NOT SO ’ANDY
CALLUM HAPPY TO HAMMER ’EM Felipe flopping on big stage
CALLUM WILSON plundered his favourite source of Premier League goals and warned: “I’ve never felt sharper.”
After launching Bournemouth’s fightback with his fifth goal in four games against West Ham, including a hat-trick at Upton Park three years ago, Wilson couldn’t wait to board the Cherries coach home and watch the replays.
He said: “Do I like playing against West Ham? It seems that way, doesn’t it?
“I worked hard during the week on ways to affect the game and I’m pleased it was worth the effort.
“I enjoyed my goal today. The defenders kept backing off when I drove at them, and the closer I got to the box, the more I thought, ‘I’m going to have a go here’.
“By the time it was one on one, I just needed a bit of composure to finish it off.”
Manager Eddie Howe believes Wilson, who has scored in back-toback games and missed a penalty against Cardiff, could still force his way into the England squad.
He said: “I think a lot of my players are good enough to play for England.
“I would never put Gareth Southgate under pressure (to choose them), but Callum is a special talent.”
FELIPE ANDERSON is already under fire from West Ham fans after his stroll down Misery Lane.
As the Hammers served up a familiar dish at the ‘Taxpayers Stadium’ – same meat, different gravy – their £38m record signing was the biggest disappointment of all.
It’s early days to write off the Brazilian, and after two defeats for starters the jellied eels society’s reaction in the ground was restrained.
Many just drifted towards the exits long before the end, which upset manager Manuel Pellegrini, but on social media the knee-jerk verdict was scathing.
As focal point of Pellegrini’s £100m trolley dash in the summer, Anderson deserves time to appraise the harum-scarum stampede of Saturday afternoons in east London. And that’s just the Westfield shopping centre next to the Olympic park.
Deck
But apart from his nifty pass leading to Marko Arnautovic’s opener from the spot, he barely went past his full-back all afternoon. And when he lost possession, he seemed to think his butler should retrieve it.
Likewise, Pellegrini may need some leeway to work out his best team – but before the end of September his men face Arsenal, Everton, Chelsea and Manchester United, so let’s spell it out for him.
The honeymoon’s over. West Ham’s fixtures over the next six weeks read like a threatening letter.
Unless he is careful, and his defence offers more resistance than tissue paper, Pellegrini is going to find himself playing catch-up from below deck.
New goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski, who made a couple of blinding saves and was blameless for the manager. The fans are excited, we are excited, but it’s about staying cool in tough situations and to keep working hard.
“I hope the fans understand the situation. It’s important they are supportive in every single game and keep believing in the team.
“I think this group of players has something really quite good when it comes to quality, and with a bit more time we will see the effects of it on the pitch.”
Pellegrini believes the fear which stalked West Ham last season has carried over into the new campaign, but Fabianski feels they were perhaps too eager to please and got picked off by Bournemouth when they lost their shape.
The ex-Swansea star said: “Maybe in some moments there could be more balance. Maybe it was this kind of fear when you get possession and think, ‘Oh, I need to score now’. If we relax a bit more, and take care of the ball a bit better, it will be a lot better.
“We are more or less a new group of players. It will take time to click.”
Sadly for Pellegrini, the patrons of claret and blue have not been renowned for their patience since West Ham became guardians of an athletics track in Stratford.
The Cherries picked off the Hammers with two goals in five minutes as Callum Wilson was ushered past five defenders on his slalom like a like movie-goer being shown to his seat, and Steve Cook’s winner was abysmal defending at a set-piece.
West Ham’s 14 players used on Saturday was a confederation of 13 different nationalities, but no Google translate search engine was required to convey their communal disappointment.