By the final whistle of West Ham United's thumping victory over struggling Manchester United, it had been just a tad under thirteen days since the Manuel Pellegrini inspired Hammers renaissance began following the International break, Four games, three victories and one draw, scoring fourteen and conceding only two is in stark contrast to the woeful previous four games.
On the subject of luck Hammers have in the past been on the receiving end of plenty of bad, however the 'lucky' thirteen day period might be a turning point from fortunes always fading! During the Romelu Lukaku exorcism that occured in the match against the Red Devils, there was a time when lady luck was most definitely smiling down on the London Stadium, most notably when the well placed linesman must have been wearng his claret and blue specs as he decided that Pablo Zabaleta was not offside when receiving Noble's astute through pass, the 'Lino' was even more generous when deciding Felipe Anderson's 'libero' flick in to goal was not off side either!
Strangely this rare bout of luck continued when 'Yarmo be there's' left footed shot, which may have been curling in anyway, took 'that' wicked deflection to leave De Gea rooted to the spot as he helplessly watched the ball sail in to the back of the net. Weirdly despite having been given two massive chunks of 'the good stuff' Hammers fully deserved to go in two nil up at half time, as apart from Lukaku grazing the outside of the post on the only time he outjumped Diop or Balbuena, the visitors were toothless and useless!
Back in the day it would be virtually inconceivable for an Alex Ferguson team to 'roll over and die' during the early stages of a match, and if they did perform badly they would get the famous 'hair dryer' treatment from the red nosed one during half time and come out like a team possessed. That was not to be the case and apart from scoring a fluke goal by Marcus Rashford following the substitutuion of Pogba, they offered little real intent going forward although Marouane Fellaini did force a great save from Fabianski from a well placed header.
Normally losing a 2-0 margin against any team, particularly such a rare one as was the case against Manchest United, would have spread fear and panic but such was the intensity of the players, and the crowd, that returning to a two goal margin did not seem a massive task at all, and so it proved when Captain Mark 'Teflon' Noble played the pass of the game which dissected the visitors defence for a second time, on this occasion his perfectly weighted through ball to Marko Arnoutovic left the forward with plenty of time to slot past the stranded De Gea.
The London Stadium was really rocking by this point and those who say there is no atmosphere should maybe reconsider their opinion, amusingly the away support's chants of 'United, United' only helped to 'amplify' the chants of the home fans own United chants! Perhaps the most telling observation of Hammers' performance both on and off the field came from the unlikely source that is Jose Mourinho, the beleagured United manager eulogised about Diop's performance describing the 21 year old as a monster who commanded the pitch, he continued by sneaking in a criticism of his own player recruiters by saying well done to the person who discovered this 21 year old. As if that wasn't enough, he then went on to laud the performance of Robert Snodgrass who had come on as a late sub!
How the mighty have fallen? But as Marko Arnoutovic said when asked if he had any sympathy for Mourinho "No, I just think about what we are doing here", and what 'We' are doing here is witnessing the beginnings of a team that has finally managed to embrace the style of play required in order to fulfil Manuel Pelegrini's vision. He didn't 'crack' or fold when there were zero points on the board after four matches, but just about everyone else from the outside looking in did, those who suggested that somehow Pellegrini's time in China had blunted his ability have been proven incorrect.
Thirteen might just become a lucky number to have, of course as Mark Noble so eloquently commented during his post match interview, the team will lose matches and sometimes not deserve to win, but if the team plays with the same ethos and desire then the fans will be in for a roller coaster of a ride, or in the words of the inimitable Darren Harry "Buckle up buttercups". - Ed
Comments
Well this it you see,The
Well this it you see,The London Stadium was rocking,and will continue to do so with winning runs.Other than the odd game,i think this is the best run weve had,with also playing some excellent football,team working together etc, since we pitched tent here.I reckon we will get something at Brighton,and to take us into the top half of the league,to beat the North London lot,will make it that much more special.Then to beat them again a week later in the cup will be the icing on the cake,which will do wonders for confidence,and will blow all the cobwebs of despair away,and continue to keep the place rocking.....................One whole lot of positivity on its way hey.Its proven there is a good team there,weve just seen it.
Couldnt agree more Essex Boy!
Spot on. The LS will rock when we start to see a decent side show the passion and skill we all desire. On Saturday we got that in spadeful! I think people forget that we now have around 50K West Ham fans coming to the game aching to see us do well. Thats an extra say 15K more than UP so the noise and atmosphere must get better!!! Come on you Optimistic Hammers!!!!
January
I would like us to sign a good left back in January as neither Masuaku nor Cresswell can defend which means other players get drawn out to cover. Once we get one we will have a hell of a team.
Very true Masu in particular
Very true Masu in particular what ever he had in the last couple of years it gone ,he was so effective on the left flank , running at defenses and frightening the shite out of them ,it's the only position where we are vunerable
On the question of Luck Nev
I think the Manc goal was taken well. We were not concentrating, the double substitution may have had an effect, picking up the new players etc etc. But they had some luck in getting the corner, from the view in the TB stand and the reaction of Zab that was a clear goal kick and never a corner.
Exactly, we were going to
Exactly, we were going to write an entire article on the fact that there has been little, or no, coverage given to the fact that the Manc's corner was in fact a goal kick and therefore given 'VAR' their goal would have been disallowed! Thanks for 'burning our powder'.
Bias Media
I went to the match and thoroughly enjoyed a very one sided game. At last the players have grasped how Pelligrini wants them to play and it was lovely to see our team playing the way we also want them to, which is attractive attacking football with very good defensive play when needed and more importantly commanding midfield.
I get home and all I hear is how bad Man U were and Mourinho is going to be replaced and what are we going to do about getting Man U back on track!!!! Who gives a toss about Man U ? It's about time the media woke up and recognised that there are several teams out there us included who play better football than Man U Arsenal Spurs and even Chelsea.
That'll never change as long
That'll never change as long as you've got a hole in your arse
Well said bondsy,our fans
Well said bondsy,our fans doing the ole chant against a manu side,was wonderful mate.
Anderson was played onside
by a player visible in lower right of the field. No way he was offside. Terrific match anyway.
Good on ya to Junior Stanislas who sunk Crystal Palace with a penalty.
Only a tad
Only a tad