Match Review: West Ham put forward depressing effort in listless loss
By Adam Smith
West Ham’s trip to Everton garnered the early start time, but the Hammers never bothered showing up for the “match.” Here’s the breakdown of the disappointing effort given in the 2-0 loss to the Toffees.
The term “match” needs to be put in quotations for this one, simply because by definition a match is “a contest in which people or teams compete against each other in a particular sport.” West Ham proved to not be a team nor did they compete in any manner when they kicked off against Everton at Goodison Park.
The Hammers didn’t start on time and they also failed to turn up for any bit of consistent play in this game This allowed a lowly Everton team to establish their attack early and gain momentum eventually toppling the Irons over time. The recent form of Everton suggested that a strong response in attack would have shut them down, but lack of effort saw this strategy fall to the wayside.
Everton’s opening goal was an extremely well-worked bit of play from Bernard in the 17th minute. A perfectly timed run saw him lose Ryan Fredericks to get in behind where he opted to step back and skin Arthur Masuaku twice before slipping the ball by a flailing Roberto in goal. Everton’s strong start was rewarded with a beautiful goal and the Hammers were left stunned.
What would follow can only be described as diabolical from West Ham. The biggest issue in this match was the invisible midfield from the Hammers, dampening any counter attack they could muster simply by not having central pressure to link the defense with the attack. Everton strolled down the center of the pitch untouched at will, giving them time and space to set up their attacks.
Crying out for a change, West Ham brought on Andriy Yarmolenko at half time for Felipe Anderson. This move was an awful decision because Anderson was bringing some pressure down the wing. Manuel Lanzini, who somehow survived the full 90 minutes, was invisible on the left side and should have been removed sooner than the half.
After a few scuffed chances on Pickford’s goal, including a deflected shot from Angelo Ogbonna that nearly tied the game, Gylfi Sigurdsson ripped a shot past a sliding Jack Wilshere and by Roberto to seal the win in the 92nd minute. West Ham were desperate and he exposed their overplaying to create space for a peach of a shot.
Next. West Ham flunk out at Goodison in Everton loss player grades. dark
The general lack of interest and effort in this match was disgusting to watch. Too many fans live and die for this club to have the players they relentlessly support not show up for every minute of every match let along take an entire game off. The momentum the Hammers once had is surely gone after a string of sad results. The slide needs to end now.