Angelo Ogbonna made his Hammers comeback against Newcastle in what he described as a “fantastic” match at Newcastle.
The concession of two goals in a first half where largely the Hammers had been in charge was of course majorly disappointing.
And that two of our best performers this season were involved in errors that led us to our fist defeat in four games was massively disappointing.
And to go down to ten men before fighting back during a secon half when at one time it looked as if we might win even more so.
Nonetheless Oggy was pleased with his return and saw out the 90 minutes despite admitting that had not originally been the plan.
“It was a fantastic game, to be fair,” he told West Ham TV. “Most of the time we were better than them, even in the first half, but then we conceded two goals.
“But in the second half the reaction of the team was fantastic and the effort was fantastic with one man down and we equalised. In the end we lost, but I think the effort was there and it was really amazing.
“We need to keep going and keep pushing and in the end we will see what we can achieve.”
“Daws and Fabianski have been fantastic all season and in football these things happen,” he observed. “The most important thing was the reaction, which was very good.
“In the second half we dominated and that is the effort of this squad. Everyone is involved and we keep going. The fitness was incredible to be fair. I didn’t think I would finish the game, but at the end I didn’t have any chance to stop, but it’s OK.
“It wasn’t the plan to play 90, I think, but I finished the game without any kind of reaction and the guys helped me a lot, so it’s good to be back.”
It will be good to have him available for the game against Chelsea game which – with them having a game in hand on us and being just a point behind us – has a serious “must win ” look about it if we are to make that coveted top four spot.
If looked at objectively, a couple of own goals and a sending off have not been a good time for Dawson. He seems to have gone back a bit since the announcement that he was being signed.
Similarly, Soucek has been much quieter of late which might indicate that teams are becoming more aware of how he plays and making his runs into the box. Yes he is missing Rice but he has not been as effective for awhile.so maybe oppositions have sussed him out on the goal front. Still a fantastic player but the goals have dried up a bit.
Fabianski is more error prone nowadays and his kicking is atrocious and invariably goes into touch.
We were the masters of our own downfall yesterday but hopefully it was a blip.
Dawson was fantastic as a pure defender, with Rice and Soucek in midfield. Now with Noble in Daws is having to step forward and cover ground he is not comfortable with. It is the Noble factor we need to overcome – sorry Mark but you ain’t doing it.