Tyne for a rethink
Rafa tinkers and fans revolt as Hernandez hits double to lift West Ham
NEWCASTLE’S capacity to selfdestruct never ceases to amaze and everyone involved in the club was responsible yesterday, from a poorly-timed fans’ protest to unnecessary tinkering by manager Rafa Benitez.
What looked like a close game on paper — both teams started the day on 12 points — turned out to be a one-sided stroll for West Ham as Newcastle’s three-game winning streak was ended by a couple of poacher’s finishes from Javier Hernandez and a late strike from Felipe Anderson.
The few hundred Toon fans who walked in late after 11 minutes as a protest at owner Mike Ashley came through gangways to see Hernandez celebrating his opening goal which hit the back of the net as the stadium clock hit 11 minutes.
The protestors were met by a few boos from the rest of the crowd who felt they should have been in their seats at kick-off. It left a sour mood all afternoon, culminating in sarcastic applause for Ayoze Perez when he was substituted after missing a couple of openings.
Benitez wasn’t blameless on this occasion either, ripping up the three-man defensive system that had worked so well in an impressive win at Burnley on Monday. He brought in an orthodox left back, Javier Manquillo, for Ciaran Clark and Newcastle never looked fluent compared to their opponents.
Astride all the problems at the top of the club is Ashley. It didn’t escape anyone’s notice that West Ham’s three best attackers, Hernandez, Marko Arnautovic and Anderson, cost £75million between them — money Benitez has never been given.
‘The players West Ham had up front, their value and their movement and pace, made the difference. We suffered,’ said Benitez pointedly.
‘ All of them have quality and ability. For us, every game is like a final. We are not thinking about Europe, no. We have to survive.’
The feelgood factor at St James’ Park after their recent run didn’t take long to dissipate. The empty seats still hadn’t been filled when Robert Snodgrass crossed for ‘Chicharito’ to finish sharply in the box. The timing was hugely ironic. Right on cue the missing spectators, angry about Ashley’s 11 years in charge, took their seats with t heir t eam having j ust fallen behind.
Perez headed at Lukasz Fabianski and Salomon Rondon had a shot blocked as Newcastle tried to react. Benitez thought they were decent opportunities but Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini disagreed. ‘We didn’t really give Newcastle any chances,’ he said.
Hernandez showed Perez how to finish by racing onto Arnautovic’s flick-on after 63 minutes before converting with a clinical low finish. It was only the Mexican’s fourth goal of a stop-start season but Pellegrini is sure more will come. ‘If you review his career, he has scored with Manchester United, Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, the Mexican national team, everywhere he has played,’ said Pellegrini. ‘He’s been wanted by all the big teams.’
Benitez had sent on his first sub, Christian Atsu, early in the second half and after falling two behind, Jonjo Shelvey and Joselu later being summoned.
Poor Perez was mocked as he trudged off and Benitez didn’t offer much sympathy for his player. ‘He had some chances and the fans expected him to score. It is part of the game,’ said the Spaniard. ‘We created enough chances. The first one to be disappointed will be Ayoze.’
The winning margin for West Ham could have been even greater. Arnautovic lost his footing in heavy rain on a couple of occasions and when he did manage to round goalkeeper Martin Dubrakva the angle was too tight to take advantage.
Anderson, whose blistering pace troubled even the speedy DeAndre Yedlin, scored the goal he deserved in injury- time by cutting inside from the left and firing low past Dubrakva.
It was a sweet win for Pellegrini who may have been aware that West Ham were i nterested in appointing Benitez above him last summer. His decision to play Hernandez and Arnautovic together for only the second time this season paid dividends while Benitez’s flat back-four backfired.
The Chilean even felt relaxed enough to make a little quip afterwards about what was only West Ham’s second win at St James’ Park since 1998.
‘I was scared to come because people talked about the West Ham record in Newcastle. What people said made me have some doubts but finally, I decided to come,’ he said tongue-in-cheek.
‘Normally I like to play with two strikers. As a team we were not playing but not scoring goals. Javier can do that. Felipe is also improving with every game. The Premier League is different to football in Italy or Brazil.’
The never-ending saga involving Benitez and the board looks set to go into January. Asked if he thought there was a chance of signing quality forwards like Hernandez or Arnautovic, the Newcastle manager simply stated: ‘I hope so.’
Next up is another difficult fixture against Everton. The future looks somewhat rosier for West Ham. Pellegrini was able to give Jack Wilshere his first action since September by introducing him as a late sub. Andy Carroll, who hasn’t played this season because of an ankle injury, was also back on the bench.
‘I’m very pleased with this game,’ said Pellegrini. ‘ We did well in attack, scoring three goals and creating more chances.’