Hammer Times - West Ham United Blog

4 points on 4 points

Wed, 16 Sep 2009

As we sit on 4 points from 4 games and 13th place in the Barclays Premier League I thought I'd jot down 4 points of my own.

1. Diamanti looks like the missing link between midfield and attack. It's the first thing I see when I watch us play: a distinct lack of communication and cohesion between the midfield and attack. I will be the first to admit I was skeptical about how much of an impact he could make coming from Italy's Serie B. Well all I can say to his 30minutes against is Wigan is 'Wow'. He showed vision, creativity, guile and a great eye for goal. I don't think it'll take him long to become a favourite amongst the Upton Park faithful.

2. Behrami is back. Thank God. I think the saying, "you don't know what you've got 'til it's gone" applies here. His relentless work rate and ability cannot be under estimated. Having him back fit and healthy is a huge boost for us. More than I thought it would be.

3. Can we find a formation that's right for us? We've tried variants of a 4-3-3, 4-5-1, 4-4-1-1 and 4-4-2 under Zola (usually dictated by personnel). Our best run last season came with the 4-4-2: Collison and Behrami hustling all over the pitch and cutting in from the wings with Noble and Parker manning the middle and (sadly) the inept duo of Tristan and Di Michele leading the line. Maybe it's time to give it a go with Cole and Diamanti up top?

4. The most important of all: Luck. Cole's backpass to Defoe against Spurs and the disallowed half-time goal at Wigan are arguably the difference between 0 points and (potentially) 6. I know you 'make your own luck' so to speak... but I think it's about time we had some, and maybe a few matches at home too!