Five Thoughts: West Ham Lose London Derby to Chelsea

West Ham could not find the net as they lost to Chelsea in London Derby. Goals from Tiago Silva and Tammy Abraham’s brace led the way to a 3-0 Chelsea win.

West Ham could not replicate last season’s success against their West London rivals, losing at Stamford Bridge by a scoreline of 3-0. Tiago Silva opened the scoring with a powerful header off a corner. A quickfire Tammy Abraham brace against the run of play put the match away in the second half. My five post-match thoughts below:

1 – West Ham should hold their heads high:

While the scoreline suggests a thorough beatdown, West Ham should hold their heads high with their performance. In fact, the Hammers were the better of the two sides for large chunks of the game, specifically the last 20 minutes of the first half and first 30 minutes of the second half.

West Ham had nearly half of the possession throughout the entire match, and out-possessed Chelsea in the second half. The final third is, once again, a place on the pitch where the team lacked in quality – a common theme throughout this season.

Who knows what would have happened if Aaron Cresswell did not get caught ball watching for Chelsea’s second goal. Either way, Chelsea’s quality did shine through but the Hammers played with heart and effort for all 90 minutes.

2 – Haller was poor today:

While the Ivory Coast international did put forth a good effort today, I thought he put out an overall poor performance at Stamford Bridge. The striker did not put himself in good positions to score and did not provide good hold-up play, which is what Haller was known for during his time at Frankfurt.

While I do think Hammer’s fans have been too hard on Haller, the record price tag that came with the Frenchman will always follow him around. He’ll be looked upon to score again when the Hammers plays Brighton on the 27th.

3 – Coufal turning into one of the biggest bargains:

Right-back Vladimir Coufal is turning into one of the biggest bargains signed by a Premier League club this season. The Czech international has rarely put a foot wrong on the right-hand side of West Ham’s defence, a position in which the club has historically struggled.

West Ham signed the Czech international for just £5 million at the recommendation of fellow Czech countryman, Tomas Soucek. Coufal has a very respectable passing completion percentage (74.3%) along with winning 1.6 aerial duels per 90 minutes.

With Ryan Fredericks having a suspect injury history and Ben Johnson not deemed Premier Leauge-ready by David Moyes, Coufal has been an integral part of this much improved West Ham defence. He continued his good performance against Chelsea, keeping Timo Werner at bay on Chelsea’ left flank.

4 – Mr. West Ham performed well:

Mark Noble was given his first start of the Premier League season since West Ham’s opening loss to Newcastle in September. While many Hammer’s fans – including this one – were questioning the tactic by Moyes, I do have to say Noble played a very good game.

What the midfielder lacks in pace, he makes up for with experience and tenacity. Noble also distributed the ball very well, including some great dummies in the Chelsea half. While I still wonder why Moyes did not start Benrahma, I do have to give credit where credit is due. And Mr West Ham deserves some credit for his performance.

5 – All about the response:

West Ham have not lost back-to-back Premier League matches since their first two losses to Newcastle and Arsenal. In fact, West Ham have shown true resiliency by winning every single game proceeding a loss.

David Moyes has done a great job with this West Ham side in many ways, not least of which has been this squad’s grit and toughness. West Ham have come back from losing positions multiple times this season, of which they would normally be on the other side.

This resilient attitude will be imperative to bring into the Hammers’ next match against Brighton, a team with which the club have struggled since the Seagulls’ debut in the Premier League.