Depends what you do over the next month during the window, but I think you'll end up 15th-17th, either Burnley, Newcastle or Fulham will take the final place with Huddersfield and Cardiff in the chamionship.
Time for some painty analysis. Redmond between the lines, on his weaker foot, he's got time to decide, Ogbonna's coming across. We never really got in this position again. please log in to view this image
I think Fulham will get out of it. And I think Newcastle will go down; their chairman wil see to that, though their fans deserve better.
So Redmond, the only player to trouble their keeper, and the scorer of our only goal, is the player you single out for criticism? Bit harsh, that.
Agree with Fulham, they have a bit of quality in the side and look far improved, Newcastle depends on Rafa and the transfer window, though they also have a few decent players, Burnley are struggling to repeat last years heroics, or luck, and their solid, well-organised defence is now their weak point. They'll probably turn us over now I've said that.
Well I obviously picked a good game to not see anything of didn’t I? Just watched the highlights on the OS and it was fairly clear we still have issues with defence, and passes going astray, etc., etc. West Ham took their chances well but we should have had a pen, which would have meant they didn’t get their second. Ho hum. I hesitate to raise this but we are in urgent need of a Man City matchday thread. Any volunteers?
Redmond’s handball was a result of his being picked up and thrown at the ball by Fabianski and Ogbonna, so allowing it was probably the best refereeing decision of the evening.
If I had to put money on it, I'd say yes. But I think there's maybe only like a 60% chance. People are a lot more positive with Hasenhuttl at the helm, and I think they should be. At the same time, there's many things out of his control. For example, I think if Ings gets hurt we're in trouble. And there's definitely a strong possibility Ings gets hurt. The January transfer window is still absolutely critical. If we bring in the right player, I'll start to feel confident. If we do nothing, then we're still in the deep ****.
I'm fine with drawing games as long as they aren't to the teams below us. Obviously, I'd prefer a win but even then our odds are better if we focus on defense first.
I should have expanded. Last season we drew 15 games and we were in a relegation scrap. Winning 6 of those and losing 9 would have been better.
This is a big reason why I've found it quite easy to shrug off this defeat. I surprised myself at how easy I shook off the disappointment - normally I absolutely loathe losing to West Ham!
Your last paragraph, re Targett. I think his eye for a pass and his crossing is better than Bertrand, although his corners last night had too much flight and weren’t driven in or given enough whip. As others say, his pace is probably his biggest weakness.
It wasn't his greatest game last night for sure, but he has been very consistant and made lots of good things happen for us this season.
Think this is the fairest view on Lemina last night. Thought he put in a great shift, but could be argued he tried to do too much. I don’t think it helps that our wing backs didn’t play particularly well. As previously mentioned West Ham were individually a lot stronger than our players. Meaning it was often taking us two/three players on one to get the ball back, you could see the energy levels draining from having to work so hard and by 35/40 minutes we looked done and half time didn’t offer much resurgence. Thought Ralph could have used his substitutions a little earlier, which might have helped. A tough night and Ralph needs to think about a decent outball when playing three at the back. Ings can look isolated If Redmond and Armstrong both drop deep to defend.
Targett's weakness in attack comes, I think, from a lack of confidence. I'm not sure that last night he tried even once to get down the wing to the goal-line. That means that as a defender you can remain a long way inside him on the pitch blocking the diagonal cross pretty effectively. Then all matt has left is a turn and pass back. If he occasionally tried to run down the wing the defenders would have a choice to make. Unfortunately, the crowd have got on Matty's back in the past so I think he's a bit scared to run and takes the safe option. Were I the Hütt, I'd tell him that if he lost it occasionally trying to bomb down the wing I'd be OK with it. Vin
