I have already said how impressive Tomkins and Collins were against Chelsea, but the point cannot be stressed enough. The centre back pairing gave an old school performance; dogged, resilient and stubborn. When watching West Ham lose 3-1 to Newcastle a few weeks ago, I was outstanding at their defensive frailties. They lacked leadership and basic organisation, simply because they had so many injuries. Against Chelsea it was like watching a completely different team. Tomkins and Collins had the back four organised and composed, they shouted if players were out of position and demanded that they maintained focus. Allardyce's style is hardly free scoring and with that being the case it is imperative that West Ham remain tight at the back. If you are not going to out score teams then you simply can not be leaking goals. If the Hammers can keep Tomkins and Collins fit then they have a very good chance of staying up. The duo are capable of keeping out many teams' attacking threats and hold the key to West Ham's defensive solidity.
Simon is an NCTJ qualified sports journalist. He has conducted interviews with Tony Adams and Peter Shilton, while also having work published in The Daily Telegraph and The Sun. Follow him on Twitter via @sr_collings.
