I just don’t think I understand. I hope my readers can help me out here. At half time of our encounter at Waterloo Road (perfect address for any football stadium, wouldn’t you agree ?) on Saturday, I was completely and utterly confused. If I haven’t misheard the commentary, West Ham had 12% possession of the ball against Wolves in the first half. In a game of football.
Against a depleted Wolves side who were missing quite a few key players on the day. 12% possession would suggest the U14s of Southend United playing Liverpool in a pre-season friendly. But no, it was two Premier League sides playing for three vital points at stake. Although, to be fair, in that first half it had vibes of a pack of hungry wolves playing with a litter of cute Maltese puppies.
Second half of course was a much needed contrast and welcome relief. Immediately leading to another question, namely why we couldn’t possibly play like this from the first whistle to begin with. All of a sudden we were more determined, saw more of the ball and did useful things with it. Emerson was a joy to watch with this attacking endeavour and I was also impressed with Cresswell and Ben Johnson when they came on. Why is the club not trying harder to tie Johnson down to a new deal ?
We wouldn’t have to pay a transfer fee for him and he strikes me as just the kind of player we can use in a number of ways in future as he’s so versatile. I wouldn’t even mind a left-sided platoon of Johnson and Emerson, one being slightly more defensive and the other striding forward to join the attack whenever possible. But maybe that’s just me.
