Fan blogger Joe Difford looks back at Sunday's game...
West Ham’s injury crisis has been well documented, with almost a full squad’s worth of players out for one reason or another. The start to the season has been difficult, largely due to this, but the absences were felt most on Sunday, as Slaven Bilic’s side slipped to a fourth successive Premier League defeat.
After a comfortable win against Accrington Stanley in midweek, where we saw Dimitri Payet bag his first spectacular free kick of the season, fans were hoping to see the Hammers push on at the London Stadium a few days later.
For the opening half an hour, that is exactly what they saw, and the boys in Claret and Blue were in control and looking to move forward at every possibility.
As soon as Southampton’s Charlie Austin netted with their first shot on goal, it was always going to be an uphill battle due to our shortage of players at the back.
With Aaron Cresswell and his replacement Arthur Masuaku both out injured, new boy Alvaro Arbeloa had to move over to the left, forcing central midfielder Havard Nordtveit into an unfavoured full back role.
Subsequently, the vast majority of the Saints’ attacks came from that side, and the two goals that followed happened because someone somewhere was covering a position that was lacking in a natural player.
Injuries aside, it is impossible to put all of the blame on this issue, as we still fielded eleven Premier League players, but it has certainly had an impact on the season and morale.
Simone Zaza was a whisker away from opening his Premier League account on two occasions at the weekend, and with a few more days of training with his new squad, he will surely be sharp and ready to take those chances when they come again.
After such a great free kick midweek, Payet was understandably marked by at least two players at all times, preventing him from roaming and being as influential as usual, so this was a piece of tactical genius by the Southampton boss.
This weekend’s game against Middlesbrough, as Bilic has said in the past, is a cup final. We are at home again playing in front of a full house yet again, so have to take advantage and begin our ascent up the table.
After the international break, we should be close to welcoming back Andre Ayew, Andy Carroll and Aaron Cresswell, all of whom will undoubtedly make a massive difference.
Things aren’t going as expected right now, but it is important to remember that last season was an anomaly in a number of ways, including Leicester City being crowned champions. West Ham will be up there soon enough, but this year we will need the full support of our famous Claret and Blue army to get out of this bad run of games.
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The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of West Ham United