WHZ View: Three things learned about West Ham in draw v Fulham
West Ham came away from Craven Cottage with a point on Saturday after the lacklustre goalless draw with Fulham.
The Hammers missed the chance to move into the top four, as they somewhat underperformed against the relegation battlers.
We’ve now picked up 16 points from a possible 21 since the turn of the year. With that in mind, West Ham Zone highlighted three things to take away from our previous game.
January error’s showing
It appears the failure to find a replacement for Haller may already be catching up with us. Michail Antonio looked shattered against Fulham and was withdrawn for Ryan Fredericks before 75 minutes played.
Our number 30 was a menace on Wednesday at Villa Park, creating two goals for loan signing Jesse Lingard. Whilst, yes, Antonio relishes the challenge of carrying the burden up top, he is in danger of total burnout and its only the start of February.
With four months left of the season and only the one recognised striker, it appears we may be in a spot of bother.
VAR showing up the officials
The only real talking point of the game was Mike Dean’s decision to red card Tomas Soucek after 90 minutes had been played. I mean really, where’s the common sense?
In the late stages of a game, in which we haven’t played well but are still set to take a point, why would Soucek deliberately elbow Mitrovic? Dean had the luxury of seeing a replay, at whatever speed he wanted, and still decided it was malicious and deliberate.
He’s shown himself up for the second time in a week, I’m yet to see anyone agree with the decision. There will be a vicious backlash should it not be overturned.
Record breakers
A more positive note now. David Moyes’ men have set a club record with 39 points amassed after 23 games in the Premier League.
It’s the best return we’ve had since the 1985/86 season in the old First Division under John Lyall. ‘The boys of 86’ finished third in the league that season, four points shy of the winners Liverpool.
This also equals our points total after 38 games played last season. Another testament to the remarkable job Moyes has done in east London.
His men will be looking to continue their excellent campaign with a win over Sheffield United at the weekend, after Tuesday’s FA Cup tie with Manchester United.
In other West Ham news, here’s how fans reacted to the Tomas Soucek red card.