5 Things Learned From West Ham's Win Over Birkirkara FC
What would Slaven Bilic have learnt?
West Ham secured a 1-0 win in the first leg of their Europa League qualifier against the Maltest outfit Birkirkara FC, thanks to a last minute James Tomkins goal that woke many out of their slumber and a few out of their 'boo mode'.
These early qualifying games have been used by Slaven Bilic and Terry Westley as an opportunity for the youngsters and out-of-favour players under Allardyce to stake a claim for a first team place & showcase their talents and skills. The youngsters were front and centre against Lusitans in the previous round, but the game against Birkirkara saw the introduction of a number of players who didn't receive much playing time under Allardyce, most notably Modibo Maiga & Mauro Zarate. Joey O'Brien, James Tomkins, Matt Jarvis & Morgan Amalfitano all started having also played against Lusitans, while Hammer of the Year Aaron Cresswell was also brought in along with Mark Noble, Kevin Nolan, Winston Reid & Adrian.
The 'West Ham way' was certainly implemented for all to see i.e. 'The hard way', as a strong starting XI struggled to break through the resolutely organised team from Malta. Maiga hit the post, Nolan put his overhead kick narrowly went wide, Aaron Cresswell hit a free-kick just wide of the post, Morgan Amalfitano curled high & wide from just outside the 6-yard-box and Mauro Zarate fired straight at the keeper on a few occasions. What would Bilic have learned from this lifeless game then?
5. The Boo Boys Are Back
The toxic atmosphere that descended upon the Boleyn Ground on numerous occasions across Allardyce's tenure was meant to be a thing of the past thanks to the introduction of a former Hammer, fan favourite, more attacking coach: Slaven Bilic. However, as the clock was ticking down and West Ham were looking particularly toothless up front, ponderous in midfield and over cautious in defence the grumbling sounds of discontented West Ham fans was building, the season hasn't even really begun yet but some people just love a moan. Modibo Maiga was jeered off, despite coming closest to scoring when he hit the post. Kevin Nolan was widely booed as he clapped the home fans off despite also coming close to scoring and looking the more lively of the central midfield partnership with Mark Noble.
Slaven Bilic will know the capricious nature of football fans but unfortunately West Ham's appear to be more fickle than most at the moment, which might just be a lingering post-Allardyce peculiarity, but if he thought he'd be given more leeway from the Hammer's faithful, he'll definitely be reconsidering after this game.
During his post match interview and following the news of Stewart Downing's departure to Middlesbrough, Bilic admitted that he hadn't wanted to lose the creative player as he rated him highly stating: "First half of last season, he was brilliant and I was counting on him big time. He came to me when we were in Cork and said he would like to go home. He said ‘I like you but I want to go home, if it was any other club, I wouldn’t go’. I wasn’t that happy. What is important is he wanted to leave.” The loss of Downing was all the more poignant in the aftermath of this game, where creativity & incisiveness was lacking and Bilic, like the boo boys and many others, have identified this as an issue in the squad,