West Ham regained their traction as they beat Southampton 2-1 in a thrilling encounter at St. Mary’s on Thursday evening. Felipe Anderson was the Hammers hero yet again as his quickfire brace left Southampton stunned and unable to come up with a response.
The first half was one of the most entertaining 0-0 halves that I have witnessed in a long time. Ralph Hasenhuttl and Manuel Pellegrino’s intentions for the game were clear from the kick-off, maintain pressure from the first whistle to the last.
Can anybody handle Felipe?
The Brazilian had a rough start to his Premier League campaign. There were big expectations of Anderson, as his £35m price tag absolutely smashed West Ham’s previous record transfer fee, and it is fair to say that in the beginning, he did not deliver. He only managed to score one goal in his opening ten games in the Premier League, however since then he has managed to score seven in his last nine, displaying his true quality to the Premier League.
The quality the man possesses can be seen in the quality of his goals against Southampton on Thursday. His first came only three minutes after Southampton opened the scoring. Yoshida headed away a cross to the far left-hand side of the Saints box and Anderson picked up the ball, took one touch and fired an arrow into the bottom left-hand corner of the goal, well and truly beating Alex McCarthy. It only took him six minutes to double his goal tally for the night and West Hams tally for the game with an astonishing counter-attack. Michael Antonio burst up the pitch with lightning pace and played an excellent ball into Anderson who then just had the keeper to beat. Anderson placed the ball high into the left-hand side of McCarthy’s net, giving the keeper no chance, once again.
Keeping him fit will be Pellegrini’s main concern as he has become such a vital player in this West Ham side. Not only does he bring the team confidence, but fills the fans with confidence also.
Managerial excellence
For Pellegrini’s side to be in the top half of the Premier League at this stage of the season is nothing but managerial excellence. After losing their opening four games of the season, things were looking extremely glum for the Hammers, however their recent run of five wins in six games is a testament to the hard work being put in by both players and staff at the club. The hard work comes with its setbacks, however. Manuel Lanzini, Winston Reid, Carlos Sanchez, Andriy Yarmolenko and Ryan Fredericks are all long-term absentees, with Jack Wilshere, Marko Arnautovic, Javier Hernandez, Fabian Balbuena and Pablo Zabaleta also unavailable.
This is a huge blow for the side yet to still remain top half is phenomenal. Pellegrini was reduced to only bringing six substitutes down to St. Mary’s for the game when of course the maximum is seven, which most managers bring. Whether this was due to lack of resources or confidence in the side chosen, we will never know. But being able to come down and beat a rejuvenated Southampton side shows how much of a threat West Ham are this year.
Swings and roundabouts
There are two ways that Hasenhuttl can look at this game. The first; a slip-up. West Ham had just been defeated after going on a winning streak of four games in a row, a perfect opportunity to gain points off of a side who may be low on confidence, especially with their injury issues. Also, West Ham can be seen as Hasenhuttl’s first test. He had his “new manager win” over Arsenal, which was highly impressive but the new manager vibe is one that happens often. He then had to go to Huddersfield, a team who are looking to be serious relegation contenders for the year. Whereas West Ham are a team, that if you’re looking to push in to the top half of the premier league and fight for the Europa league position, you’ll have to be beating.
On the other hand, West ham were nine points ahead before the fixture kicked off, so it was going to be tough opposition from the get go, and a lot of positives can be taken from the game by the Saints manager, as they certainly troubled the Hammers for sustained periods of the game.
Dilemma’s for Ralph
Hasenhuttl is now facing similar problems which Mark Hughes had facing him; having a fully fit team and not knowing who to pick. Staying with the same line-up for both Arsenal and Huddersfield worked a treat, as everyone knew their role and they were starting to settle in to a good solid formation. However, with introductions of Mario Lemina and Hojbjerg to consider in the middle of the park it is going to be difficult to choose between his strong set of central midfielders.
It is not secret that Lemina is technically one of Southampton’s strongest players, but he may just not fit in to Hasenhuttl’s side. The pairing of Hojbjerg and Romeu have been extremely solid, and the injury to Hojbjerg has allowed Lemina to come in to the side. The latter is a player who likes to roam, which inevitably leaves gaps in the centre of the park, so it will be interesting to see how Hasenhuttl lines up the Saints when everyone is fit and well again.
