What We Learned: West Ham

Chelsea defeated West Ham United 2-0 in the London derby, while Tottenham lost 1-0 at home to Fulham which means Chelsea are back to 3rd place (1 point above Spurs, 5 above Arsenal). Jaaskelainen kept the scoreline low, which doesn’t tell the full story. Chelsea dominated West Ham for most of the match, but West Ham would feel harshly done by a 1st half decision that ruled out Andy Carroll’s goal. Nonetheless, we’re back to 3rd place and that’s most important.

Scorers : 

Stats :

What We Learned :

1. Hazard-Mata combination the making of something great

2. Eden Hazard is in terrific form

3. Another wasteful performance

4. Frank Lampard trying to prove that he deserves an extension

1. Hazard-Mata combination the making of something great :

Juan Mata was at the heart of everything Chelsea created in the final third but wasn’t quite at his flawless best having misplaced a couple of passes in the final third. His improved after the break and could have had a couple of goals had it not been for the impressive display of Jaaskelainen. Hazard was brilliant on the ball as he set up Lampard will a super chip and scored a great solo goal after linking up with Mata. These two have a lot of years left in the them and if they stay at Chelsea for a majority of that time, we will be a powerhouse. Hazard and Mata have really figured each other out and began to play together. Also, the pass combination of Mata to Hazard happened 31 times, the highest passing combination in the game – 2nd highest was Hazard to Mata (27 times).

2. Eden Hazard is in terrific form :

Hazard took 5 shots, 4 on target, 1 goal. He created 4 goal scoring chances, 1 resulted in a goal. He also made the most dribbles and passes. Hazard saw plenty of the ball in the first half and his pace caused West Ham all sorts of problems down either flank. Did well to pick out Lampard with a cute chip for Chelsea’s opener and continued to cause havoc in the visitors’ defence throughout. Cut in from the right flank with devastating effect to double Chelsea’s lead early in the second. Hazard was deservingly, Man of the Match. 

3. Another wasteful performance :

We’ve had 24 attempts on goal and only scored 2. That statistic should speak for itself. We could of easily won 6-0, if not for poor finishing and some great goalkeeping from Jaaskelainen. Demba Ba should have given Chelsea an early lead but wasted a gilt-edged one-on-one chance with a poor finish and later failed to beat Jaaskelainen with two more golden chances just before the break. Had a couple more opportunities in the second half which he couldn’t convert either. Poor day from the Senegal international. Lampard fluffed a few chances as well, Mata could of finished 1 or 2 and Victor Moses could of scored as well, but Dema Ba was the most shocking.

4. Frank Lampard trying to prove that he deserves an extension :

Lampard found Demba Ba with a killer through pass early on which the Senegalese wasted but gave Chelsea the leader 15 minutes later with his 200th goal for the club. A clever forward run was followed by a well-placed header close range. Desperately pushed for another goal, but ended up missing a sitter in the final 5 minutes. Nonetheless, it was a good performance from Frank Lampard. His passing was sublime and so was his link up play. Frank Lampard handled business well in the double pivot alongside Ramires as West Ham’s midfield couldn’t do much as they were too busy helping the defense with the threat of Mata/Hazard.

Other Points : 

1. Top 4 finish is ours to lose

2. Torres should have started

CFC360

24 thoughts on “What We Learned: West Ham

  1. Appreciate the work, mate 🙂
    Why do you think Torres should’ve started though? Imo, Torres wouldn’t even have made those runs and gotten the chances Ba had.

    • Sammy chelsea mwaura

      True…
      Ba is better compared to torres and torres would have lost the ball many times to the hammers defenders

  2. torres will definitely will score if he started. west ham playing high line of defense. something that can be exploits by pacey striker.

  3. Rohan i disagree torres may have played better then Ba
    Anyways hazard and mata OMG godgifted

    • What do you mean ‘may have played’
      He would never have been in that position in the first place. Those one-on-ones would probably be one-on-four or something if it was torres.

  4. I agree with you.

  5. Vaibhav Kumble

    Thank god Torres didnt play.. Else all the haters would have blamed only him for the low scoreline.. Since Ba played, even Mata and Lamps were blamed.. But thankfully Torres can rest and think about winning us the Europa league..

  6. shingirai samu

    A bad day in office for Ba but we still trust you.

  7. Sammy chelsea mwaura

    Ba is far much better than torres. He was wastful today but he has teem work which torres lack and thats why torres has to loose the ball at any time to the enemy..
    Hazard-mata complete…..
    KENYA

    • Lol are you mad? Torres is a better team player than Ba is and making those shoulder to shoulder runs is part of the reason why he was the best.

  8. Sammy chelsea mwaura

    True…
    Ba is better compared to torres and torres would have lost the ball many times to the hammers defenders

    • Vaibhav Kumble

      Torres is by far the better team player… how many times have you seen Ba get on the wings or drop deep to pifk up the ball and make the pass to our creative midfield??!! Torres work rate is far better than Ba cause he moves along the lines, drops deep and also moves to the wings.. whereas Ba is stationary. .. Ba would work better with Torres along side him..

  9. Demba Ba could have done better with his finishing.

  10. Note this statement BA is better than TORRES for now but if Torres had those chances he would have commot with a better result than that of Ba, moreover Torres is coming back gradually take Note

  11. Anonymous

    Torres should ‘of’ started?
    A stupid comment and it’s not even proper English

    • Yes Torres should have started. Ba missed 3 or 4 one on ones with the Jaaskelaainen! If Torres played and one of those missed,you lot would have critisized him. Just admit it,Ba isn’t better. He is just a better poacher but not a better all round team player.

  12. Nw u all see dat Ba is no were compared 2 torres ad dat Torres is better Dan him, u ppl re just blinded by Ba debut brace ad of all d critic Torres received he has never lost dat 1 on 1 ba missed ad imagine ba didnt even get d ball on target 3 chances was given 2 him ad all nt 2 avail ad u call dat replacement 4 Drogba **spit out ad 2 say he is nt even pacey

    lamp should Just stop his goal record ad play 4 d board 2 keep him cos wen he was made d attacking midfielder he was just shooting balls ad dats all

    Stop! Sayin dat Mata is d best on d pitch 2 matches nw dat hazard played he managed 2 be d main man up front ad he also release ball Dan Mata

    HAZARD IS D WORLD BEST IN TIME

    Ad y was marin html playing dat match we have won he should have come ad show himself(WEN WILL DAT GUY SHOW HIMSELF )

  13. Nw u all see dat Ba is no were compared 2 torres ad dat Torres is better Dan him, u ppl re just blinded by Ba debut brace ad of all d critic Torres received he has never lost dat 1 on 1 ba missed ad imagine ba didnt even get d ball on target 3 chances was given 2 him ad all nt 2 avail ad u call dat replacement 4 Drogba **spit out ad 2 say he is nt even pacey

    lamp should Just stop his goal record ad play 4 d board 2 keep him cos wen he was made d attacking midfielder he was just shooting balls ad dats all

    Stop! Sayin dat Mata is d best on d pitch 2 matches nw dat hazard played he managed 2 be d main man up front ad he also release ball Dan Mata

    HAZARD IS D WORLD BEST IN TIME

    Ad y was marin html playing dat match we have won he should have come ad show himself(WEN WILL DAT GUY SHOW HIMSELF ) watch oun 4 HAZARD,OSCAR AD HOPEFULLY WE WILL SIGN ISCO

  14. Yeah Ba’s finishing was poor but that is still the trademark of Torres for now. There is still hope especially since he just got in. His reception, displacement and pace was excellent. If he had scored 2 then he would have been the man of the match.

  15. *****

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