Bournemouth vs WHUFC -- January 19th, 2019

How did we all make it to 2019? I remember when 'Space 1999' was an unreliable date somewhere off in the future...

Even more baffling is the omission of Arnautovic from the squad in a game that we really do need three points from.

China? Seriously?

I know everyone wants to win things... but surely the point of winning is to win something worth winning. I'm not sure there's currently any Chinese clubs competing for top of the Premiership... and I'm not sure any currently challenge in the Champions League...
Sure... money's nice... but there's already money.. it's not like he's currently starving and looking to make ends meet.

So yes... my little monkey brain finds this entire situation somewhat of a baffling connundrum.

Anyhoos....

See y'all bright eyed and bushy tailed at 7am tomoz... I mean... you will be here... right?

Hey, did someone say something?

little bit of jigger-pokery this morning as I had to set up me NBC Sports Gold to work off the new apple TV rather than slinging it from me iPad... so missed th first minute of the game... but then who hasn't been caught short and had to pee or been in line getting a sausage roll and done the same thing?

morning Chaz.


this is one of those games that's so easy on paper you wonder why we have to actually play it...

then you se us play and get beat and realize there are no such thing as easy games for a team like West Ham...

Looks like Caroll is up front from the start...

Jeez... whoever thought it'd be 2019 and we'd be relying on the big man to save our skins?

Let's see what happened between Wolves and the Foxes and then check out the teams...

game-wise it's pretty even thus far...

welp... wolves and Leicester seemed to go on a goal spree... the Foxes came out better at 4-3 witch I guess is the better result for us because as things stand, we've moved up a place... level on points with the Black Country Boys...

natch, if we can turn this into three points then we'll put a sliver of daylight between us...

but those team line-ups...

1 Fabianski
5 Zabaleta
2 3Diop
2 1Ogbonna
3 Cresswell
16 Noble
41 Rice
30 Antonio
18 Nasri
8 Felipe Anderson
9 Carroll

Substitutes
11 Snodgrass
13 Adrián
14 Obiang
17 Hernández
26 Masuaku
32 Costa Silva
45 Diangana

Nice to see us with a full substitutes bench once more...

Decent line-up too.. though I'd bench Noble and probably not have started with Carroll... but that's just me.

Bournemouth are holding the upper hand in possession... which is ok... let them tire themselves out then our superior skills and stamina will come into... fupp me... that was close... Bournemouth scrape the side netting but forget to be onside while they do it...

we're conceding too much possession to the Cherries... sure they're at home and have a point to prove... but we need to get a grip...

Carroll's flailing elbows give Bournemouth a free kick

Anderson has been basically AWOL thus far... let's hope it's not one of 'those' games....

good... that spurred him into action.

He goes running down the wing and puts in a cross that's a touch long to be honest but Carroll gets on the end of it to head it back into the 6 yard box to no one...

and then it hardly takes Mystic Meg-like skills to have predicted that Carroll, frustrated would then clatter into a Cherry player and bring out the first yellow card of the game...

marvelous... Miss Maizel and her Flailing Elbows is now on a yellow card with barely 18 minutes gone... and the way he plays chances are he'll have o come off early to avoid a red.

Holy shit... looked like a great goal from the Cherries ad a diving Fabianski misses the ball and it's headed into the open net but somehow (who cares how really) it's flagged offside...

much like Carroll's chances of another yellow card... if this keeps up... one of these is NOT going to be flagged offside (and I couldn't see anything in the replay to make me htink that one should have been)


so... not looking good for the Hammers at the mo'

we need to get a grip on this game before we convince ourselves that we're not gonna win and the cherries that they are...

having said that... we put on a couple of nice attacks which end with Nasri going very close...

25 minutes gone...

ah bollix man... Newcastle have taken the lead against me dear old Cardiff...

was hoping that game would go the other way... Cardiff need the points and Newcastle need to get relegated again in the hope that Ashley will sod off and give them to somebody more deserving...

I know we've played poorly WITH him... but we definitely miss Arnautovic out there today...

Nasri and Anderson need to step things up a bit... playing long balls into a running Noble is NOT the way to win any game...

Antonio's been our most absent 'forward' so far... it should be him putting in the crosses from the wing not Zab trying to run onto them...

it's all too flat...

the game... the stats... everything is 50/50...

I think Carroll has to come off for sure...

but then you're gonna need someone to support his replacement, so Chicharito isn't gonna work on his own...

so it needs to be Carroll off, Antonio and/or Noble off

bring on Chicharito, Diangana and Snoddy...

couple of clumsy West Ham tackles give Bournemouth another free kick... but it ends with another Bournemouth offside - this will not continue all day...

5 minutes till the end of a dull first half...

Here's what the twitteratiti think of it thus far...

"Andy Carroll adds two parts of bugger all up front.."

"Get that no good gear sniffing donkey off the pitch now. In fact send him to China with that other fucker" (I wonder who that could be in reference to)

Noble takes too long to line up his shot and gets smothered...

Rice gets the ball but his shot is miles away...

so yes... our current attacking options seem to be Mark Noble and Declan Rice... so you tell me what good Carroll is...

1 minutes added... corner to us...

Corner comes in, corner goes out...

Carroll is still playing I presume... can't really see him anywhere...

Whistle goes...

first half was pretty much a nothing burger... or berder, if you will...

bit of a rollicking instead of a cup of tea might be in order methinks...

and here come the players for the 2nd half... strolling out like they don't have a care in the world...

Carroll is out there, so no chance of a change just yet I guess...

He needs to be gone and the sooner the better...

but that doesn't resolve the Arnie situation... because without Arnie... we're awfully lightweight up front...

we give the ball away immediately.. fortunately the Cherries can't to anything with it...

so our enthusiasm runs out about 15 seconds after the half starts...

Bournemouth have a free kick

and are dreadfully unlucky not to have got the first goal...

Fabianski dives to palm out the free header we gave them... Bournemouth get to the loose ball first (thanks defense) but can't guide it into the net...

if that don't wake us up, nothing will...

Carroll misses form 2 yards out... but to be fair... it's really only a miss if there was ever any real chance of scoring...

that's how you do it...

you avoid the offside trap by shooting from 20 yards out...

dynamite run down the wing... drop gets in a great tackle but unfortunately the deflected ball falls straight to a Bournemouth player in the middle of the park outside the box who volleys immediately leaving Fabianski no chance...

so there you have it...

keep the donkeys on the pitch and this is what happens...

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