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WEST HAM UNITED v MIDDLESBROUGH ANALYSIS AND PLAYER RATINGS 2-4-07
Udayan Mukherjee
The sun is shining again, the Boro are in mid table again, with absolutely naff all to play for at the end of a season AGAIN. A season that as of a couple of weeks ago had huge potential has been snuffed out into one of apathy and losing to bottom four clubs.
Despite the protestations of Gareth Southgate, the players look like they want to be on a sunny beach, far away from any notion of hard work on the football pitch. It is a sad truth that we have grown too accustomed to.
If we're being honest, in a game which Boro had nothing to play for, against a team fighting tooth and nail to stay up there was only ever going to be one winner. For this is the Boro way; the first eleven have had always had enough talent to achieve a top eight finish for most of the seasons that we have been a part of the Premier League, but like all those other times we are destined for mid table mediocrity. This is even more galling because as of two weeks ago we had a very realistic chance of European qualification via the league, something that is all but impossible now.
Technically we still have a chance of achieving a decent position, but this seems highly unlikely as the application shown against West Ham United was absolutely abysmal, especially as their confidence should be low. Indeed a team like us should beat a bottom three club, no matter what their history or status is.
The game started in the worst circumstances possible with Julio Arca's replacement, Fabio Rochemback fannying around on the ball as he is so prone to do. West Ham, who by all accounts were supposed to start in an apprehensive manner, pounced on poor play by the Brazilian with Carlos Tevez crossing for Bobby Zamora to score after two minutes. West Ham had been playing more like shite 80's band WHAM
all season, but after winning their previous game against Blackburn, they were in business.
Boro were shell shocked and there was to be no way back. The Hammers dominated proceedings with Boro offering nothing in resistance, and when Tevez pounced on a mistake in the Boro defence to score, there was about as little surprise and as much inevitability as an Arriva bus being late.
The Smoggies had it all to do in the second half, and although the introduction of Adam Johnson gave us some degree of attacking fluency, there was all too little, and while the Hammers still looked dangerous, all Boro could muster was a header hit wide by Yakubu. The chance itself was golden, with the Nigerian finding himself with a free header on goal after a quite magnificent cross by Johnson.
As is very often apparent with Yakubu, he cannot head the ball with any degree of competency. The striker may be adept at turning defenders and is often a genuine handful, but needs to improve on many basic components of his game. As a supposedly international class striker, his frustrating habit of missing easy chances and lacking the basic heading ability that is present in seven year olds.
The second half continued in the same vein, with a monopoly on effort and commitment by the Eastenders, and not a real flicker from the Boro. Truly disappointing.
Player ratings
Mark Schwarzer - Looked unsteady at times, conceded twice. 6
Andrew Taylor - Unimpressive, at fault for the second goal. 5
Jonathan Woodgate - OK, nothing more, nothing less. 6
Emanuel Pogatetz - Not the best game for the Austrian, run ragged by the likes of Carlos Tevez. 5
Abel Xavier - Poor. 5
Stuart Parnaby - Looked out of sorts in the midfield role he was asked to play in. 5
George Boateng - Plenty of effort, but little effectiveness from the skipper. 6
Fabio Rochemback - Rubbish. A talented player, but we may as well count our losses and get rid before he costs us any more money. 4
Stuart Downing - Booed by some moronic West Ham fans. Tried hard, but looks short on confidence. The shambolic treatment of him by the guttersnipe press and the shits in the stands have left him looking jaded. 6
Yakubu - Poor. Should have scored a simple opportunity in the second half. Looks to be a shadow of the player he is potentially capable of being. 5
Mark Viduka - Not good at all. 5
Substitutes
Robert Huth - Came on late. 5
Adam Johnson - Played very well in the second half and offered the Boro's only real threat. 7.5
Jason Euell - YERJOKINARENTYER? 5
Sign him on:
Carlos Tevez. He may have been off the pace for most of the season, and with a goal scoring record in the Premiership comparable with that of George Boateng, but in this game he was on fire. He scored one, made one and put in an almost perfect performance. If West Ham go down, players like Nigel Reo Coker and Dean Ashton may also be up for grabs.
That's all folks.
Udayan Mukherjee.
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