I wrote the match report for the game at the Dell, and understandably I was pretty disgusted at us only coming away from that hellhole with a single point. Here I am, once again, writing about an away trip where we threw away a lead and only picked up a single point, but this time I'm pretty pleased all things considered. West Ham hasn't been a happy hunting ground or us over recent seasons. We always seem to play shit there, and even when we do okay, fate seems to conspire against us and we lose. Last year Owen scored a perfectly good goal, only for the linesman to rule that the ball had gone out for a goal kick. That's typical of what happens to us at Upton Park. This time though, fate dealt us another huge blow with the news that Owen wouldn't be playing. Given the form he's been in, that was a real blow, but we at least managed to gain a point.
Again, a key decision went against us, but it was a penalty. Everyone in the ground could see it was a penalty, and Henchoz can have no complaints. It's been coming for a while too, as Henchoz has been diving in a lot so far this season. Maybe he's missing Sami's calming influence alongside him, although Markus Babbel is settling in nicely and was far and away our best player in this game. We never played well, but neither did the Hammers. Mind you, Joe Cole and Di Canio are brilliant. The end product wasn't always there, but they are so entertaining. Oh for a team with those two and our very own Titi Camara in it. You wouldn't care if you lost every week because it would be so much fun to watch!
Mind you, the Hammers do seem to be losing every week at the moment so I expect they'll disagree with me. Anyway, we took the lead with a swift counter attack (yes, a swift counter attack, hard to believe isn't it?) involving Barmby, Murphy and finished off by Gerrard, who was once more out of position on the right. He was also knackered, and should have come off long before he did. That injury of his is becoming a big worry.
As I said, we didn't play well, and the trip to Romania certainly appeared to have taken it's toll on the side. If we had everyone fit then it wouldn't be a big problem, as we could bring in some fresh legs, but at the moment we just don't have the players to bring in, particularly up front and in attacking midfield positions. Little wonder we struggled to create much. At least this time the defence looked a lot more solid. At the Dell they were a complete shambles, but today was a vast improvement.
Song makes a difference, as for all of his passing deficiencies, the lad can defend. Djimi had a fine game too, which was good to see, as following his cock up at the Dell I was a bit concerned as to how his confidence would be affected. He's bounced back well, and the lad obviously has plenty of character.
Once we gave away the goal though, we were hanging on. We didn't seem to have the energy to mount any attacks, and GH decided to settle for the point and left Robbie kicking his heels on the sidelines. Although I would have likes to have seen Fowler come on and for us to have really gone after the three points, I can understand why Houllier never succumbed to that way of thinking. The truth was we looked out on our feet, and had we chased after the game we would almost certainly have been caught out. So although you would say that a point against the bottom club in the league is nothing to be pleased about, on this occasion I think it is a good result.
West Ham for me are a top eight side, and they won't be at the bottom for much longer. Cole is fantastic, and Carrick looks a good player too. Let's not forget either, that on the day when we were throwing away a three goal lead at Southampton, West Ham were coming from two down to draw with the mancs, so they're no pushovers. All in all, definitely a point gained.
TEAM: Sander Westerveld; Rigobert Song, Markus Babbel, Stephane Henchoz, Djimi Traore; Nick Barmby (Christian Ziege), Dietmar Hamann, Steven Gerrard (Vegard Heggem), Jamie Carragher; Danny Murphy, Emile Heskey:
