I knew the Hammers had something special coming given the quality of numerous, well-negotiated signings and a manager who had a clear vision of what to do with a newly promoted team.
To think that the Hammers would have broken top 6 at this point was at the best case scenario range, and it certainly has been that.
The signings that management have put together over the course of a summer has been of the utmost quality, both in terms of the actual talent, but also experience, and most importantly to West Ham United, price.
You’re never going to change how Big Sam plays. He puts together mean teams. Angry teams that will go at you, and keep up high pressure with substitutions. And he will put the ball in the box by any means necessary and hope that sooner or later, the ball will end up in the back of the net. What can I say, its working.
The unexpected, pleasant surprise is that the Hammers have been able to improve the fluidity of last year’s championship grade 4-3-3. The addition (free I must emphasize) of Momo Diame has added tremendous steel and the much enhanced ability to keep the ball. Having the combination of a more wily noble in contrast to the power of Diame has been a blessing. Some of the football played against QPR was unbelievable, and certainly not something of the old 4-4-2 Big Sam. Everyone laughed when he declared that his methods were akin to that of Arsene Wenger, myself included, but he may just prove a point at the end of the season.
Things are early indeed, and its too early to get hopes up, but there is reason for optimism at Upton Park. Matt Jarvis, in continuance of his days at Wolves, is a premier league grade winger. No question about it. Some of his crosses today, from seemingly impossible angles, curled straight into the danger zones with unerring accuracy. In the short time that Andy Caroll was on the pitch, his constant praises and thumbs ups to the winger is indications of a healthy partnership to come. Andy Carroll himself, was magnificent. Sometimes as a spectator, you only need one moment of a game to understand a player’s quality, and that came in the 89th where he leaped to execute a perfect chest trap mid-air, after which he turned the ball and fired an absolute hand breaker at Julio Cesar. Julio Cesar is a European Champion, and palming straight shots down should be routine. But such was Carroll’s power from outside the box that it forced the former Inter man to simply push it away. I am thoroughly excited for what Carroll can demonstrate as a West Ham player. 4-3-3s are different for every manager, and for this one, Andy Carroll will flourish. He is required to be angry, to be mean, to push defenders around like Kevin Davies did for Big Sam for many years. Not only is he better than Kevin Davies, he is younger, more energetic, and hungry to prove a point. He might not fit in a Brendan Rodgers 4-3-3, but he sure will like the more direct 4-3-3 of Big Sam. I can’t wait.
QPR. Worst team in the EPL by points. I don’t relish the job that Mark Hughes has to do. He has some incredibly difficult players to deal with on his squad, most of whom are packed with quality but with inconsistency to match. If I were a manager, I couldn’t play an Adel Taraabt over a Shawn Wright Phillips on a regular basis. With SWP, you know exactly what you’re gonna get. With an Adel Taraabt, you might get sheer, unadulterated brilliance (today), or you might get selfish, poor decision-making, garbage (every other day). So he does what he should do. He plays the experienced, the proven. I think he did well to do that. But it seems that he doesn’t have the best idea on how to use his players.
Lets start with the skipper. Ji Sung Park. His CV/reputation needs no rehashing. What does need consideration is his age. He no longer has any knee cartilage. He won’t be darting past fullbacks anymore on a regular basis. But what he can do is control the game with his touch and passing. He needs to play in the center of midfield as part of a 3 man midfield. Used in specific roles, he has been the best on a pitch in multiple CL semi-finals. All Mark Hughes needs to do is watch those games and see what Sir Alex did with him. The way Ji Sung Park is, is that he will always give you a decent performance. Even at his worst, he won’t really let you down, won’t give the ball away, won’t do anything stupid. But that’s not enough to win against a determined, hungry West Ham side who are clearly more organized. You need a Captain’s performance from your captain, and he didn’t give one today because his old position of youth didn’t allow it. In his age, he needs to play in the hole.
Despite his clear desire to make it work, one of Faurlin and Granero have to sit because they are the exact same players. And he needs some steel to back them up in the form of either M’Bia or Diakite. Cisse and Zamora can’t both play in the same way that Demba Papiss Cisse and Demba Ba have trouble coexisting in a starting lineup. Watching QPR so far this year has been like watching myself in football manager 06 when I tried a formation simply for the sake of making sure all my big names and new signings could play, rather than thinking about tactical balance. Depending on the game, on the opponent, certain people must sit. That is the way the game is. You can’t force the formation for the sake of putting down a good looking team sheet. QPR this season has been a myriad of good names in an XI, but one where balance could not be found. A good QPR team against West Ham today would have looked like this:
—————————–Zamora——————————
Taraabt—————–Park (C)———————Hoilett
—————–Diakite————-Faurlin——————–
Hill————-Nelsen————Onouha————Mbia
Key Subs: Granero, Cisse, Traore.
It’s a shame that Sparky doesn’t have good left backs. Clint Hill is far from his best two seasons, of which one was in the Championship. The marauding, powerful performances are a thing of the past from him. His replacement Traore, is as idiotic as he was at Arsenal. And Fabio is out. In the modern game, in a 4-4-2 no less, having a winger defend full time alongside a hapless fullback was a recipe for disaster. QPR was doomed the minute Sparky decided to continue that 4-4-2 from the past 3 games. It simply too ambitious, and its showing in the table. Its going to be interesting if QPR changes their tactics after a defeat to a newly promote team, in their own ground.
Nonetheless, it was a fantastic game in the second half, and West Ham getting an away victory was priceless. The season has started well from West Ham, and the Hammers are getting points where they need to get points. It will only get tougher, but surely a group containing the likes of Matt Jarvis, Andy Carroll, Kevin Nolan, Mark Noble, Momo Diame, and Yossi Benayoun in good harmony can scrounge up enough points to survive the long road ahead. Up Hammers!
The Beautiful Game 