Premier League
West Ham United 0 Portsmouth 0

Saturday, 15th November 2008
by Gordon Thrower

Nil-nil draws always leave one with a slight feeling of dissatisfaction. It’s often the football equivalent of going to a restaurant and leaving 90 minutes later without having had a meal…..more of which later.



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Player Ratings

Robert Green
Made a number of decent saves ?EUR" though his handling let him down a bit early on.


Lucas Neill
Did ok at both right and, eventually left back when forced to move by Cheri?EUR(TM)s injury.


Herita Ilunga
Not as impressive going forward as he has been of late but sound enough defensively. Not sure how serious the knock was.


James Collins
Same as Upson. Kept Crouch quiet. Had a battle to keep up with Defoe.


Matthew Upson
Looked ok against the ineffective Crouch. Defoe?EUR(TM)s pace caused problems though.


Scott Parker
Tried to run the midfield but the final ball was lacking ?EUR" at least he was replaced on time this week.


Jack Collison
Another good run out for the lad who continues to impress. In the unlikely event that we ever get a fully injury-free squad it?EUR(TM)ll be interesting to see where he lies in the pecking order.


Valon Behrami
Got some good bursts in and his runs often ended up with us gaining free-kicks in decent positions. If only we could make more of them count.


Fred Sears
It wasn?EUR(TM)t quite working for Freddie out there in the first half though his pace caused an occasional problem.


Carlton Cole
Failed to cause too many problems for the Pompey defence ?EUR" I expected him to look a little hungrier after his enforced absence.


Craig Bellamy
The free-kick aside he failed to show what he can do. Badly needs a goal.



Substitutes

Matthew Etherington
(replaced Sears, 46) Failed to take on the full back when he should have. Did so when he shouldn?EUR(TM)t have. Ignored when he should have been fed. Played in when he shouldn?EUR(TM)t have been. Gave the ball away too much.


Julien Faubert
(replaced Ilunga, 61) An improvement on his nightmare of the previous week. Glad he wasn?EUR(TM)t exposed to Defoe for much longer though.


Hayden Mullins
(Replaced Parker, 75) Did his usual defensive shore-up job in the last 15.


Jan Lastuvka
Did not play.


Calum Davenport
Did not play.


Lee Bowyer
Did not play.


David Di Michele
Did not play.



Match Facts

West Ham United: Robert Green, Lucas Neill, Herita Ilunga, James Collins, Matthew Upson, Scott Parker, Jack Collison, Valon Behrami, Fred Sears, Carlton Cole, Craig Bellamy.

Goals: None.

Booked: None booked.           .

Sent off: None.

Portsmouth: James, Johnson, Kaboul, Distin, Pamarot, Diop, Davis, Diarra, Belhadj, Crouch, Defoe.

Subs not used: Ashdown, Hreidarsson, Nugent, Hughes, Mvuemba.

Goals: .

Booked: .

Sent off: None.

Referee: Martin Atkinson.

Attendance: 32,328.

Man of the Match: Robert Green.