Fortune Continues To Leave West Ham

When the second Chelsea goal flew in Salomon Kalou off a hasty clearance by Matthew Upson, the commentator uttered these words which ultimately defined West Ham's performance against Chelsea over the weekend just past.

Fortune continues to leave West Ham.....

These words rang so true in my mind. Chelsea scored an early 2nd minute goal through Michael Essien. The manner of Essien's goal has become the sort of sickening goals that Hammers fans are witnessing week in week out this season. No, sorry, these sort of goals have been conceded in regular fashion since last season. The West Ham central defence, though big and powerful, are getting beat in the air over and over again - it's baffling and I think it's all down to lack of confidence and concentration.

Rob Green is known as a shot stopper and never as a commanding presence in the penalty area. That job has always been Matty Upson and when he is also suffering from loss of confidence, the Hammers will continue to be a soft touch in defence. Quite where Manuel da Costa has been banished to, I don't know but Avram Grant had better find him and stick him back into the centre of defence before it's too late!

Scott Parker once again cannot be faulted for commitment and passion. Even his boundless energy and drive must be feeling the strain and he hardly celebrated his amazing lob for the Irons consolation goal. Scott "Pocket Dynamo" Parker is exactly the sort of player who will sweat bucketloads for his team, he did that last season and won survival for West Ham. I can't see him lasting the whole season with West Ham though. Roy Hodgson need look no further than Great Scotts as the ideal replacement for Monster Masch.

Fortune continues to leave West Ham....

Those words raced through my mind once more when Frederic Piquionne smacked his header against the crossbar from just under the Chelsea goalpost. In any other match or any other season, that would have been a shoo-in goal. People talked about a fine line between victory and defeat - that was in full viewing at Upton Park on Saturday.

This is the Hammers' fourth defeat in as many matches, Avram Grant is presiding over the West Ham's worst start in 33 years. Anyone who has played Football Manager will know that it is very hard to turn around a losing streak with crumbling team morale....Avram Grant must be wishing he can turn off his laptop and start again.