West Ham disjointed in preseason toon-up vs. Newcastle

West Ham’s jaunt in the Far East comes to a close with a loss to Newcastle and an 0-2 record in the Premier League Asia Trophy. The disjointed West Ham attack failed to do much as the Geordies of Newcastle take the points in this preseason toon up

First Half

A disappointing and toothless West Ham were run rampant by a motivated Newcastle side to open the match. The Hammers were second best to every ball and didn’t threaten Martin Dubravka’s goal at all in the first period of this one.

The issue looked to be fatigue and disconnection for the West Ham contingent, who couldn’t gain, hold, or do anything with possession. Newcastle attacked down the left side relentlessly against Felipe Anderson and Aaron Cresswell. The duo was completely disconnected and easily picked apart by the packed, 5-man midfield of Newcastle.

Despite it just being a preseason match you want to see more from the team, especially against an opponent like Newcastle who have lost their best players and manager. The Iron’s offered nothing in the first half and were aptly defeated in the opening frame 1-0.

The goal against was nothing against Fabianski, as a ball on the break picked out by impressive forward Yoshinori Muto. He calmly redirected the ball past West Ham’s Hammer of the year and gave Newcastle the lead.

Second Half

A change from the first half that immediately impacted the game was Jack Wilshere replacing Manuel Lanzini. Lanzini was one of the many invisible players for the Hammers in the opening half, but Wilshere changed the complexion of the West Ham midfield by holding onto the ball and allowing the rest of his forwards to jump up in the attack. He would have a chance to level the match on a volley but the chance was deflected wide.

Likewise, Robert Snodgrass, who replaced Andriy Yarmolenko was needed in this match. His work rate and physicality against Matt Ritchie was impressive, and he too impacted a changed West Ham side.

A few other players who looked lively were Mark Noble when he replaced Cullen, Ben Johnson at right-back for Zabaleta, and Antonio in comparison to Chicharito in the first half.

The best attack for the Hammers came from a Snodgrass corner delivery that Felipe Anderson took at the front post and nodded on to the crossbar. Outside of this chance, the West Ham attack was benign and non-threatening. Even with Newcastle ceding possession and switching to a counter-attacking style of football, West Ham couldn’t break down their midfield or find room against their back three.

Overall, it was a fitness run out and the players got more exposure to Premier League opposition. They should be feeling some embarrassment and Pellegrini will reinforce this too, I imagine. Up next is Fulham on the 27th, where the Irons can hopefully see both Pablo Fornals and Sebastien Haller step into their team.