West Ham completed a comeback 3-1 victory, on the back of Payet’s brilliance.
They have missed him, and he appears to have missed pleasing them; Dimitri Payet dragged his team to what was, in the end, a comfortable away victory over Bournemouth. After losing Andy Carroll to injury, West Ham conceded sheepishly, allowing Harry Arter to score from distance. It took the best part of half an hour for them to recover sufficiently, and as the rally for an equaliser increased, it was Payet who delivered. His sublime free kick was a stunning moment, and he followed it up with a supreme encore, providing a nutmeg-assist for Enner Valencia’s winner. Bournemouth, freshly armed with two new signings, were unable to hold back the tide, and ended the day crestfallen.
Yeah, we’ve got Payet… [1-3] #WHUFC #BOUWHU pic.twitter.com/e0H4ie5VXA
— West Ham United FC (@whufc_official) January 12, 2016
Andy Carroll’s fitness remains an issue
For a player so robust in style, so vigorous in method, Andy Carroll’s physical fragility makes for an odd, and frustrating, mix. It’s almost an impossible formula; how can a player, so prone to injury, that relies so much on, as it were, “putting himself about”, expect to stay fit for longer than a month or two at a time? He’s missed eight games so far this season, and his longest uninjured stretch went from October to December. He has been blighted, truly blighted, since his move from Liverpool, and his lack of durability has outweighed any worth he has – and is far from worthless, at his best – on the pitch. West Ham were visibly winded by his first half injury here, and struggled to compete in the aftermath with a ravenous Bournemouth, who smelt blood.
With Nikica Jelavic offering nearly zero as a replacement today, and Diafra Sakho currently injured – and no ironman himself – there is a problem here for West Ham. Enner Valencia scored twice in this match, but they were his first goals since last February. Payet can’t be expected to do it all on his own, and so perhaps another striker should be acquired during the transfer window, pending the prognosis on Carroll’s injury.
Frenetic Bournemouth show hustle isn’t quite enough
Having spent £16 million on their attack in the last week, Bournemouth obviously aren’t entirely happy with their squad in this regard. Survival in the Premier League is a task indeed, and Bournemouth have shown no little monetary enthusiasm to ensure they achieve it. But none of their new big-money signings began this match, and so it was the hustle of their less expensive assets that they relied on early. Pressing with reckless abandon, Bournemouth took advantage of their opponents winded state after Andy Carroll’s injury. Afobe, who had been in self-described poor form (and showed it on the half-hour mark, ruining a simple chance), charged around like a maniac, and Arter and Ritchie did likewise. West Ham had started the better of the two teams, but after the gut-punch of seeing Carroll trudge off, Bournemouth took advantage, and their industry and willingness to shoot meant they snatched the lead. Arter fooled Pedro Obiang too easily having received the ball on the edge of the area, cutting onto his right foot. His shot was on target, but should have been saved by Adrian, who got a full hand to it. Alas, it spun off the Spaniard’s wrist and flew in via the post. Fortuitous, perhaps, but Bournemouth’s hustle deserved some reward.
Bournemouth’s work-rate is to be admired, but in the second half, when West Ham settled and began playing with less skittishness, finding their passing angles, Bournemouth’s deficit in attacking quality showed. They were unable to make any chances of note and looked a little bereft of inspiration, even after throwing on new signings Juan Iturbe and Lewis Grabban. As Payet and Valencia spanked home glorious free kicks to take the points away, it was clear that this last week’s spending has been wise.
Tomkins remains the outstanding choice at right-back
With Benik Afobe offering little else other than useful movement and hard pressing, it was Junior Stanislas that Bournemouth appeared to be funneling most of their attacking possession through. The left wing, with Stanislas and Charlie Daniels, was time and again the preferred flank, and West Ham James Tomkins was the man there to try and thwart them. He was up to the challenge, winning six tackles and making two interceptions, only allowing Stanislas to get by him in areas closer to the halfway line than the West Ham goal. His attacking shortcomings are of no consequence when his defending is as good as it has been over the last month or two. It was his cementing of the right-back spot that galvanised West Ham’s back line after the 4-1 thrashing by Spurs, leading them to concede only four goals in the last 8 games. He was brought off here with West Ham still 1-0 down, and in need of Carl Jenkinson’s offensive abilities, but it was no reflection of his performance; he had been, as ever, an assured, becalming presence.
