Dismal . . .

This pretty much sums it all up.

Bridge checks in . . .

West Ham finally has a left-back who actually is a left-back by trade.  Well, we had one before but if anyone can find where the 2008-09 version of Herita Ilunga is, please alert the proper authorities so they can take away the lazy, injury-prone doppelganger they replaced him with.  Wayne Bridge signed on a loan from Manchester City until the end of the season with West Ham reportedly picking up his £90k per week wage rate.  That number seems to have ruffled some feathers, rightly so, but if my math is right that adds up to just over £2 million for a rent-a-player for the remainder of the season.  That doesn’t seem like too much if Bridge can plug the gaping hole we have on the left side of the defense and keep us in the league this year.  Now making an average left-back your highest paid player on a 3 or 4 year contract?  Absurd, so here’s hoping that 6 months is all we’ll need him for, unless he feels like being generous and signing for a more club-friendly fee.  Not that it’s something he should do, because who among us would give up that amount of money willingly?  City wasn’t held at gunpoint to offer him that contract.  Either way, it’s good that management brought in some defensive help, because even if Bridge isn’t a top class defender, lord knows he’s better than any of the options we have on the team right now.

A win, hooray. I guess . . .

West Ham lucked into a win in the Carling Cup semi-finals against Birmingham today. I’m conflicted, and I hate myself for feeling the way I do. I’m not necessarily rooting for the team to lose, as an opportunity to play for a trophy at Wembley Stadium is priceless. But realistically, this victory will probably give Avram Grant an extension on his West Ham managerial stint, which I am not exactly looking forward to. Especially if Martin O’Neill is available and ready to step in, as the rumor mill says. Kudos to the team though, coming back to win while playing with 10 men. Now if we could just play a whole game like we played that first half . . .

Apologies . . .

Sorry for the little hiatus there. I’m back again.

Is this what we are now . . . ?

Just a quick thought on last Saturday’s Arsenal game.  What kind of team are we now?  Have we really sunk so low as to view scoreless draws against top teams as a victory?  Avram Grant is praising the players after a “heroic” effort, and I do appreciate the heart the team showed in holding up against a fluid, offensive Arsenal team for 88 minutes, but playing for 0-0 draws would seem to make us no better than an over-matched League Championship-level team praying for a result against a more talented opponent.

Never again do I want to see an unenthusiastic, uninspired performance like the last 75 minutes or so of the Newcastle game, but neither do I want us to be a team that will park the bus in front of goal and cling desperately to scoreless draws.  West Ham is tied with Wigan as the lowest scoring team in the league, and losing Mark Noble for a month after his appendectomy will surely not help matters.  I can only hope that no more 0-0 draws are on the docket for what should be three winnable games against Birmingham, West Bromwich, and Blackpool.  It’s one thing to play defensive against a top-4 club, but if it continues against the middle and lower-tier teams, that splinter of doubt that’s been in the back of my head will start to grow into genuine worry about our hopes for Premiership survival this year.

What are the odds. . .

How lovely.  An 86% chance that we don’t draw Manchester United in the Carling Cup quarterfinals and we get . . . Manchester United.  At least it’s a home game.

Is Cole a hindrance more than a help . . . ?

I was excited to see the team sheet before Saturday’s game against Newcastle, as on paper, a front line of Carlton Cole, Frederic Piquionne, and Victor Obinna would be a terror mix of power and speed for opposing defenses.  Considering Newcastle’s back line, who are well organized but by no means a match physically for our forwards, I saw this game as a chance to form a cohesive partnership that could run around and through any opposition.  For 15 minutes this was the case as Newcastle struggled to deal with the movement and pace of the front three, with excellent service coming from the midfield.  The rest of the game?  Not so much.  After that first, wonderfully worked goal, the offense consisted of booting the ball upfield at first opportunity and hoping for someone to run onto it.  This seems to be the preferred offensive method when Carlton Cole is playing as a target forward, and therein lies the rub.

Cole has been getting a lot of stick from the fans for his recent performances.  It’s almost too easy to forget that he single-handedly carried the team for the first part of last year until his unfortunate knee injury.  Since his return he has been a shadow of the player he was before, with his touch deserting him and any speed almost non-existent.  Yet for some reason, whenever he plays it seems like the rest of the team feels that he is the only option for moving the ball upfield.  More often that not, it seems like the defense or midfield will win the ball and send it forward only to see it come right back at them from a bad trap from Cole.  For all his size and physicality, I just don’t see Cole being that kind of target forward.  He was at his best when the ball was played on the ground, with good movement and support from his midfield and wings.  Asking him to be the primary hold-up player has not and will not work, but for whatever reason, when he plays it seems like that is the only way to go.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that this season, the offense performed much better when Obinna and Piquionne were leading the line.  Both player and ball movement seemed to be more fluid, and the team as a whole played the passing game that West Ham is known for.  Even for this game, the lone West Ham goal came from a team move, involving Cole only for the finish, not during the build up.  The rest of the game showed no hint of the same offensive tactics.  Maybe he has never fully recovered from his injury, but Cole may be better off coming on as a late game substitute at this point rather than the focal point of the offense.  I would think that Avram Grant would return to the lineups that were resulting in positive play and results, rather than the toothless attack  that resulted in Saturday’s loss.