Not the wanted result, but signs of life . . .

Another poor result for West Ham on Saturday at Upton Park.  Bolton Wanderers came into the game having not lost in the previous six match-ups between the two teams and the latest fixture proved to be no different, though as Avram Grant stated, it was indeed a “strange” game.

At least for this match, the Hammers showed up to play.  Grant seemed to have learned something from the toothless showing at Aston Villa, and opened up in a formation resembling a 4-4-2 with Carlton Cole, Frederic Piquionne up front.  Pablo Barrera made his home and starting debut along with the long-lost Kieron Dyer, who has finally appeared to have recovered from some of the fitness problems that have plagued his West Ham tenure.  The offensive play was very much stronger than in the previous game, and in all honesty West Ham deserved to be in front going into half time.  However, poor finishing (or unlucky finishing, whichever way you want to look at it) and Carlton Cole’s missed penalty meant that West Ham came away with nothing at the half.  The pressure was decidedly one way, with Bolton carving out just one clear cut chance at a goal.  The Hammers will have to learn quickly to put in goals when there is a decided advantage, or as we leaned in this game, everything can turn against a team in the blink of an eye.

A bogey team has to have a bogey man to lead the line, and Kevin Davies has accordingly tormented West Ham teams ever since he began playing in the league.  The first goal right after half time was a result of a Bolton-specialty long ball which was headed into his own net by Matty Upson, with a little help from a shove in the back and kick to the face by Davies.  This is twice in two weeks that missed calls have resulted in an opening goal against West Ham, and once again the team’s response was poor.  It seems like heads drop too easily when we fall behind and this game was no different.  Bolton added a second goal 20 minutes later, and even though a Mark Noble penalty provided a glimmer of hope, the visitors were able to kill off the game with a third goal scored while the Hammers were pushing for an equalizer.  I had hoped that Grant would be able to break the worrying habit of letting one bad thing lead to another, but that remains a work in progress, it seems.

Taking some positives out of this game is a lot easier than trying to do the same last week.  The offense looked much more potent, with good movement, accurate passing, and plenty of chances created.  Barrera seems to be quickly acclimating to the league, as he gave the Bolton defenders a torrid time with his pace on the wing.  Winston Reid was forced to come in with Upson’s facial injury, and the Kiwi looked much more comfortable playing in the middle of the defense than he did out on the right side.  That being said, he was still bullied around by Elmander and Davies (although this is West Ham vs. Bolton – when do we ever win those battles?) and looked out of sorts in general.  For a young player he is getting a hard introduction to life in the Premier League, but he is showing glimpses of what he can do.  Kieron Dyer’s return to some semblance of fitness allowed for width and pace on the wings, and it will be good for both him and the team that he continues to recover and play a part this season.

It would be hard to say that this was a must-win game, but with upcoming fixtures against Manchester United and Chelsea, followed by a trip up to Stoke and visit from our friendly Tottenham neighbors, it is a little difficult to see the opening month of the season going particularly well.  A Carling Cup tie with Oxford looms on August 24th, and perhaps a good showing there will help the team’s confidence going into a tough stretch of games.  With Villa thumping us in their first game, then subsequently getting trounced by six at Newcastle, it goes to show that teams are still going to be up and down early in the season.  West Ham will play worse in games than this last one and still win, but it will be important to start turning things around quickly, before the hole gets too big to recover from.

~ by ar_sage on August 23, 2010.