West Ham broke a two-month winless run, coming from behind to beat Southampton 2-1.
The Hammers began this match mired as deeply as any club has been in the unholy swamp of affliction; Aaron Cresswell – last week’s goalscorer – was scratched from the starting line up this week, and Slaven Bilic was forced to play the out-of-favour Carl Jenkinson in his place, wholly uncomfortable on a left-sided flank not normally his own. James Tomkins, who began on the right of the defence, was nursing a black-and-blue eye collected during the match against Aston Villa. Once again, three youngsters populated the bench, and once again Bilic was without any of the sources of creativity upon which he would ideally rely to include in his starting XI. As such, Mark Noble and Alex Song, deep-lying midfielders by trade, had to take turns playing further forward at the centre of the attacking three behind striker Enner Valencia. Bilic’s 4-2-3-1 here was far less potent with Noble and Song instead of Payet and Lanzini, and West Ham did very little cogent attacking with this flawed system in place. This is a despairing, inky-black hole his team are in, though they have fought valiantly to avoid defeat while in it.
Southampton, as a resplendent contrast, were all humming happily, having just stitched up Arsenal to soaring tune of 4-0 just a few days earlier. Graziano Pelle was still convalescing, but Shane Long was in superb form, so there was little to mope about. Most of West Ham’s recent opponents have found the going, if a little frustrating, not exactly tough, and so for a team coming off such a fine scoring display, hopes were high. Ronald Koeman’s 4-2-3-1 was infinitely more promising than Bilic’s, with Tadic and Sadio Mane more than capable of carrying the creative load, and Victor Wanyama and Oriel Romeu providing a stern base.
The match began much as was expected, with Saints driving hard at this cobbled-together West Ham defence. It was difficult to watch for the home supporters, forced to endure waves of pressure that their side only barely resisted. Eventually, the pressure told, as a slaloming Saints sequence ended with Shane Long crossing for Dusan Tadic to tap home. Upon closer inspection, it was actually the makeshift left-back Jenkinson who managed the final touch, diverting the ball past his keeper microseconds after Tadic had made his own telling contact. Only 13 minutes had been played, and the home supportership were reacting much in the manner an unprepared gastric system might to the sudden arrival of some spoiled Christmas leftover; a rather unpleasant churning of the stomach abounded. The rest of the first half was a parade of missed Southampton chances; they had enough to win the match three times over. And they were made to pay heavily for their profligacy.
Bilic changed his team dramatically at half time, bringing off Song for Manuel Lanzini (to much rejoicing) and removing Mauro Zarate for Andy Carroll, while also switching Jenkinson and Tomkins. With Carroll attracting his usual attention, and Lanzini creating space with his touch and dribbling, the West Ham attack instantly looked far more dangerous. Noble was more comfortable, passing with diligence from deeper areas, and Michail Antonio’s speed and muscle came to the fore. West Ham’s threat from set pieces improved, with Carroll missing a fine chance after preying on James Tomkins’ knockdown. Then, via a hugely fortuitous deflected goal, West Ham drew level, Antonio’s prone body the willing recipient of a smashed Wanyama clearance, the ball looping over Stekelenburg and into the net. The home side took this slice of luck and feasted on it, growing in confidence, until Carroll nodded them in front. A swooping Valencia cross was met with venom by Antonio, who headed onto the bar. Carroll pounced on the rebound, and the winless run was broken.
Andy Carroll has now scored 50% of his 36 Premier League goals with his head. That haircut though… pic.twitter.com/xJEN5JeTE5
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) December 28, 2015
Carroll as substitute again reaps rewards.
It may be tough to admit, but perhaps this record-signing, this £15 million man is actually best utilised from the bench, and nothing else. His last goal – also, strangely, a header in the 79th minute – also came after entering the match from the bench, against Chelsea in October. Teams, when faced with nullifying Carroll from the beginning, appear more ready to compete, to out-muscle, and as they tire, he tires too. When he comes on – even with only 45 minutes played, as he did in this match – his added freshness can make all the difference. It’s been made clear over the run of 6 games from the end of October to the beginning of the December, of which he started 5: Carroll as a lone striker is simply not working. Alongside Enner Valencia – who too has shown himself to be ineffective as a lone striker – he is far more threatening. But even more obvious is his superior super-sub talents, as unsatisfying as that phrase might be to him.
Southampton’s cross-heavy play failed without Pelle.
Southampton flung in 35 crosses in this match, completing just one of them. They easily out-crossed their opponents – West Ham had 18 – who, keep in mind, had Andy Carroll up front for them for 45 minutes. Pelle, missing his second match running with a knee injury, has won the fourth most aerial duels in the league. Had he, instead of Shane Long, been the target for all these crosses, Southampton may have had more success. But Long, very much an off-the-shoulder striker, does not feed willingly on play such as this, and so was far less effective against West Ham than he had been against Arsenal. Of Southampton’s seven first half chances only two came from crosses (and they were short ones) and Long made both of them. As a team, against Arsenal Saints attempted less than one third of the crosses they bashed in here, and they finished that match convincing winners.
Jenkinson’s attacking instincts highly one-sided.
Defenders know how to defend, it is assumed, and reasonably so too. Carl Jenkinson has not defended well this term, so much so that James Tomkins, a centre back, has usurped him at the right full back position. Jenkinson has, however, attacked effectively from deep, scoring two goals. Placed in this game, out of pure injury-riddled desperation, at left back, even Jenkinson’s attacking instincts were thrown out of whack.
As soon as he was switched to the other flank, just after half time, he adventured forward with far more willingness and comfort; it was via his potent run that Valencia was able to cross for Antonio, an act that led directly to the winning goal. Of course, players are want to stay on the flank they’re most used to, but thank goodness that, in Tomkins, Slaven Bilic has such a capable, versatile defender, because it was his flexibility, moving to the left flank, that allowed Jenkinson to affect the match in ways other than just his unfortunate own goal.
Conclusion
As news broke that Dimitri Payet might well be fit for Liverpool’s visit in the new year, the light at the end of this dark, hard tunnel is in sight. West Ham have picked up points during this limping period, almost all of them a credit to their defence and Bilics’ ability to organise it. As for Southampton, well, they needed, simply speaking, to take their chances when they had them. A certain flakiness, a frustrating streakiness plagues this Saints squad, and so they must focus and do it quickly if they’re to escape the mid-table doldrums.
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