If Jelavic was missing chance after chance then I'd understand people calling for him to be dropped. But the fact is we're not creating chances for him and he's spending too much time outside of the area in the hope of seeing the ball once every now and again.
Thought Osman was really poor tonight, their players just skipped past him and he didn't press at all. I'd rest him next game, bring in Oviedo or Hitz, maybe Barkley. Chebe's has to start over Naismith next game, he was embarrassing!
Sends such a shitty message - he worked his bollocks off against Chelsea and then is rewarded for it by getting dropped. Working hard and having a great game obviously means fuck all.
Yes Fellaini's back, but Vic had earned his spot and Fellaini could have easily just gone to his best position - midfield.
After watching the game on football first, i have to agree with Pete, Ossie was really impressive today so he gets my vote.
1) Osman
2)Baines
3)Pienaar
4)Gibson
5)Chebe's
Jelavic looked really really poor today which is slightly worrying and he went for the ball after chebe's header with his hand which we dont like to see, hope he sorts it out for the Wigan game..
Also,none of the commentators mentioned how Noble went down like he had been shot when Gibson caught him but Baines got straight back up after his incedent... Cant stand West Ham.
When the team was announced I really feared for us, and for the first half I was right to be fearful. We looked like a team of strangers for the most part. That was hardly a surprise when we had two players returning from a month or two out, a centre back playing at right back, a centre back who has barely played any minutes the past few games so is likely to be off the pace, and a central midfielder playing on the right wing. That many changes is likely to disrupt things. And disrupt things it did. We didn't have any cohesion at all, little or no movement from midfield, coupled with no creativity or drive from the midfield either (apart from Pienaar), the forwards struggled to hold the ball up (Jelavic was dropping too deep, and was even further back than Gibson at one point!), and the defence was an utter shambles, quite what the fuck Distin and Heitinga were doing for their goal I have no idea. Honestly, the only positive I could find in that first half was Pienaar. He always looked to take the ball forward; if there wasn't a pass on to one of our players then he'd drive forward with the ball and try and make something happen or win a free-kick in a good position for us.
Second half we were much better. The defence was by no means great but it didn't look as shambolic as in the first half, Gibson got on the ball more ad gave us the composure that had been lacking in the first half, Osman supported Pienaar in the creative spark stakes and had a fabulous half, Anichebe looked confident and a handful (after he scored), Jelavic stayed on the shoulder of their defence more and looked a danger and could have gotten himself a goal or two. I wouldn't say we were at our fluid best, or even close to it tbh, but we looked more of a unit, and that we could get back into the game. And get back into the game we did with a brilliant header from Anichebe after a quality delivery from Pienaar. That gave us a massive lift and we were all over them and then they (wrongly) had a man sent off and we pushed our advantage to the max and after some neat interlinking play from Osman and Pienaar we got our noses in front. Then we had our own turn to be on the end of Anthony Taylor's shitty stick, but fortunately it came too late for West Ham to do anything to get back in the game.
I don't know if it's right but I heard that the hearing for the appeals would take place on Christmas Eve, so if we win our appeal Gibson would be available for the Boxing Day game.
Howard - Didn't have a lot to do and couldn't have done a thing about their goal. I thought he commanded his area fairly well for a change too.
Jagielka - He was always willing to get forward but, unfortunately, his crossing was as accurate as his hoof balls. I thought he did very well defensively when you consider that for most of the game he had to cover for the awful Heitinga.
Heitinga & Distin - Bloody hell they were shite for much of this game. The pair of them were at fault for their goal. Distin for being hopelessly out of position and then diving in for a ball that he was never going to get anywhere near, and then Heitinga for literally doing nothing to stop Cole! The pair of them could have cost us another goal in the second half too. Heitinga totally backed off their attacking player and let them put the ball across our box, and Distin decided to go to no one and left two free players. One of which got the ball (Maiga I think) but fortunately Distin somewhat redeemed himself by putting a block in.
Baines - We didn't see an awful lot from him in an attacking sense, which may be because Distin was having a poor game and he felt he needed to be cautious. But even when he did get forward, once again, his delivery wasn't very good. I can only remember him putting one decent ball into the box all game long. That being said, he did play a role in our equaliser.
Osman - Apart from a couple of flashes in the first half I thought he was as anonymous as he has been for the past few weeks. However, in the second half I thought he was fantastic and played a massive role in getting us the three points. Now we had two players pulling the strings and made all the difference. It gave West Ham another player to worry about and it played dividends. He was a key player and showed it perfectly with the role he played in our second goal. His quick feet and ability to keep the ball tight to his feet when he's running made that goal. If he'd played like this from the off then he'd have been my MOTM.
Neville - Really didn't notice him throughout the game.
Gibson - Like Neville I didn't notice him in the first half, but in the second half he got his foot on the ball more and spread the ball well for us.
Pienaar - I really dread to think just how bad that first half would have been if he'd not been on his game. He was the only one looking to be positive, the only one providing any sort of movement, and he played intelligently i.e. winning clever free-kicks in good areas for us. I don't mean diving, but he drove into dangerous areas where the West Ham players had to bring him down to stop him making progress. He continued on in a similar vein in the second half and a big reason why we got the victory. He put in a brilliant ball for Anichebe to head home, and got himself a goal too (lucky as it was). My MOTM.
Anichebe - Before he scored I thought he'd been having a poor game. But after he scored he really seemed to grow in confidence. His first touch improved, he was willing to hustle and bustle where before he'd looked disinterested, and he looked a threat. And what a brilliant header it was as well. It wasn't a case of him just getting his head to it and hoping for the best, he knew exactly what he was doing and got it spot on.
Jelavic - I don't think I could have been any more disappointed with him on his first half showing. Worryingly he was reminding me of Saha because of how deep he was playing, and a lack of effort. But, while he wasn't exactly brilliant in the second half, there were some positives to take out of his performance. For one, he played further up the pitch and put himself a position for chances to fall to him. He really should have buried one of them and another was blocked excellently by a West Ham defender (unsurprisingly missed by the ref/linesman). Secondly, he played a lot more on the shoulder of the West Ham defenders and looked very dangerous doing it. A combination of him going to early and midfielders laying the ball off too late meant he didn't get an opportunity at goal through this method. If we keep playing to him that way and get it right it will be very fruitful, IMO.
Similar things were said when Rooney left. If Fellaini does go this summer, we should have the money/wages available to attract quite a few very good players, and that will make us a much more solid outfit overall without relying on Felli as the be all and end all. Holtby for example, out of contract in the summer, if we could add someone of his quality on a free and still have the £30-35m from Felli, of which we would probably see roughly £20-25m (IMO) I'd trust Moyes to bring in quite a few quality players with that sort of money. I think you need to realise we wont go out and try and find a replacement for felli, as i dont think there is anyone out there quite like him, but the team will evolve and with the money Moyes has to spent, he will bring in different players from Felli. We currently look at Felli as an outlet to bring the ball down further up the pitch. With the money we get from Felli, i think we would look to the kind of players who can "unlock" defences, rather than use his physical prowess to "bully" them instead.
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