West Ham toil in vain at St Mary’s in Southampton defeat

West Ham suffered their second defeat in a row of the Premier League on Saturday.

There was a lot of optimism around West Ham going into the Southampton clash. Despite the opening day defeat to Manchester United, most fans were willing to look past that. New signings were looking promising, and there are new signings potentially on the horizon.

Winston Reid, a firm fan favourite, even signed a new contract this week. As such the mood around the camp was up and expectant. However when Reid was taken off during the warm up with a calf injury, the warning bells started to ring.

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First Half Worries

Angelo Ogbonna was pushed up into the starting XI alongside former Saint Joes Fonte, and not much was thought of it. Especially when for the first ten minutes the Hammers were by far the better side. Pushing up and dominating possession it looked good. Until Southampton tried a simple through ball outside Jose Fonte.

I’m not sure if he was ever fast, but he’s not anymore. Not by a long shot. I imagine most Sunday league strikers would fancy their chance in a foot race against him. As such Gabbiadini was able to get a shot off and beat Hart at the far post. Whilst it was a good finish, I did feel that Hart was slow to get down to it.

Then we continued in the same vein, much the better side. Arnautovic was looking comfortable on the ball, and Antonio was in full athletic mode down the right hand side. Then it all went wrong. Not long after Noble was lucky to escape a straight red for a very poor challenge Arnautovic decided he was an MMA fighter, swinging his elbow at a Southampton defender.

Record signing sent off, West Ham’s game got even harder when Fonte decided to halt a Southampton attacker in the box by dragging back his shoulder. Another Sunday League defensive effort from Fonte, and one that would annoy any manager. 2-0 to Southampton, and the Hammers looked down and out.

With the first half almost over, Antonio and Chicharito both showed their quality to give us hope. Antonio held a defender off, twisting and turning before hitting a great shot across Forster, who could only parry the ball to Chicharito. The Mexican did what he has always done, and found the net.

Second Half Hope

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The second half wasn’t full of excitement, as Southampton looked to keep the ball away from our 10 men. However, there was never an issue of effort from the Hammers, who kept themselves in the game.

Bilic brought Sakho on to give more of a focal point up front, and it led to West Ham’s equaliser. Cresswell swung the ball into the box and Sakho’s header was kept out by Forster. But who was there again? Chicharito was intent on doing his best fox in the box impression, and pulled the Hammers level.

Now the game became one to hang on for the Hammers, who would happily take the point. And it all looked solid, until Zabaleta attempted to put pressure on Yoshida (who had got free of Fonte) and gave away another penalty. The Argentine was clearly devastated, but Austin made no mistake from the spot. Heartbreak for the Hammers, and two losses from two.

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The fans may look at the table and despair, but there were positive signs. At no point were we outplayed, and it was individual errors that lead to their goals. Without the stupidity of Arnautovic and Fonte there would have been no real issues. However Bilic has to make sure his squad realise their responsibilities. A team win and fail together, and yesterday was a failure. 3 points were there to be taken if the side had worked together, but they did not. This must change.