Sunday, January 3, 2016

Premier League Match 19 - West Ham 2 Southampton 1


What the Fuck is This?

A quick turnaround and here we are at Upton Park for the last time.  West Ham are more likeable now that Fat Sam is no longer in charge but the whole Olympic Stadium deal still rankles.  It’s fucking ridiculous that they get it for next to nothing and it’s ridiculous that they and Spurs can’t be accommodated there.  It works pretty well in Milan after all.  Still – that one’s been done to death. 

The Hammers started the season superbly, mostly fired by Dimitri Payet as they won some really high profile away games.  They’ve stuttered since Payet got injured but are adept at digging out points when they need to and will finish in the top half this season.  They are still owned by the Dildo Boys however and I hope they find a way to bring a massive cock into the design when they personalise the new stadium.  Slaven Bilic is their manager now – a horrible shit as a footballer but he’s doing a decent job so far as a manager.

There are just two changes from the Arsenal game with Romeu in for Clasie and Tadic in for JWP.  Hopes that we are staying with the same formation are dashed though as it looks like we’re 4-2-3-1 again with Long up top on his own.

West Ham have a decent side even without Payet and it includes Michail Antonio.  Now there’s a player I never expected to be in the Premier League but fair play to him.  I had a lot of time for him when he played for us and he was brilliant in the JPT Final when we won it back in 2010.  Andy Carroll is fit enough for the bench, as is Lanzini who looked a decent player earlier in the season before he got injured.

We are the better side from the start as some of the Arsenal magic is still with us.  Long is looking a right handful and the West Ham defence looks like it might creak and it does after 15 minutes as Stekelenburg hoofs a goal kick and Long beats the centre backs in the air.  A Mané flick which somewhat luckily finds Davis, a ball inside the full back to Long who crosses low to where Tadic bundles it into the net.  A great move but the finish was somewhat lucky as though Tadic had got a touch, it was Jenkinson who had smashed it into the net.  Get in.

After the goal, the predicted West Ham response doesn't really happen and we have a great chance for 2-0 as Martina, finds Long with a great ball down the right and his low cross finds Davis whose shot it deflected wide by the baldy headed ginger bearded monster that is Collins.  The corner is met by José whose header is clawed out by Adrian and Big Vic can’t get over the shot and whacks it into the crowd.

We manage another decent effort before half time as Tadic takes aim from 25 yards but Adrian pulls off one for the cameras.  It’s all going rather well as West Ham have offered nothing going forwards and the only nagging fear is that from 45 minutes of domination, we’re only 1-0 up.

Bilic isn;lt going to die wondering and removes Zarate and Song and brings on Lanzini and Carroll.  What the fuck has Carroll got on his head.  I guess being injured for months on end gives you loads of time to ponder your hairstyle and the big Geordie hard man looks like a girl with neat little plaits and corn rows in his hair.  What a wanker.  Bet he fucking scores though.

…. And there you go… nearly. From a corner, Collins has a header cleared off the line by Martina but we don’t clear it properly and when it comes back in, a poor defensive header from Fonte lands at Carroll’s left hoof, which is his good hoof and he lashes it miles over the bar from 6 yards.

It’s all West Ham but we appear to be keeping them at arms length and then Cuco Martina reminds me why I always thought he was shite pre-Arsenal.  A diagonal ball from Collins should be headed away by Martina but he fucks up the trajectory of the ball and ends up knocking it down to Antonio who is gone,  he cuts into the area, gets closed down and hits the deck appealing for a penalty (which is bollocks) but in steams Big Vic to clear and his clearance hits the prone Antonio on the arm and loops ridiculously over Stekelenburg and into the net.  Oh fuck off.  How can you run off celebrating that, you wanker.  You knew nothing about it and it’s gone in off your arm.

You may have noticed at this point that there is no mention of what we’ve done since half time and that’s because we’ve done fuck all except occupy half of the pitch.  Ronald has had enough of the Cuco the Clown show so he brings on the much 'more reliable' Yoshida in his place at right back, soon followed by bloody Juanmi and Gaston for Tadic and Mané.  I still reckon it would have been better shoving Mané up front at this point to pressure the defenders before they took aim at Carroll.

You know it’s going to happen and it’s just a case of when.  Lanzini dragged a shot wide and Valencia finds space in the area and hammers in a low shot which Stekelenburg does well to block.  The inevitable goal from the inevitable source arrives with ten minutes to go as Jenkinson makes ground down the right, Valencia crosses, Antonio arrives totally unhindered by Yoshida who is supposed to be marking him and he heads against the bar but it bounces straight to fucking corn row boy and he heads it into the net.

In the remaining 12 or so minutes, we don’t do a lot.  Gaston proves that he can’t take a corner and sets up a West Ham break which ends with Antonio picking out row Z.  Full time and fuck off.

So it’s another game to add to the ’45 minute’ appearances we’ve put in this season.  We were brilliant in the first half aside from only scoring one goal and then absolute shit in the second half when we just hoped to play out for a 1-0 win and then once we’d fucked that up, just waited for the inevitable winner for West Ham.  Once that arrived we predictably did fuck all.

The key moment in this defeat is the first West Ham goal.  Ok, it’s ridiculously unlucky how it ends up in the net with a clearance deflecting on off the arm of a player who is flat on his face but like the Crystal Palace goal a few weeks back, if the original punt forward it dealt with by an unchallenged defender then nothing develops.  Martina was the culprit this time and he reverted to type and looked like a calamity waiting to happen all game.  Just head it or put it out of play you wanker, like you were taught when you were about 8 for fucks sake.

It had to be bloody Andy Carroll as well.  Never fit but he always scores against us and he has corn rows in his hair to make him look even more of a bell end.  West Ham really aren’t that great without Payet but they found a way to win the game and we found a way to lose it but it’s not rocket science – if you only play for 45 minutes out of 90 then you will lose, especially if you haven’t got the concentration or application to dig in when things aren’t going well.  We are as fragile as you like and as somas things start going against us we are gutless and slide to an inevitable defeat.

The dubious goals panel never fails to make me smile. The Tadic effort was probably going in but it’s gone down as an own goal for Jenkinson.  Antonio is lying on his face and a ball deflects in off his arm and he gets given the goal.  I guess that as Vic’s clearance wasn’t going in and the ref hasn’t given hand ball then it has to be Antonio’s goal.

Would I have taken 3 points out of 6 from the last two games?  Yes I would after the Spurs shambles but having won the more difficult of the two, it’s disappointing to not pick up at least a point here, especially as we were in a winning position.

So, 2015 comes to an end and roll on 2016.  I have a feeling that it’s going to be a struggle for Saints this year and there’ll be much bedwetting a sensationalism from the media to come – oh good, we have a transfer window to endure.


Happy New Year to all… except Andy Carroll and his shit house haircut.

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