Before
I'm a bit worried about tonight's game as I can't help feeling confident that we're going to win. West Ham managed their first point on Saturday and so they'll have been boosted by that while we mustn't take anything for granted. Gyan, Zenden and Colback look certain to start and probably a few other squad players will get a run-out while Bent may well be rested for at least most of the match. The crowd will no doubt be twenty thousand at most and I can't see the Hammers bringing many on a Tuesday evening but I'm looking forward to the game as an enjoyable side dish to the season's main course. Scott Parker will be their key man while we all know Robert Green, whose World Cup form has continued recently. Match prediction 3-1 to us.

After
Well, this was a case of from the sublime to the crap. Although we fielded essentially the same side as against Arsenal three days ago we were a shadow of the team that did so well then. West Ham deservedly won with two well-taken goals, by Piquionne ten minutes before the break and Obinna fifteen minutes after, both of which came from rapid moves down our left and were well executed. Five minutes before the break we got a great equalizer when Gyan scored from an excellent near-post header from our first corner of the game.

Having failed to do much at all with all the corners we won against Arsenal we executed our first tonight perfectly. There wasn't much else excellent about our display, though, with a lot of sloppy passing, particularly from Welbeck and Riveros, and a distinct lack of bite all round. West Ham displayed plenty of bite and won nearly all of the fifty-fifty balls. Bent, God love him, had an off day and on a few occasions in the second-half there was what Wilfred Owen once described as an ecstasy of fumbling in the Hammers' box as excellent chances were frittered away. Even the introduction of the mighty Steed on the hour didn't help matters and there was no repeat of our recent stoppage-time heroics. All in all a night not to remember. See you at Liverpool, if my view isn't too restricted that is.

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