Monday, March 10, 2008

WHU - WTF



What the fuck is going on, West Ham United Football Club? 3 consecutive 4-0 losses? After ending the year with a huge victory over Manchester United, the Hammers powered through a tough January with victories over Liverpool and Fulham and a pair of draws against Manchester City. They were square in the middle of the table in 10th place, a game in hand, 3 points out of 7th place, with a strong goal differential of + 8. Then:

Chelsea 4 - West Ham 0
Liverpool 4 - West Ham 0
Tottenham 4 - West Ham 0

A 12 point goal differential swing in 3 matches? I mean, I know those are good teams who were favored to beat them, but jesus. The not scoring thing is nothing new, but they usually have a pretty stellar defense. The good news is that they still have a 5 point lead over Spurs in 10th place. They'd have to end the season with an unbelievable run to finish much higher, but hopefully they can hang on to that midtable spot. European qualification is right out. In their final 9 matches, they face Man U, Villa, Everton, Portsmouth, and Blackburn. They pretty much need to win all the other matches against Derby, Bolton, Sunderland, and Newcastle. But all three will be fighting to avoid relegation so that could be tough as well.

It'll be interesting to see what they do in terms of transfers in the offseason. You'd think that if Bellamy, Dyer, Parker, and Faubert all came back healthy, that would considerably strengthen their midfield and attack. Maybe throw some money on the back four.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hotspurs 4
Hammers 0

Dimitar Berbatov's head proved to be quite deadly in this lopsided affair.

With PSV Eindhoven comming up this week and Man City I look for the Hotspurs to split 1-1

Go HotSpurs!!!

Joel

Dan Nolan said...

Down with the North London bourgeoisie! Up the Citizens!

Dewy24 said...

Using Clinton-calculus West Ham is actually ahead of Arsenal by 9 points. Go Hammers!

Dan Nolan said...

Maybe Clinton should consider Alan Curbishley as her Vice President since she's already won the nomination and has moved on to selection of her number two.

Dan Nolan said...

Also of note to soccer fans: Inter Milan is about to get bounced out of the Champion's League by Liverpool. That will leave the quarterfinals without both Milans and Real Madrid and with all four English teams. Last year there were 3 English teams in the final four. You'd have to say that the Premiership is the best league in the world these days.

Dan Nolan said...

And an absolutely lethal strike by Torres has surely put the nail in the Internazionale coffin.

Anonymous said...

Torres is one of the better strikers I have seen in a long time!

Liverpool should doing cartweels!

Your right the Premiership is the gold standard.

Look for Marseille to romp Zenit today.

Rangers & Bremen look like a nice match up as well.

fuge said...

Ok, a football thread I have to join in...

There's no shame whatsoever losing to those three teams...but losing 4-nil is somewhat ridiculous, especially when Liverpool has been on such bad form.

Speaking of Bad Form, Arsenal seemed to be out of the post FA Cup Thrashing Funk, after beating the better Milan team in the CL...but then came back to play Wigan...and DRAW? Nil Nil? What the F?

I look forward to a second place finish, and a loss in the CL final.

Dan Nolan said...

Everton v Fiorentina would seem to be an interesting matchup as well. Everton have been playing very well. The gold standard in defense with Tim Howard at the helm.

Wigan has actually been playing well as of late (8 points in their last 5 matches including scoreless draws against Man City and Arsenal), so I wouldn't read too much into that draw. Unfortunate for the Gunners for sure, but not necessarily indicative of a big dip in form. They've got Chelsea, Man U, and Liverpool in the next month, so we'll see what they're made of. Unfortunately for you, I think Man U is the better side.

Liverpool may be on bad form in the League, but you have to give them credit for beating Inter in back to back matches.

Anonymous said...

Everton looked pretty good yesterday.

Dan Nolan said...

yeah, no joke, eh? stellar defense. good strikers.

fuge said...

Dan, you also have to give credit for Arsenal going into AC Milan...and dominating them as well.

Apparently liverpool is unhappy they got drawn with an English team in the CL qfinals. But he then said...at least we don't have to go to Turkey. Amen brother.

Dan Nolan said...

yeah, Arsenal's a great team. I wouldn't say they dominated AC Milan, but they were the only one of the two teams that realized they were still playing in the last 6 minutes or so, so they're certainly deserving winners. Liverpool's always tough in Champion's League for some reason, but I would still put my money on the Gunners.

Anonymous said...

Tottenham blew it, Man City looked to good!