By no means thoughts what went off at 3pm, there have been piercing alarms and vibrations of doom at West Ham all season. Possibly they have been a bit of on the false aspect, too.
It’s nonetheless too early to rule on that, in fact. They could but collapse and David Moyes might go on to stroll or be shoved on the finish of his wonky and bizarre season.
However for now they’re wanting okay and so is he. Comfy even, if there’s such a factor on this crocodile swamp of a league, and notably when three of their subsequent 4 video games characteristic Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United.
These fixtures and the final congestion of West Ham’s schedule plainly have the potential to carry again these apocalyptic clouds. But when we’re to dare screengrab a second on this changeable panorama, then it could present West Ham are actually six factors north of the dotted line, with a recreation in hand on Everton in 18th and a European semi-final on their agenda.
Whisper it, however out of some turgid soccer and sustained durations of terrible outcomes, they could even mirror on a profitable marketing campaign in the summertime reckonings if that Convention League marketing campaign goes their manner. Foolish outdated recreation, actually.
West Ham are actually six factors away from the relegation zone after thrashing Bournemouth
Michail Antonio continued his shiny type handy the Hammers the lead after 5 minutes
Lucas Paqueta scored the second header of the match after 12 minutes to double the lead
And so was this, if one was fairly moderately led into believing Bournemouth would set the tempo, based mostly on latest type. Alas, it counted for zilch. West Ham battered them, each within the air and on the bottom.
Having not scored as soon as within the opening quarter of an hour of a league fixture all season, and solely eight away from house at any stage in a recreation, Moyes’s aspect led 2-0 by way of Michail Antonio and Lucas Paqueta inside 12 minutes. From there, Declan Rice turned the screw for 3-0 by half-time and Pablo Fornals scored a powerful fourth with what may finest be described as a scorpion kick.
In between, there have been remoted sticky patches which may have been worse had Bournemouth’s attacking play been sharper. The very fact Gary O’Neil’s bunch managed 16 photographs demonstrates West Ham have been hardly impregnable, and it was additionally mandatory for Moyes to tough up Declan Rice for some inconsequential passing within the first half.
However resilience and confidence are fascinating beasts. Simply as Rice rose to the problem – he scored inside 5 minutes of Moyes’s early lectures and was dictator-in-chief for the remainder of the match – the staff additionally had a behavior of responding to Bournemouth’s moments of best strain with a significant likelihood or a objective.
A component of that’s right down to the character of a machine programmed to counter-attack, however what number of instances have we seen West Ham pushed on to their backsides when introduced with a bit of problem? Not this time. As Moyes later famous, perception is rising in his group after 10 objectives in three video games throughout eight days and a few further fortitude would appear to be a part of the discount.
However what of Bournemouth? It was a dreadful mess, not solely with their ending, but additionally as a result of their very own errors have been central to the primary, second and fourth objectives. They’ve a kinder run-in than West Ham, however instantly they don’t look so sturdy.
Not that the broader membership can be accused of complacency. Bournemouth had commenced the afternoon with a medley of audio inspirations, sampling all the pieces from Rocky segments to The Killers. The messaging performed to the plain – there was nonetheless loads of work to do.
A pleasant concept, in fact. However the actuality of what got here subsequent was quite extra like that event when Tyson Fury uncoiled an uppercut at Lee Swaby and punched himself sq. within the face. The opening exchanges right here have been an exhibition of self-sabotage.
The primary of the Bournemouth blips got here on 5 minutes. The wrongdoer in that occasion was Jefferson Lerma who responded to Aaron Cresswell’s outswinger by abandoning Antonio and as an alternative joined Chris Mepham in monitoring Tomas Soucek to the close to submit. Left on their lonesome, and barely having to maneuver a few yards for a free header, Antonio nailed the end.
West Ham’s second objective, scored eight minutes later, was equally unflattering on Bournemouth.
A 3rd got here shortly earlier than the break when Rice lashed in after Bournemouth did not clear
Pablo Fornals added the cherry on the cake with an excellent scorpion kick to seal the win
The errors this time got here from a mixture of Lloyd Kelly and Marcus Tavernier, with the previous saddling the latter with possession in a good house on the left-hand touchline, earlier than Vladimir Coufal penalised Tavernier’s heavy contact and nipped off with the ball. A fast one-two with Jarrod Bowen introduced Coufal to the byline and his cross to the far submit was distinctive. Paqueta arrived late into Jack Stephens’ blindspot and with a substantial leap he bullied the defender to the header for 2-0.
A 3rd got here shortly earlier than the break when Rice lashed in after Bournemouth did not clear one other Cresswell set-piece, and it was at that time when Moyes allowed himself an honest grin.
O’Neil responded to the shambles by hooking Joe Rothwell for Keiffer Moore for a bit of further muscle. Moore’s first contribution? A yellow card. Some days it simply don’t work out.
The fourth objective was a factor of strange magnificence, albeit one which additionally originated in a Bournemouth mistake, with Stephens passing on to Rice. That triggered a counter, culminating in Bowen crossing a fraction behind Fornals. It required some nice creativity to orchestrate any sort of end and what the substitute managed through a mid-air contortion and a flick of his heel was an actual delight.
