Saints and Sinners

Morgan Schneiderlin and Joey O'Brien were both lucky to still be on the pitch on Sunday, and sadly both of their tackles were the highlight of a somewhat boring yet productive game of football for the Hammers. The referee and his assistants did not see Schneiderlin's poor and aggressive tackle, and this has caused controversy with several journalists, about the inconsistency of the refereeing in the Premier League.  O'Brien's tackle however was easily noticed, yet was given only a yellow card, a somewhat lucky escape as the Irishman went through the back of Lallana.

With the highlights of the game over, the rest of the match was made up of an excellent performance by Jussi Jaaskalainen, and several missed opportunities from both sides. Southampton had the best of the play, and missed several chances, and were frustrated by the Hammers' well planned tactics of high pressing. Noble, Nolan, Morrison and Diame were excellent in front of the back four who were solid as always.

The Hammers may not be pretty, but the effectiveness is key when away from home. Allardyce's boys only made a few chances, and are openly criticised for playing for a point. My question is why should they be criticised? The Hammers have a lack of attacking options, and their strength is their defence, so West Ham should be sitting back and stopping the home team from creating too many chances. Southampton fans have slated the Hammers' play, but why should West Ham play open football with no creative players, and a lack of a target man. West Ham are playing to their strengths, and their strengths are pace and power, and that is exactly what they used when counter attacking yesterday.

There still is one big worry for the Hammers, which is that they have not scored a goal for 300 minutes. The return of Andy Carroll is reportedly 6-8 weeks away, so the availability of Petric cannot come any sooner for West Ham and Allardyce. Maiga sadly may have scored a few fluky goals during pre-season but now the Malian is being found out, and is not good enough for the Premier League. Likelihood is that he will be sold in January to make way for a new forward in to the club.

Moving on to Everton, Petric is close to fitness, and depending on how he trains this week he could be in the squad for Saturday's match. Stewart Downing is doubtful for Saturday's game, as he was said to make his return against Everton, but Allardyce has been quiet on Downing's return date. During the Saints' match, the Hammers suffered some niggles, as Winston Reid and Guy Demel both pulled up during the game. However, both McDonald and Allardyce have not mentioned any serious injuries which will keep either player out for the visit of Everton.

Everton won their first match of the season on Saturday in a 1-0 win against Chelsea through a Steven Naismith goal. The Toffees may be looking to make that back to back wins, as they have been successful at Upton Park in their last five visits with four wins and one draw. The last time the Hammers won against Everton at the Boleyn was in 2007, where Bobby Zamora kept West Ham on the road to the great escape.

If West Ham play their own game, they are successful but if they start to match teams, that's when tactically it all falls apart. When at home on Saturday, they need to attack the Toffees back four with pace and skill, which Jarvis, Diame and Morrison have an abundance of in their lockers. Petric would be a good addition to the starting line up if he is available, something to help the ball stick in the forward areas. Martinez is known for his passing teams, and letting them have the ball and countering is the way forward for Allardyce's men.

Come On You Irons!

Carlton Come Home

West Ham's lack of business was very much like an episode of Only Fools and Horses, going for the golden carat stars like Fabio Quagliarella and Demba Ba, and end up with the broken lawnmower of Carlton Cole. For three months, the objective for the Hammers directors has been to find a back up for injured Carroll after releasing Carlton Cole. Messrs Gold and Sullivan were 'working' hard trying to find a player for peanuts to keep in accordance with the FFP guidelines. Now, after buying nothing, the Hammers are left with the embarrassment of trying to re-sign Cole.

Starting with Carlton, is he needed? He is needed, after an abysmal display against Stoke, Cole is needed to keep possession, as the Hammers failed to penetrate the Stoke defence at all on Saturday. Sadly, re-signing Carlton is a positive thing, West Ham need a back-up striker, no one wants to man, and Carroll will be back so he can sit on the bench.

Moving on to Sullivan and Gold, they and Allardyce have illustrated their want for a new striker all summer long, but nothing panned out the way they were expecting it to. The guidelines of the FFP may not start until 2015, but the joint-Chairmen have tried to implement them into the club early. The Hammers have to be debt free before going into the stadium in 2016, so cutting costs are needed. West Ham may not want to be so restricted but they have to be for the long term future of the club. It may be frustrating, and they be left short in forward areas, but again survival is the key for the Hammers. As soon as West Ham are at 40 points, they can look towards top ten. If the Hammers can get away with just two forwards until January, it may look to be inspiring by the joint-Chairmen.

Looking onwards, the good news is Carroll is fit again, and should be in the squad to face Southampton. So Cole may not have to play at all this season, which would be nice. Carroll has been given a injury prone title after last season. He has not had many injuries in his career and last season was hopefully a freak season, although if he is rushed back, he may end up doing more damage. Allardyce has said it has been all healed for weeks, its only inflammation, which is a good sign. Hopefully West Ham will get to see Carroll taking on the Saints.

If the fans look at what Gold and Sullivan are trying to do long term, then it may not look so bad. Re-signing Cole may look terrible, but the Hammers do not want a repeat of 2003 on their hands, when Roeder failed to sign enough strikers, so Ian Pearce had to play up front and they were dreadful until January. Then Les Ferdinand was brought in, and the Hammers started to win. At least West Ham are bringing Cole in now, rather than leaving it to January.