Irons in international action

With no game for West Ham this weekend owing to the international break, there was nothing for us Irons to do but sit back with a cold beer, watch the action unfold and hope to Christ that none of our players got injured. With no fewer than six players involved, there was plenty of propsensity for the archetypal indirect West Ham disaster but fortunately, all the lads are heading back to E6 in one piece.

ANDY CARROLL continued his comeback from injury as he came on as a second-half sub in England's boringly comfortable 5-0 victory over San Marino; MOBIDA MAIGA helped Mali secure a place at the African Cup of Nations finals with the second goal in their 4-1 victory over Botswana; Hammers teammates GUY DEMEL and MOMO DIAME stood on opposite sides of the park as the Ivory Coast took on Senegal (the Ivorians led 2-0 until the game was abandoned in the 73rd minute because of crowd disturbances); whilst youngster KIERAN SADLIER started the Republic of Ireland Under-19 side's 5-2 win over Luxembourg and reserve goalkeeper RAPHAEL SPIEGEL was an unused substitute for the Switzerland Under-20 side's 2-2 draw with Poland.

All in all, a pretty unremarkable weekend's work for the off-duty Irons, and they head back to Chadwell Heath ahead of next weekend's match against Southampton in good spirits.

Reserves continue good form

West Ham reserves continued their good form in the newly-formed Barclays Premier Under-21 League last night, as they saw off a lacklustre Blackburn side. The Irons triumphed 2-0 in the finish, with goals from Paul McCallum and Matthias Fanimo. The latter was rewarded for his excellent form for the reserves with a first team debut against Crewe in the Capital One Cup at the end of August, and boss Sam Allardyce is sure to be keeping an eye on his performances as the season goes on and the depth of the squad is tested.

The Hammers have been in excellent form this season in the Under-21 league, picking up five wins and a draw from their first seven games, a 2-0 home defeat to Bolton at the start of September the only aberration, and currently are leading the table. Under the new Under-21 league format, the league stops after 30 November and all teams go into a 'second group stage,' from where a high placing can put a team in contention for the end of season play offs- so the scintillating start the Irons have made to the new season is particularly pleasing as they look to gain some momentum for the second group stage.

Injury woe for Vaz Te

Hammers striker Ricardo Vaz Te is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after falling awkwardly during yesterday's 3-1 home defeat to Arsenal. The 26 year old suffered a dislocated shoulder after a challenge with Gunners keeper Vito Mannone and West Ham boss Sam Allardyce confirmed that he wouldn't be fit for first team action until after the international break- and could be out for up to 12 weeks. The Portuguese will see a specialist in the coming days and the club will then be able to have a more exact estimate of his estimated recovery time. Vaz Te, his goal against QPR on Monday night aside, has been far from impressive in the Premier League this season after firing the Hammers to promotion at Wembley in May, and this injury could be a blessing in disguise for Allardyce as someone else must take up RVT's position on the right flank.

West Ham United 1 Arsenal 3- match report

An intriguing encounter, representative of all that is good about the Premier League, ended in defeat for Big Sam's boys yesterday at the Boleyn Ground, as an Olivier Giroud strike cancelled out Mohammed Diame's excellent opener for the Irons, before goals from Theo Walcott and Santi Cazorla turned the game round for Arsenal.

In front of a sell-out crowd in East London- the Hammers' first for 19 months- Arsenal took control of the early proceedings and were thwarted on more than one occasion in the first quarter of the game by some last ditch West Ham defending and the considerable physical defending presence of striker Andy Carroll, on his return from injury. As with their 2-1 defeat at the Emirates to Chelsea the previous week, Arsenal dominated possession. Chances were few and far between for the Irons and largely came in the form of breaks away down the flanks by Matt Jarvis and Ricardo Vaz Te. It was from one of these breaks that the ball fell to midfield lynchpin Momo Diame on the left flank, about 25 yards from the Arsenal goal. Taking on the North London rearguard, the Senegal international opened up his body, but as the home support rose to their feet expecting a ball to the back post, Diame had other ideas and tucked a perfectly weighted shot into the bottom corner of the net.

The goal seemed to shock the visitors, and while West Ham attempted to use their lead to generate some momentum and get control of the game, the Gunners attacked even more ferociously than before, and only some more last-ditch defending, including great work from right-back Guy Demel, impressive against his former employers, preserved the Hammers' lead.

However, the pressure eventually proved too much for the Irons' defence, which eventually caved in as a sloppy giveaway of possession by man of the moment Diame led to yet another Arsenal break, and from Lukas Podolski's cross, Giroud got in front of the sluggish James Collins and opened his Gunners' account with a brave finish as goalkeeper Jaaskelainen came in to challenge.

Half time couldn't come soon enough for the Hammers and whatever Big Sam had said during the interval clearly had an effect as the home side were playing with a new desire, a new drive and were increasingly pushing Arsenal back into their own half, with Carroll causing the Gunners' defence a huge amount of problems in the air. The pressure, much like Arsenal's pressure in the first half, fashioned a number of opportunities, but West Ham couldn't profit, with several players wasting good chances- usually lethal skipper Kevin Nolan being the somewhat surprising worst culprit. Eventually, the Hammers were made to pay for their wastefulness with just under 20 minutes to go as substitute Theo Walcott tucked away a Giroud through ball with Collins again at fault, this time playing the England star onside as the rest of the back four stepped up. Spaniard Cazorla then compounded West Ham's misery with a beauty of a chip which left Jaaskelainen stranded. 3-1 was perhaps an unfair reflection on the Irons, who had enjoyed some dominance in the first 15 minutes of the second half and lost Vaz Te to a suspected dislocated shoulder with 25 minutes to go, but the signs are clear for all to see- West Ham have a long way to go yet before we can compete with the big boys.

Line-ups:

WEST HAM: Jaaskelainen; Demel (Tomkins '73), Collins, Reid, McCartney; Vaz Te (Taylor '64), Diame (Cole '82), Noble, Nolan, Jarvis; Carroll.

Booked: Reid, Diame, Taylor.

Sent off: none.

Subs: Henderson, Tomkins, Taylor, Benayoun, O'Neill, Cole, Maiga.

ARSENAL: Mannone; Mertesacker, Vermaelen, Jenkinson, Gibbs (Santos '56); Arteta, Ramsey. Cazorla, Giroud, Gervinho (Walcott '61); Podolski (Koscielny '85).

Subs: Martinez, Koscielny, Santos, Walcott, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Coquelin, Arshavin.

Booked: Gervinho, Walcott.

Sent off: none.

Attendance: 34, 974.

Report by Alex Shilling