A good year for the Irons

2021 has been quite a year for West Ham. We've seen the Hammers finish sixth in the Premier League and 10,000 fans return to the London Stadium for the final game the 2020-21 lockdown season. West Ham have played six games in the Europa League, with more to come. Declan Rice has emerged as the best midfielder in England, Antonio has become a great striker and more importantly his hamstrings have stayed untwanged, Ogbonna (until his injury) and Fabianski have remained quietly consistent, Cresswell has provided bags of assists and Fornals and Benrahma have emerged as quality midfielders, while Jesse Lingard had an exceptional loan spell at WHU.

This season the crowds have been back and the London Stadium has started to feel more like home. Astonishingly we've seen West Ham beat Man United, Spurs, Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea in cup and league games. We've ended the year with a 4-1 win at Watford and some of the away wins have been most impressive; 3-2 at Palace, 3-2 at Wolves, 3-1 at Aston Villa, 2-1 at Burnley, 3-1 at West Brom, 4-2 at Newcastle, 2-1 at Leeds, 1-0 at Everton, 4-1 at Villa. Not the sort of thing a West Ham side normally does. Well done to David Motes and his men and a Happy New Year to all readers of Hammers in the Heart.

Excellent Irons earn much-needed win at Watford

Watford 1 West Ham 4

Certainly enjoyed watching this one on Prime, though with no commentary. It's the worst possible start after four minutes as Dennis bursts into the West Ham box, Craig Dawson goes to ground and the Watford striker fires in the opener.

Luckily Watford haven't trained for 18 days and even though their players are fresh, West Ham dominate the rest of the match against a depleted side. When Benrahma hits the bar it looks like nothing is going for the Irons. Thankfully the equaliser comes after Bowen cleverly finds Soucek, who has advanced into the box to fire home first-time. With Noble sitting deep and playing well, Tomas is looks much more effective getting forward in the absence of Rice.

Two minutes later the Hammers score a second as Lanzini finds Antonio on the wing, who advances into the box and pulls back for Benrahma to score.

The second half sees the Hammers score early as Soucek crosses for Antonio to challenge and Bowen volley home the loose ball, only to be disallowed by VAR for a possible foul by Soucek in the build-up. Chants of "F**k VAR!" can be heard from the West Ham fans.

NOBLE CAUSE

VAR proves more fruitful when Antonio does well to cross from the line and Bowen nips in front of Bachmann.The Watford keeper has gone into overdrive and clatters Jarrod without getting the ball. Here's something you'll never forget. It's a penalty and Mark Noble strokes home a very popular goal.

The crowd soundtrack provides a medley of WHU classics such as the Ludek Miklosko song, Twist and Shout, "West Ham are Massive!" and "Craig Dawson he left 'cos you're shit!" Plus something rather rude about Harry the Hornet. 

After more good play by Bowen Antonio should score as Bachmann saves with his feet. But the fourth eventually comes as Bowen gets down the right and pulls back for sub Vlasic to slot home. A goal that will do a lot for Nikola's confidence.

There's still time for Fabianski to make a great save with his face from Dennis and then superbly tip over a header from a late corner. WHU badly needed a win and this keeps West Ham fifth and challenging. Much better all round from a team that has played twice in 48 hours. Irons!

Boxing Day hangover for West Ham

West Ham 2 Southampton 3

The Overground is closed so it's a long trek on the Underground to Stratford with my daughter Nell. The lack of trains and omicron fears have put off a lot of fans and there are a dispiriting number of empty white seats, giving the game an anti-climatic feel. Still, at least diehards Matt (reading Man About Tarn), Lisa, Fraser, Michael, Nigel, CQ, Alison and Scott are in attendance, with Scott predicting it will be 3-2 again, though he doesn't say for which side.

The Irons look off the pace and disjointed. Southampton take the lead after eight minutes when Walker-Peters finds Elyounoussi, who fires into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. Rice and Soucek should surely have closed him down more effectively. 

OFF THE PACE

The away fans regale us with When The Saints Go Marching In and the team in yellow dominate the half, with Fornals, Benrahma, Vlasic and a toiling Bowen failing to create anything up front. "Just get on your horse and f***ing charge!!" yells an irate fan behind us, possibly a cousin of Matt's. West Ham's best chance comes from a misplaced pass by the Saints, as Vlasic draws a decent save from Forster. On the plus side the Bank of Dad does buy Nell a nice if expensive hot dog.

CQ keeps up our spirits at half-time by passing round the inaptly named Celebrations. Moyes shakes it up up at the break by bringing on Antonio, back from isolation, and Lanzini, replacing Vlasic and Fornals though most of the team could have been pulled off. 

West Ham play with much greater intensity and look a better side with Bowen back on the right wing.The equaliser comes when Bowen's corner is headed back by Dawson and Antonio twists to bullet home a header. That will be good for his confidence and even VAR doesn't manage to cancel it.

Yet we can't hold on to the lead. Rice fires a good effort just wide, but then at the other end Broja beats Diop for speed. Dawson barges into him outside the box but then falls into the Saints striker in the box. After the ref gives a corner VAR intervenes and Kevin Friend points to the spot, though the original offence was surely outside the area. Ward-Prowse is never going to miss.

PUTTING THE GAME TO BEDNAREK

The response from West Ham is good. Three minutes' later Soucek finds Bowen, who wriggles down the right and pulls back for Benrahma to fire home. Surely we can now beat the team that can't hold a lead? Not with Soucek giving away a stupid foul on 70 minutes. Ward-Prowse plays in an excellent delivery and Bednarek rises above Dawson and Soucek to power home a glancing header and send the away fans into ecstacy.

"This is just like watching the old West Ham," suggests Nell, strangely reassured by the fact that we are back to being flaky. The Irons huff and puff for the remaining 20 minutes. "When has Yarmolenko ever done anything ever? What was the point of that, Masuaku?" exclaims the irate Vicar's Son, possibly in need of a relaxing trip to San Francisco.

An Antonio blocked shot and a few corners is as good as it gets and at the end Southampton celebrate like they've won a Champions' League Final. Fraser, Matt and myself find the empty Refreshment Rooms still open as Matt reminisces about a drug bust for a member of the Wombles, as you do. 

This was poor, and rather like a Pellegrini side. The loss of Cresswell, Zouma and Ogbonna would test any team, but reinforcements in defence and attack are needed and we'll do well to finish in the top eight. There was some hope in the second half performances of Bowen and Antonio but you can't concede three goals at home and win — unless you're Man City. 

At least we can put it right in two days against Watford in what is now a must-win game, though this is the game where our slump started to look like more than a blip.

PLAYER RATINGS: Fabianski 6; Coufal 5, Dawson 5, Diop 5, Masuaku 5; Soucek 4, Rice 6, Benrahma 6 (Yarmolenko 5), Vlasic 5 (Antonio 7), Fornals 4 (Lanzini 6); Bowen 7.

Come back Cressy

It's significant that West Ham have only won one in six games since Aaron Cresswell got injured at Man City, though one of those was admittedly a dead rubber in the Europa League. Aaron's one of those payers you don't miss until he's gone. Antonio in particular has missed his accurate set pieces, while he's also a better defender than most of us realise. Ben Johnson isn't so good going forwards, while Arthur Masuaku has his moments like against Chelsea, but is much better in a back five and struggles with defending. The Athletic reveals that since the start of 2020-21  Cresswell has provided nine assists, the joint third best record of any full back in the PL, with Coufal also providing nine assists. As soon as we can get Cresswell and Coufal back in tandem West Ham's attacking game will surely improve.

Hammers unlucky to lose at Spurs

Tottenham 2 West Ham 1 (Carabao Cup)

A game of football is actually played during the strange omicron hiatus while we wait for Boris to make a decision that will satisfy his back-benchers. Again it's a Sky game on my laptop, just like in lockdown days.

Kane tests Areola early on but it's an even first 30 minutes until Spurs take the lead. Hojbjerg isn't tracked as he runs on to Bergwijn's pass and crosses for Bergwijn to stroke home.

The response from West Ham is excellent. Vlasic is having a much better game and crosses for Soucek to head towards the top of the net only for Lloris to make a fine tipover. Then a good tackle from Harrison Ashby allows Vlasic to get in another cross for another Soucek header that is again excellently tipped away by Lloris. 

Dawson misses with a free header from a corner, but the equaliser eventually comes. Dier, who is not on fire, messes up a short goal kick from Lloris, Vlasic mishits a shot which turns into a pass, Bowen controls and pulls back, baffling Dier, and strokes it into the net. 1-1. Is it happening again?

All that good work is ruined by conceding another sloppy goal two minutes later. Bergwijn bursts past Lanzini and Masuaku on the right, fires in a cross in and Lucas Moura gets ahead of Johnson to score. Areola should maybe have done better too.

There's still time before the break for Lanzini to play in a fine cross that sees Soucek denied by a last-ditch intervention from Skipp.

West Ham have most of the second half. The TV commentary insists that it's brilliant game management by Spurs, rather than West Ham pushing them back. Bowen heads wide from a Masuaku cross and is then denied by a desperate race from his line by Lloris. Benrahma comes on and looks up for it, volleying just wide of the post. 

Can we make it penalties? A great surge from Rice in added time sees the ball go across the Spurs area and reach sub Yarmolenko. His shot is deflected off a defender on to the top of the bar. Areola comes up for the resulting corner, and actually gets a touch, but it's all too late.

We've gone out of the Carabao Cup but it's been a much better performance. And this was without the first choice back four of Coufal, Ogbonna, Zouma and Cresswell and the self-isolating Antonio. WHU still struggle to create against teams that sit back, but we gave it a real go here. 

Plenty of positives: Johnson returned, Ashby got some experience, Dawson was solid, Vlasic had a fine first half, Benrahma looked dangerous and Bowen scored a great goal. We can of course now concentrate on the Europa League, the FA Cup and making the top six. But we do need a win against Southampton to get back on track. Irons!

Tired Hammers lose out at Emirates in battle for top four

Arsenal 2 West Ham 0

At least my Covid pass works getting in to the Library, though it does say that I have a fine to pay on some overdue books from two seasons ago. I'm among the Gooners thanks to a benevolent Arsenal fan and sitting just a few rows behind David Moyes while trying to dodge Omicron. 

At the start of the game there's a minute's applause for Ray Kennedy and then we're off. Betway-jacketed David Moyes, Paul Nevin and Kevin Nolan stand in their technical area like a group of subsidence engineers discussing compaction in the West Ham defence.

It's a competitive game and both teams fly into tackles. West Ham's only effort is a curler from Fornals that goes just wide of Ramsdale's post. The Irons are showing resilience, but towards the end of the half the Arsenal pressure starts to tell. Coufal gets booked for a trailing arm across Martinelli. Tierney has a thumping shot tipped on to the bar by Fabianski and just before the break the Hammers' keeper parries Lacazette's shot and Dawson does just enough to put off Martinelli who almost nets the rebound. Still, 0-0 at the break isn't too bad considering it's Arsenal who have threatened for most of the half, with Saka enjoying coming up against Masuaku and Lanzini.

The second half gets off to the worst possible start. Martinelli uses his speed to drift between Soucek and Coufal and latching on to Lacazette's through ball he expertly strokes the ball into the corner and sets Arsenal's flags flying.

The Hammers almost equalise as Xhaka's loose ball is pounced on by Bowen and Ramsdale has to tip his shot away one-handed. Antonio then gets in a decent cross that Bowen pokes wide.

Then comes a turning point. Coufal looks to have made a solid tackle in the box only for ref Anthony Taylor to award a penalty and give Coufal a second yellow card. Lacazette appears to have been shot by the Jack Grealish sniper. Coufal has played the top of the ball and there's some follow through, but even if you think it's a penalty it's hard to see why it deserved a booking as well in what was an honest attempt to play the ball. Justice is done when Fabianski makes a fine save from Lacazette's penalty.

West Ham at least show some character when down to ten men, as Antonio becomes a makeshift right back and the Irons have a spell of pressure. But Saka's shot is almost deflected in off Diop and the game is settled after 87 minutes. Benrahma is out-muscled in the Arsenal half, the home side break and Smith-Rowe fires a shot through Diop's legs and past an unsighted Fabianski with the West Ham defence expecting a pass. 

On a happier note Harrison Ashby comes on for the final 11 minutes and doesn't look out of place. But Arsenal deserve their win and go above the Hammers into fourth place. Soucek is looking tired and so are Antonio and Rice. Cresswell, Ogbonna and Zouma are big misses and it's clear Moyes needs to buy a defender and striker in the window. That's one win in six league games now. Assuming it goes ahead, WHU have to get on track with a win against a weakened Norwich.

PLAYER RATINGS: Fabianski 8; Coufal 6, Dawson 8, Diop 7, Masuaku 5; Soucek 5, Rice 6, Lanzini 5 (Benrahma 5), Fornals 6 (Ashby 6), Bowen 6, Antonio 6.

Sir Geoff at 80

There was a revealing interview with Sir Geoff Hurst in the Guardian recently to mark his 80th birthday and his new book Eighty at Eighty. I didn't know that he'd lost a child to cancer or that his brother took his own life at Chelmsford station in 1974. As well as tragedy Sir Geoff has some good stories about claiming unemployment benefit  and for a time trying to sell insurance as a door-to-door salesman, despite having scored a hat-trick in a World Cup Final. Different times — a bit like finding Ronaldo or Messi selling double glazing on your doorstep today. Click on the link to read.

Irons fail to make dominance pay at Turf Moor

Burnley 0 West Ham 0

Was away in Edinburgh for this one, and while it's welcome to get a point at a ground where WHU usually struggle, there's a sense of two points lost here. The Irons had nearly all the chances looking at the TV highlights. Masuaku volleyed narrowly wide, headers from Diop and Benrahma tested Nick Pope and Dawson had a very good claim for a penalty turned down by VAR. 

Rice looked most likely to make the breakthrough. shooting just over and then forcing a fine save from Pope after a barnstorming run. Yet at the end Burnley could have nicked it had Rodriguez connected with Taylor's inviting cross. At least Vlasic did better as a sub and set up a great late chance for Soucek to win it.

It's worrying that Antonio is still struggling to score and the side is looking a little jaded in terms of creating chances. Soucek, Benrahma, Lanzini and Fornals need to get among the goals again. But at least the resilience is still there, though we'll have to be more effective creatively against Arsenal on Wednesday.

Young Hammers lose out to Zagreb

West Ham 0 Dinamo Zagreb 1 (Europa League)

It's down to the diehards for this dead rubber, with just Matt, Lisa, Nigel and Fraser representing our contingent in the Billy Bonds Stand. The Irons were always likely to lose after naming a side of kids and veterans. The new back line of Ashby, Baptiste, Alese and Longelo actually did pretty well in the circumstances, though 17-year old Sonny Perkins was isolated in the lone striker role. Ashby showed aggression and fired onto the roof of the net while Alese had a good game at centre back.

Zagreb took an early lead with a tremendous shot from Orsic, firing into the top corner from almost the same position that Arthur Masuaku scored against Chelsea. Dinamo missed a few more chances and Areola made some good saves but at least the Hammers kept in the game.

It was disappointing from the senior players though. Noble and Benrahma took a series of poor corners, Vlasic worked hard but didn't produce any real moments of flair, Kral was solid but didn't get forward in the way Rice can and too often opted for the safe ball, while Yarmolenko looked anything but a top international. Late on Moyes brought on even more debutants, Freddie Potts, son of Steve, and Keenan Forsan. West Ham's only real efforts were a Benrahma free kick fired at the keeper and a late half-chance for Alese. 

A great night for the kids, but not too much else to be learned from this beyond the fact that our squad lacks depth. At least the first team should now be rested for Burnley and this was a credible effort by the youngsters.

PLAYER RATINGS: Areola 7; Ashby 6, Alese 7, Baptiste 6, Longelo 6; Kral 6, Noble 5, Fornals 5 (Benrahma 6), Vlasic 5, Yarmolenko 4; Perkins 5.

Zouma out for three months

The bad news is that Kurt Zouma is out for three months with a hamstring injury and Ben Johnson is out for a month. As with Ogbonna, Zouma tried to play on and West Ham's medical team really have to be more proactive in taking injured players off at the first sign of trouble. Somehow we have to keep Craig Dawson and Issa Diop fit and make an emergency signing in January. 

In the event of either getting injured Ben Johnson is out for a month and when he's fit could probably do a job at centre back with his physique and strength. While another option would be to bring in Kral and play Declan Rice at centre back where he performed really well in the latter stages against Chelsea — though  that would deprive WHU of an immense force in midfield. The obvious signing would be Burnley's James Tarkowski who is out of contract at the end of the season — but can Burnley be persuaded to part with their centre back when they are in a relegation battle? WHU will have to throw quite a bit of Daniel Kretinsky's money at them. 

While the injuries to Ogbonna, Zouma and Johnson prove we can't rely on Antonio staying fit, and with Benrahma away in Africa for a month the Irons must also sign Jesse Lingard and a back-up striker in January. If West Ham are going to make the top four we're going to have to do it the hard way.

Headlines you never thought you'd see...

King Arthur we salute you... a great London Stadium moment. Always good when an unexpected player scores. Reminiscent of the time the ball came over and Frank Lampard Snr fell over and scored the winning goal at Elland Road  — and when the great Steve Potts netted his only goal in the 7-1 demolition of Hull City.
 

Arthur Masuaku, he's better than Lukaku!

West Ham 3 Chelsea 2

It's another early BT Sport start at 12.30pm for this one. Nigel has gone to the wrong Stratford for his birthday, rather than showing CQ a good time at the Best Cafe with our own resident Bard Michael the Whovian. Matt's wearing his possibly lucky sapphire third choice away strip, and we're joined by Lisa, Fraser and returning Clacton duo Scott and Alison, who just might be a jinx. Scott predicts a 3-2 home win, as if that will happen.

For half an hour the game is fairly even with Fabianski saving from James but fairly few chances and lot of chants telling Chelsea where to stick their blue flag. That's until 28 minutes when Thiago heads home unopposed from a corner, having lost Antonio. That's unlike West Ham, but soon the Irons are back in it. Coufal has a shot cleared off the line, then Jorghino plays a dodgy back pass, Mendy dawdles and Bowen is alert enough to nick the ball before being being brought down by the keeper. Despite a lot of verbals from the Chelsea players Manuel Lanzini wallops an excellent penalty into the top corner.

Then the injury curse of Mystic Morris strikes again. Zouma has already been down and now Johnson appears to pull a muscle just as he's tracking Mason Mount. The Chelsea man volleys a spectacular goal into the bottom corner and then unwisely celebrates in front of the West Ham Fans. Luckily Fraser doesn't order a pitch invasion. Johnson is replaced by Arthur Masuaku. Matt promises to be positive and reminisces about Arthur's only goal for the Hammers.

JARROD BOWEN'S ON FIRE

At the break it looks like Chelsea will go on to show their Champions League-winning credentials and pass us into submission. But Moyes has clearly put something in Antonio's tea and Michail is looking a lot more lively and starting to bully Chelsea's defenders, while Bowen is threatening on the break and the side is much more on the front foot. Suddenly we're level as Coufal flicks on to Jarrod Bowen who fires a brilliant finish into the bottom corner and runs to the Bobby Moore End foe a knee-slide celebration. Clearly he's on fire. And never underestimate the resilience of this Hammers side.

Can we hold on for a 2-2 draw? Zouma has to go off having injured himself tackling Ziyech and we really are down to Harry's bare bones as Chelsea bring on the £90m Lukaku. Antonio wins possession to put in a great cross for Bowen to poke just wide when he should probably score. Chelsea lob endless balls into our box and Jorginho's shot is deflected wide off Diop. 

KING ARTHUR

We seem to be holding out in the 87th minute when Arthur Masuaku receives the ball on the left. He stops and gets in a brilliant cross that sails over the flailing Mendy and into the corner to spark mayhem. IT'S ARRTHUUUUUR!! Masuaku holds his arms up in a Cantona-esque gesture of aloof brilliance. None of us have ever doubted King Arthur, especially the Vicar's Son who has always viewed Arthur as a maverick genius and has now seen his idol score his first goal in the Premier League.

"West Ham are Massive everywhere we go!" rings round the stadium for the four minutes of added time. The part0-timers in the Chelsea end have left a bank of empty seats. Bowen is set up by Antonio and almost scores a fourth, bending the ball past the post. Finally the whistle blows. We have beaten Man United, Man City, Liverpool and now Chelsea. Alison has been relieved of her jinx label and Nigel is dancing in the streets of Stratford-upon-Avon. 

It's all slightly surreal to be heading to Stratford with a crowd of 60,000 fans singing "Whoah Arthur Masuaku, he's better than Lukaku!" We head off to the Theatre Royal bar for some deserved pints of Atlantic IPA and a rendezvous with Dan Dan the Wrestling Man (who strangely hasn't bet on Arthur to score) as Michael contemplates a theatrical trip to Hornchurch. Matt suggests that it might all be like Doctor Who and we will suddenly wake up out of this timestream and find ourselves back in London in 2021. We have seemingly beaten the European Champions and their blue flag has been inserted in a most unusual place. It seems we are Massive. Irons!

PLAYER RATINGS: Fabianski 8; Coufal 8, Dawson 7, Zouma 7 (Fornals 7), Diop 8, Johnson 7 (Masuaku 9); Rice 9, Soucek 8, Lanzini 8 (Benrahma n/a), Bowen 8; Antonio 8.

Tired Hammers denied by Brighton

West Ham 1 Brighton 1

It's off to the London Stadium at the inconvenient time of 7.30pm for this Amazon Prime match against our bogey side from East Sussex. Brighton haven't lost to the Irons in eight Premier League meetings, winning three and drawing five.

The big news is that Nigel is only at the match because the Alcatrazz and Girlschool concert has been postponed because Girlschool's drummer has Covid. We're joined by a rainbow laced Michael who is writing his weekly play on farcical goings on at Number Ten, plus Matt and Fraser. The Clacton contingent have opted to stay at home in Essex. 

The big discussion is whether Nigel has jinxed us by saying that "it's lucky we don't have any injuries" at the start of the Liverpool match, resulting in Ogbonna and now Cresswell getting crocked. Tonight Mystic Morris just says that he can see a 1-1 draw after an 89th minute equaliser.

NO DOUBTING TOMAS

Brighton start briskly with Matt's least favourite striker Maupay firing just wide after some sloppy play in defence by Benrahma. But it's West Ham who take the lead after five minutes. Fornals' corner is glanced home off Soucek's head with Sanchez immobile on his line.

It's the perfect start for the Hammers, but the side is still looking jaded with our passing game never really getting going. Brighton have more possession but it's West Ham who almost make it two after a brilliant move. Rice finds Coufal out wide, the full-back crosses, Antonio heads across the box and Fornals smacks a fine volley against the bar. 

Brighton dominate the midfield play for much of the latter stages of the half with Maupay playing in Moder, who is foiled by an excellent stop from the onrushing Fabianski. We also note that Brighton's hirsute left-back Cucurella looks like a cross between Mario Kempes of Argentina and one of Nigel's prog rock guitarists.

ONE-NIL TO THE VAR

The second half begins with Brighton going close again. Then West Ham come to life as Fornals' corner causes confusion, the ball bounces off Dawson and in either off a defender or Antonio. Is it 2-0? Our celebrations are curtailed by VAR. After a massive wait it's not disallowed for a foul, but is then ruled out for offside. The decision is that it touched Antonio on the line in an offside position. It's hard to say who the ball touched last and if it takes so long to decide surely it's not a clear and obvious error? A victory for the pedants at Stockley Park.

Bowen has a great run from deep only to fire at Sanchez, but the side looks very leggy and Moyes takes an age to act before bringing on Lanzini and Masuaku. Surely we should have given our fresher players like Vlasic and Kral some game time. Benrahma's passing is awry and Antonio looks exhausted.

Manuel at least injects a bit more urgency into WHU's play. It's almost two as Brighton mess up a short goal kick and Antonio sets up Rice for a thumping shot that is excellently parried by Sanchez.

Brighton are now down to ten men after another injury.  "What is the point of Masuaku?" cries the exasperated Vicar's Son as Arthur loses possession again. Lallana shoots wide and then Antonio's long-range header is fielded by Sanchez. 

MADE TO MAUPAY FOR MISSED CHANCES

Can the Hammers show enough resilience to grind out a 1-0 win? Erm, no. Lamptey gets around Masuaku and crosses for Maupay to score with a great overhead kick and run to the away fans as a blue flare goes off. Not even VAR can save us. Nigel curses the Girlschool drummer with Covid for making him attend the game.

The Irons do respond well in the six minutes of added time. Rice makes a storming run from deep and sets up Bowen who hits the keeper yet again. In the dying moments WHU force a corner and Zouma's header is cleared off the line by Cucurella. But it's not to be and the Hammers have to be content with a point. 

We retreat to the Refreshment Rooms where we meet The Gav. "At least we'll always have Parris," quips Matt, in reference to pre-match appearance of George. We then discuss our worst ever West Ham defeats and cover the 6-0 League Cup debacle at Oldham, the 3-2 defeat at Wigan that sent us down, a 2-2 draw at Rotherham, the 7-1 loss to Blackburn, the Play-Off Final loss to Palace and a host of other disasters. Not that we're pessimists. 

Tonight we got a point at least, but didn't look anything like top four contenders and Moyes needs to freshen things up for Chelsea.

PLAYER RATINGS: Fabianski 7; Coufal 6, Zouma 6, Dawson 6, Johnson 6; Rice 8, Soucek 7, Benrahma 5 (Lanzini 7), Fornals 6 (Masuaku 5), Bowen 7, Antonio 5.