‘Man United were poor’, ‘This is the worst Man United team in years’, ‘Man United need to spend money’ etc. etc.
The media have been having a meltdown over how poor Man United were in Sunday’s game, yet hardly a mention that West Ham were the better team and fully deserved the victory!
Just because West Ham are not in the media’s top 6 teams then they don’t warrant any coverage! Why are the media so disrespectful to the other clubs? Those ‘other clubs’ fanbase are probably more loyal and fanatical than the majority of the bandwagon jumperoners (new word for the Oxford English Dictionary) of the ‘top 6’ sides!
PRE-GAME
As stated in my previous reviews there was no point in turning on the SKY coverage until 15 minutes before kick-off.
This allowed the young lad time to get one more game of FIFA in and me to put a few tins in the fridge before settling down in front of the TV.
The team news announced that Lanzini wasn’t starting or on the bench so Fornals made the starting 11 and Cresswell came in for the suspended Masuaku as expected.
So, with my new away top on me, I made myself comfortable in ‘my armchair’ (doesn’t every man have their own special seat in their sitting room?) and watched Haller get engulfed in bubbles as he came out of the tunnel / mile walk to the pitch!
THE GAME
I can just leave out the opening half hour of the match as not very much happened worthy of writing about.
In fact, it wasn’t until the 35th minute the first bit of real action happened. A free kick by Fornals lofted across the edge of the box teed up Mark Noble on the volley but his shot was easily saved by De Gea. Has he still not gone to Real Madrid yet?
This seemed to kick West Ham into action and on the 44th minute they got their reward.
Noble retained the ball just outside the Man United penalty area, Yarmolenko took himself on a mazy run to find space. Noble played the ball across to Anderson who’s deftly touch found Yarmolenko in space. The Ukrainian controlled the ball with his right before unleashing a shot into the bottom left hand corner past De Gea!
1-0 to that other team, whoever they are, that’s outside the top 6!
The second half started with an awful miss by Mata at the back post. That must be the 3rd or 4th time this season that West Ham have come out on the right side of an awful miss by the opposition. Thankfully!
In the 62nd minute it looked like West Ham were going to go 2-0 up when Anderson had a chance to square it to Haller but the Brazilian tries to squeeze the ball past De Gea from a tight angle at the near post, but the Spaniard saved it.
Man U had a chance for the equaliser in the 66th minute when the ball fell to Maguire from a corner but Fabianski saved with his legs.
Noble picked up a yellow card following a lunge at Wan Bissaka. I don’t understand how the commentary said it had gone to VAR to ‘take a look’, yet when queried why Masuaku’s second yellow didn’t go to VAR it was confirmed that VAR don’t look at yellow card incidents? Must only be when it doesn’t favour the ‘top 6’.
West Ham’s next chance came in the 76th minute when a free kick on the edge of the area was just put over from Cresswell.
The last real chance for Man U came in the 78th minute when a great through ball was played to James but Fabianski came running out and got a touch on the ball. The ball rebounded to Lingard but excellent tracking back by Yarmolenko meant he got in the way to block Lingard’s shot.
In the 84th minute Noble was upended by Ashley Young in similar distance to the last Cresswell free kick. This time it was expertly put away into the top corner (or ‘bins’ according to Rice). 2-0!
The last 10 minutes of the game were spent by the son and me recomposing ourselves after jumping and celebrating the Cresswell strike.
OVERVIEW
Its amazing just how silent my phone and social media accounts were throughout the whole game.
In my preview I said about ‘plastic’ Man U fans knowing nothing about football, one of which was the only person to message me.
In his message he said, ‘Mark Noble is very hot headed and should have been sent off’. He’s obviously forgotten about a certain Man U legend, Mr. Roy Keane! How Man U could do with a player like him now but the thought of that wouldn’t have crossed that ‘fan’s’ mind!
In fairness, Man U are a shadow of their former selves. But so what! There are now better teams than them, West Ham being one of them! And proving it every year! That’s 3 wins out of our last 5 home games against them. Times are changing, teams are changing. The media need to realise that!
In Pellegrini we have a manager that is greater than anyone Man United could hope for in the near future. We are a better footballing side. They turned up and sat back, keeping possession in their own half, wanting to come away with a point! And yet West Ham do not get the coverage for this. Every outlet, it was all about poor old Man U.
I was worried after pre-season and the Man City game defensively and when Pellegrini preferred the Ogbonna / Diop partnership at the back. But with 3 clean sheets in a row in the Premier League and 2 goals conceded in 5 games, he has made the correct call.
We are on a journey. A journey I can see taking us into Europe one way or another this season and I’m loving it!
In Pellegrini I trust!
COYI!
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