West Ham Utd 2 Arsenal 2 (25/10/09)

[Duff]

Thought Diamanti was really up for it yesterday, a few people have pointed out his creativity but what impressed me yesterday was his fighting spirit. He chased the Arse (ello sailor) all over the place and was a right little **** at times, snapping away at legs and not giving them any time to think which was exactly what we were missing when we went 2-0 down.

Hines was similar and looked very dangerous when he came on, think he can have a massive season and has impressed against a couple of the big guns so far this season.

Still a bit shocked to be honest, couldn't see that coming at half time. Hopefully this can be the catalyst.

[prophet:marginal]

Same old arsenal.... always cheating.

I loved it when that rang out, as Fibreglass was getting to his feet. The whole ground gave him some.

[davids cross]

Part of West Ham has always been about tweaking the nipples of the so called big boys...............we gave the Arse nipples a nice little flick.............Could have been the full tweak if we could defend a ball into the box.

[Canadianhammer]

I'm not overly concerned about Green....everyone goes through a rough patch once in awhile. His form will return. In fairnes...the defense didn't help and got in his way for the goal where he parried....it wasn't entirely his fault.
Great result .... well done hammers.... I truly hope that this result and more importantly the performance, will be what is needed to turn the corner on this abysmal start to the season. The lads looked great in the second half I thought...Lots of things to feel positive about. Too bad Scotty got sent off but you know what.....he sure is showing team spirit and giving the opposition the right message (that is F@#k off)!!

[libero]

I nearly shat myslef when we were getting ready for the Diamanti substitution - at first I thought it was Nigel Quashi, f*** me I thought, I know things are bad, but surely not that bad!

Maybe they've found some medical way of mutating Quashie with Diamanti - thus providing us with either a perfect midfield player or a perfect tw*t

[Olliek92]

Nothing to see. No copyright infringement going on here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdjvMfcQCb8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Bastards took down this video from my main Youtube account because I tagged it with certain football team's names.

Almost a perfect view of the penalty. He hit it with so much power it was almost unstoppable

[frankiemac]

anyone see the goon fan get turfed out after their first goal went in...was absolutely ballooning at the hammers fans in the tb lower

he was going absolutely mental

[libero]

Franco had an unremarkable kind of game yesterday and spent most of the time trying to work out where the ball was. Maybe that's what happens when your first PL game is a high tension London derby and you've spent most of your career playing in Spain and Mexico. And you're 32. And without a club for 6 months. And not exactly Fernando Torres anyway.

However, what was undoubtedly true is that Carlton Cole had his best game of the season (career?) and that had something to do with Franco playing alongside him. Not particularly because of anything that Franco did, but because a second striker gave Carlton more space, more freedom, more time, more license to roam and perhaps even more confidence. And maybe the fact that Franco is an experienced and tough old pro meant that he could play that role better than other more talented players than him who've been tried alongside CC this season (Hines, Diamanti...)

So, not exactly a great debut from Franco, but plenty to make me think he should start the next couple of games as well

[Matt of iron]

anyone see the goon fan get turfed out after their first goal went in...was absolutely ballooning at the hammers fans in the tb lower

he was going absolutely mental

That was ****ing Hilarius.

Such a ****ing twat that guy.

Anyone else see the fat bloke getting abuse form us in the TB lower as well?

[w4hammer]

Anyone else see the fat bloke getting abuse form us in the TB lower as well?

was he the bloke wearing the grey top? we could see him from the DMU-- he was very lively( not after the 2nd goal went tho!!)

[Benny the Ball]

It would be funnier if it wasn't almost exactly the same on this board as well...

Absolutely right.

Slices of fortune can make a huge difference to the outcome of any match. Last week we largely dominated the match against Stoke City, conceded a dodgy penalty and had a defender fouled for the winner. Their centre half should have been red carded, but the referee missed it. Diamanti, who had a good game at Stoke was substituted about 5 minutes before we were awarded a free kick on the D.

Reaction. Zola's *****, the teams ***** and were all doomed. We should not be losing to teams like Stoke City.

Yesterday another reasonable performance against a better quality team. This week we were again given the free kick on the edge of the box. Diamanti was on the field for the free kick. We were also given the penalty. We could have lost it had Van Persies late header been 6inches further to Greens left.

Reaction. We have turned the corner, great performance, COYI.

Two not too dissimilar games. Two very different reactions.

Our supporters really aren't that different. Knee jerkers are in abundance.

BtB

[Matt of iron]

was he the bloke wearing the grey top? we could see him from the DMU-- he was very lively( not after the 2nd goal went tho!!)

Yeah, Got to be bad having a few thousand shouting your fat and asking the score.

[Puff Daddy]

The man from Diamanti is not afraid to give it a go and I especially admire his giving it a right smack from outside the box. Alright most of them at the moment are way off the target but what you can expect is that eventually he will connect with one so perfectly and time it so sweetly it will roar in right up in there in the postage stamp and it will bring the ****ing house down

[prophet:marginal]

The man from Diamanti is not afraid to give it a go and I especially admire his giving it a right smack from outside the box. Alright most of them at the moment are way off the target but what you can expect is that eventually he will connect with one so perfectly and time it so sweetly it will roar in right up in there in the postage stamp and it will bring the f***ing house down

As he gets used to the pace of the matches, he'll become a real handful.

He was well into the chasing and harassing yesterday and it clearly lifted the whole stadium. I felt that at long last it wasn't just going to be Cole putting himself about a bit in the final third. Arsenal seemed shocked by the appearance of Diamante.

I mentioned in the City away thread how refreshing it was to see a player put heart and soul into getting the ball and having a go with it.

Now, if Diamante could only sort out his studs and stay upright for long enough (what is it with Italians and slipping over all the time?), he will find his range. And score some corkers.

[HammerMan2004]

Nothing to see. No copyright infringement going on here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdjvMfcQCb8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Bastards took down this video from my main Youtube account because I tagged it with certain football team's names.

Love that video. Just look how much that goal meant to the players.

[Chuck D]

Chuck:


T*ttenham-Pavlyuchenko
Sunderland-Cambell
Man City-Santa Cruz
Stoke-Tuncay
Everton-Jo (started this week but only due to injuries)
Bolton-Elmander
Burnley-Nugent
West Ham-Diamanti

Plus the top four makes 12 teams....

I wont pull apart the fact that some of them arent covered by what I said. Truth is though, you would expect any of them to come on and change a game with something about their play. Which was my original point.

[bubbles1966]

T*ttenham-Pavlyuchenko
Sunderland-Cambell
Man City-Santa Cruz
Stoke-Tuncay
Everton-Jo (started this week but only due to injuries)
Bolton-Elmander
Burnley-Nugent

With the exception of Father Xmas, that's a pretty expensive bunch of failures.

[smuts]

Reaction. We have turned the corner, great performance, COYI.
Two not too dissimilar games. Two very different reactions.
Our supporters really aren't that different. Knee jerkers are in abundance.
BtB

I think the general reaction was one of at least we put in a decent 30 minutes when we looked dead and buried and a hope that where a few years ago going 2-0 up against the Gooners and then drawing 2-2 led to a massive slump...........this time the reverse may happen and we may finally get it together.

I don't think anyone is knee jerking at all? Has anyone said..."you watch us now....we'll be in Duckers and Zola's top 7 prediction soon"................

[Dyer's Leg]

if you've got a moment or two, have flick through this site...to see the fawning gloating gooners go from...

" I smell a third goal and we're top of the league...to f*** me wenger is s***e and this whole team will win nothing...".

in the space of about four pages

http://arsenal-mania.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=45881&start=600

Christ that board is hillarious. They haven't a clue have they?

They may be an opposition team, granted, but **** all difference to what goes on on here is it?

All fans experience the highs and lows of a game on forums, not just weird bloke from north London who 'supports' (Mugs have no real supporters. Not with voices anyway), Arsenal.

[sendô]

Last week we largely dominated the match against Stoke City, conceded a dodgy penalty and had a defender fouled for the winner. Their centre half should have been red carded, but the referee missed it. Diamanti, who had a good game at Stoke was substituted about 5 minutes before we were awarded a free kick on the D.

Reaction. Zola's s***e, the teams s***e and were all doomed. We should not be losing to teams like Stoke City.

Horses for courses mate, I take your meaning, but for their two goals I saw it as giving away another silly penalty after letting Etherington get past Faubert, and then Faubert getting beaten for pace and determination by Beattie.

Arsenal's goals were similar in their needlessness, but at least we fought back for the point, which draws it's own positives. A hard fought draw against a good team will always feel better than an undeserved defeat against an average team.