West Ham and Crystal Palace fought out an open 2-2 draw at Upton Park.
Slaven Bilic enjoyed a much-restored squad, with only three injured Hammers to hamper his squad selection before this game. He picked an adventurous team, one that hoped to really emphasise their top four credentials, taking on a Crystal Palace team that has only disappointed – and sorely so – in 2016. Alan Pardew attempted to match his opponents with obdurateness, and his team were somewhat fortunate to gain a point from the match, considering how unproductive they were in the first half, aside from their against-the-run goal. As the Payet/Lanzini duo again sharpened West Ham’s attacking threat, it took until the final quarter of the match for Palace to attack coherently themselves, as Yannick Bolasie grew into an offensive colossus. A red card decision, which, for all money, looked like a nailed on booking, allowed for this Palace resurgence, and though their winless run in 2016 continues, Pardew will be happy to have avoided defeat to Payet and company.
Formations
Bilic was able to start Diafra Sakho for the first home match in some months, with the striker’s thigh injury now just a sour memory. Along with Payet, Lanzini and Emenike, he made up a fearsome attacking unit, all pace and incision. The usual partnership of Cheikhou Kouyate and captain Mark Noble was again used, and Michail Antonio was returned to his spot at right back.
Alan Pardew was shorn of Emmanuel Adebayor and Yohan Cabaye, a terrible handicap and so, identifying his dimished attacking options, set up with two holding midfielders, two wingers and a lone striker. It made for a wholly counter-attacking system, one that rarely flickered in the first half, with Mile Jedinak and Joe Ledley far too retrogressive, and Bolasie isolated. Pardew’s use of Dwight Gayle off the bench is worth congratulating, as the striker drew the foul that Kouyate was dismissed for, as well as scoring the equaliser a few minutes later.
Antonio remains as right-back despite fit alternatives
James Tomkins was declared fit enough to make the bench in this match. The defender had been nursing an injury for some weeks, and so, having been a rock at right-back before his malady, may have expected to regain a place in the starting XI. But no, things have changed considerably in his absence; Michail Antonio, a bundle of twitching muscle and enthusiasm, has been revelatory as an attacking right-back, and he started in that position against Palace. Tomkins had stemmed the flow of goals when he stood on the right of the defence, almost instantaneously, but Antonio’s progressive work on that flank has had an equally potent effect at the other end.
Crystal Palace were caught short a number of times in the first half thanks to Antonio’s overlapping runs. Bakary Sako, obviously charged with running hard on the break, wasn’t the most attentive defensive winger, and Papa Souare often had both Antonio and Emmanuel Emenike to deal with. Mark Noble has relished having Antonio locked and loaded over his right shoulder, and his longer passing range keeps Antonio’s threat thrumming along all game.
There was another supplementary benefit to having Antonio stationed further back; Bolasie, a supreme athlete, almost unfairly blessed with both pace and power was often seen roaming around Antonio’s flank, and the Hammers man, unlike any other West Ham defender, has the foot-speed and upper-body strength to stay with the Congo international. Antonio’s defending is still a little haphazard, but his strengths outweigh any and all greenness of this kind.
Bolasie the striker pales in comparison to Bolasie the winger
Yannick Bolasie is, when on song and flexing, one of the league’s most frightening attackers. His arsenal is more equipped than any other forward in the league, but he needs an appropriate firing range to let loose. When tasked with, as he was in the first half, being Palace’s lone central striker, he is denied this. Central areas can clog so easily, and Adrian is a quick, eager keeper, always scanning for situations in which to sweep. One-on-one situations are less tolerated, and spaces in behind backtracking defenders simply aren’t available. All of this dampens Bolasie’s talents, and he knows it; he drifted from side to side in that first half, searching for breathing room.
But then, in the second half, Dwight Gayle was brought on, and Bolasie was properly allowed to roam without abandoning any other duties. He absolutely crucified Aaron Cresswell on the left side of the Hammers defence, and Palace really should have scored from one of the handful of chances this match-up alone created. With the grassy avenue down the touchline sprawling out invitingly in front of him, Bolasie was by the far the best player in the second period. This should give his manager an indication of just how to use him.
Palace’s sagging formation only hinders their chances
This Palace side is without a win in 2016, and has not kept a clean sheet since December 28th. That match was a 0-0 draw with Swansea, and so, if it’s not blaringly obvious to all by now, Palace have serious problems, at both ends. Pardew, facing a vivacious attacking unit in West Ham, elected to focus more on the defending, and set up his side to sag back toward their own goal, heavy and leaden, hoping to congest and stifle the Hammers attackers. Mile Jedinak and Joe Ledley, two bearded enforcers, would scamper into the West Ham half to press, and scamper back again, as if tethered to their own goal by an elastic band. Only Yannick Bolasie roamed freely in the home side’s half, and did so morosely, painfully isolated as he was, in the first half at least.
Palace opened the scoring, but it came as a surprise. West Ham equalised within a few minutes, and then took the lead themselves, courtesy of yet another Dimitri Payet free kick. In the second half, Alan Pardew removed Wilfried Zaha and inserted Dwight Gayle, trying to bolster the formation ahead of the halfway line. Palace began the second half well, with the midfield surging out of their own half in pleasantly confident fashion, but it didn’t last long, as they retreated back yet again, protecting their defence. It took a contentious red card to drag them back into the push-and-pull of the contest, but then, even when they equalised, there was a nagging sense of trepidation. Palace might have broken their winless run, if only they’d thrown caution a little more vigorously to the wind.
Payet’s dead-ball prowess becoming a serious tactical consideration for opponents
If you cut a minute-and-a-half of footage from the 40th minute onward, Dimitri Payet’s afternoon wouldn’t have appeared all that remarkable. In truth, although the Frenchman is still the first name on the team-sheet, Payet’s general form has waned over the last month or two, ever since coming back from injury. But there is an aspect of Payet’s game that has not faltered; in fact, it has only glowed more intensely, and the entire footballing world is taking notice.
Payet may well be the best free kick artist in the world. Chelsea’s Willian and Roma’s Miralem Pjanic might contest this, but Payet, following his superb free kick strike for France over the international break, delivered another peach here. He’d already been fouled by Palace in a similar area, and had shot over the bar. But, as Alan Pardew lamented, Joel Ward gave him another opportunity to adjust his crosshairs, from a near identical position outside the box, to the left of the Palace goal. Wayne Hennessey assembled a seven-man wall, with a couple of West Ham players attached to end of it. As Hennessey guessed and second-guessed where the ball might go, Payet ran up and struck it. The goalkeeper took a fatal half step his right, toward his unmanned corner. The ball looped high – surely too high to threaten the goal. But then it dipped, spinning and fizzing down toward the keeper’s corner. Hennessey, already wrong-footed by his own premature cheating, could only watch, as it fell, with near perfect precision, just under the crossbar. Payet had won the mind-games, and scored the goal.
Payet’s talents in this regard now have to be part of every opponent’s defensive plan. Fouls within Payet’s range now have to be strictly avoided, such are the devastating consequences that loom after every indiscretion. Tacklers must be aware that a tactical foul on any West Ham player near the margins of the box can mean another Payet highlight.
Conclusion
So, with the questionable refereeing in mind, it is difficult to take much away from the result of this contest. Palace showed their verve in the second half, just as the home side did in the first, and Pardew must now see the stark difference Bolasie can make when he can isolate a fullback. Individual errors, like Adrian’s that allowed for Palace’s opener, must not be allowed to creep back into West Ham’s game, as this season heads into its very last lap.
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