Beaten by the seaside

Bournemouth 2 West Ham 0

Listened to this one on Radio London while recovering from a cataract operation on my left eye — the surgeon says the the worst case scenario is that I might be able to see West Ham away defeats with perfect clarity from now on. 

It was always likely that West Ham would beat Arsenal and then lose to Bournemouth. Must be something to do with that off-white greyish kit. The first half sounded poor, with few chances apart from Nasri shooting just wide and Brooks heading past the post for the home side. The key moment in the second half came when, after Antonio's scuffed shot, Carroll managed to fire over an open goal from a couple of feet out. To be fair to Andy he did win the header that caused the initial melee, but it was a sign of his rustiness that he missed such a sitter.

Bournemouth scored soon after, an absolutely cracking half-volley from Callum Wilson. They deserved their win as Fabianski made a great save from Cook's header and Wilson hit the post. With the last kick Brooks got behind Ogbonna and crossed for King to tap home the second. Bournemouth have done the double over WHU this season and are rapidly becoming our bogey side.

What's really disappointing is that the side that looked so positive against Arsenal failed to test the Cherries' returning 38-year-old keeper Artur Boruc. Should Hernandez have started in place of Carroll? He and Antonio looked a more mobile partnership in the win at Fulham.

The whole side seemed to be affected by the Marko Arnautovic saga, with the distracted striker omitted from the squad, and Pellegrini suggesting he's not been training well. The Guardian claims that West Ham are enraged and that Marko has apologised to the squad, though it's not clear exactly what for, apart from dreaming of a wad of £280k a week. Meanwhile the Daily Mail suggests that Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande (not Shanghai as previously reported) are now reconsidering their bid for Arnie, which would be a rather pleasing case of schadenfreude (whoever he plays for). 

The Hammers need to get the Arnie situation sorted quickly and find some finishers. We've lost away this season to middling sides like Brighton, Burnley and Bournemouth and WHU won't be finishing in the top half unless some consistency is found.