As I see it, this was a result coming after the recent good performances. Especially with a key player missing. Ok so a draw at least would have been welcome but RH now has an even better idea of the strengths and weaknesses of talent, attitude and commitment under some decent pressure. That doesn’t all come out so obvious on the training ground. So, Citeh on Sunday will be another massive test, they’ll be certain to deny us a victory by some distance if a lot of the lessons from tonight are ignored. It’s going to be a real test as to how well Ralph has got a grip and influence on his squad. I’m certain too that someone in the boardroom is being reminded about some decent activity in the January transfer window!!
Thought he was going to get subbed after about 5 minutes. His first touch seemed to take a lot out of him. Anyway, if you’re lucky you’ll be able to keep him fit until about February.
Think the two points that determined that result were that A) we didnt play very well and B) West Ham had Felipe Anderson playing for them.
Disappointed with the result, especially as we got in front but not too despondent after getting points on the board in the last two games. West Ham were very good defensively (impressed with Diop and Rice) plus the sparkle of Anderson. Both goals were preventable but I was also pleased to see the desire in the team tonight, just lacking a little energy to press so high. Romneu was a man possessed, Valerie is growing and Vestergaard played his best game and looked much more assured.
Always find it one of the interesting (if only in a head-scratching bafflement kind of way) inconsistencies in the rule that ball-to-hand is almost universally called outside of one's own box. In the way it's usually called, Redmond's goal could certainly have been considered a missed call, but by the rulebook it wasn't. Also don't know why it's not been raised (at least to my awareness) that if the ball wasn't bundled in then it surely should have been a penalty considering the only reason Redmond even ended up in that position was that he was effectively fouled by both Ogbonna and Fabianski. A layer deeper from that one could argue Fabianski could even be sent off even under the new rules as he was never getting to the ball, but that might be a layer too far. Thought the classic 'rugby tackle a player as the corner comes in' that joyously preceded their second was far more of an egregious mistake than Carroll's could-be red. Though perhaps not more egregious than him somehow avoiding a booking in general. I am so very glad that refs are now 'clamping down' on that kind of thing from corners. Especially when it happens perfectly in their eye-line. Regardless, we were not the better team and it's always easier to stomach referee ****ery when it's costing 'could have been' points rather than 'should have been'. Though that mantra would certainly have been tested for me if we weren't on the back of positive results, not least with as Archers said, the footballing gods having been fairly unkind to us of late. Pierre as universally referenced was a pretty massive miss to begin with and Lemina was definitely on one of his bust days rather than a boom one to really nail that coffin. Agree that I was looking for JWP to come on for him, probably not a great sign for prospects of a renewed purpose being given to him by Hasenhuttl. Valery continues to look fairly 'deer in the headlights' on the ball to me, but at least less so defensively even if he's not exactly polished. I do wonder if he has a conversion to CB in his future, but maybe his on the ball issues are strongly influenced by mental inexperience. Matty Targett is definitely getting his eye in for crossing (and creating the little bits of space required to do so, which was a big problem for him previously) but in a game where our build-up is fractured Bertrand was a pretty big miss there too I felt. I did think we were in general a little tired but the Danny Ings I felt was massively suffering, understandably so. I think I'd be almost unmoved by this loss if it wasn't for the nasty fixtures ahead which makes things a bit itchy, but the big picture is still much more attractive than it was a month ago. Or a year ago.
Evening Big Ern!! Well done on West Ham winning, and your side seem to be improving after a slow start. Just one point though - does it do you any credit to use derisory words like "thick" and "ignorant twat." Obviously, you disagree with the points that FLT was making. Fair enough, but to start using these labels means someone has lost the plot. Celebrate your win and move on.
Always amazes me the amount of “unforced errors” (misplaced passes when really not under any pressure) we make. I know some can be attributed to an “outside influence” like a poor bounce but we have a number of players who are very guilty.
Still don't like West Ham but they deserved the win tonight. Defensively strong and two good goals from them. Saints looked a bit listless and we missed PEH. Still not convinced we need Lemina. Would rather have seen JWP today.
He is fine as a pair with Pierre or in a three with Romeu sitting deeper, but there is no chemistry between him and Romeu as a pair and i've seen enough evidence now to think that it is unlikely that there ever will be IMO.
None of us were particularly worried about the start as we had pretty much a new first XI and we coud see things were inproving week on week, though most of us were comlaining about the £42m we spent on Anderson, not much complaining about it now. As to FLT I'd already answered him twice and pointed out what I was talking about, but he decided to ignore them keep going on and on about it for abut 3 more pages.
Agree with pretty much all of that. Lemina and Romeu have both had good games for us; but rarely when they’re both on the pitch together. They’re not a midfield partnership, and that’s where the game was lost today. West Ham are a decent side on their day. Seems they took a while to get going this season, but on tonight’s evidence they’ll cause anyone problems.
Playing thre CBs does boost our midfield - it gives it width with Valery and Targett pushed up the field. We just need a central pairing that doesn’t consist of two physically imposing but slow thinking individuals. Pair either one of Lemina or Romeu with Hojbjerg and we have a chance of moving the ball at the pace required for the style we’re trying to play.
