West Ham 2 Crewe 0

Nice snap of one of our summer signings, Modibo Maiga, banging in one at Crewe on Tuesday evening. By all accounts the match was a bit of a walk in the park with a load of fringe players getting a run out to show their stuff. Alou Diarra landed his first full cap playing in the center of defense and we personally rather seem him partnered in the middle of the park with Winston Reid rather than James Collins. We were as pleasantly surprised with Collins performance in the Villa match as everyone else, but does he really have what it takes to perform at that level throughout an entire season? Diarra excels in the middle of the park as a defensive midfielder but we have Diame to play that role as well as get forward with the ball. Stephen Henderson started in goal for West Ham which may be a sign that Big Sam is moving on from Jasskelainen. We hope so at least, Henderson is a very talented youngster. It’ll be interesting to see whether either goalscorer, Maiga or Nicky Maynard, start on the weekend. Big Sam is going to have some tough choices in his team selection this week.

West Ham 0 Swansea 3

This wasn’t exactly a great sight for West Ham supporters yesterday afternoon. Yes that’s James Collins watching Swansea’s Michu chase down his back pass. Collins looked a completely different player then the Man of the Match in last weekends opening day win. Jussi Jaaskelainen didn’t fair much better. Jussi has been one of the most reliable ‘keepers in the Premier League throughout his career so mistakes are few and far between but that doesn’t mean much after his calamitous error on Saturday. We’re left wondering if perhaps Big Sam takes a chance on young Stephen Henderson next week. There was very few positives in yesterdays match so we’re just going to think forward to the next one. Also, to those West Ham supporters who were acting like the loss was a sign of the end of the world: keep it together. We’re not going to win them all and Swansea smashed QPR for 5 last weekend. We’ve got a lot of improvements to make but one loss in August won’t be the story of our season.

West Ham 1 Aston Villa 0

Well we returned in a bit of style now didn’t we? It made not have been an absolutely emphatic victory, the kind a team would like to have to really make a statement, but yesterday’s 1-0 victory over Aston Villa showed a lot of promise. James Collins was a rock at the back, coming up with a few timely tackles and blocks when we needed it to start to put to bed any doubts over his worth. Collins definitely was the Man of the Match yesterday, and if he can keep it up him and James Tomkins will be a very formidable partnership in the center of defense. Imagine us, playing well defensively! Momo Diame was another standout yesterday. The lad is an absolute beast in the middle of the park, able to win the ball AND keep possession. At times he looked a different class. Our single goal wasn’t the prettiest, but it ain’t a beauty contest now is it?