SHEEP’S CLOTHING
West Ham 4 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0
It seems few people have noticed a player at the club by the name of Pablo Fornals. Yes, they noticed him when he missed an ‘absolute sitter’ in the 43rd minute of this Sunday evening game. But few commented on the moment of genius he demonstrated in the 17th minute that set this match alive and began the historical humbling of Nuno Espirito Santo’s ‘mighty Wolves’. Full marks to referee Martin Atkinson, incidentally, for allowing Fornal’s swiftly taken free kick, awarded after Antonio had been wrestled to the ground by Adama Traoré, and which was dispatched so effectively by Jarrod Bowen. Fornals was in evidence for a third time when his measured shot beat Rui Patricio but came back off the post to give Bowen a simple tap-in for West Ham’s second. Two assists, two goals. Unselfish enough to miss the one of those three opportunities that would have meant a goal for him.
By the time Mark Noble and Sébastien Haller came on from the bench, Tomas Soucek’s deflected near post third from Aaron Cresswell’s corner had made the game safe. Haller’s first Premier League goal this season which followed, was a simple header buried in the back of the Wolves’ net in the last minute of the game.
So where to start with this result? It’s first worth mentioning that West Ham have had a pretty decent season so far, despite the clamour of the fans for expensive signings as the only way to avoid certain relegation. Three victories and one undeserved defeat is pretty good going for the end of September. The Hammers have even lost two of their most talented youngsters to Watford and West Brom. No matter. We’ll also forget that opening day’s poor performance at home to Newcastle. One poor showing out of five with a squad untroubled by newcomers is good going for the opening month of the season.
The performance of the whole team was worthy of credit tonight, in particular the dominance in defence of Rice and Ogbonna. Masuaku was also in evidence throughout, with purposeful runs and mesmerising crosses, and Fabianski as the last line of defence was as reliable as always. Before he was injured early in the second half Fredericks, too, played one of his better games.
‘We worked so hard off the ball and were massively disciplined,’ said Bowen in his MotD interview after the game. This is the clue. The pioneers of pure football realised long ago that it’s as much about what players do when they don’t have the ball as what they do when they have it.
One thing I noticed in particular about this game from my position amidships was that whenever a West Ham move broke down, there always seemed to be a spare player to challenge for the loose ball. Bowen is right. This was no accident. These were good tactics and something for which Moyes and the team should receive credit.
There is now of course a ubiquity to Premier League football. There is no hiding your on field play from other teams and their tactics. Forget Frank Lampard’s spying mission for Derby. You can now spy on your future opponents in plain sight. Thanks to ‘The Covid’ all Premier League games are available to watch in their full ninety-odd minute glory. So what did West Ham learn from Wolves’ home humbling at the hands of Manchester City? And what did Leicester City learn about Manchester City from that game before they played them, and thrashed them, at the Etihad? We will see who knows more and who can employ that knowledge more effectively at the lunchtime game next Sunday.
1 Lucasz Fabianski, 3 Aaron Cresswell, 4 Fabián Balbuena, 21 Angelo Ogbonna, 24 Ryan Fredericks, 41 Declan Rice (captain), 26 Arthur Masuaku, 28 Tomas Soucek, 17 Jarrod Bowen, 18 Pablo Fornals, 30 Michail Antonio
Substitutes: 31 Ben Johnson, 16 Mark Noble, 22 Sébastien Haller
Scorers: 17 Jarron Bowen (2), 28 Tomas Soucek, 22 Sébastien Haller
