West Ham’s second eleven dodged a bullet as one moment of brilliance proved the difference between two sides separated by 47 places in the football league.
In years gone by this could easily have been a banana skin for West Ham to slip and crash out of the competition but the quality available on the Hammers’ bench carried the day.
The anonymity of Lamadrid and Kanté showed the gulf between Premier League football and u21 level and has told Nuno that neither look ready for the step up. Magassa was ring rusty and Freddie Potts’ ill timed scissor challenge looked to be just that. Had Edson Alvarez had been the perpetrator he’d be vilified by the fan base: Potts however will probably escape public criticism and ‘merely’ have to sit out Saturday’s Bournemouth fixture along with the following games against Liverpool and Fulham as a result.
Thank heaven for the other absentees ready to return next week: Bowen, Soucek, Wan-Bissaka and Fernandes enjoyed a well deserved weekend off after recent labours. Probably the most remarkable part of the whole afternoon was the aerial protest orchestrated by fans no doubt disgruntled at the bans handed out for overside banners.
As the Independent put it:, Summerville may ‘have spared West Ham’s blushes” but “Before kick-off, Hammers fans had arranged for a plane to fly over the Pirelli Stadium calling on directors David Sullivan and Karren Brady to go, and this was hardly a performance to quell feelings of discontent”.
Make no mistake, this hard fought 0 – 1 away win was important if only as a bullet dodged and one less thing for fans to throw at the players or coach as they enter the most important three months in the club’s recent history.
Being in the fifth round of the draw, however it was achieved, is another modest step out of the deep dung in which the Hammers have been mired. At least we no longer have to watch performances like that regularly – as we did under Potter and Lopetegui. It was a blast from the past, reminding us that – until very recently, Hammers football used to be like that every week.
And for that, let’s be grateful.
Kante looked a whole lot better when the system was switched to 442 as did the rest of the team and we can say in general this team has played its best football this season in a 442(4411) formation, 3 5 1 or 3 4 3 however it is considered has yielded our worst results and most goals conceded, why Nuno persists with it is beyond me, it cost two managers their jobs and gained us the most lost points and goals conceded, it might work in theory but doesn’t in practice. As for Lamadrid he had some bright moments and would ike to see him in the 442 system rather than the weird inverted winger other formations Nuno, Floppy and Potter favoured that clip the wings of our wingers.
You seem to have lost the plot, Martin. Freddie Potts is not only out of the Bournemouth game but also against Liverpool and Fulham after his reckless red card challenge.
Discipline seems to have gone out the window with our players lately, what with Todibo’s earlier moment of madness as well. Add to that us losing Pablo for quite some time and we are in the poo.
It looks like we cannot rely on some of our younger players to help our fight against relegation either. Lamadrid was anonymous, Kante was poor, Mayers so so, and even Scarles was below par. Ok, Orford looked promising and deserves another go.
Traore actually got going and showed he can still run rings around players of Burton’s class. I can’t help feeling that he ultimately ends up his own Arsenal though! Wilson was unable to offer much on his own. Thank god for Summerville, he is becoming our saviour lately and deserves our Bowen like admiration.
I thought Lamadrid grew into the game a bit but I never realised how small he was. Struggled a bit with the physicality of the men’s game I think.
Jeff – Remember Juninho for Middlesborough? Smallest man ever to play football, but he was brilliant. Hope for Lamadrid. A long way to go.