Moyes has no idea how to get a performance from his team without Paqueta. He moves Ward-Prowse forward, which nullifies him, and plays two holding players. Getting rid of Fornals and Benrahma in January and not replacing them was very odd.
It’s 6-0 now - a total whitewash. I agree with you completely, but one thing which has surprised me is their sheer lack of intensity and pressure OOP. They’ve allowed us to completely waltz through their midfield, their fullbacks have been non existent and they’re not tracking runners at all. Moyes deserve a lot of the blame today, but it’s not just on him. Their players have been a total disgrace with their lack of application.
Is that the end of Moyes? Feels like the sort of result that gets you sacked. Abject from the Hammers.
This is a difficult question to answer to be honest, Spurf. In some respects, yes. In other aspects, no. Defensively, we are much better than last season. We are a lot better at controlling the ball. We are better at set-pieces. We are better out of possession. We are better at managing games with more maturity. We are also better at dealing with injuries in key positions compared to last season. Offensively, I think the dynamics aren't as fluid as last season, we don't score or create as much in open play (though this is on an upward trend since the start of the year) and I feel like we are more methodical with our passing. We can be wasteful in the final third too. The signing of Havertz hasn't helped in that sense. We have also struggled against teams who defend deep, so this is something we need to address. However, what I will say is there has been clear improvement since the start of 2024. There were some games earlier in the season where we relied on last minute winners or individual brilliance to get us over the line, whereas now I feel like we are much more deserving of our wins if that makes sense? Not sure I've answered your question . But I'd say we are heading in the right direction.
The team selection has been ****, but they seem to have given up. They haven't won a single game in 2024. That includes 2 against Bristol City and games against Sheffield United and Bournemouth. They beat Arsenal and Man Utd 2-0 in December, then lose the reverse fixtures 9-0 on aggregate. They're missing Paqueta, but Moyes ****ed the whole system in response to his absence. Doesn't bode well that he's got that betting investigation hanging over his head. They don't have a natural replacement and their smallish squad is struggling. They've got Europa League ties coming up soon, too.
But the spawny ****ers can be guaranteed to show up and LARP the Battle of Rourke's Drift when we play them in April...
Not yet (they are still in reach of the EL slots) . "Abject from the Hammers." It did help them lot get their GD on parity with Citeh and the Poool (doing their bit for the "neutrals" ) .
