Neither team had time to settle in to the game and I doubt everyone was sitting down when West Ham scored two well crafted goals. The first came from a beautiful corner from Junior Stanislas which was turned in by Guillermo Franco and minutes later, Franco turned provvider with a beatiful chip which gave Collison an opportunity. Matt Duke was out of position but that doesn’t mean the header was easy. Collison expertly floated the ball over Matt Duke to give the Hammers a two goal cushion. What could go wrong from there? Unfortunately, everything. Hull, with Bullard pulling the strings began to create some chances however neither team managed to control the game meaning it was some great end to end football. Hull finally got their chance with the half hour mark approaching. Not the greatest goal but it was that man Jimmy Bullard that struck the free kick. Green looked to have it covered but it hit Parker and Cole in quick succesion before floating over Green into the net. Hull deserved the goal but Zola’s team nearly gifted them a second when a majestic ball from Bullard found Hunt and the Hammers fans were just praying that they could hold onto a lead untill the break. Unfortunately, Hull grabbed a second through Kamil Zayatte from a Hunt free kick. The scoreline was probably fair but when Mark Clattenburg gave the Tigers an outrageous penalty, the West Ham players were shell shocked. Bullard scored from the spot and somehow the Irons went into the dressing room a goal behind.

Faubert leads the protests after Clattenburg's penalty decision

Despite the set back, Bernard Mendy soon lifted Hammers spirits after his challenge on Scott Parker meant he had to go. Despite facing 10 men, for the fourth time this season, the Hammers could not find a goal but then with 15 minutes to go they found it. Manuel Da Costa headed in a great Stanislas corner to set up a frantic finale. However, yet again, West Ham failed to take advantage of the 1o men in front of them and failed to get a winner with the otherwise poor Duke making a good save from Collison’s close range header. Overall it was a dissapointment for the Hammers as he knows that this was a game where his team should have comfortably had all 3 points but came away with only 1. He will be hoping that 3 points come easier to his side over the busy christmas period but after failing to beat an opposition with 10 men on four occasions this season, does anyone have any faith anymore? Well, I do but I am extremely optimistic so pessimistic Hammers fans will soon be losing faith all together.

The opening part of the match has been an area where Zola’s side have struggled this season but the confidence from the Wednesday night win against Aston Villa carried straight through to this game against Everton. Scott Parker showed again why he is still a possibilty for an England spot, although an unlikely possibility, as he controlled the midfield with amazing maturity and vision. Julien Faubert looked threatening down the right and Zavon Hines was making some lovely runs to provide Collison on the left some help, which he and Parker utilised. Zavon Hines was sent clear after some great interplay between Parker and Collison but Hines’s lack of experience showed as he was stopped on the edge of the box twice after being sent clear. However West Ham continued to attack and Parker was looking increasingly threatening and his weaving run through the defense ended with a chance that he could only hit straight at the goalkeeper with no angle to work with. This seemed to wake up the boys from Merseyside and despite a few needless fouls from Fellaini they started to play with a bit more confidence but even so the Hammers carried on dominating. After Zavon Hines’s runs caused problems early on the defence covered the left channel more and more. Parker was superior to this and was able to send Julien Faubert through only for his cross to be tapped just wide by Guille Franco. Saha’s 26th minute strike was completely against the run of play after Fellaini should have got a yellow card for yet another stupid challenge but the referee gave him yet another chance and Saha’s driven effort left Green standing. The goal just re-ignited the Hammers’s fire and they began to attack with more vigour but chances were limited. Fellaini then broke the rules 3 times in quick succession. First he handled, then in anger fouled Scott Parker quite badly and then fouled Franco very badly on the edge of the box. Both of the bad challenges were out of anger and there is no debating the fact that he should have been booked and Tim Howard comfortbaly saved from Jiminez’s effort on goal. The half ended with West Ham behind but the performance merited at least 2 goals from the Hammers.

   Scott Parker was instrumental in midfield.

The second half started badly with most of the football being played in the midfield of the park and the fans became increasingly frustrated. It seemed that the Hammer’s had given up, apart from half-time substitute Junior Stanislas who was providing some decent runs and doing well in place of the injured Collison. Despite West Ham fielding two prolific youngsters themselves it was Dan Gosling of Everton who scored the second goal. Despite the lack of chances at both ends, the goal still seemed against the run of play after his first shot was well parried by Green but England’s No1 could do nothing when Gosling smashed in the follow up. This set the game alight and Diamanti started to use his left foot with confidence. Some great balls were sent through and it wasn’t too long untill one ended up in a goal. Diamanti’s pin-point ball over the top sent Junior Stanislas clear and a great first touch and then the masterful finish gave West Ham some hope. (It was Stanislas’s goal not an own goal in my view). Ex Hammer Lucas Neill was being rightfully booed by the fans at every touch of the ball and the heightened atmosphere fuelled the teams desire and when Scott Parker sent Zavon Hines through, the finale was to be set up but the yougnster missed from close range, shooting to the wrong side of Howard, the youngster had more time than he seemed to think but he had the chance to redeem himself minutes later. Diamanti, who was having a blinder, again was the provider and Everton’s defence was all at sea as Zavon Hines created space for himself, only to shoot wide. For the remainder of the match there were wild shots from Diamanti untill Franco had a great opportunity, only to slip and fall much to the fans annoyance. It ended 2-1 to Everton and Zola will hope that Carlton Cole never gets injured again but  then again on a different day Hines would have bagged those opportunities. Luck just isn’t on our side!

Ratings

Robert Green: 7

Jonathon Spector: 6

Matthew Upson: 7

Manuel Da Costa: 8

Julien Faubert: 7

Jack Collison: 6

Scott Parker: 8

Luis Jiminez: 6

Valon Behrami: 7

Zavon Hines: 6.5

Guillermo Franco: 6

Subs:

Junior Stanislas: 9

Allesandro Diamanti: 9

West Ham’s terrible start to the season had Zola making excuses for his players after every game but last night he had a lot to be happy about as he saw his team move up the table to 16th. Martin O’neill, however saw little damage done as far as the table is concerned but failure to kill the game off after a strong first half spell left him dissapointed. Zola will be pleased with how the defence played especially when the important Herita Ilunga had to be subbed off early on. Since current Aston Villa defender James Collins left the Hammers in the summer, defensive frailties have been a major problem for Zola’s West Ham. None of those problems could be seen last night with Zola dropping Spector and Tomkins to the bench giving Julien Faubert and Manuel Da Costa a chance to prove their worth. However, Jonathon Spector’s demotion to the bench lasted just a few minutes when Herita Ilunga went down, clutching his hamstring. It seems that both Carlton Cole’s and Herita Ilunga’s injuries are not as bad as first feared and both could feature against Everton at Upton Park on Saturday. After this early setback, Aston Villa began to take control with the pace of Agbonlahor and Ashley Young troubling the defence. It seemed that losing Ilunga had unsettled the Hammers with Aston Villa gaining momentum. However, Aston Villa’s best chance was a long range volleyed effort from Stiliyan Petrov. His strike gave Green little time to react but the England No1 managed to tip the ball over for a corner. With half-time approaching, Aston Villa’s failure to capitilize on their dominance came back to bite them. The authorative Scott Parker on his return from suspension gave mexican international Guille Franco the ball, and the otherwise useless forward put the young replacement through only to be fouled by Habib Beye. Some referee critics have suggested that this decision was dubious but it is fairly obvious that Beye fouled the youngster and Mark Noble happily smashed the penalty into the roof of the net.

Mark Noble rifled his spot kick into the roof of the net to give West Ham the lead.

Team News:

Aston Villa:

Cuellar is suspended and Petrov and Milner are doubtful which means youngster Fabian Deplh could start. Zola will be hoping he does because maybe the West Ham players will be embarrassed if a teenager leads a comeback in the second half so the team might turn up after half time to play. Davies, Downing and Gardner are all still injured.

West Ham: Kovac is suspended which is a good thing, Dyer remains sidelined with a hamstring injury and Ashton, Boa Morte and Davenport are all out injured. Hopefully Zola won’t start Guillermo Franco and use Zavon Hines because with Franco there is no pace or movement up front apart from Carlton Cole and Zavon Hines creates space by making runs but I can only hope.

            Former Hammer James Collins seems to be the missing link in the new look West Ham defence, he should start.

West Ham probable line-up:

GK: Robert Green

RB: Jonathon Spector

CB: James Tomkins

CB: Matthew Upson

LB: Herita Ilunga

RM: Valon Behrami

CM: Jack Collison

CM: Mark Noble

LM: Allesandro Diamanti

ST: Guillermo Franco

ST: Carlton Cole

My West Ham line-up:

GK: Robert Green

RB: Valon Behrami

CB: James Tomkins

CB: Matthew Upson

LB: Herita Ilunga

RM: Junior Stanislas

CM: Jack Collison

CM: Mark Noble

LM: Allesandro Diamanti

ST: Zavon Hines

ST: Carlton Cole

 Verdict: West Ham 3 – 1 Aston Villa (may as well be optimistic)

Scorers: Carlton Cole (2)Zavon Hines – Gabriel Agbonlahor

COME ON YOU IRONS!

So far this season, the team have played great football but our defence has fallen apart. Lucas Neill leaving was not a huge problem to begin with but Zola decided not to buy a quality right back. Instead, he bought Diamanti. Did we need Diamanti? No, because we have Jack Collison, Junior Stanislas, Kieron Dyer, Valon Behrami, Luis Jiminez, Mark Noble, Radoslav Kovac, Julien Faubert and Luis Boa Morte in the midfield and he sold Savio. I completely disagree with signing Diamanti instead of a quality defender because now we are paying the price. Even if you consider Diamanti to be a striker we have Zavon Hines, Carlton Cole, Luis Jiminez, Dean Ashton, Guillermo Franco and Frank Nouble. Instead, Zola signed Manuel Da Costa, when we could have signed someone much better whilst keeping a quality youngster in Savio. He could have re-signed Anton Ferdinand, kept James Collins, admittedly it seemed that the board intervened with the sale of Collins but even so Zola needed to get a quality defender. Having James Tomkins playing week in week out in the best league in the world is tough on the youngster, especially when he has Jonathon Spector outside him to provide even more defensive mistakes. After saying that, Diamanti has actually been sensational so  I will admit that I was wrong to think that when Zola signed him it was a mistake but Guillermo Franco, I am not wrong about. He is useless! He should not start! That’s final! His running off the ball was terrible against Arsenal, in fact he may as well have not been on the pitch if you ask me. When we have someone like Zavon Hines who has been inspirational everytime he plays, just look at the mayhem he caused against Liverpool, I agree that he should not start every match as he is only young but his performances have merited that he should start yet Zola won’t start him.

Here is the team that I would put out to start on Wednesday night at home to Aston Villa:

                                                                                         Robert Green

Valon Behrami                        Jonathon Spector                        Matthew Upson                   Herita Ilunga

Jack Collison                     Allesandro Diamanti                        Mark Noble                           Junior Stanislas

                                                                Carlton Cole                          Zavon Hines

This team may have its defensive frailties but the attacking intent will get the crowd going, as I do not work with the team closely I am not sure if Jack Collison and Junior Stanislas would be better if the swapped wings but that is an easy change to be made. Valon Behrami is an excellent player and he doesnt stop running around, he will rush the attacking players and cause all sorts of problems and that is exactly what our defence has been lacking, a bit of bite! Junior Stanislas is a great player, young and with flair so under the lights at Upton Park he should provide some great supporting runs for the strikers whilst his ability to cut in and score from the edge of the box is incredible and on the other side Jack Collisons vision will provide Carlton Cole and the speedy Hines with some good opportunities. Mark Noble is now a distinguished midfield player and Diamanti came on against Arsenal to be that missing link and he is a machine in defence as well as not being frightened to have a shot from long range. His free kick taking abilities are also very important in a game against a team that we will need to take all our chances. Zavon Hines up front makes separate runs to Carlton Cole unlike Franco who just mills about the place, he makes gaps in the defence for through balls or even a midfielder to make a run, his partnership with Cole will continue to grow as they suit each other very well. We need to win on Wednesday because if we don’t our position in the table will look worse and worse as the weeks wind on, whilst confidence is still high, they need to grab a result against a good side!

Dyer named a relatively strong line-up with both Savio and Nigel Quashie in the starting line-up. Bondz N’Gala was also included and the accomplished defender played the full 90 minutes. Dyer also handed Andrea Zola another chance on the bench.

Bishops Stortford were not short of talent either, they handed a start to Charlie Sheringham, the son of former Hammer Teddy. They also gave ex youth FA cup winning Hammer Stevland Angus a place on the bench.

Savio was given a chance to shine for the reserves

Within the first 20 minutes the inexperienced West Ham side began to settle into the game with some neat passing play and interchanges. However the majority of these exchanges were inside their own half. Then, half way through the first half, Savio made a slinky and mischievous run from inside the West Ham half and managed to win a corner but nothing came from it. It was then a chance for the Bishops Stortford “rookies” to settle and with 10 minutes to go they came close from a Danny Harris headed effort just wide of the post.

Five changes were made at the break with Zola being one of the bench warmers to be added into the mix. With ten minutes of the half gone it was Savio again who provided a chance. Hines flicked the ball to Savio who repeated the action only for Hines’ effort to sail over the bar. It was a sign of intent though from the Hammers. The pace of the game then changed, which seemed to suit the Bishops Stortford side better and in the 87 th minute the goal came.

Just 3 minutes after Goodacre had been forced off with an injury to leave the side playing with ten men, they got the winner. A simple header from a corner scored by substitute Jackman.

Team Line-up

West Ham United: Peter Loveday, Tony Brookes, Calum Davenport, Holmar Orn Eyjolfsson, Matthew Fry, Cristian Montano, Nick Barrett, Nigel Quashie, Andrea Zola, Sebastian Huke, Frank Nouble
Subs: Deniz Mehmet, Callum McNaughton, Simone Bezzicheri, Eoin Wearen, Ahmed Abdulla

Yes, Andrea Zola is Gianfranco Zola’s 17 year old son!

The Match

Phil Anderson of Thurrock gave the non-league side the lead and it was Sebasgtian Huke of the Hammers 3-man attack who equalized for Alex Dyers side. However his game was to be cut short due to an injury caused by a stray elbow and it was left for Ahmed Abdulla to carry on in his pace. It turned out the Abdulla was more than capable of this and his creative play was to be pivotal in giving Ale Dyer’s side the win. Although Eion Wearen headed the Hammers into the lead with only 11 minutes to play it was left to new signing Franck Nouble to add the third goal in the 89th minute to win it for the youthful side. His goal was fully deserved as throughout the game he produced probing runs and creative play along with Cristian Montano who provided the cross for Nouble to score.

What’s next?

With that being the last match before the squad went off to China, those who failed to impress will be able to do so in some upcoming reserve team fixtures with Alex Dyer. The squad that have arrived in China are as follows:

Goalkeepers: Green, Kurucz and Stech
Defenders: Spector, Faubert, Ilunga, Spence, Spence, N’gala, Upson, Gabbidon, Collins and Tomkins
Midfielders: Stanislas, Noble, Parker, Jiminez, Dyer, Collison, Payne and Boa Morte
Forwards: Cole, Hines and Savio

Whilst the away kit has grown on me, I don’t think that this ghastly thing will. Unfortunately for Ray Winston he was chosen to model it and I am sure that I am not the only one that feels sorry for him, wearing that. The chequered pattern is just about bearable but the fact that the whole thing is claret with only a tad of blue kind of defeats the object of being the claret AND BLUE army does it not?

It will be interesting to see what you guys think and I am praying that when I go to the Hammers shop that i can write a follow up article saying how wonderful the home shirt is. For once, I would be willing to accept defeat and admit that the shirt is good however I think that I am dreaming beyond what will be the case.

The Match

Due to the inexperience of the West Ham side it was not the most convincing of displays but a win is a win and Zavon Hines and Cristiano Montano secured the win with their goals. However for most of the game it was Kieron Dyer who produced the Grays Athletic side the most problems with his probing runs. The first goal came in the 14th minute and it was not one of Zavon Hines’s best, his toe poked effort was enough to beat the Grays keeper. By half-time it was 1-1 due to a goal from Jamie Slabber.

The second half saw many fresh faces with Junior Stanislas and Cristiano Montano showing some neat interchanges but the Grays defence kept them at bay. In the end it was Cristiano Montano who beat the Grays defence with his effort from 6 yards out in the 72nd minute.

The Positives:

Zola was pleased and rightly so at the confidence shown by the various youngsters in the side, showing that their is still a lot to come from the West Ham Academy.

Senior Players such as Herita Ilunga, Kieron Dyer and Jack Collison all came through the game wih ease.

Dean Ashton is working well on his fitness levels as he works towards a full recovery.

The Negatives

Can there really be a negative after the first pre-season win? I suppose it must be that DEANO wasn’t playing!

It was also a shame not to see Savio playing.

The young Hammers’ side were wearing the new away kit which is starting to grow on me considering the new home kit is so hideous.

The Future

Gianfranco Zola and his West Ham players can be confident before the start of the upcoming season due to the youth system that seems to provide a few top quality players every year. There are also players like Junior Stanislas and James Tomkins who showed that they can more than compete at the top level. However, youngsters from the British Isles do not tend to give a team all the strengths they need. The signing of Luis Jiminex on loan was a good move from the West Ham coaching staff and the board as it shows the intent that they have on making West Ham a force to be reckoned with. This was demonstrated last week when Gianfranco Zola said that he and Steve Clarke were not finished with the Transfer Period.

So what do you guys think?