Hammers made to pay for another slow start
West Ham collected their first trophy of the year via The Asia Tournament wooden spoon!
And despite an improved second half performance they can have no complaints on the back of a lifeless first 45 minutes which brought back too many recent memories of similar performances at PL level.
And it took another good performance from Jack Wilshere to give the Hammers an improved second half look as he took control of midfield.
Manuel Pellegrini had made it clear he wanted a far better 90 minutes than he had seen against Manchester City but in fact he saw worse.
Newcastle took the lead through Muto in the first half when the Irons included the likes of Josh Cullen, Aaron Cresswell and Winston Reid.
The display was dull and dreary and produced not a single shot on goal as the Geordies dominated throughout.
The same criticism could not be directed at them after the break with Snodgrass and Wilshere in particular giving the team more threat and from the Scots corner Anderson headed against the bar as the Hammers rook on a livlier look,
But once again we ran out losers on the back of a dreadfully slow first 45 minutes – a scenario which has existed for too long.
Interestingly young Ben Johnson was again given more minutes when appearing off the bench late on for Zaba demonstrating that he is again likely to be making his presence felt on the first team this season.
Disappointing for the Hammers but this is not the time for over reaction.