1. Bone idle defensive display costs Hammers yet again
Our biggest problem in our poor season so far is the way we have defended, both home and away, with yesterday being no different. The central defensive partnership of Fonte and Collins lined up from the start for the first time ever together at the KCOM yesterday. In Reid’s absence, the pair didn’t have much joy as we were sliced open a number of times in the second half by the pace and power of the Hull City counter attack, conceding 2 second half goals to condemn us to defeat late on. Sam Byram was starting at right back for the second consecutive game and had a horrid afternoon yesterday. The Englishman struggled to deal with the pace of Andy Robertson and half-time substitute Kamil Grosicki. Byram was slow to react to Andy Robertson’s run as he chased a loose ball into the box and fired a low shot into Darren Randolph’s right-hand corner; the whole defence was caught sleeping. Byram was again at fault when he and Cheikhou Kouyate failed to track the run of Andrea Ranocchia to the front post from an 85th minute Tigers corner, Ranocchia was allowed to fire a free header into the back of the net and clinch the three points for Hull City. All in all, t was another very poor defensive display that cost us another vital 3 points away from home.
2. Hammers sucked into relegation scrap
There is no denying that we have now fallen into a relegation battle as we lay just 6 points above the drop zone. At the start of the season no one would have predicted, with the money we spent and the new Stadium, that we would be in this position with just eight League games of the season remaining. The most worrying thing is that 4 teams below us have games in hand over us, we have slept walked into a real relegation dogfight and we must find something soon otherwise we could be in huge trouble. Many would argue that we were already in a relegation battle, but this dreadful run of form has really seen us sucked into a real bit of bother. Bilic may really struggle to turn this around quickly as we face the Gunners away next on Wednesday and then Swansea at home on Saturday, a real crunch match. One thing is for sure if we are going to survive, the next two games are absolute cup finals.
3. Injury absentees sorely missed in the North East
We were without three main players in three key areas for our trip to the KCOM yesterday. Winston Reid was badly missed as the defence faltered again yesterday and we must find a way on playing without the Kiwi as he is expected to be out for at least another six weeks. Veteran James Collins struggled filling Reid’s boots at centre back yesterday and many are calling for Havard Nordtveit to be started ahead of the Welshman. Nordtveit failed to impress in earlier appearances this season but is it time for him to be given a chance again? Pedro Obiang was also a huge absence in midfield; the Spaniard will miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury sustained in the 2-3 defeat to Leicester City. Mark Noble was only fit for the bench and with Obiang missing; the defence lacked any real protection yesterday. Many are hoping the skipper will be fit enough to start against Arsenal on Wednesday. The attack lacked real pace and cutting edge yesterday and that was in the absence of top goal scorer Michail Antonio.
The Englishman has recovered quicker than expected from a hamstring injury that forced him out of the England squad and could be fit in time to face the Gunners. Diafra Sakho could also be back from long term injury in time for Wednesday, so there is some positive news for Bilic on the attacking front. Aaron Cresswell hobbled off to be replaced by Arthur Masuaku in the 68th minute yesterday to add to our defensive problems.
4. Carroll is still a threat
Andy Carroll was again a huge threat for us yesterday as he scored his 50th Premier League goal in his 50th Hammers Premier League appearance. The tall striker remained composed to control Aaron Cresswell’s cross and side foot the ball into Eldin Jakupovic’s bottom left hand corner. It is the first time since April 2014 that Carroll has completed 90 minutes 4 successive times in the Premier League. Despite Carroll’s milestones he came under fire from fans and critics alike for his nature to drift out of position which seemed to blight our attacking performance yesterday. Carroll often appeared in midfield and left wing at the KCOM, often giving the ball away and not being in the right area for crosses. Many fans are calling for Carroll to play to his strengths more, but he should have more help in doing so with the returning Sakho and Antonio on Wednesday.
Hull City defeat player ratings
Here is how each featuring player rated out of 10 for us at the KCom Stadium yesterday.
Randolph :6, Cresswell:6, Fonte:6, Collins:5, Byram:4, Masuaku:5, Fernandes:6, Kouyate:5, Lanzini:7, Snodgrass:6, Ayew:6, Feghouli:6, Carroll:7, Calleri:5.