LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 26: Cheikhou Kouyate of West Ham United celebrates scoring his sides first goal during the EFL Cup fourth round match between West Ham United and Chelsea at The London Stadium on October 26, 2016 in London, England. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
West Ham’s fantastic victory over Chelsea tonight was the defining moment of our season so far.
I – like many others – have believed a victory would see the season turn and for the stadium to start feeling more like home.
So sadly, some idiots made sure the hope of ‘home’ was perhaps still a little in the future as ugly clashes took place halfway down the Trevor Brooking stand – effectively sullying the great man’s name.
That’s not for now. What is was the amazing tactical coup Slav pulled on Antonio Conte by watching his three at the back perform far better than the Italian’s.
In the absence of a recognised centre forward – we can’t count Zaza – Slav handed the role to Michail Antonio into the role. He was quite outstading.
From front to back for the 90 minutes we were the better team and such was the performance of young Edmilson Fernandes it’s difficult to see how he can be dropped.
His goal, low past the Begovic helpless hands – was magnificent as was Kouyate’s fabulous header from Mark Noble’s great ball in.
They got one back at the end but deserved nothing and wasn’t it nice to see John Terry’s bitterly disappointed face at the end on his return to action.
It seems impossible to believe that just a couple of weeks ago there was talk of a Slav sacking and suggestions he had lost the dressing room.
Craziness, because tonight the Hammers season turned – trust me! Yes a great shame the last second goal deprived us of another clean sheet.
But the Irons are back and soaring… just like last season I can’t wait for the games to come around.
Fantastic stuff, a power-packed and highly skilled performance. We’re on our way.
COYI
Cracking atmosphere at the ground tonight.Really good team performance.
Now where are all the fans who were in meltdown about 3 weeks ago calling for Bilics head,calling him a fraud
Oh & the fans who said he had lost the dressroom.
It seems quite a few drama queens set off their worry alarms far too early
COYI
What a fabulous display from the boys.
The ‘West Ham Way’ was in full effect from the start till the final whistle.
The player interactions and support was outstanding.
Randolph made some great saves/blocks when called on.
The ‘back three’ ) were great in defense and also moving up the field to support a very busy midfield quartet. Cheikh Kouyate’s early goal was a real memorable beauty. He was dominant in virtually everything contested situation.
Aaron Cresswell was strong when defending, and very exciting in his overlapping runs down the left wing. For the second time in a row, young Edimilson Fernandes put in a tremendous performance, and was rewarded with his first goal for the team; a well guided strike into the corner of the net, just after half time.
Noble put in a real spirited, non-stop, captain’s game-one he will never forget. Pedro Obiang once again demonstrated his stability and class. He was very unlucky to score in the 2nd half, unleashing a cannon-ball from outside the box- oh my, hope to see more of this!
Dimi Payet was really ‘up’ for this game, following his well-deserved short-listing for the Balon’ Dor. He left David Luiz for dead (with one minor exception). His corners, free-kicks were back to his best. Late in the second half, he made an audacious strike from a very acute angle on the left side of the Chelsea box; it took a brilliant save from Berkovic to deny him a goal. Lanzini was also quite effective at times, but he will only get better in the next few weeks. His passing and dribbling attributes are something to admire.
Antonio put in an outstanding job at CF, although he often moved to the right wing position when required. Once again, his pace and acceleration was a constant thorn in the Chelsea defense.
A special word for Sofiane Feghouli who came on in the second half, and put in a terrific cameo performance. Like Antonio, he is also very quick, and has good ball control and passing skills. Great to see Andre Ayew back as he gradually returns to full match fitness.
Simone Zaza came on very late, and did not have sufficient time to make an impact. However, the fact that Bilic gave him some game time (albeit, brief) must have given Zaza some on-going sense of belonging; he just has to score from the chances which will no doubt continue to come his way.
I very rarely like to use superlatives, unless the circumstances call for it; however, today’s ‘total team performance’ was up there with the best of our wins during the last EPL season.
There is still much ahead of us, including the four horror games (Spurs,, Man.Utd, Arsenal and Liverpool) which follow our match against Stoke. Prior to the Crystal Palace and Sunderland wins, our performances were so dismal that I gave us little chance of gaining any points against these EPL giants. I’m now very happy to eat my own words!
On the basis of tonight’s performance, we can pose a challenge to every team in the EPL.
The news will only get better when we see the return of Diafra Sakho and Andy Carroll.
Go you good things!!
COYI
Great performance all round! But I just wonder why Oxford wasn’t even on the bench! Another game he goes missing… I wonder if this means he’s on the way out!? I hope not, but I guess if he wont sign a contract why would we put him in the shop window!
Agree with all you say here Hugh. Full credit to Slav for the formation deployed and to the boys for delivering. We attacked with pace and purpose and looked dangerous throughout. Great posting by Max, until the very end that is, when he refers to the return of AC. We could not have performed the way we did last night with a big, static, immobile number 9 up top. Man U played with a far better one against Chelski on Sunday and look what happened. Really is time we moved on from AC.
I’m with you Jimbo, we don’t need a pole planted in the ground with a 9 printed on his back… lol we need a dynamic forward, let’s forget about Carroll, I’m so sick of that ghost, I don’t even remember his face… lol 😀
Last night felt like home to me… in fact that was the best atmosphere I’ve experienced for many a year
My father come Ted that I had seen more football in my first 45 minutes at the new ground than he has seen all season! FROM what I saw the atmosphere is there. The players are back to that fighting side I saw last season. CANNOT WAIT FOR THE NEXT GAME!!! COYI….
Should say commented