by JC_81 » Sun Dec 09, 2012 10:08 pm
A deserved victory in the face of horrendous refereeing once more. It really is starting to feel like there is an agenda against us, and not just Suarez as he wasn't even on the field this time!
The penalty was very soft and the one not given for the challenge on Shelvey was much more clear cut. It's getting beyond the joke.
I thought our performance was patchy but gutsy and we showed a lot of character to come back and win. I was surprised to see in the post-match stats that we had over 60% possession because it didn't feel like it, probably because West Ham put us under a lot of pressure with crosses and seemed to carry more of a goal threat than us except for the first 20 mins and the last 20 mins after Diame went off.
Diame's injury changed the tide of the game, much like our flow was damaged when Enrique went off in the first half. Diame bossed the midfield and I though he was excellent. He didn't lose a 50-50 all game.
Our defence were great, Agger and Skrtel in particular, and Lucas, Henderson, Cole, Johnson and Shelvey all stepped up to the mark. Sterling was poor until the space opened up at the end when they were chasing the game. I thought Gerrard was cumbersome again but picked out Johnson well a few times in the first half. His engine is gone though. I thought Downing and Allen were poor too. Reina seems back to his confident best coming for crosses, which we really needed today.
Onwards and upwards. Good 3 points. Same again against Villa please!