West Ham (Away) Saturday January 18th

[Bailey]

19 hours ago, Finn balor said:

Keans not quick? Wow. Sidibe put more balls into the box when he came on than anyone. Oh and blaming kean for their goal is a joke aswell considering we’ve gone back to zonal marking.

It was between him and Holgate. I have no idea what either of them were doing as the men in front and behind the goal scorer. Holgate doesn't move and Kean goes back in and the stops.

I have no idea why a young striker is defending the middle of the goal though?

Also I fully agree with @Newty82 about Bernard. Moyes had done his homework and they jumped all over him and he had no help from midfield, and only limited help from the strikers. It should have given the others more time and space to get on the ball themselves and make an impact but because Bernard’s role is so important we did feck all. 

I would have liked to have seen him be allowed to drift around a bit more and latch onto the players that wouldnt have been expected to line up against him. It would have meant moving into a 5 in midfield which doesn't seem to be on the agenda with Carlo.

[Palfy]

3 hours ago, TallPaul1878 said:

The oval shape doesn't lend itself to atmosphere. The acoustics are different to a traditional stadium and this is magnified by the fans being so far away from the pitch.

The Etihad has the same problem, so much so that they moved the stands closer to the pitch but it still sounds like a library.

The dire game of football on offer won't have helped but, considering how we handed them everything on a plate, West Ham are truly a poor Premier League side. They always have been really and it won't be long until they are relegated again. I'd have sympathy for the fans but they are a notorious lot so they appear to be getting what they deserve AND they have the temerity to think they are a bigger club than us thanks to their hand me down stadium. 

Also add to that a lot of there home support aren’t Hammer supporters the ground capacity is far to big for them, so they get a lot of people from in and around London go there who want to see a PL game of football and there’s a better than average chance of getting a ticket. 

[Keith B]

Drab match. I didn't think we were very good with the exception of Pickford who I thought had an excellent match. It is obvious that our central midfield needs strengthening. Getting Gomes back will help but I don't think he's a long term answer. Still hard to know what Gbamin can bring since he's played so little for us. Holgate has looked so good on the ball I wouldn't be against trying him at a DM position regularly. Of course then you leave Mina and Keane as CBs and I'm not sure that's preferable. 

Obviously want to pick up as many points as we can and finish as high in the table as possible. But the rest of this season, to me, is (a) beating the Reds at Goodison and (b) giving Carlo the time to figure out who to clear out and who to bring in during the summer.