Sunday’s 2-1 defeat by Manchester City summed up West Ham’s season for me as the Hammers once again failed to pick up points – a scenario which leaves them rooted to the bottom of the Barclays Premier League with just three league matches to go. Sitting here writing this article, I still feel that West Ham will survive, but I have felt like this all season and yet with just 3 games left, they do still prop up the table.
The feeling I have had all season is that West Ham are not a bad footballing side. In fact, they play some good football as they have shown in recent matches with Manchester United and Chelsea. However, football is a results business and the reality is that the Hammers have not been picking up points.
For 15 minutes at Eastlands on Sunday, they were shambolic as City romped to a two goal lead and seemingly had the game wrapped up with 75 minutes left to play. However just as they did at the Hawthorns earlier in the season when they came back from 3 goals down, West Ham regrouped and played some nice football. Robbie Keane had a chance to reduce the deficit before Demba Ba scored on the stroke of half time to give West Ham a glimmer of hope.
The commitment and desire of the players cannot be questioned. In the second period, against a team looking to secure their Champions League spot, West Ham were sharper, hungrier and more determined than their counterparts. But once again, they came away from a football match that they deserved to take something from without picking up any points.
These are hardly vintage times for West Ham and there has been disillusionment among the fans for a few years now. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising if the club sold more classic football shirts from by gone eras than it did of modern day kits. However, I do strongly believe that there is enough quality in the squad to escape from the current mess.
In the form of Ba, Keane and Carlton Cole, West Ham have the firepower to escape from relegation danger. The loss of Scott Parker has been a huge blow, but if he is fit to play a part in the run-in it could be the difference between staying up and playing the 2011/12 season in the Championship.
The biggest problem this season has been the defence which has leaked goals at an alarming rate and ease. However, with winnable fixtures against Blackburn, Wigan and Sunderland left to play, it could be that attack is the best form of defence. Seven points from these games should be enough to see West Ham survive and the squad is more than capable of achieving those. West Ham are NOT a bad team, but the time has now come for the sob stories to end and the team to start picking up results.
As West Ham know better than most, no team is too good to go down.
Written by Eddie Smith, a sports blogger who writes about football kits.
