If Glenn Roeder thought West Ham's season could not possibly get any worse he
was proved horribly wrong as his side were flattened by a Manchester United
steamroller at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.
On any other day, Ryan Giggs' first-half double would have provided a major
talking point as the Welshman delivered a decisive answer to the critics who
have questioned his value to the Red Devils cause in recent times.
It was the long-serving winger's first home goals since October yet his
contribution was reduced to a mere side-show as the Hammers subsided to a defeat
of such magnitude it must surely place a massive question mark over Roeder's
position.
The besieged Upton Park chief watched the opposition rampage through his side
with such ease it appeared at times there was only one team on the pitch.
Juan Sebastian Veron cut them apart in the opening period, Diego Forlan did
the same in the second, a half in which United found the net four times, with
Ruud van Nistelrooy netting either side of Phil Neville's first FA Cup goal for
the club before Ole Gunnar Solskjaer finished off the rout.
With confidence at a low ebb, Roeder must have implored his Premiership
basement dwellers to make a solid start and not concede an early goal.
How galling must it have been therefore to fall behind after just eight
minutes to a goal which typified the Hammers' season-long penchant for suicidal
defending.
Van Nistelrooy should really have got nowhere near David Beckham's poor
through ball but somehow managed to shrug off Gary Breen inside the area and
then, after Ian Pearce had managed to stop Paul Scholes' goal-bound effort on
the line, Giggs was allowed to pick his spot and despatch the rebound from eight
yards without a visiting player moving forward to challenge.
As has happened so often this season, a collection of individuals who look so
strong on a team sheet looked anything but on the pitch.
West Ham's failure to press the ball was unforgivable against a team of
United's stature and Veron could hardly believe his luck as he strolled around
the field picking pretty passes at will.
Giggs and Beckham both flashed powerful efforts wide of David James' goal
before the Welshman added his second, when his powerful shot from Veron's square
ball looped over James off Breen's shoulder.
West Ham were indebted to their goalkeeper twice shortly afterwards when he
turned away shots from Beckham and van Nistelrooy as the possibility of a
massacre loomed large.
However, as the first half drew to a close, the Hammers briefly livened
themselves up, Joe Cole and Lee Bowyer forcing good saves out of Fabien Barthez
which hinted at a stirring second half revival.
What came instead was absolute carnage as United ripped through their
opponents, scoring three times within 14 minutes despite Scholes' interval
departure.
The England man's hopes of extending his goalscoring sequence to seven games
had disappeared down the same drain as West Ham's hopes of repeating their
famous Old Trafford victory at the same stage of the competition two years ago
were just about to.
At least Scholes has a bright future ahead. On this evidence, West Ham are
destined for a very expensive drop into the Nationwide League.
Their defence simply had no answer to van Nistelrooy's neat shimmy on the edge
of the area which led to the Dutchman bagging number three within two minutes of
the re-start and when Phil Neville popped up to steer Forlan's return ball past
James on the United's next foray forward, the visitors knew they might as well
go home.
Breen and James tangled on the edge of their own six-yard area as they tried
to find a way of keeping Beckham's through ball away from van Nistelrooy,
instead conspiring to present the Dutchman with a wide open net into which to
tuck his 24th goal of the campaign.
Van Nistelrooy turned provider to set Solskjaer free in the box to power home
a sixth.
Solskjaer was the third United substitute to be used and at that stage and Sir
Alex Ferguson might have thought about withdrawing a few more and not replacing
them in the hopes of at least providing the remainder with some meaningful
competition.
Teams
Man Utd: Barthez, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, O'Shea,
Phil Neville, Beckham (Solskjaer 63), Veron (Butt 51), Keane, Giggs, Scholes (Forlan 45), van Nistelrooy.
Subs Not Used: Carroll, Brown.
Booked: Veron.
Goals: Giggs 8, 29, van Nistelrooy 49, Phil Neville 50,
van Nistelrooy 58, Solskjaer 69.
West Ham: James, Lomas, Breen (Dailly 80), Pearce, Minto, Bowyer, Cisse (Garcia 80), Carrick, Sinclair (Johnson 80), Defoe, Cole.
Subs Not Used: Van Der Gouw, Hutchison.
Booked: Defoe, Minto.
Att: 67,181
Ref: S Bennett (Kent).
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