West Ham 1 – 3 Crystal Palace

In an all to similar fashion to the humiliating defeat at the hands of West Brom earlier this month, the Hammers have once again put in a shocker of a performance against Alan Pardew’s Crystal Palace – and have deserving lost what was deemed as a ‘must win’ match as a result of such a poor offering.

With this season, which initially proved to be oh so promising, now seemingly feeling like it is over already, Palace stormed to victory through an unexpected Glenn Murray brace, as well as a solitary Scott Dann header. Enner Valencia eventually pulled one back for the Hammers, but his goal came all too late in the proceedings for it to make any meaningful difference in the end. Glenn Murray nevertheless received his marching orders in the second half – but such developments simply came all too late from a West Ham point of view.

Adrian – Could have perhaps dealt better with the second goal, but ultimately this defeat had very little to do with the Spaniard. He did however pump far too many long-balls forward with less than successful results.

Carl Jenkinson – One of the only West Ham players to put in a good shift this weekend. Jenkinson was on fire during the last 20 minutes or so, and almost got on the score-sheet as a result of his efforts.

Winston Reid – Whilst he was perhaps caught napping in the lead up to Palace’s second goal, Winston Reid was the best performer for Big Sam this Saturday – even if he was part of a defence that conceded three goals to a team with an apparent shortage of strikers.

James Tomkins – Tomo simply had a bit of a shocker this weekend, looking uncharacteristically all over the place for the majority of the match and playing far too many aimless long balls. As this has somewhat been the case in the last few outings for the Englishman however, perhaps James Collins deserves a call up in place of Tomkins for the next game against Chelsea.

Aaron Cresswell – Despite being one of Sam Allardyce’s consistently best performers this season, Cresswell didn’t really turn up against Palace, and pretty much handed Glenn Murray his first goal with a grand mistake from out of the blue.

Alex Song – The main man has simply looked out of sorts throughout the last month – giving the ball away far too often, lacking the defensive brilliance that shone so brightly at the start of the campaign, and just looking a bit too nonchalant for long periods of each match. As long balls kept being pumped over the Cameroonian however, it perhaps comes as no surprise that Song hasn’t been able to find much momentum of late. He will however, no doubt turn it around for the rest of the season. The newly acquired Nene came on for Alex Song in the second half, and with his sweet shot from outside the box painfully striking the post, it seems West Ham may have just about sourced themselves a gem in the flairy Brazilian.

Mark Noble – This was an impressive(ish) performance from Nobes as he really allowed West Ham to go on the attack in the second half. His all round game was far too slow for most of the first half however. His free-kick which struck the bar deserves early doors does deserve some credit though.

Cheikhou Kouyate – The big man from Senegal didn’t really get into this weekend’s match. Kouyate was good whenever he got on the ball, but his overall involvement unfortunately remained pretty minimal.

Stewart Downing – The recently recalled England international has simply been a ghost in the last few outings. As is the case with Alex Song however, the Upton Park faithful will likely see a step up from Downing in the next few weeks.

Enner Valencia – Before his goal he was pretty ineffective – but after the impressive strike – Enner Valencia came into his own and looked very dangerous to say the least. The Ecuadorian must therefore build upon this goal and take such confidence into the next few matches.

Diafra Sakho – Unfortunately for every West Ham fan watching the match against Palace, this just wasn’t Diaf’s best performance in a Hammers shirt, with many of us likely forgetting he was even on the pitch. As too many long balls and not enough real service was offered up by the rest of the team however, the likes of Sakho and Valencia can’t really take the blame for such a shocking result.

Sam Allardyce – Although the players themselves must take the majority of the blame for Saturday’s defeat, Big Sam’s tactics really didn’t help matters either. The team played far too many long balls up to a defence that could easily handle them and a strike force that favours playing on the deck – for that alone – the former Bolton and Newcastle manager really doesn’t deserve a great deal of credit.

Crystal Palace 1 – 3 West Ham

Two goals from outside the box. Dominant possession play with slick movement. Swift attacking moves throughout the entire 90 minutes. It seems change may just be on it’s way. Today’s performance against Crystal Palace saw a new look West Ham grab all three points and entertain the fans whilst doing so. After last Saturday’s match up with Tottenham ended in disaster for the Hammers, many of the Upton Park faithful left the stadium fearing another repeat of last season’s failures and short comings. Today however, West Ham looked attacking, direct and overall thoroughly captivating. It’s funny what a difference a week makes. 

Mauro Zarate’s brilliantly struck volley and Stewart Downing’s calmly placed shot put the  Hammers 0-2 up going into the half time interval. West Ham also made a good start to the second half, with James Tomkins being denied only by the post from a headed corner. With that however, ex-Hammer Marouane Chamakh strolled into the West Ham half on the counter attack and punished his former employees with a well taken strike to make it 1-2. The game was eventually won by Carlton Cole, who swiftly dispatched a quick reaction shot mid way through the second half. (Notice there was no sign of Kevin Nolan by the way…)

Adrian – Performed well whenever called upon, but ultimately didn’t have much to do. West Ham’s Spanish shot stopper need take no blame in conceding  Marouane Chamakh’s goal. 

Joey O’Brien – Despite being replaced by Guy Demel against Spurs, Joey O’Brien once again turned out a focused, determined and admirable performance for the Hammers in today’s match. The newly acquired Carl Jenkinson may find it harder to break into the West Ham starting XI than he first expected because of the Irishman’s performances.

Winston Reid – Once again West Ham’s Kiwi hero has turned out yet another flawless display. Fingers crossed he’ll still be our player come the end of this summer’s transfer window.

James Tomkins – It was great to have Tomo back for today’s match up with Palace. As usual, the 25 year old centre back looked calm and controlled as he bossed the Hammers’ back line along with Winston Reid.

Aaron Cresswell – The Hammers have found themselves a very solid left back in Cresswell. The former Ipswich man once again looked direct and forceful coming forward, whilst providing adequate defensive cover whenever called upon. A very exciting new addition to Sam Allardyce’s squad.  

Mark Noble – West Ham’s stand in captain looked calm on the ball and forced the opposition to play at his pace. When the Cockney Pirlo plays well, the rest of the team normally do as well.

Cheikhou Kouyate – The Senegalese box-to-box midfielder turned out another strong performance as he continues to impress in English football. Kouyate is quick, decisive and really can’t be knocked off the ball easily. He also seems to have good vision and chooses his passes well. This guy seems to be getting better every time we see him play.

Ricardo Vaz Te – Perhaps Vaz Te was today’s most forgettable performer. Although nothing particularly went wrong for the Portugese winger, Vaz didn’t really get into the game for the most part. He did however produce some nice moves with Mauro Zarate for spells in the first half. 

Stewart Downing  – Today the former England winger not only produced his usual good showing, but he also made great strides in proving his doubters wrong with a wonderfully struck goal from outside the box. It was the kind of finish West Ham fans remember Downing scoring against the Hammers  for the likes of Middlesbrough and Aston Villa. Goal aside, the pacey winger was an integral part in today’s dominant performance.

Mauro Zarate – It was fantastic to see a player of Zarate’s style get his chance in the claret and blue shirt today. In place of the stagnant Kevin Nolan, the tricky Argentinian transformed West Ham into an potent attacking force who ran at defenders and took shots from outside the box. He was the lynch pin in the Hammers’ success today and the Upton Park faithful will be more than excited to see the former Birmingham, Lazio and Inter Milan man take to the pitch in West Ham colours for the upcoming season. The ‘New Tevez’ has arrived!

Carlton Cole – Although Carlton once again spent several spells isolated on his own up front today, he got the all important goal that ultimately relaxed the team and led them to victory. Hopefully getting off the mark will give Carlton the confidence he needs to lead the West Ham front line.

Sam Allardyce – Today Big Sam oversaw a fantastically entertaining performance, whilst delivering all three points in the process. All credit must be given to Allardyce, yet Zarate’s inclusion was only dependent on a training ground shoulder injury to Kevin Nolan. Therefore we don’t know if Big Sam will continue to play the captivating Argentinian in place of his beloved captain. Regardless of this however, Allardyce set his team out to win today, and he eventually won it in style. More of the same will certainly ease tensions surrounding his future at the club.