West Ham Verdict

[Tipton Wolves]

We are poor. There is no plan and they are so toothless. We don't perform well at all do we.

 

[SA Wolf]

I think we are 16 points from safety and the bottom three are really bad. Hopefully we will be OK.

10

 

[wolfslair]

I’d get your stutter, stutter sorted if I were you, you!

I thought he was doing a vicar of dibley homage!

 

[thommo1984]

ney. We won’t go down, no way

Careful.

 

[Lobo de Ouro]

Clearly need to be trying something different away from home. It's patently not working.

Neto and Ait-Nouri need to be fit and playing for us to stay clear of relegation.

Semedo the only player to emerge with any credit from today.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

An awful game to watch. West Ham under Moyes have always been a bit “physical”, but not to take away from a deserved win where they barely worked up a sweat. Coufal was a thug and should have been off - either a straight red (twice) or at least two yellows. His replacement was little better, which tells you where the direction was coming from.

Bentley was absolutely atrocious, and our passing was little better. What the hell Gary was thinking playing that formation, I have no idea, but it was a disaster. Apart from the RAN for Toti sub, also were his subs, both what and when.

The officials were rubbish... not for the first time. Neither ref or VAR took enough action on Coufal. Our goal may have been offside, but it was so marginal. Had it stood, perhaps the game may have played out differently, but we wouldn’t have deserved it on the balance of play.

 

[jonesy]

4 at the back against w ham says it all

 

[JamesWolves]

Clearly need to be trying something different away from home. It's patently not working.

Neto and Ait-Nouri need to be fit and playing for us to stay clear of relegation.

Semedo the only player to emerge with any credit from today.

Careful you'll be chased with pitchforks for saying that

 

[bod101]

It .
Wasn't.
A.
Proper.
Back.
Four.

Why the **** if we normally play a 5 due to the worry of our defence so we then play some weird version of it with one less CB.

We had a team picked that would've easily suited playing 433, we didn't. Maybe a 4 2 3 1, we didn't. god even a 442 diamond.

Stupid tactics and crap mentality throughout. Not the first time either. I fear for the future.

 

[Mile End Wanderer]

Can’t see us winning another game for a while

Why did he not make changes at half time really shocked me. Did Gary think the game was going well???

Rolled over for his old club!!

Pathetic and inept performance. It’s Christmas let’s not break a sweat lads!! EMBARRASSING PERFORMANCE


ONEIL MUST GO, BIG SAM WOULD NOT ACCEPT THIS PERFORMANCE

 

[Starsky]

We should never ever play 4 ATB again with this squad. That said, the players are cowards away from home.

Our Summer incoming transfer business was absolutely and utterly ****.

 

[Lobo de Ouro]

Careful you'll be chased with pitchforks for saying that

He gets a 7/10 from me.
6/10 for Cunha...
Everyone else 5/10 and below
1/10 for Bentley (that's being generous)

 

[WolvesAndCows]

What's the plan on starting the match at a snail's pace? You've got to be up for it, away from home. No urgency or tempo.

 

[wolfgar]

Terrible defending, slow and sloppy passing, powderpuff in attack. May as well have have stuck a traffic cone in goal. Not a great combo. Didn’t even look *****.

 

[Oh When the Wolves]

We should never ever play 4 ATB again with this squad. That said, the players are cowards away from home.

Our Summer incoming transfer business was absolutely and utterly ****.

Yeah fosun still need to go

 

[stevev53]

Clearly need to be trying something different away from home. It's patently not working.

Neto and Ait-Nouri need to be fit and playing for us to stay clear of relegation.

Semedo the only player to emerge with any credit from today.

I thought Gomes worked hard and Cunha was too

 

[MotorWoden]

We defended abysmally. Vulnerable on the break. Very slow physically and slow to commit.

Questionable tactics but if you aren't going to stand up and compete then you are going to lose whatever. Semedo, Sarabia, kilman in particular just weren't up to the physical challenge. Dawson is supposed to be our calm head but his defending is scruffy, and he doesn't seem to be the calm, cool, experienced head you would want in the centre of defence.Bentley is nowhere near being as good as Sa. Hwang was awful. I can't think of any set up which should include him which doesn't involve him being central and in and around the opposition penalty area. His control and passing in our own half are a liability and any involvement on the edge of our own penalty area could lead to an opposition goal. We don't want him in those areas, don't ask him to do that job. I thought Cunha and Gomes were ok.
I am a believer in Kalajdcic, and if the barrier to his involvement is that he doesnt fit the system, then on the basis of the 4 or 5 games, I would say we should change the system.

 

[WickedWolfie]

It .
Wasn't.
A.
Proper.
Back.
Four.

Why the **** if we normally play a 5 due to the worry of our defence so we then play some weird version of it with one less CB.

We had a team picked that would've easily suited playing 433, we didn't. Maybe a 4 2 3 1, we didn't. god even a 442 diamond.

Stupid tactics and crap mentality throughout. Not the first time either. I fear for the future.

There have been more than a few occasions where it appears that GON thinks that he is a much better coach tactically than he really is. Today was one of those. He tried to be clever and the outcome was utter crap!

 

[Golden Oldie]

Tactics absolutely horrendous

Why is every single players first thought to go back? That has to be on the manager.

Awful tactics to go to a back 4 against bowen and kudus . Insane

Semedo MOTM and another assist to his name if it wasn’t for Sarabia not having a brain

Bentley is appalling . 3 goals in 2 games have been his and Sa’s fault or at least contribution towards.

All on the manager and his negative tactics of playing slow football

Use of subs absolutely horrific.

Where do we go from here? A Chelsea team needing some confidence !

That has become the mantra for this club over a long time. The crab like forward movement switching to sideways then to backward is something discussed on these pages many a time. Remember Karl Henry? A master; but he wasn't the first and there has been an unbroken line since.

 

[Coshamwolves]

Something`s not right in the dressing room, another poor display, they were just going through the motions. West Ham played a low block and acted like the away team, hitting on the break. Was so easy for them. A few of ours had shockers and what was the point of Hwang!
If only we had team of Cunhas that actually play for the shirt.

 

[JadeWolf]

Tactics are irrelevant, whole team today lacked battle. Awful.

 

[Bill McCai]

https://x.com/AA_Richards/status/1736417115928699015?s=20

 

[Cookyssweetleftfoot]

Very poor first half but fine margins if Sarabia goal counts then it’s a different game . Can all those saying pla6 a back four please shut up now

?

 

[Super NES]

A performance which lacked bottle, direction and any character.

You can review any goal we concede and identify how it could have been prevented but Bentley should have done better with at least 2 of them. He doesn't commend his box at all whenever the ball is put in and he is no way a successor to Sa.

The first goal we conceded highlighted how weak we were when it came to wanting to battle today - Bellegarde should have won the first header and Dawson should have taken one for the team in transition and stopping the play develop. But we didn't and we got punished.

The 2nd showed Toti's lack of awareness when it mattered - he was so out of position its laughable. There is certainly a player in there but I'm starting to think we only get the best out of him when he has no time to think and instead is asked to do what a defender is meant to do - block, tackle and head anything that comes he way.

The third highlighted the lack of combined pace between Kilman and Dawson - something which isn't new but demonstrates the strongest 2 cb's at the club are not suitable to play in this formation.

There are 2 real things, apart from all the above, which really concerned me today

The first is GON's thinking. Why decide to play a back 4 away from home when we are without our number 1 keeper and are playing a team who have pace? Especially when we had 2 games at home where it would have been more logical to make this change. Added to that, why not make full use of our subs? I get he doesn't trust / like Silva / Sasa, but when the game is gone why not take off Hwang / Cunha given if we lose one of them he will need to rely on his back ups?

The second is the lack of fight when Bellegarde was assaulted multiple times. Why didn't one of the players make a big deal out of this and try to protect their teammate from it potentially happening again? We are way to soft as a team, and perhaps reflect the character of our captain rather too much in this respect.

We won't go down, and will probably beat Chelsea next week knowing us, but the cracks and lack of character both on and off the pitch are starting to come to the forefront.

 

[WickedWolfie]

Tactics are irrelevant, whole team today lacked battle. Awful.

Not sure that the tactics are irrelevant. If the players have no confidence in how they are being trained and set up then that will show in their performance.

 

[Spitfire]

Long term very concerning. We may scrape by this season, but this can't go on. Nil leadership and charisma on the pitch and nil in the dug out. A recipe for relegation, if not this season, then next. He fluked a couple of wins, but GON simply ain't got it.

I’d agree, the long term is very worrying. The overall trend is down after our excellent first 2 seasons back under Nuno. Should be ok this year, but if we don’t improve then relegation will become a distinct possibility in the next season or two.

 

[KnowNuttin]

Just gotta hope Neto picks up where he left off. He'll carry us to safety on his own. Unless recruitment drastically improves, life after Neto looks worrying.

 

[Sussex Wolf]

Clearly need to be trying something different away from home. It's patently not working.

Neto and Ait-Nouri need to be fit and playing for us to stay clear of relegation.

Semedo the only player to emerge with any credit from today.

I think Semedo was ok, and the issues were clearly down the other side of defence. I think Kilman was also fine, but the fundamental issue was switching back to a four, when these players are not up to it. It doesn’t help the defence when you have an awful keeper, but then it doesn’t help the keeper if those in front can’t protect him from simple breaks.

Further up the pitch, I think Gomes was mostly fine, but made a few costly mistakes. Bellegarde played well, but he was clearly targeted by West Ham, who kept clattering him. Lemina was solid but not as influential as he has been.

Cunha was fine when moved into a deeper position. Sarabia was unlucky not to get his goal, but that aside did little that worked, and the same could be said of Hwang.

For large parts of the game our passing was dismal. I put it down to a slow pitch initially, but maybe it was just our players! We made enough chances to have gotten something out of the game, but they made more chances, and took some of them well.

 

[SmiffyWolf]

Unfortunately we are the best of a poor bunch of 5/6 teams in the Prem .

Until the structure is changed then that's our lot I am afraid.

GON I said before he wouldn't be here in 12/18 months and nothing really has said we must keep him at all costs .

If we hadn't won the Man City and Spurs games then we would be 4th from bottom at the moment with Everton above us even after a 10 point deduction. We really don't have an identity at the moment on or off the pitch . That lies at the feet of Fosun .

 

[old wittonian]

Does anyone have a clue what the intent was in that team selection? It certainly wasn't attacking.

The sad thing is that the result was wholly predictable as soon as the team was announced.

And we made no effort to change the attacking formation.
Absolutely unbelievable.
What have Sasa and Fabio done wrong?

 

[Lobo de Ouro]

If we hadn't won the Man City and Spurs games then we would be 4th from bottom at the moment with Everton above us even after a 10 point deduction.

Alternatively... if we had lost those two games, but won every other one, we would be top of the league.

 

[Golden_Wolf]

Really poor today. For me, that was as bad as Forest & Burnley. Worse probably because of the break we've had. No excuse for such a flat performance imv.

Cunha aside, no-one deserves credit for that.

Questions starting to get raise for GON again. Why take off Lemina & Semedo at 3 down, but leave Cunha on? Running him into the ground.

The lack of use of Fabio & Sasa is odd.

 

[Wigan Wolf]

Any idea when GON will be interviewed by Sky to discuss today’s tactical master class.
If Bentley is a Premiership goalkeeper, I’m going to get my garden gloves and ask City for a trial.

 

[Wonder Boyo]

A bad day at the office. Not as woeful as we have been in recent previous thrashings (e.g. 4-0 against West Ham under Bruno, 6-0 against Brighton and 5-0 at Arsenal last season). We were in the game for most of it.Tactics were poor, players seemed completely off it. That said, I thought we did look like scoring at times, but our final balls were woeful. Still had a few first ha;lf opportunities though. Everything went as well as it could for West Ham. When they were 2-0 up those were the only real two chances they created. Bentley is just not good enough and should have done much better for the first and third goals. It is very fine margins. Think if our goal to make it 2-1 had stood we would have got something out of the game, it must have been millimetres. We'd started the second half quite well but that took the wind out of our sails. Very poor refereeing throughout, and by VAR as usual. Coufal should have had a straight red and another two yellows, Zouma should have had at least two yellows. So although it was a bad defeat, there are still some very thin lines between defeat and getting something out of the game.

I know there's a lot of criticism for GON not replacing any of our front three, but I don't think the issue was with our front three, it was the service to them. Every time Fabio has come on he has made us worse, even when we have been playing badly. There is more of a case for bringing Sasa on, to get on the end of crosses. However, he is SO slow when he does come on and often restricts our play. He's pretty poor in the air for a big guy. It was just an all around bad day when we didn't perform and pretty much everything went against us.

 

[wallace]

Bentley looked so nervous and performed like a non league keeper 2
Semedo worked well looked in control 7
Kilman struggled 6 along with Dawson 5 as they lacked the pace to be in a back 4
Totti out of position and showed it 4
Sarabia tried hard without much success 6 as did Gomes and Lamina
Hwang didn't show up today
Cunha tried a few runs but was limited by lack of support 6 bellegarde lost in the 1st half as a wingback but looked better in the 2nd half playing higher up the pitch 6 for effort as he was kicked time after time.

O'Neil 3 for changing the shape of the team in an away game when we needed to be less open.
Would have been interesting if the sarabia effort had stood as the toenail offside rule cancelled out our most incisive move.

 

[Michellis]

We were awful. Again.
However it’s no surprise to me.
Put in a nutshell; our players just aren’t up to the standard of Premier League football.

 

[djmikeydickens]

Completely played into West Hams hands. They are good on the break and we just constantly left ourselves exposed. GON got it horribly wrong today tactically, albeit not helped by some awful goalkeeping. Thats 3 in a row we've looked bad now....

 

[Matt]

It was an absolute shambles. Again. But this time we got beat.

We were set up totally wrong, started at snails pace yet again and the game is then over at half time.

This team is awful to watch. Yes, we're scoring more goals (not today obviously) but the football is really, really poor. We look so devoid of quality sometimes it is frightening.

Slow, ponderous crap. Every game. Not good enough.

 

[WickedWolfie]

We were awful. Again.
However it’s no surprise to me.
Put in a nutshell; our players just aren’t up to the standard of Premier League football.

One of the things that you want from your coaching staff is for the team to be greater than the sum of the parts. That has rarely happened this season. In fact all too often it has been worse.

 

[SmiffyWolf]

Alternatively... if we had lost those two games, but won every other one, we would be top of the league

League tables don't normally lie though do they and villa have been great and second we have been poor and dropping.

Just an observation but luton forest , Burnley have been **** this season and I wonder where they are . Where as Villa Arsenal and city have been better and look where they are .