Mido Is A Four-Letter Word
By: Martin |
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All hell broke loose on the last day of the transfer window for the Hammers. Benni McCarthy was finally secured from Blackburn and new owners Gold and Sullivan had hinted that the Hammers would get a Brazilian.
The Brazilian in question was Ilan, or more fully, Ilan Araújo Dall’Igna, a Brazilian with an Italian passport. The 29 year old has been bouncing around world football, having spells with Brazilian clubs Sao Paulo and Atlético Paranaense, before heading over to France with Sochaux and St. Étienne. In his four years with St Étienne his scoring rate was greater than one goal in four games, and that is the kind of striker Zola is looking for.
On the other hand, the Hammers also decided to go with another four-letter striker called Mido or less commonly known as Ahmed Hossam Hussein Abdelhamid, I’ll stick with Mido. The 26 year old Egyptian has been hailed as one of the badboys of soccer and certainly has shown he can be a handful as I am sure everyone at Middlesboro can attest. The Hammers have Mido on a four month loan and reports are that it is a cheap deal. However, one slip and I am sure Zola will have him back on the first train to Teesside.
West Ham 0-0 Blackburn
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It has to be put down as another two points lost, rather than a point gained. After losing two points to Portsmouth in mid-week, it was imperative that the Hammers take three points from Blackburn and at least give us some breathing room. Blackburn, had not won at Upton Park since April 1994, so history was in our favor. Unfortunately the lack of firepower was the Hammers undoing and in the end it was lucky to only drop two points and not lose all three.
Blackburn didn’t give the go ahead for Benni McCarthy, so the Hammers had to rely on Nouble as the lone striker as Carlton Cole makes his way back from injury. The first half did see the Hammers being inventive with Julien Faubert whipping a cross in which was almost put in by a Blackburn player. Alessandro Diamanti looked as good as ever coming close with a free kick that goalie Paul Robinson just kept out. The rest of the first half saw the Hammers press Blackburn back, but the lack of a seasoned striker was obviously clear.
The second half started with either team making headway. Ten minutes into the second half Carlton Cole was brought on for Kovac, but he was unable to stamp his authority onto the match. Parker was brought on for Behrami and Freddie Sears for Nouble, but the last fifteen minutes saw Blackburn turn the pressure on. Olsson curling strike was heading for goal and was only just pushed away by Rob Green. The resulting corner saw Givet strike one on target only for Carlton Cole to clear off the line. One last strike from Diamanti almost secured the three points but Robinson kept Blackburn in the game. Hopefully the Hammers can score three points at well strugglers Burnley next week.
Aston Villa 0-0 West Ham
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A battle of the claret and blues gave the Hammers a vital point against Villa. Sunday’s point meant the Hammers took four out of six points against Villa this season. The point also means the Hammers are out of the bottom three and hopefully it will stay that way for the rest of the season.
The team facing Villa on Sunday saw Zola set out five across the midfield and penalty-guru, Alessandro Diamanti on the bench. To all observers the make-up of the Hammers team was one that was to stifle the Villa attack and counter when possible. The lack of any serious forwards on the Hammers side must have forced Zola into this position. With Freddie Sears back from loan at Crystal Palace, Zola did have a choice with 18 year old Frank Nouble being the other option. Zola decided to start with the ex-Chelsea striker Nouble and it almost paid off after only five minutes. The 6 foot 3 striker took the ball from halfway and got a shot off, but too wide.
The first half saw little from both teams, with the Hammers wall of midfielders holding Villa back from making progress. After 25 minutes, Gabriel Agbonlahor connected with an Ashley Young cross only to be denied by Rob Green. Six minutes later Valon Behrami struck one from just outside the area, but alas too high.
The second half saw Villa applying more pressure. Five minutes after the restart James Milner whipped one in from 25 yards and nicked the outside of the post. On the hour mark Zola decided to see if the Hammers could take all three points when he sacrificed Scott Parker for the future superstar, Alessandro Diamanti. Unfortunately minutes later Villa got the ball into the net. But the panic was short lived as the referee ruled that John Carew had kicked the ball out of Rob Green’s hands after his save from Stewart Downing.
As the game wound up, Alessandro Diamanti came into his own with a number of shots on goal. The Hammers came close towards the end when Junior Stanislas whipped in a cross that ex-Hammer James Collins pushed over the bar. By then Villa has all but conceded a point to the Hammers.
Deano Retired, Dyer Next?
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After missing the whole of last season and with no chance of recovering from injury Dean Ashton called it quits and retired last December. Deano had played only 46 games for the Hammers since his transfer from Norwich City, but scored once every three games. With those statistics it was no wonder he had a bright England future, but it was not to be. Listening to the advice of his doctors Deano retired at the young age of 26.
Now we hear another constantly injured Hammer, Keiron Dyer, looks to be heading in the same direction. The 31 year old has only played 15 games for the Hammers since his arrival from Newcastle. He broke his leg in two places only ten days after his arrival at Upton Park and has really failed to make any headway in his quest to get back to match fitness. Media outlets are reporting that approaches by other clubs for Dyer’s services have been turned down while Dyer ponders early retirement.
For Sale: One Premiership Team – Slightly Used, £100 million
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Reports today indicate that the reluctant owners of the Hammers, the Icelandic bank Straumur, are going to liquidate their asset for around £100 million this month. Back in December, former Birmingham City owners, David Sullivan and David Gold, made a £42 million offer, which may or may not have been improved to £50 million later in the same month.
However, this month a new bidder seems to be in play. Intermarket, an investment company, has been the highest bidder publicly, at around £100 million, while other interested parties have included Tony Fernandes, a Malaysian airline entrepreneur, and an unidentified American group.
Straumur have consistently stated that they do not need to sell the club. But can that really be the case with bank debt of approximately £49 million, the unjust £19 million owed to Sheffield United and another £15 million still payable to clubs for transfer-fee installments.
If a new owner is found soon then perhaps there is a chance of saving the clubs top talent from bolting, plus maybe an injection of new blood in the January transfer window to get Zola’s boys up to mid-table and beyond.
West Ham 1-2 Arsenal
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Another failure in the FA Cup as the Hammers can’t repeat the famous 1980 FA Cup final against Arsenal. Zola’s team looked like they were determined, but Arsenal continuing good form was too much and left the Hammers to concentrate on keeping out of the relegation zone.
The stats were never on the Hammers side. Arsenal had not lost in the third round in 14 years and made it to the fourth round after an entertaining match. The Hammers looked good out the gate ensuring the Gunners did not have any easy run into the fourth round. Alessandro Diamanti and Luis Jimenez both came close with shots on the Arsenal goal, but it took until injury time for the Hammers to go ahead. Alessandro Diamanti latched onto a Valon Behrami pass and slotted the ball past Fabianski to make it a happy hammers dressing room at half-time.
Frank Nouble came close right after half-time with a shot just past the post. The Hammers were pressing forward for a second until Arsenal made game-changing substitutions when Nasri and Diaby were brought on. After that the Gunners pushed forward and this lead to Aaron Ramsey knocking in the equalizer after 77 minutes from a flick on by Vela. It only took another five minutes for the Gunners to put out any hope of a home win when Eduardo nodded in the winner from inside the box.
Tottenham 2-0 West Ham
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It has been a long time since the Hammers have beaten Spurs, actually back in 2006. Since then it has been five losses in a row. In fact the Hammers have not won at Spurs this century. Today was no different. The game was always going to be hard and it got beyond the Hammers within the first twenty minutes when first off Modric scored after ten minutes from inside the penalty area, then Scott Parker was brought off with a hamstring injury and then Herita Ilunga off with an injury after nineteen minutes.
The first half was poor for the Hammers who let Spurs dominate and it was quite surprising that they were able to capitalize on the introduction of Jimenez and Spector, but Matthew Upson and James Tomkins were pretty solid and at half-time is was still only one-nil.
With Guillermo Franco being played as the lone striker it was difficult for the Hammers to get that goal back. In the second half Spurs continued to push forward with only fleeting moments of pressure from the Hammers. Franco almost made it all square later into the game, but it was Spurs who got the goal ten minutes from the end with ex-Hammer Defoe catching a rebound from Rob Green.
West Ham 2-0 Portsmouth
By: Martin | 1 Comment
After a draw against Chelsea, the Hammers must have felt good going into the Boxing Day match-up with basement team, Portsmouth. When all was said and done the Hammers took three points and their first clean sheet in 16 league games.
Portsmouth had been on a bit of a roll under new manager Avram Grant, winning two out of the last five, but being bottom of the league at Christmas is a death sentence, only once in the last 18 years has the team survived.
The first half started badly for the Hammers as Mark Noble got a knock after only fifteen minutes and Luis Jimenez came on in his place. Portsmouth was a little tense with Dindane and Brown picking up yellow cards within twenty minutes. Two minutes later ex-Hammer Hayden Mullins fouled Luis Jimenez in the box and it was left to “penalty guru” Alessandro Diamanti to put the Hammers ahead.
Portsmouth were definitely on the back foot as foul after foul were committed by Pompey’s defenders. After the break, Portsmouth was more determined but it was Alessandro Diamanti who almost made it two-nil with a shot that took a wicked deflection but was saved by David James’ replacement, Begovic. Despite pressure from Portsmouth, the Hammers pushed on and Valon Behrami came close after coming on for Diamanti.
The Hammers wrapped up the three points almost with the last kick of the game when Radoslav Kovac nodded in a free-kick from play-maker Luis Jimenez.
West Ham 1-1 Chelsea
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So, I don’t get it. We lose against Bolton and draw against Chelsea. I’m not sure my blood pressure will survive a season like this. I think Chelsea fans thought that they could phone this one in, but alas for them it was not to be. In fact if the referee had any idea of what constitutes a penalty, the Hammers could have stolen all three points.
After Manchester United got stuffed by Fulham on Saturday it was expected that Chelsea would go all out against the Hammers and extend their lead at the top of the table. However Upton Park is not always the easiest place to come will anything less than your top game.
The first half was very slow and the first chance came to ex-Hammer Joe Cole who took a chance from 25 yards straight to Rob Green. Ivanovic came close with a header cleared off the line by Scott Parker, but it was the Hammers who pressed forward and had Chelsea on their heels. The Hammer’s first-half pressure Ashley Cole felled Jack Collison in the penalty box and “penalty guru” Diamanti slotted home the penalty.
The second half started badly for the Hammers with Drogba getting on the end of a long goal kick from Cech, but the end result was wide. Chelsea pushed forward and a bad refereeing decision let Chelsea get on equal terms. Matthew Upson was adjudged to have fouled Daniel Sturridge and ex-Hammer Frank Lampard stepped up to take the penalty. Obviously with nerves jangling, players encroached into the penalty area and despite the penalty being scored, the ref wanted the penalty retaken. After the second penalty strike goes in, the ref wanted it retaken for a third time. Lampard scored a third time and the ref let that stand.
Despite Chelsea pressing for a winner, the Hammers dug in and held on for a great draw against the league leaders.
Bolton 3-1 West Ham
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On a miserable Tuesday in Bolton I really thought three points would be ours. Silly, silly me. It was not a good game. There were mistakes, injuries and bad luck, but most of all the Hammers did not bring their game with them.
From the start it was Bolton who was aggressive and out to make sure the Hammers continued their losing streak at the Reebok, which stood at ten. With twenty minutes Bolton’s Davies and Klasnic were booked for some hard play. Zola decided to give Kieron Dyer his first start in four months, which of course meant he would be injured and sure enough the constantly injured Dyer was substituted after twenty minutes replaced by the much fitter Junior Stanislas.
The first-half saw little action from the Hammers and no really much from the home side, which was strange as this game was a must-win for both sides. After half-time it was Bolton who opened the scoring after sixty-three minutes but it only took five minutes before it was all square. Future superstar, Alessandro Diamanti latched onto a Guillermo Franco cross to strike one from twelve yards.
However it was only another eight minutes before Bolton regained the lead. Rob Green failed to hold on to a shot and pushed it directly to Bolton’s Klasnic who didn’t miss. To add insult to injury Bolton added a third with three minutes remaining to ensure the Hammers couldn’t take a point from the trip.
The loss meant Bolton escape the bottom three, for now, while the Hammers drop down and into danger.
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