West Ham 0-2 Arsenal

By: Ted | October 27th, 2008

Three defeats in a row to bring Zola and the fans back down to earth. Defeats against Bolton and Hull should have already done that but this game proved where West Ham’s shortcomings truly lie. Curbishley built at West Ham a solid team that in all fairness is very tough to beat. We have plenty of good defenders and defensive midfielders. That is why we kept Arsenal at bay for so long. However, when it comes to attacking quality, we are severely lacking. Bellamy was back, and had a good chance and was playing well. If Ashton ever plays regularly we have a good strike force right there. Ilunga and Faubert at fullback could also be top Premiership players getting forward if you ask me as well. However we really need some creative midfielders on this showing if we want to play some Zola football. What the new gaffer has done is simple, and pleasing to the eye. He has got us playing on the deck, and it seems strange how easy it has been to do without really changing the players who are on the pitch. In terms of the match, we held Arsenal and had as many clear cut chances as them for the first 75 minutes, at which point Faubert put an Arsenal cross into his own net. West Ham threw on forwards but it was Arsenal who scored again from a breakaway. We were in desperate need of some quality going forward today, and I just hope that Zola can work something out in the transfer window, or turn Stanislas into a world beater. My star performers were:

Parker: Again looked really good at breaking up the attacking play against an Arsenal team full of quality. Never stopped running and harassing the opposition. If he can either improve his forward play, or get some skillful players next to him, he could be a great player.

Green: A close shout for man of the match as he put his display against Bolton behind him. Looked comfortable in the air and made two world class saves. His distribution was shocking as usual, but its good to see his confidence hasn’t disappeared.

Faubert: In continuing my tradition of picking players who make the all important mistake that costs us, he was my man of the match. A key outlet for us during the first half, and he got forward really well, as he seemed to be covering the whole right flank on his own. Really unlucky to score the own goal, but he has been a excellent at right back under Zola for me.