The Man in The Shed

30^th November – Get well soon fella

Sitting in the Shed drinking my coffee and a guy wanders over and starts directing his son to a seat in the row behind. As he struggled a little to sit down we strike up a conversation, as you do, and after ten minutes I know that he’s walking on plastic knees, has had three heart attacks and a bypass operation. I was kind of expecting to be discussing the team sheet or the Valencia game but when we did talk football it was all about how hard it was for members to get tickets these days.

For the first time this season (excluding the Carabao cup) the manager was having to rotate the team – it seemed clear that after two tough games (at Manchester City and Valencia) there were a few players in need of a rest. So in came Tomori, Emerson, Mount, Pedro and Giroud.

The game started pretty much like most home league games this season with the underdog visitors pulling men behind the ball. After seven games without a win West Ham were digging in. The question for Chelsea fans was whether we could replicate the Newcastle and Brighton games and find a way to break the defensive line down.

Shock, horror – a Chelsea corner and Emerson became the first player I could remember who actually placed the ball inside the corner quadrant !

At this point I noticed my new friend had left his seat. The bad news was he was lying on the steps down to the exit and he wasn’t moving. Football seemed somehow secondary for the next 25 minutes as firstly his son, then various stewards and finally a series of paramedics arrived and left. About half way through what seemed an age I finally saw the poor guy talking. He was still with us ! Eventually a folding seat arrived, the guy was lifted aboard and he was carried off with an oxygen mask (hopefully) to a waiting ambulance. We wish you a speedy recovery – for the record you didn’t miss much.

From what I remembered of the first half their keeper had made a few saves and spilled the ball a couple of times; James was crossing the ball like Alexander-Arnold but nobody had been able to get on the end of them; West Ham had only had one chance – well saved. The most frustrating aspect was there seemed to be a reluctance to break quickly.

I could have done with further distraction in the second half as it became very clear that nothing was working for Chelsea in the final third. I don’t believe that we even tested their keeper in the second 45 minutes. Of course the first chance West Ham created in the second half they converted far too easily. Rather than sit back the boys from East London continued to press and only a great Kepa save from a corner kept us in the game. Then another corner soon after we should have conceded but didn’t. Then a chipped cross was bundled in by Antonio – game over ? VAR said handball – no goal. 

It should have been the motivation to convince the Chelsea team that an equaliser was possible but despite the introduction of Kanté, Willian and Hudson-Odoi no real clear chances were created.

So after six wins on the bounce we were now no wins in three. West Ham’s backup keeper had been dropped for a third choice journeyman making his debut at the age of 33. The guy had been adequate but we’d not tested him enough. He had West Ham blood in his body though – turned out he was the son of Alvin Martin.

Tiredness ? Bad luck ? Back up players not performing ? Whilst neither Pedro nor Giroud had more than average games it just seemed like a bad day at the office. And there are worse things in life than a football game – just ask my new friend and his distraught son.