Hammers Heading For Europe
Pep Guardiola can breathe a huge sigh of relief. Despite threatening to pull off the most United result to ever United, Man U were finally finished off by West Ham last night in a thrilling 3-2 game that is a fitting final game for Upton Park. And it's also fitting that David De Gea, the man who has done more than anyone to haul United up the table, is the man whose mistake cost Man United, as he failed to claw out an admittedly powerful header from Winston Reid.
But De Gea cannot take the blame for this defeat, as when United needed to stand up and be counted, they turned in a performance that sums up everything bad about Manchester United this season under Louis Van Gaal. Daley Blind at the back was a trainwreck, whose judge of the offside trap was Sunday League, and his partner in crime on the left hand side of the defence Marcus Rojo was about as poor. Ahead of them, United had zero control in midfield as West Ham bulldozed through them at will. United had 60% of the possession but only 13% of the shots, as they offered almost no penetration for the majority of the game. Wayne Rooney was simply dreadful and performances like last night are why he should not go to the Euros, let alone be in the starting line up. One of the two English strikers on the pitch put in a busy performance, created chances, both for himself and his teammates and bullied the opposition defence. And that player wasn't Wayne Rooney.
That said, United deserve some praise. Martial chipped in with two goals, the first due to excellent positional play and awareness and the second good pace and finish. And Juan Mata occasionally looked incisive and played a couple of dangerous passes.
But in truth, both of United's goals made me wince, because from a West Ham perspective it was a horror show. Cresswell woefully misjudged a header to allow Mata in behind, Ogbonna made absolutely no attempt at a tackle and Mata's square ball was tapped in by Martial. And then when Martial was freed for the second, Reid was caught sleeping, and the goalkeeping from Randolph was almost non-existent. I doubt Martial will score two easier goals.
But enough negativity, because West Ham deserve so much credit for how they performed, and this was as much about them playing well as it was United being dreadful. Noble and Kouyate ran the midfield as usual, Lanzini was a livewire, constantly exposing United between the lines and the United defenders simply couldn't cope with the terrific forward play of Carroll and Sakho. A sumptuous little ball from Cresswell freed Lanzini, whose movement around a static United defence was terrific, and his pull back was inch perfect to Sakho, who under no real pressure from the present Daley Blind, fired a delightful finish past De Gea to put West Ham one up inside ten minutes.
And from there West Ham were utterly dominant for the rest of the first half. Carroll, freed by a lovely pass and Daley Blind's head being more likely at Old Trafford than in his own body, should have made it 2-0, but was denied by De Gea before Sakho rightfully had a goal disallowed. With West Ham rampant, it was only the poor finishing from Payet in particular that prevented them moving at least 3-0 up before half time.
And if United improved slightly after the break, West Ham still had far more chances. Martial's two goals really were a smash and grab, and when West Ham got back into it there was no denying that it was fully deserved. Two sensational crosses from Payet and two brilliant headers, from Reid and Antonio, turned the game on its head. West Ham had been threatening from set pieces all evening; although Payet's shooting was awful, his crossing was on a sixpence and United never looked comfortable defensively.
So what does this result mean? Well for United it means that unless a more than likely full strength Manchester City side contrive to lose away at Swansea, a result that I would characterise as about as highly unlikely but not impossible as United themselves failing to win against Bournemouth at Old Trafford, United will have to settle for 5th place in the divison at best. If United do slip up, West Ham, Southampton and Liverpool will all be snapping at their heels and an 8th place finish is still very much possible for LVG's side. As for West Ham, they're now in pole position to snatch 6th place and with it the second guaranteed Europa League spot, and a win against Stoke on the final day would be enough for them.
I said on Monday that only one team could get what they wanted in terms of European ambitions from this game unless something truly crazy happened on the final day. That very much looks to be the case, and it's West Ham that have benefited in the end.
Do or Die Time For Norwich
In tonight's three Barclays Premier League games, the fate of three Premier League teams hangs in the balance. Norwich and Sunderland both kick off at home at 7:45, against Watford and Everton respectively. For Sunderland, the equation is simple: win and they're safe. Mathematically speaking, not even pragmatically speaking, if Sunderland beat Everton then whatever Norwich and Newcastle do, they are relegated. I'll preview this game first: I think Sunderland will at least pick up a point. Everton have been awful recently, looking shoddy defensively, unmotivated and an all round dreadful side. Sunderland, in contrast, have finally started to look like a Premier League outfit. Their 3-2 win over Chelsea at the weekend was outstanding and you'd have to back them to win tonight. That said, Sunderland have also been the draw specialists recently and two more draws would almost certainly be enough for them to stay up on goal difference so I wouldn't bet against a draw tonight either.
But for Norwich, this has to go to the back of their minds. Norwich need to focus on beating Watford, to move level on points with Newcastle and hopefully, within one of Sunderland and giving them the opportunity to leapfrog both teams on the final day.
Whether or not Norwich can stay up is an entirely different question to whether or not they can beat Watford. Much like Everton, I don't think Watford will offer much in the way of opposition in this game, but unlike Everton they're quite defensively sturdy, with a better defensive record than anyone outside the top seven, and Norwich really do struggle to score goals, so I wouldn't be surprised to see this one end 0-0 or 1-0.
And away from the relegation 'battle', I'll be watching Liverpool tonight, who will probably be at full strength, and as such I'm expecting a comfortable win against a poor Chelsea side who have nothing to play for and are missing two key players in John Terry and Diego Costa. I feel much more relaxed about this game knowing that the king of thugs and top goalscorer Costa won't be playing, and without Terry Chelsea are a mess at the back. I wouldn't be surprised if this ended 2-0 or 3-1 to Liverpool. Frankly, my priority is no more big injuries. Since Origi might be giving Funes Mori the middle finger by making the cup final that Funes Mori almost kept him out of.
The Hard and Fast Section
- Roooooooot. Double century. As you do.
- England captain Lottie Edwards has retired. Hero.
- David Willey injury. Dammit.
- Oh and shame on the violent Hammers fans. Shame.
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