West Ham Post Match Thread

[Craig_H]

Hahaha you know exactly what I mean.

I actually dont, i think people calling each other ****s etc should be the target of your attention more - but whatever matey, it doesnt really matter.

[Craig_H]

Blackburn away on Saturday, have to win. Chelsea are at Bolton, who are in a rich vein of form themselves. Not sure whether dropped points for chelsea is a realistic prospect, or major wishful thinking.

Come on Bolton, you smelly inbreds.

[Crazy-Horse]

Last three home games have absolutely ****. The ruthless home form goes in the winter - johnny foreigner can't take the cold.

Bloody Hell. Est1892 has been hacked and replaced with Toffee Talk. Someone tell the mods.

[Craig_H]

Bloody Hell. Est1892 has been hacked and replaced with Toffee Talk. Someone tell the mods.

It's them who's hacked it

[Elvis]

We'll beat Blackburn, I'm sure. No crowd on our back and no crushing expectation that we'll score 5. And they won't be able to just sit and defend. If only all our games were away....

[Dhav]

Overt the top post Dhav sorry. We aren't playing well right now but we're still top. To say that we only do '****fests' is a disgrace. I've never seen supporters batter a top of the table team.

We have missed Torres for most of this season but we're still there. We aren't playing well that is obvious but all teams go through that type of spell.

Fredo, I take on board what you're saying and it's a fair shout. Needless to say I disagree however. We are top of the league but believe me it is only papering over the cracks and we will not finish there IMO. In fact, I believe come the end of the season we'll do well to close the 11 point gap to top that there was last season. There is no creativity or invention in this team, teams line up 10 men behind the ball and we labour to break them down. He spunked £20m on Keane when frankly he would have been better off addressing other weak spots in the team with creative and technical players. But of course, we know Rafa doesn't do creative because he is spineless and cautious. Throw the ****ing shackles off man and send the team out there all guns blazing FFS; none of this Lucas and Mascher central defensive partnership, none of this playing Gerrard in a deep central midfield role when he should be bursting forward. Rafa, to be frank, needs to grow a set.

[Parr_Zee]

My thoughts:

- Dossena had a decent game and seems to be the only player he have, who gets the ball, works a yard of space and whips a good ball into the box
- Keane got ZERO service yesterday, and to me, it seems that his game is all about playing off a target mans' flicks
- Rafa needs to learn that when Kuyt and Riera come off the flanks and play close to the strikers, it gets far too congested to try to feed little through balls especially when there are 8 or 9 players in the 18 yard box
- Is it just me or have our players been instructed not to shoot from distance? Several times ... Riera, Babel, Alonso had chances to have a crack, but seem like they are trying too hard to feed balls through.

[Dhav]

something that stood out for me.

First one (according to the news this morning) was that was West Hams first point at anfield in 9 years. 9 years!! We must be beating these teams in a championship winning year, but we werent beaten. I think the players are too used to the "underdog" tag and as carragher said - we need to deal with a different pressure now, the pressure of being on top.

We are lucky as ****. Teams like Boro, Wigan, Citeh, Fulham and West Ham should have punished us this season for our inadequacies but only Spurs have. We are top by the skin of our teeth, very lucky to be there, and will not be there for much longer if we continue in this vain of form.

[Woobus]

We are lucky as ****. Teams like Boro, Wigan, Citeh, Fulham and West Ham should have punished us this season for our inadequacies but only Spurs have. We are top by the skin of our teeth, very lucky to be there, and will not be there for much longer if we continue in this vain of form.

Which team do you think should be top then? All the other top teams have been lucky in matches and not playing as well as previous seasons.

[Roboklopp]

Very disappointing. Crowd was poor, but the booing wasnt universal at the end. There was much more silence, which speaks just as well if you ask me. Dossena did OK & I just dont understand the criticism of Ngog- thought he did pretty well TBH, but he shouldnt have subbed Keane. Rafa's fault not his mind. Sami was our best player- and best attacking threat. Xabi did fairly well, but didnt have many options.

On the whole tho it was an awful awful game- freezing cold (-7!) & didnt get home til midnight. No passion drive at all - once you let the 1st half slip away- as we invariably do- you start becoming desparate in the 2nd half & cannot take adavantage & start taking silly risks. Top teams win the game in the 1st half hour then sit back & pick the opposition off. 0 goals vs Fulham, Wham & Stroke at home just isnt good enough. We are far too cautious- we lost less game than Scum last year, but for 4 years we've got too many draws at home- 3 points for a win,1 for a draw- it aint rocket science. We only seem to play the last 10 minutes- it just isnt good enough. We have no-one who can beat a man and are despately missing Torres now.

Felt sorry for Keane-he is a deep lying striker & should be playing behind Kuyt. His only decent game (against WBA) he did that. His body language was that of a condemned man tho. Babel shouldve been on half an hour earlier- he did ok when he came on & ata least tried to be direct. Very poor management decisions & woeful team display. Highly demoralising.

[dww]

I'm not convinced by the idea that Keane needs to play behind someone - he alternated leading the line with Berbatov at Spurs and played with the never knowingly tactically useful Defoe as well, often doing the hard work. What he does require is people close to him (IMO Kuyt needs this two - they played well together when played together as a pairing against United but they both stayed up front and were pushing the defenders rather than looking to link up all the time).

I would have preferred Babel to come on first (rather than Ngog in place of Keane) as it would have offered more flexibility with the next sub but the rest of the team needed someone to push back their defense and adding a pacy forward was what was needed to make room. Ngog did okay but was unspectacular.

Gerrard and Alonso were not progressive enough and were too prone to low percentage balls. Part of the problem was the way in which Riera failed to stay wide yet neither he, Kuyt or Benayoun ever really got close to Keane (except on odd occasions when half our team congregated like school boys in the D).

Sami deserves a lot of praise as does Dossena. Benayoun was less annoying than many recent games but still didn't offer enough. I still think we need another goal threat from midfield especially if Gerrard is going to be less inclined to bomb on when played in the central two.

[Roboklopp]

I'm not convinced by the idea that Keane needs to play behind someone - he alternated leading the line with Berbatov at Spurs and played with the never knowingly tactically useful Defoe as well, often doing the hard work. What he does require is people close to him (IMO Kuyt needs this two - they played well together when played together as a pairing against United but they both stayed up front and were pushing the defenders rather than looking to link up all the time).

I would have preferred Babel to come on first (rather than Ngog in place of Keane) as it would have offered more flexibility with the next sub but the rest of the team needed someone to push back their defense and adding a pacy forward was what was needed to make room. Ngog did okay but was unspectacular.

Gerrard and Alonso were not progressive enough and were too prone to low percentage balls. Part of the problem was the way in which Riera failed to stay wide yet neither he, Kuyt or Benayoun ever really got close to Keane (except on odd occasions when half our team congregated like school boys in the D).

Sami deserves a lot of prhaise as does Dossena. Benayoun was less annoying than many recent games but still didn't offer enough. I still think we need another goal threat from midfield especially if Gerrard is going to be less inclined to bomb on when played in the central two.

Makes sense, aye. I suggest you up your bull**** rate if you want to continue on this forum.

[EwarWoo]

We must be beating these teams in a championship winning year

The only thing we MUST be doing is staying top of the table, which we are.

[Craig_H]

The only thing we MUST be doing is staying top of the table, which we are.

How long do you think we'll stay top, if we continue struggling to win at home?

[Slinky Skills]

[QUOTE=Harveybirdman;1220729]Frustrating as ****.

I see a lot of people in this thread that dont post very often...wonder why.

Some of you need to get a grip, we are top, and still not finishing chances, having no luck etc etc. We did this last season too if you can remember. Couldnt score a goal to save ourselves....then suddenly it all clicked, and we started banging in goals left right and centre. I feel we are just deflated at the moment. The crowd get on the players backs from the off it seems.....cant be good for moral. I think the players actually look forward to away games at the moment. The away fans do us proud, and give the team support. The home fans do **** all but whinge. Its never been so quiet.

Having the focal point of your attack out for most of the season does not help things. People having a go at N'gog are just being ****ing stupid. He cost sweet **** all, was highly rated in France and hasn't even had a decent chance to prove himself yet FFS. Of course he's not Torres class....NOBODY IS!

Keane is looking shattered, he has no confidence at the moment. Still, he's getting **** all service...he barely got a touch last night. He just needs a jammy goal, anything, of his left arse cheek FFS. He's under severe pressure to perform with Nando out. With the way we are playing he's having to feed on scraps. I feel very sorry for him.

Yossi...sell him. He's not good enough, we need a quicker thinker. He's skillful, but he hesitates to often...and it kills the attack dead everytime.
/QUOTE]

I agree with everything bar the bit about Yossi.

Benayoun is class and I thought he was our best performer last night. He was quick at thinking, his movement was good all night as was his distribution.

I'd like to see him given a good run in the team as I know he has a lot to offer this club.

He has bags of skill and game intelligence. The only down side to his game is that he is like a rake and can't out strength an opponent for ****.

Fair do's he puts his foot in but he's just too slim. I'm like Yossi in that I'm thin but I'm **** at football!

I can't shoulder anyone off the ball either and Yossi will never become massive. He needs to use his ability on the ball and last night he did that very well imo.