WEST HAM STADIUM — When you realise that the most interesting action between West Ham and Everton in the first half was a brief scuffle that led to nothing more notable than two yellow cards, you will understand the poor quality displayed in the pouring rain. We might euphemistically say that defences were on top, but the truth finds a way to struggle out. Nobody was on top because barely anything happened.
Sometimes flawed football can be fun, the match played in a state of perma-tension as you wait for the next thing to go wrong. Sometimes it can be dreadfully dull because one mistake only ever precedes another. When Everton’s James Garner played a 10-yard pass five yards wide of its target and out of play, even the home supporters forgot to cheer and emitted a dissatisfied groan.
Even then, you felt sure that Sean Dyche was delighted to face such a miserably lethargic opponent. He would be forgiven for expecting more cause to fight. So if Everton had produced little before the break, we might diagnose that as circumspection. They lay waiting to play on the counter and then they made good on that intent against a desperate adversary.
David Moyes’ team should have been more motivated than they seemed. West Ham lost their long unbeaten European record in Greece on Thursday and have beaten only Sheffield United in the Premier League since 1 September. But they huffed and puffed and gave the ball away as if expecting Dyche’s team to eventually acquiesce to their mediocrity.
There is something not quite right about the balance of this team at present, even though Jarrod Bowen so often wriggles them out of a pickle. After last weekend’s questions over the midfield balance, Moyes dropped Tomas Soucek and gave Mohammed Kudus his first league start. It is true that Kudus was the brightest player, retaining possession and occasionally playing passes for wide players to run onto – that made him unique.
But an ostensibly attacking change of personnel had its limitations. With Moyes not prepared to leave Edson Alvarez and James Ward-Prowse as a two-man midfield, Lucas Paqueta was given greater defensive responsibility. That stymied his creative verve – Paqueta was too often left playing simple sideways that someone with less prodigious talent could have done.
It doesn’t help that Michail Antonio is now the first-choice striker at 33. The effort has never and will never be in question, but Antonio’s ability to hold up the ball has diminished badly and his penalty-box presence virtually non-existent on Sunday. Antonio lasted 55 minutes. Surely Moyes’ other option is to start Bowen centrally and pick an attacking midfielder.
At the other end, Everton possessing a better English centre forward won them the game. Dominic Calvert-Lewin has dealt with stinging and persistent criticism from his own supporters for the regularity of his niggling injuries – as if he was not as annoyed as they were – but his return to fitness and form will keep Everton up.
Dyche left all three of his permanent attacking summer signings on the bench – Beto, Youssef Chermiti, Arnaut Danjuma – in favour of Calvert-Lewin flanked by two wingers. Calvert-Lewin won headers, ran channels and generally kept at least two defenders quiet. His turn and finish for the opening goal were exemplary.
Player of the match: Dominic Calvert-Lewin
If perseverance through adversity generates goodwill, Calvert-Lewin has it in spades. Held the ball up, linked play, scored the winner and is beloved by his fans again.
Calvert-Lewin has four goals in his last six matches in all competitions. He is the international class attacker in this team and he now receives standing ovations from his crowd.
Watching West Ham has been an experience over the last 12 months: the European endeavour, Bowen’s directness, Declan Rice’s marauding captaincy by example, Paqueta’s invention. They have stepped grossly in the wrong direction over the last few weeks, a football team with an unambitious plan that still regularly fails to pull it off. Too often they are left holding out for individual magic, either from Bowen in open play or Ward-Prowse over the dead ball.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/oxHLnUF
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