Thought Dyer was poor today. He seems to have lost the ability to take on his marker. Leon was better today although still not back to his old self. I didn't think Rangel was as bad as some are making out.. Thought Carroll was good and Fernandez outstanding apart from the Carroll goal.
and rightly so Fed and Ash need more practicing on directing their headers , the amount of times that they had time to put the ball to a colleague but gave it back to West Ham was shocking , no composure and less skill , Carroll's goal as good as it was should have been closed down either by the midfield or Fed who was facing him ,the time he had to get into a decent position to shoot was ridiculous ,Leon seemed out of sorts until the last 30 minutes or so where everyone picked their game up but he kept at it and shaded Carroll for me in the second half but Carroll imo was the better of the two overall .Taylor had a good game and when running at them which was joy to behold just pity along with others the crossing was poor .Nathan and Wayne (who was anonymous for most of the game ) were rightly substituted although we missed Nathans' tracking back when Barrow replaced him ,the game in the second half became stretched and Rangel was left one on one a number of times .Siggy not his best effort today but again he kept trying . A good result overall with either side maybe aggrieved they didn't win it .
Barrow atm is an impact player and will remain so imo for this season unless Nath or Wayne have serious injury. He's great going forward but needs to learn that he also has to support defensively .Full of tricks and pace but nowhere near the finished product
Barrow is showing speed, confidence and quality. He's raw but willing. For me he starts in preference to either Dyer or Routs and we persevere - it will get better week after week. Emnes is not a winger. So when he comes on he is always going to drift inside not hug the touchline. He can be effective, but you get what you get, and we comes on we're going to have a tendency to lose width on whichever winger he replaces. Carrol (our boy) was superb today. We did miss Ki, what team wouldn't, but Carroll and Leon as a team until Ki comes back are not a worry for me. I don't see where Shelvey gets back into this team. We are far more coherent with Sig / Carroll and Leon (or Ki). Shelvey's style would disrupt that unless he played instead of Sig. Oliveira is going to present a puzzle. He showed some nice stuff but the #10 role wasn't why he was acquired (?). A good puzzle to have - where to play him on a regular basis because he looks like he could be worth a start - we would want to keep Sig in the team I would think. IMO, Monk needs to sit out those players that are not producing quality on the final ball - this kills us and we really can't tolerate it. Today it was Rangel, Dyer and Routs - opportunities and good build play was squandered far too often. Jazz, Tiendalli, Barrow, Emnes and Oliveira should play in their stead. This is not to say that Dyer, Routs etc are suddenly crap, but they're playing like it. It's up to them to earn their place and not live on name and past glories only.
I thought the little we saw of oliviera today was very promising. Looks classy....good touches and desire. Took west ham by surprise quite a few times with his movement. Think there is a lot more to come from him. Do we have an option to buy?
At last we have competition for places, and that will sharpen the focus of Routledge, Rangel, and to a smaller degree Dyer, though I thought Dyer had a decent enough game, Emnes link up play with Carol and Gomis was very good, though he's not a natural winger, but how many sitters did we fluff? I counted 4 or was it 5? anyway we really need to be burying these not handing them to the opposition keeper.................
Nelson impressed me - looked for work and some good touches. As he came on as a number 10 I don't think he can be criticised for not playing like a striker. Barrow, just not doing it for me atm OK but nothing to rave about - but does look like he will come good. I'd definitely stick with with Dyer for his work deep, which in some ways may be what makes him appear to be less effective, by the time he gets forward into wing positions the opposition has had time to adjust their defence. As we have already seen in the bits and pieces Emnes has played alongside Gomis, they work well together. I'd be inclined to start the next game with Emnes for Routledge (everyone else as they were). Gomis was impressive and might improve his goal scoring if he can relax - he seemed tense today and maybe trying too hard in front of goal. On the point about crosses and shooting - I thought WHU made it incredibly difficult for us today as they closed down space and defender in numbers. With a bus parked in front of goal our forwards were damned for shooting and have the ball canon back and damned for trying to create space and being crowded out. Until we have more than one player attacking any crosses in to the box w are always going to struggle. Today should have convinced the sceptics that when we pass and are patient we can tear teams apart.
not an Emnes fan as a winger I am afraid, much rather Barrow to start. good point re Gomis, it was if he only relaxed in the final 1/3rd of the match and looked good.
It is interesting to look at peoples views of the game and their impressions maybe they see the games from different positions. Both myself and my son came out with different views. I thought that the back four did ok apart from the goal and worked hard to keep Carroll quiet. Fernandez is class and I can see why he is an Argie international. I actually thought Ash wasnt at his best yesterday and gave the ball away from headers constantly. As for the full backs i thought they did ok. i can see some are having a go at Rangel, but defensively he did fine. he did give a few balls away but mostly while attacking in trying to slip balls though behind the full backs, rather than continuously going sideways. So I wont citicise somone trying to make a progressive ball. I I thought Britton and Carroll were superb and worked well together. Both never stop moving and are always available to receive the ball. What has happened to both Dyer and routledge. IMO they were both very poor at the moment (Iam sure their form will return) they just don't go by anyone, don't get the ball in the box. They have always been our best attacking threat over the last few seasons but seem to just forgotten how to play. neither offered any sort of threat yesterday. I also believe that Siggy was poor yesterday but I dont think he has done much over the last few games and am hoping he gives us a big game next week because i believe he owes us one. he was in the team of the week after the Villa game, but apart from the free kick didn't do a lot for me and that poor form has continued. He is certainly at the moment a luxury at the moment and he needs to up his work rate, I just think he doesnt look fit and carrying a few pounds but when he went off yesterday was actually having his best spell of the game. i will probably get pelters for this because god forbid someone have a go at Siggy. As for Gomis worked hard in the second half and scored a great goal i just wish he would make more of an effort to get back on side instead of just strolling back into his position, but he has to do better with his chance on the edge of the 6 yard box. He has to hit the target and not put it in row Z. I think in time he will continue to grow in our side and he seemed to link well with Emnes when he came on. Game time and the return of Montero will be the key. As for the subs I thought both Barrow and Emnes brought a great energy to our game that wasnt there and they certainly livened us up. Barrow dont half get some stick from the opposition in terms of being fouled. I am not going to make much comment about Olivera as he didn't have much time to impact the game. He had a nice touch and laid some good balls of and certainly got welcomed to the PL with a hard tackle on him, on the down side his passing and movement was a bit laborious and pedestrian, but getting to the pace of the PL will come. So now I wait for someone to disagree with me and Roofy I told you they would play Carrol and britton.
I thought yesterday we deserved the point, and I'm pleased for Bafé that he got it. He's a quality player, definitely more mobile and skillful than Bony, but not as naturally strong, despite being a big boy. The turns and twists that Bafé does seem to effortlessly send defenders the wrong way. While Bony would get the ball at the half way line and bully defences for space, Bafé finds his space through finesse. Different players, different styles, but more or less the same results. Hold up play, and an easy lay off. I enjoyed watching Bafé play, but he must relax in front of goal. It should be noted that Bony generally takes around 4 shots to score a goal, and is also lazy at getting back from offside positions. How anyone can criticise Gylfi after yesterday, I don't know. He ran his socks off. Usually because Dyer and Routledge constantly wasted possession. It's a CAM's worst nightmare to have wingers on either side of you that can't beat their man and can't find a pass. So, a winger gets the ball, you make a dart forward to get into a good position to receive their pass, then they lose the ball, and you have to run back again. Our whole attacking unit breaks down at our wingers because our whole ethos is to attack down the flanks. The amount of times we saw Dyer and Routledge on the same wing yesterday was unfathomable. Have they forgotten how we play? What if we'd wanted to switch play, there's no winger on the other side... They need to get back to basics. Hug their touchlines and take players on. Work on crossing in training. Feed the ball to Gylfi and Gomis. We're too predictable going through the middle all the time. I can't wait for Montero to come back. When Barrow and Emnes came on, you suddenly saw the wide play producing attacking positions, and this is why Gylfi and Gomis came alive in the last 30 minutes. Because the wingers were suddenly actually providing decent possession to the front two. Fede and Ash were just about good enough. But Ashley "Kryton" Williams needs to sort out his headers, he's giving corners and possession away when he really doesn't have to and putting us under a lot of pressure. Fede not much better at heading yesterday, but he hung onto the monster that is Andy Carroll pretty well so I feel like he was the better of the two CBs - and without the bear hugs that Bartley needed to fail at the same thing. Taylor had a nice game and actually displayed better wing play than Routledge. Rangel had a nice game apart from the final third. Britton and Carroll gave us the exact balance and platform that a CDM pairing should give, it should be them and Ki for those two positions. Shelvey on the bench behind Siggy. Glad to see that we put men on the posts today which actually saved us a point late on. We didn't do that at the Boleyn Ground and paid for it with two goal (although debatable whether Carroll's first header there could have even been headed away). If Shelvey is reinstated into CDM and Dyer and Routledge start the next game, I'm going to have a fit.
I didn't think Siggy put in in his best performance but I think West Ham deserve some credit for that. At the Boleyn Stadium West Ham pressed him out of the game. They tried to do the same yesterday ,which they did to some degree, but without exactly the same success.
A very soothing performance in my eyes over all .Fernandez has arrived imo , he was excellent yesterday and except for a single moment of brilliance by Carroll , frustrated Carroll to no end.And speaking of Carroll , our Carroll was like a little general out There .Cant imagine the Spurs lettinghim go frankly but hope so .Taylor put in his best performance yet , certainly his most aggressive coming forward .Gomis really grew into the game .Wish he would keep an eye out a bit more for is teamates in the last third and find s bit more space for himself for a pass also but over all had a very good game .although Dyer and Routs didnt have great games , I thought they had good games .Routs touch went a miss at times .Britton was great, like usual.Fab was fab when needed late .That Olivera guy looked very composed , Emnes played well as did Barrow when they came on .Rangel was the only downer for me and was suprised.Monk never subbed him off with Tiendelli .Over all , a great point and it looks like life without Bony will be pretty ok .
We all have opinions and they were mine I am really sorry I disagree with yours and that I thought Siggy has been quite poor lately but they are my views and I cant change them. But we were all entitled to have them so yes god forbid someone crticised Siggy performance. Where i do agree, yes Bony is slow to get back onside as well, but it because he does, doesn't mean I can't point out that Bafe does it and it is a poor trait in some players because if we do close and pick off the ball high up the field they are out of the game.
