Chapter 1: What was the significance of West Ham's win over Huddersfield?
Big relief for the Hammers tonight. They are up and running. And this is how it looks next weekend. Now just two sides without any points on the board. We're watching one of them, Bournemouth, on the Friday night football against newly promoted Brighton, starting at seven. Palace, the other team, who will be in the dugout when they face Southampton on Saturday.
And a big field to Super Sunday with Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United taking on Everton. And it's the return of a league of their own. Season 12 starts on Thursday, 9 o'clock on Sky 1. Sam Adedais here with Jamie Carragher and before anything else let's hear from Andy Carroll back in the West Ham side tonight and back with victory. How did that feel Andy?
Did you feel the importance of those three points tonight?
Yeah, it was very important. I think we've had a tough run. We needed the three points and a clean sheet and that's exactly what we got.
How did the atmosphere feel in there this evening?
It was fantastic. The fans were great. We needed a big boost and the fans came out roaring and they were behind us all the way and we gave them a good performance and got the win.
What was the key to it for you, Andy, tonight?
I mean, we knew they were going to play out the back and play slow and try and break us down. But I think we were just determined to let them come to us and us, you know, try and break them down through that.
Andy, Sam, was it a good plan to play off you today, did you feel? Thought you held it up well, competing well, caused a lot of problems, particularly first half, so a lot of movement off the front three.
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Chapter 2: How did Andy Carroll feel about his return to the West Ham side?
82 minutes. So how are the legs?
Yeah, well, tomorrow I'll probably be in bits. I'm all right at the minute, I think. The adrenaline's still going, but, yeah, I'll be in the ice chamber tomorrow all day, probably.
One more before you go, Andy. How pleased are you for your manager tonight as well?
Yeah, over the moon, you know, I think it's been disappointing to read a few things that's been going on. But all the lads are behind him and it's a great win tonight. Obviously, for his birthday as well, it's even better.
Well done, Andy. Thanks for speaking to us. Enjoy it.
Thank you very much. Cheers.
Did he justify his selection? Oh, I think so. I think that right from the very start, for me, massive influence on the game. Continued to keep the pressure on Huddersfield, particularly throughout the first half. Slab must have been very disappointed that they hadn't scored by half-time with the chances that created.
I think in the end, a little fortunate at the goal, as we know, but this is the game, these are the turning points of a season for you. They've deserved what they've got, but they were very fortunate to get in front with the goal that they scored. But you take it when it comes your way, when it's not going so good. I mean, this is a great ball.
You know, people don't give him credit how good he is on the floor, Andy. Because he's 6'4", 6'5", they think it's all about his aerial prowess. He's very, very good with both feet on the floor and holding it up and using his body.
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Chapter 3: What strategies did West Ham employ against Huddersfield?
You know... And I think that's a concern for him. And a concern on West Ham, do they invest again in him with his playing record? But certainly you can see the effect he has on the team. Now people will say, well, Andy Carroll, you can't play football as much as you would play or West Ham might want to play. But it was about the result today, wasn't it?
And he caused lots and lots and lots and lots of trouble for the Huddersfield defence. In the end, they cracked and they lost and West Ham deserved to win.
We were talking earlier about Sam's blueprint for survival. One of the things we didn't talk about was the element of fortune, Jamie. There was plenty about it in that first goal. Yeah, there was, but initially...
You see this ball down the line and going back to Big Sam's blueprint, look at that situation Billing finds himself in. Now, he's a left-footed player, but that's just got to be a pass back to your goalkeeper. So he takes the difficult option, doesn't have enough confidence in himself, on his right foot, so you're talking about Sam losing the ball in your own half and what can happen.
Well, Jamie, it's also about putting the ball in behind, even though there were nothing on, and turning the defender, get him to run back, he won his own goal, they've won the ball back in their own half, and now, slightly fortunate, of course, well, more than slightly fortunate.
You said seasons can turn on that goal when it went in.
Absolutely, you know, I mean, certainly for Slav... You know, that's taking the pressure off him now. He's got the three points on the board. He can push on and think that the players who were injured may come back and strengthen the squad, as Andy said, and things can move on from here. And, of course, it's very important for this season for West Ham to win at home. Going in, by the way?
On the troubles that they said.
Own goal, goal.
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Chapter 4: How did the players react to the atmosphere during the match?
What are we going for? Premier League say it's Obiang's goal. We're not going to take it off him, are we, Sam?
No, not really. I was bending into the top corner. Let him have it. Own goals are not what the defenders want, so let the forwards have them.
Tell me about it.
His first goal at the London Stadium. But the game really was in the balance, wasn't it, at that point? At that point, West Ham looked like they'd tried everything to score, lost a little bit of direction and Huddersfield were starting to come back into the game and open up a little bit more, which is, you know, obviously in the end...
But of course, you see, it wasn't about the play then after that. It was about not picking up on a set piece properly, which is what I talked about before, how important they are. And this has put the game well and truly in West Ham's favour. And Huddersfield are sort of finished at this point now. What else is key here, Jamie?
Well, I think, sorry, I'll just take it back a touch. I mean, a big thing, you know, Sam will know better than me. In terms of set pieces, we know how important set pieces are, that's obvious. But a big thing on set pieces, if you get the first touch on it defensively, the chances of you conceding are very slim. And it's the opposite, isn't it, Sam?
And it's Font who just does well to get the first touch.
There's a lot of marking here, though. Cara, that a lot of the West Ham players have got in front of their markers, and then their markers have ended up losing them on the wrong side. You can see, I mean, if it hadn't gone to Jordan, it would have been a penalty there, you know, on him pulling him back, if the referee had seen him that way.
But you can see how many he's got in front, he's got in front. Ginger's got in front, you know, his markers, he's got in front, fortune. So I think that, you know, the look at that, the manager will look at that and say...
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Chapter 5: What were the key moments that led to West Ham's victory?
I don't think you can get them all in the team, otherwise you're just going to leave yourself far too open defensively. But that front three today had a little bit of everything. You had the aerial power of Andy Carroll, you had the pace of Antonio, and in Hernandez, you had a striker, as a lot of strikers now have to do, because teams don't want to play two up front at times.
That sort of wide striker, wasn't he?
Yeah, coming in off the line, yeah.
Yeah, but playing very narrow, all looked like they could get on the score sheet tonight. So going forward, attacking-wise, you think they'll have enough. It's just still, will they have enough at the other end? How do we balance that with what we've seen from Huddersfield tonight?
I think that Huddersfield have been dogged, resilient and seven corners they had to deal with in the first half and a lot of pressure and actually in the end coped with it extremely well.
They put their head in, they got the bodies on the line and then they started to come and play into the game and kept West Ham frustrated and of course we don't know what the outcome might have been at the end of the game had West Ham not had such a fortunate goal. because it wasn't really a mistake.
You could say that the early part of losing possession, not playing it back to the goalkeeper, losing possession in your own half, that cost them in the end, but it was such a fortunate goal, you don't know what might have happened.
But I think that the manager will be disappointed in his loss, but relatively happened what they stood up to, which was a real battering for me in the first half from West Ham.
Reaction from Huddersfield. Tommy Smith, their captain, is with Greg Whelan.
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Chapter 6: How did Huddersfield cope with West Ham's attacking threats?
Well, of course, we are happy. I'm happy for the lads. I'm happy for the whole club. It was a very important game for us. You know that we started with three away games, but three defeats. And it was... It was a must-win game, and I'm pleased with the way we played. To be fair, even if we didn't win the game, I could say nothing to the less. They gave everything. We played good.
It wasn't a nice performance, but it was top performance in all other stuff, in the second balls, in the determination, in closing them down, in getting the balls in, getting the corners, free kicks and all that. So we totally deserved it.
Must win, you say, though, Slav. And did you really feel the pressure personally going into this game?
Well, I feel the pressure for a whole year now. It didn't start today. Although for me it's not logical to be under the pressure after three games only, but it is like modern football and, of course, I felt the pressure. But we... We kept the calmness, we changed a little bit the shape of the team and we said to the guys that we're going to go back to basics and it's all about confidence.
We have a quality team, we have the quality players. Some players are still missing, OK, but we have to keep the clean sheets to stop them from having the ball in dangerous areas, to hurt us. We always knew that with three players up front and with a little support,
from Pablo and Cresswell and Sheikou Kouyate, the three up front, Michael Antonio, Andy Carroll and Chicharito, are always going to cause them problems. And that's what we've been doing from the start. And I think that without creating big, big chances, we should be at least one up front in the first half.
Slavin, you talk about the front three in Carroll, Hernandez, Antonio, but how nice was the balance tonight between attack and defence with the back three and the two central midfield players?
That was the great balance, that's what we asked from the team. First of all to be solid, to be with many players ready for a second ball. We know they like to play that gegenpressing so we didn't want to pass short passes through the midfield. We had Andy Carroll front who's going to win nine out of ten long balls.
But if you are playing long balls from very deep inside, if you are playing long balls without your midfielders getting to get a second ball, it's really not worth it. then it's counterproductive but exactly what we've been doing especially in the first half was we were getting those second balls and then we were getting on the flanks and putting the balls in.
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Chapter 7: What are the implications of this match for both teams moving forward?
The first goal gave them a lot of relief and then there's always that nagging feeling that 1-0 in the back of your mind, you've got the worst defensive record in the Premier League up to now. One chance from Huddersfield, they could score and the whole night would be... would be probably spoilt for him, but he's got his just rewards today.
However lucky it was, however it happened, it didn't matter. It was all about the result for him today, he said that. I thought his tactics were spot on. I thought they nullified Huddersfield, really, and really put an awful lot of pressure on Huddersfield, particularly in the first half. My credit goes to Huddersfield. They stood up to all that pressure and came out of that.
Looked like they were going to play their way back into the game and maybe get a chance, but then the unfortunate goal knocked the stuffing out of them.
And the value of that clean sheet, Jamie. Has that got to be the key for West Ham moving forwards now this season?
It has to be, because, I mean, you look at that graphic, and the one of the last 52 games conceded 94 goals. I mean, that's an unbelievably poor record. That's sustainable. It is. And considering the manager's a centre-back as well, you'd normally think, you know, he'd have those values of keeping it tight. I mean...
If that continues, they will be in serious trouble, and that's why I mentioned the balance tonight, how important that was, because they've still got, as I said, Lanzini to come back, and you'd think he'd have to find himself somewhere in that team, the quality he's got, and out of it is a big money signing, and that's going to be the big thing going forward, especially if he keeps that system.
How do you get the players in?
Those players have to take responsibility when they're out of possession. So an Antovic, are you... When you're out of possession, the whole team has to take responsibility for saying, I am now... Are they capable of that? Well, I think he's got to drill it into them and say, you know, if we want to continue to be a flair-siding possession... Do I stand where you mean? Yeah, the West Ham ball.
We've got to get back in and we've got to be compact and we've got to win that ball back like you mean. And so there is a responsibility for protection to the back players. As we all know, every good team has it. Every good team plays.
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Chapter 8: What did the managers say about the performance after the match?
Could be worth a watch that. Stay with us. Well, I suppose it had to come. Huddersfield conceding their first goal of the season and a first defeat as well tonight. David Wagner's reaction with Greg Whelan.
David, commiserations on a first Premier League defeat. How did you see it overall tonight?
We were not good enough, deserved result. We were second best more or less in every area. Maybe the second half was slightly better. Our biggest problem was with the ball. I think we worked, we fought, we tried to keep the ball out of the goal, but with the ball we were not good enough. We lost the ball too easily, we were never able to really keep the ball. So today we were only second best.
Can you put your finger on why that was tonight?
I'm unsure if we were nervous. I'm unsure if... Today we looked like a promotion team with some nerves which we have shown, especially with the ball again. My players are able to play football today and they haven't shown it and this is what we have to make better. We have to be more brave, we have to be more comfortable on the ball and we made so many unforced errors today.
This was not what we are able to do.
Nevertheless, given the way that for the most part you handled the threat that West Ham posed, did West Ham almost need a bit of good fortune to break your resistance in the end, did you think?
Yeah, listen, of course you always can steal a lucky point in football, but performance-wise we were not good enough. Of course it was an unlucky goal which we conceded, the first one and the second one was a set-piece, but we have to be honest, West Ham were stronger today, had more opportunities, and again, we were not good enough. We have to be...
look on ourselves, this was not good enough for us today, and we have to accept this. Better eight, nine players are not on his best today, rather than one or two in every game, so we will learn from it and we will make it better on next Saturday.
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