The sale of Sébastien Haller left West Ham with one injury-plagued striker – Jesse Lingard, though, has offered a solutionThe deadline was approaching but West Ham were not in a rush. Although there was a clamour for them to sign a new striker after Sébastien Haller joined Ajax for £20m at the start of January, the right option never appeared. Bids for Sevilla’s Youssef En-Nesyri and Montpellier’s Gaetan Laborde were rejected, interest in Reims’ Boulaye Dia fizzled out and although David Moyes targeted Joshua King last summer, West Ham were content to stand aside when Everton hijacked Fulham’s move for the Norway forward.It seemed that West Ham were suffering from a familiar flaw: failing to build from a position of...
Mohamed Salah’s sublime skill saw off West Ham but it would not have been possible without Liverpool’s versatile captainNine minutes: Mohamed Salah gave the ball away. West Ham advanced down the left. Salah charged back, which is usually a sign he has done something for which he feels he needs to make amends. But he couldn’t recover in time.Michail Antonio was already moving at pace when Trent Alexander-Arnold got to him, and was able to sling a dangerous cross into the box. Tomas Soucek, the Czech Fellaini, rumbled into the penalty area. He didn’t have to check his stride. Neck muscles flexed, he readied himself for a fourth headed goal of the season. And suddenly there was Jordan Henderson, nipping...
Instead of focusing on fancy, fragile football, fortunes are rising at London Stadium as wide variety keeps opponents guessing West Ham’s image of themselves is not matched by the view from outside. A pragmatist such as Sam Allardyce could not connect with the club even when he managed them. The demand for entertainment infuriated him and he hated the West Ham way, regarding it with ill-disguised contempt. Related: Tomas Soucek double sends West Ham fourth with win over Crystal Palace Continue reading...
Another resurgent Frenchman for Chelsea, Mourinho has Kane purring and there was a Zaha masterclass to savourThere were long years when it seemed José Mourinho had lost his touch as a man motivator of star players. At Real Madrid, relations broke down with the club’s galácticos; his alliance with Cristiano Ronaldo was lukewarm at best. Second time around at Chelsea, there was frostiness with Eden Hazard, while Paul Pogba and Mourinho cold-shouldered each other at Manchester United. At Tottenham, Mourinho made it his business to get close to Harry Kane, and the results have been scintillating. In the same style that Mourinho made Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba into Premier League greats, and Zlatan Ibrahimovic flourished at Internazionale, Kane brims...
Tottenham’s remarkable 3-3 draw with West Ham from 3-0 up showed the potency of the Son-Kane partnership Gareth Bale can complement but also what can go awry The scriptwriters can hardly say they did not try. When Gareth Bale weaved in, out and past Angelo Ogbonna with two minutes left of added time, the juiciest of cherries looked ripe for garnishing a Tottenham performance that had lurched from scintillating to skittish. Through he ran, rolling back the years in so doing, and it was the kind of self-made chance he has made a career of gobbling up. Lukasz Fabianski stood still; the romantics held their breaths; the ball went past the post and, well, it was probably not going to...