City 1 West Ham 2
Report by Eddie Blount
The scoreline might suggest that this was a closely-fought game. It wasn't! There was a street of difference between the 2 sides who were the bookies' pre-season favourites for automatic promotion and this is reflected in the comparative league positions of the teams – the league table does not lie at this time of the season.
West Ham settled quickly and had a couple of potentially dangerous moves in the first five minutes as befits a side with still an outside chance of filling one of the top two places; City on the other hand looked like a side with nothing to play for. The gulf in class was clearly evident as West Ham enjoyed a massive percentage possession statistic and we gave the ball away as soon as we had managed to get it back.
City's cause was not helped by an early injury to Wellens. We were already being overrun in midfield where King was hardly able to get a touch and Drinkwater unable to keep hold of the ball or use it profitably. As we have insufficient quality in midfield to make up the team anyway this stretched our resources beyond breaking point. Dyer came off the bench and an original formation of 2-1-4-1-2 with Marshall playing in the hole behind the two strikers became a more orthodox 4-4-2.
Against the run of play City took the lead on 34 minutes when Marshall cleverly won and kept possession wide right, cut in and delivered a perfect cross for Beckford to rise between the impressive central defenders and score with a decisive header. It all looked so easy but there was to be no repeat so looks must be deceptive.
West Ham responded by giving us a…….hammering for the rest of the half and it came as no surprise when they equalised five minutes after going behind. We should note their reaction as we inevitably struggle when we go behind away from home.
The goal is unlikely to feature in any 'Goal of the Month' competition but they all count. City gave the Hammers the freedom of our right hand side of the pitch and Taylor in an acre of space smashed across a low ball which Reid met from one yard to give Schmeichel no chance. What can you say about the marking when someone scores from that distance? I can only say that we could have crossed from the same spot 100 times without scoring!
Pearson did a minor reshuffle at the interval and poor King paid the penalty for a totally ineffective performance. Remembering that we don't have enough decent midfielders to put in the starting XI anyway so finding another one during the game is somewhat challenging. I suspect names were picked out of the hat and Bamba was given the poisoned chalice with St Ledger replacing him in the back four.
It made no difference whatsoever to our attacking potential which remained at virtually zero. You had to feel for Beckford who ran into spaces time after time but never received a pass worth the name. Our midfielders preferred to pass sideways or, even better, backwards, but none had the vision to thread the ball through to the front two. You soon knew that if West Ham scored again the game was over.
And so it came to pass! After 58 minutes a Hammers attack broke down as a City defender blocked a shot from just outside the area. Unfortunately the ball ran kindly for them sitting up nicely for Collinson to hit it in his stride. Schmeichel got a hand to the rocket but could not prevent it finding the net. At this point West Ham became defensive knowing that the powder-puff City were very unlikely to get back to parity. Can you imagine us sitting back with over half an hour to go away from home and holding on to a lead?
We created nothing, excitement included, after that and although Pearson gave Waghorn the last half hour he had no impact on the game at all. It would have been a travesty – not to mention a miracle – if Morgan's last minute header had found the net rather than keeper Green's hands. It is a fitting comment on how City played that Morgan was pushed upfield in the last few minutes and the header was virtually his only contact with the ball
So who played well? The list will be short. Marshall continues to show promise, Morgan commitment and Schmeichel spirit (good save from him at the death in a one-on-one situation by the way). The rest, like the fans, will want to forget this game as quickly as possible. Sorry to have to say it but we need major restructuring in the summer – beginning with midfield – if we are to challenge next year.
City: Schmeichel, Peltier, Bamba, Morgan, Konchesky, King (St Ledger 46), Drinkwater, Wellens (Dyer 23), Marshall, Nugent (Waghorn 65), Beckford
West Ham: Green, Demel (Faubert 76), Reid, Tomkins, Taylor, Vaz Te, Noble, Collison (Lansbury 88), O'Neill, Nolan, Cole (Collins 81)
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation