MATCH THREAD v West Ham 2nd April 20-15 | Page 9 | Vital Football

MATCH THREAD v West Ham 2nd April 20-15

SheringhamNo10 said:
I actually thought we played really well last night.

I was very critical of the performance in the Fulham game but on reflection I was too hasty.

Arsenal, City and Everton are the only teams to win at West Ham this season. We pretty much dominated the game and with a bit more care around the box we would have won the game comfortably.

Our defending from set pieces is a worry and something that needs improving but it is a particular strength of West Ham so fair play to them.

None of us on here are fans of them but in fairness they are a very decent, well coached team with a few class players and although I really wanted the 3 points, I’ll take the draw and the improvements I’m seeing.

Still all to play for!
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A fair reflection imo. Ange said himself, our composure in front of goal let us down. As others have said, we should be shooting from anywhere we can. Deflections, corners, own goals etc.. I don't care how they come, just be braver in front of goal!
 
Kind of hard to get results when you only have 4 shots that challenged the opposing GK....
 
Funny I don't see it as negative as a few posters on here.
We're still in transition, and I'll say it yet again, even Klopp and Pep didn't make top 5 in their first season.
Are we asking too much too soon.
For me the only pattern I'm getting is conceding first usually from a set piece.
Our front 3 are scoring as many goals, (in open play) as those in the top 3, (check the stats) we are easily in top 3.
I can't call any correlation between the :
Villa game
Fulham game
Luton game
Or W/Ham game.
Some we won, one we lost, the other we drew.
For me both the Villa and Luton game we dominated and against Luton we could easily have been 4 up, it wasn't bad play it was 2 posts and a millimetre of goal line tech which robbed us of a good win.
Yes there is work to do, but for me, if we have the ball the opposition can't score.
I agree with PYs assertion that we are currently trying to walk the ball into the net, and it is similar to Arse a couple of seasons ago.
My other issue is that we do concede from very few, attempts against.
Other than (I think) the Fulham game we've been competing in every match this, season, and we certainly haven't been battered , which is how I felt under Conte.
Work to do but not doom and gloom and certainly in the interesting area of the league. You can't win every game 5-0.
Ohh look Villa are 1-0 down against City, 2 points in it.
Only saying
 
Love totty said:
It's all been said throughout the season; we don't get the reward that our dominance deserves and we rely on last ditch/ goalkeeper defending. Ange clearly believes that the set-up is fine and it is execution that needs to improve. You either buy that and harp on about getting better players or worry like I do that you need a solid defensive structure to build upon. That doesn't have to be the turgid stuff of past seasons, just a little more caution and keeping at least one of the full backs covering the counters. Possession is definitely a key to limiting threat but can easily be negated as we've witnessed. Angeball needs a better return and we seem to now lacking the goals from anywhere that the early season results promised.
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I miss Toby and Jans in the back line. We could defend with confidence.
 
muttley said:
I finished the game very frustrated. We had pretty much our best eleven on that pitch and were player for player better in every position. Well, on paper anyway. The problem is that the tactics aren't working, especially the inverted full-backs spending too much time inside. They should be alternating way more between the wide areas and the central areas to keep the opposition guessing. It also means that the wide players can't stretch the opposition full-backs as there is no overlap option. We are predictable.

As for the current role and application of our captain and number 9, it has become like playing with 10 men for huge parts of the game. He's pulling out of every physical encounter and he is not leading. How he was on the pitch beyond 60 mins is beyond me, let alone finishing the game as we made our 5 subs.

Our current game plan is for those 5 subs to win us games. We have the players to replace 5 out of our 6 midfield and forwards and not weaken it too much. What I'd now like to see is the starting eleven to be more effective as a unit. I'd like to see Ange get his head around some of his tactical deficiencies.
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Have to say, mutters, Greaves was never a physical player and nobody complained about that. He had a fairish career, too. Players are there for the things they can do not for the things they can't do.
 
Geofspurs said:
Highly robust perhaps? Nothing wrong with that. We need a couple more.
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I thought his passing was superb , nobody got the better of him , and now that he had partners he can rely on , he doesn’t have to do all the defending on his own .
I don’t see much of the dark arts about him , but I wouldn’t like to provoke him .

Which is a great attribute to have .
He has settled in to one of best in the league .
 
Niall D said:
Funny I don't see it as negative as a few posters on here.
We're still in transition, and I'll say it yet again, even Klopp and Pep didn't make top 5 in their first season.
Are we asking too much too soon.
For me the only pattern I'm getting is conceding first usually from a set piece.
Our front 3 are scoring as many goals, (in open play) as those in the top 3, (check the stats) we are easily in top 3.
I can't call any correlation between the :
Villa game
Fulham game
Luton game
Or W/Ham game.
Some we won, one we lost, the other we drew.
For me both the Villa and Luton game we dominated and against Luton we could easily have been 4 up, it wasn't bad play it was 2 posts and a millimetre of goal line tech which robbed us of a good win.
Yes there is work to do, but for me, if we have the ball the opposition can't score.
I agree with PYs assertion that we are currently trying to walk the ball into the net, and it is similar to Arse a couple of seasons ago.
My other issue is that we do concede from very few, attempts against.
Other than (I think) the Fulham game we've been competing in every match this, season, and we certainly haven't been battered , which is how I felt under Conte.
Work to do but not doom and gloom and certainly in the interesting area of the league. You can't win every game 5-0.
Ohh look Villa are 1-0 down against City, 2 points in it.
Only saying
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Great post Niall
Did you hear Ange the other day saying he knows we need to to improve on the final third , but we are still learning , he is still working on it , he didn’t actually say it , but he was pissed off with the fact nobody got on the end of Johnson’s crosses in the box .

He said he wants everyone talking about what a great team we are in 12 months time
 
Walthamstow wanderer said:
I thought his passing was superb , nobody got the better of him , and now that he had partners he can rely on , he doesn’t have to do all the defending on his own .
I don’t see much of the dark arts about him , but I wouldn’t like to provoke him .

Which is a great attribute to have .
He has settled in to one of best in the league .
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Believe me, every Argentinian is schooled in the dark arts. They're on another level that they can even fool the best of referees.
 
Geofspurs said:
Have to say, mutters, Greaves was never a physical player and nobody complained about that. He had a fairish career, too. Players are there for the things they can do not for the things they can't do.
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It's hard to compare the game 50 years apart though.

At the end of the day Sonny is 6ft and muscular. His lack of physicality doesn't pass your "can't do" test. It's about the player's application and attitude. No player should get a pass just because they excel in another area.
 
muttley said:
It's hard to compare the game 50 years apart though.

At the end of the day Sonny is 6ft and muscular. His lack of physicality doesn't pass your "can't do" test. It's about the player's application and attitude. No player should get a pass just because they excel in another area.
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Not sure he's as muscular as many of the defenders he is up against but that's beside the point as I can't go past the fact that Son is our 5th or 6th highest scorer ever. He does what he's there to do. But I do understand where you're coming from, mate, and it's obvious that Son conserves his energy for attacking rather than defending which, given his scoring record, makes sense.
 
Geofspurs said:
Not sure he's as muscular as many of the defenders he is up against but that's beside the point as I can't go past the fact that Son is our 5th or 6th highest scorer ever. He does what he's there to do. But I do understand where you're coming from, mate, and it's obvious that Son conserves his energy for attacking rather than defending which, given his scoring record, makes sense.
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We also had the club record goal scorer but didn't win anything with him and Son together for a good many years. Sometimes 11 players all playing for each other and contributing all over the pitch beats having one or two star players who don't do the hard graft.
 
Niall D said:
Funny I don't see it as negative as a few posters on here.
We're still in transition, and I'll say it yet again, even Klopp and Pep didn't make top 5 in their first season.
Are we asking too much too soon.
For me the only pattern I'm getting is conceding first usually from a set piece.
Our front 3 are scoring as many goals, (in open play) as those in the top 3, (check the stats) we are easily in top 3.
I can't call any correlation between the :
Villa game
Fulham game
Luton game
Or W/Ham game.
Some we won, one we lost, the other we drew.
For me both the Villa and Luton game we dominated and against Luton we could easily have been 4 up, it wasn't bad play it was 2 posts and a millimetre of goal line tech which robbed us of a good win.
Yes there is work to do, but for me, if we have the ball the opposition can't score.
I agree with PYs assertion that we are currently trying to walk the ball into the net, and it is similar to Arse a couple of seasons ago.
My other issue is that we do concede from very few, attempts against.
Other than (I think) the Fulham game we've been competing in every match this, season, and we certainly haven't been battered , which is how I felt under Conte.
Work to do but not doom and gloom and certainly in the interesting area of the league. You can't win every game 5-0.
Ohh look Villa are 1-0 down against City, 2 points in it.
Only saying
Click to expand...
100% agreement there Niall, note you have seen the same as me and others, trying to walk the ball in, confidence could be the grief there.

This season has been a whole lot better, making expectations rise amongst some of us, than was expected at the beginning when straight talking Angie first arrived on the scene.

For me I am chuffed the way things are going!

Next season we will really see the change.

And a huge thanks to Angie and the team for giving us our Spurs back! COYS
 
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