Bolton match impressions - I told you so!

OK, I didn't tell you so, but some of my fears came true anyway.

You just know these things will happen don't you? People were talking "top of the table" not understanding that this is a century long jinx for West Ham united.

But West Ham almost had me fooled there for half an hour, dominating the game, making me think that we had Bolton by the bolts. But then there was Greens howler - enough said about that. 0-1

Up to that terrible minute there were so many positives, Nobles razor sharp deep passes, Parkers passing and Behramis work rate, Ilungas impressive over all performance.

But how on earth can we concede so many fouls in our own half of the pitch? We all know that set pieces are the number one Bolton threat!

How on earth can we lose the ball in the build up phase so many times in one game? I counted 8 times and I was pretty forgiving when counting.

What are the main differences compared to the Fulham game then?

Well, Etherington didn't really come into play as much but on the other hand Di Michele was better now. Cole had the same sloppy first touch as a week ago, Parker was dominating the center mid field again and Behrami worked his socks off today too.

The main difference was that Bolton punished us when Fulham failed to.

I dont think that this game was any worse, we just weren't as lucky this time.

With just a tiny bit of luck it could have been a different outcome.

If the soap in Greens hands had worn off before the 30' and Jääskeläinen had been just an inch misplaced for Coles beautiful attempt from just outside the box in the 50' we could have come away with something. But in a way that's beside the point.

The main point is that there are some fundamental shortcomings in West Ham United.

One is the lack of an alternative to Cole, another is the sloppiness in the buildup phase when we lose too much possession (Noble is Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde to me) and a third is that we lack ability to transform possession into finishes. We weren't sharp enough in the last 1/3 of the field, don't know why yet.

Apart from these, in my view fixable problems, our players showed an impressive attitude with everybody working hard for each other and and that can take us pretty far.

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