Watford 2-0 West Ham United: Match Review

With so many chances gone by and not capitalized on, the players for West Ham spoiled the day for new manager David Moyes. A day punctuated by bad bounces for West Ham saw them lose out on a game that was more than in reach to win, and even more necessary for the reestablishment of the Hammers out of the bottom three. However, based on handballs, bad breaks, poor touches, and goal line clearances, West Ham came up short in this match.

Watford took advantage of what West Ham gave them in this match, scoring on their first chance of the game in the 11th minute. Will Hughes jumped over a terrible touch on a ball that dropped into the West Ham box, slotting it passed a frozen Joe Hart. West Ham had dominated the ball up to this point, but was again victimized by their own terrible team defense. Watford took a larger share of the ball after scoring, again capitalizing on West Ham having to up the pace, making mistakes moving forward.

West Ham was not without their own chances but was unable to convert on any. Cheikhou Kouyate, recently outed by his manager for seeking a new contract or move away from the club, spent the evening shattering those dreams by missing two sitters. He also completed an underwhelming 15 passes as a midfielder. The struggle for Kouyate continues this season as the midfielder continues to meld his position into a multifaceted player who, unfortunately, has not mastered any of those different play styles.

Alongside Kouyate, Pedro Obiang had an evening to forget for West Ham. Obiang is a critical tackler who can deflate an opposition’s breakout with a timely steal of the ball, but as of late he seems a few steps behind and cannot seem to be his effective self. Mark Noble was fine in Sunday’s effort, as always he ran hard, made some tackles, and gave his full effort, but without his teammates moving with him, he was largely unnoticeable in the game.

West Ham’s best player this match was Marko Arnautovic. Seemingly a late addition to the starting 11 due to Andre Ayew missing the game due to illness, Arnautovic was dicing up the Watford backline and boxing out the defenders to hold position deep in the Watford end. He failed to convert on two chances that forced Huerelho Gomes, the Watford keeper, to make two world class saves. Arnautovic was primed for a breakout game and this match has his fingerprints all over it. He was the catalyst for West Ham, unfortunately, he was forced from the game with a thumb injury.

Watford added another goal in the 64th minute off a suspect play with a visible handball. Hughes, spotted on fire attacker Richarlison who took all the space Winston Reid so generously gave him to slam a ball past Hart. Hughes, who initiated the play, took a sloppy touch, and used his arm to keep the ball in front of him just before springing Richarlison. The referee was in clear view and decided the contact unintentional, a glaring miss on the evening.

West Ham had another handball situation that quelled any uprising the team could have mounted. On a beautiful cross from Arnautovic’s replacement, Arthur Masuaku, Manuel Lanzini sent a screamer past the keeper that the Watford defender blocked off his foot into his arm and out of harm’s way. In both situations Watford were awarded the opportunity to not care about the defining rule of football, not to use your arms, and it benefitted them greatly. Both handballs had Watford players hitting the ball onto themselves to either attack or defend in dire situations, the situations were not grey, but rather stark in their defiance, but the referee on this day refused any pleas to square up the game.

Despite spotty refereeing, the real enemies in this game were the West Ham players. Efforts were poor, and the squad was deflated based off of their own play. Andy Carroll, recently banned for two flying elbows, started the game with another, luckily avoiding a booking 22 seconds into the match, only to later take a yellow card. Obiang, Noble, and Arnautovic were also booked in this undisciplined affair.

Manager Moyes, free from blame in my eyes, needs to be harsh in his team selection and drop every uninspired player on the squad to prove a point — you don’t play hard, you don’t play at all. West Ham line up against Leicester City Friday night under the lights and look to steady the ship, quickly.

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