9:00am Thursday 11th March 2010
By Ross Davies
KIERON DYER claims West Ham’s fate will not be determined in the next two games – against Chelsea and Arsenal – but on their own turf.
The Hammers were dragged back into the relegation mire after an abject display against fellow-strugglers Bolton Wanderers at Upton Park on Saturday.
The very last place the team will want to go next to flush that result out of the system would be the home of the Premier League title favourites, Stamford Bridge. But that is exactly where they must go next week; a fixture that will be followed by a trip to another of the championship contenders, Arsenal, just seven days later.
While Dyer’s manager, Gianfranco Zola, called on his players to spring a surprise on Saturday, the midfielder claimed the result would not be decisive in the long run.
“For the team the next two games won’t have a bearing on whether we stay in the league or not,” said Dyer, who made his first appearance in front of the club’s home fans in three months when he came on as a second half substitute for Julien Faubert. “I still believe if we can do well in our home games and possibly against Fulham away, if we do well there, I believe we will stay in the league.”
Dyer’s team-mate, Valon Behrami, admitted it would take ‘something special’ for the Hammers to come away with any kind of result from their two capital rivals.
“The approach has to be different from this (Bolton),” said the Swiss midfielder. “We need to go away and try to win the game.
“We can do something special, but we have to play 100 per cent mentally and physically. It is not so easy because we are a team where everyone has to give 100 per cent. If even one gives just 80 per cent, we won’t win the game.”
After starting to look more assured at the back in recent weeks, West Ham’s defence took several steps back against Owen Coyle’s side.
First, Chung-Yong Lee was allowed time and space to pick out Kevin Davies with an excellent cross. The striker’s task was then made all the easier when defender James Tomkins mistimed his jump and Faubert was comfortably muscled out of the way, gifting Davies a free header, which he slammed past Robert Green.
Tomkins, clearly feeling generous, was then guilty of another blunder, this time trying to usher the ball out of play rather than send it into the stands, and Davies nipped in to hook the ball back into the box. Tamir Cohen’s headed knockdown was gratefully received by the unmarked Jack Wilshere, whose neat volleyed finish found the net.
Alessandro Diamanti cut the deficit with a sweet finish two minutes from time, before Junior Stanislas rattled the bar in the closing stages. But a draw would have flattered the hosts, and Bolton ran out deserved winners.
A vast improvement is required if West Ham are to compete with two of the division’s premier sides.
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