil 7; Diame 8, Nolan 7; Jarvis 7, Vaz Te 7; Carroll 9 Subs: Noble 6, Collison 5, Taylor 5
20 comments:
try going to a game pikey ,,, its much more exciting than sat in your caravan writing this bollox
That post speaks for me 100% . I'm as equally ambivalent as you are, Fanno!
I wondered if you would say we were safe now. 8 points clear with five to go. If we win Saturday, because of goal differential you'd even be able to say its mathematical. But a loss could cause some uneasy feelingsI suppose. Wonder if Big Sam plays for a draw? Wouldn't surprise me at all
Kevin in manchester writes
Went to see City -Wigan tonight. Wigan looked great and only a piece of genius from Carlos saved the day. If we are looking for skill,energy, crisp passing and vision then we could do worse than sign Seam Maloney...popped up wide left, wide right and through the centre..City crapped themselves everytime he was on the ball. I.would love to see him in a Hammers shirt as replacement for Nolan or Noble. Sadly, he'll probably be picked up by the Spuds or Everton.
Collins was good but for the goal he made the mistake of committing to the sliding challenge out wide. It was a central defender's challenge in a full backs position. Should have stayed on his feet.
Carroll got his radar wrong? He wasn't going for goal HF, he was setting it up.
Diame's drop of the shoulder to fool Rooney for the goal was pure class.
I said from day 1 that we were wrong to sell Collins. I think we never really replaced him.
Was still frustrated to see how defensive we were though, to allow Manure, with all the skill they have so much of the ball is a very dangerous thing. I thought we should of carried on having a go at them, cos Vidic and Rio couldn't handle Carroll. Why sit back and hang on for so long?
Anyway, a point is a point and I will be wearing my shirt with pride again around essex.
Also love the fact Fergie kept losing it, he is gonna go down as a great but his antics are just as bad as Mourinho and his legend will be that also
My ratings Jussi 5 (should have held Rooney's shot that O'Neil cleared off the line): Demel 4 (a real liability, lack of fitness and concentration is a worry), Collins 8, Reid 6, O'Brien 7; O'Neil 5(a fan but his worst game in a while); Diame 7(apart from goal not sure what he contributed), Nolan 4(kept giving the ball away); Jarvis 7, Vaz Te 7; Carroll 9 Subs: Noble 6, Collison 5, Taylor 5
Before the season we all had concerns regarding our fullbacks. And rightly so, BUT I gotta say, I'm quite pleased with both Demel and O'Brien as things have turned out. True, they ain't the best of the bunch and true, I would like to se us buy more classy players on their positions in the summer. But we can't really complain can we?
Whats your opinon?
Wow, you're sounding more and more like Alardyce all the time H F.
Excuses excuses moans and groans.
A couple of old wingers and whiners the pair of you!
Eddie, I would nominate O'Brien as Hammer of the Year. He has his limitations but he gives 100% every game. Demel I'm unsure of. Good going forward; weak as a defender. Seems to be pace, fitness and stamina issues. We need a new left back with O'Brien switching back to right IMO.
I just looked on the other side of your blog and see you have 76 comments on an article you based on puting your own slant on a Brian Macdermott comment.
The I see on this side your blog about the best game your team played all year against the soon to be Premier league winners gets 9 comments to date. You can thank me for helping it get to double figures
Its fairly obvious why you had to start writing about Leeds because as a West Ham blogger no one is interested in you
11.32,spot on mate. He would've had at least 100 comments on his other blog but for his keenness to censor anything and anyone who shows him up for what he is. Look at this site,their cup final and they manage a draw against the champions elect,yet only a handful of fans post comments on his site. Is this because the overwhelming majority of west ham fans who actually went to the game don't need a half arsed match report from some tit sat on his backside watching it on tv? Also doesn't he sound like warnock the way he blames others?
After such a heroic performance it won't be long until west ham are back at the top table of not only English football but European football. How come west ham don't feature in the all time list of English football aswell? Those cheeky monkeys Leeds United are 17th,but i searched and searched again and no sign of the hammers. What's going on?
What I find most appalling about the game last night was the fact Allardyce escaped punishment for his comments about the linesman. This just shows a complete lack of consistency by the FA.
Like it or not these sort of decisions even themselves out over the course of the season so no manager should get away with it. They should throw the book at him.
COYI
Fair play, Leeds do have a better history than us. However on balance, and given the fact they are dog shit at the moment, I think I'd rather be a west ham fan. Much better to be watching premiere league football every week rather than reminiscing about it.
Good luck next season Leeds. I think now you have the new manager in place a top half finish is not beyond the realms of possibility.
Completely agree, Leeds should be capable of finishing top half next season. That is assuming they are relegated this season though, right? Must be
HOW CAN ANYONE SLATE DEMEL?? HOW?? DO YOU ACTUALLY WATCH THE GAMES? I would seriously argue he is one of the top 5 right backs in the league. Consistently solid, I would also say he has offered more offensively playing right back than Vaz Te has done playing right wing over the course of the season. He's an absolute tank, Rafael tussled with him a few times and came off worse every single time (Brazil's starting right back btw). If he still had a bit of pace, oh my.
There you go h f, thank the Leeds fans for generating some interest on this blog.
Now we have a few West Ham fans who prefer to chat about Leeds rather than be bothered to comment on your teams best performance of the season
Rather be watching premiere league football its more like watching fucking tennis than football with your hoof ball shit the football should get air miles when you lot play
May I remind you of the style of football employed to form part of that glorious past you Leeds fans are so fond of living in. It wasn't exactly total football, it has to be said. More like total warfare.
Them were the days!
Agreed!
Whatever happened to them being filthy rich and being on the precipice of footballing world domination after their Arabian takeover?
Funny how things turnout. Really funny in this case.
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