Lessons learnt for Nottingham Forest nightmare as West Ham progress
Article by Brandon Freeman
A super-sub performance from Hammer’s goal-machine Diafra Sakho ensured that West Ham will be one of the names to be pulled from the velvet bag in this years FA Cup 5th round draw, and given the line-up and the way in which the players went about disposing of their opponents, Big Sam made it clear that lessons have certainly been learnt from last seasons humbling 5-0 third-round defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest.
Prior to the match I genuinely feared that Big Sam may have been tempted to heavily rotate his squad in order to incorporate some of the club’s younger players, a decision which although forced by injury, woefully backfired last season as some of our brightest prospects where put to the sword against Forest. Given our league position and the number of available players however, Big Sam was under no such pressure to make wholesale changes, meaning he was able to name an almost full-strength squad against a Bristol City side who certainly showed they were not going to live up to the underdog status given to them prior to the game.
The hosts began the game on the front foot and may well have taken the lead in the first-half but for Mark Noble and then Andy Carroll clearing headers off the line from City striker Matt Smith. West Ham gave a sluggish first-half performance which mirrored their opening 45 minutes against Hull City, with the normally reliable Alex Song mislaying a string of passes to the opposition and Ecuadorian striker Enner Valencia struggling to cope with the physicality of City centre-half’s Flint and Williams. So with Bristol City going in at the interval looking most likely to progress into the 5th round Sam Allardyce was for the second week in a row looking to fire up a West Ham side who gave a tepid first-half performance.
The hammers did improve significantly after the interval, and certainly looked like a more threatening outfit following the introduction of Morgan Amalfitano and Diafra Sakho, who replaced the bellow-par Alex Song and Enner Valencia. Sakho’s arrival brought a renewed urgency to West Ham’s attack and almost gave them the lead when his powerful drive clipped the crossbar, however Sakho was not left to rue the missed opportunity long as on 81 minutes Andy Carroll delivered a teasing cross to the back post which Sakho coolly headed into the net for his tenth goal of the season in all competitions.
West Ham could have been a goal or two down at half-time on another day but thanks to a mixture of lady luck and some impressive last ditch defending form Mark Noble and Andy Carroll, West Ham’s season continues to get better and better as they qualify for the 5th round of the FA Cup for the first time since 2011.
Given the huge FA Cup upsets we witnessed last weekend do you believe this could be our year to end our 35 year wait for the FA Cup? Leave your comments below and follow our Twitter page @e_westham for the latest news and views, all things West Ham.
© e-Football 2014 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football
A super-sub performance from Hammer’s goal-machine Diafra Sakho ensured that West Ham will be one of the names to be pulled from the velvet bag in this years FA Cup 5th round draw, and given the line-up and the way in which the players went about disposing of their opponents, Big Sam made it clear that lessons have certainly been learnt from last seasons humbling 5-0 third-round defeat at the hands of Nottingham Forest.
Prior to the match I genuinely feared that Big Sam may have been tempted to heavily rotate his squad in order to incorporate some of the club’s younger players, a decision which although forced by injury, woefully backfired last season as some of our brightest prospects where put to the sword against Forest. Given our league position and the number of available players however, Big Sam was under no such pressure to make wholesale changes, meaning he was able to name an almost full-strength squad against a Bristol City side who certainly showed they were not going to live up to the underdog status given to them prior to the game.
The hosts began the game on the front foot and may well have taken the lead in the first-half but for Mark Noble and then Andy Carroll clearing headers off the line from City striker Matt Smith. West Ham gave a sluggish first-half performance which mirrored their opening 45 minutes against Hull City, with the normally reliable Alex Song mislaying a string of passes to the opposition and Ecuadorian striker Enner Valencia struggling to cope with the physicality of City centre-half’s Flint and Williams. So with Bristol City going in at the interval looking most likely to progress into the 5th round Sam Allardyce was for the second week in a row looking to fire up a West Ham side who gave a tepid first-half performance.
The hammers did improve significantly after the interval, and certainly looked like a more threatening outfit following the introduction of Morgan Amalfitano and Diafra Sakho, who replaced the bellow-par Alex Song and Enner Valencia. Sakho’s arrival brought a renewed urgency to West Ham’s attack and almost gave them the lead when his powerful drive clipped the crossbar, however Sakho was not left to rue the missed opportunity long as on 81 minutes Andy Carroll delivered a teasing cross to the back post which Sakho coolly headed into the net for his tenth goal of the season in all competitions.
West Ham could have been a goal or two down at half-time on another day but thanks to a mixture of lady luck and some impressive last ditch defending form Mark Noble and Andy Carroll, West Ham’s season continues to get better and better as they qualify for the 5th round of the FA Cup for the first time since 2011.
Given the huge FA Cup upsets we witnessed last weekend do you believe this could be our year to end our 35 year wait for the FA Cup? Leave your comments below and follow our Twitter page @e_westham for the latest news and views, all things West Ham.
© e-Football 2014 All rights reserved no part of this document or this website may be reproduced without consent of e-Football
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