Finally Sanchez gets a day off, but Reece James, Colwill, Fernandez and Jackson get another start. None of them deserve to, for differing reasons, because all of them were very poor last start, and 2 of them for a few games before that. I don't expect the Manager to make wholesale changes, but he has got himself to blame for some of his problems. Playing only for the last 10 minutes gives no one a chance to impress . Shows just how thin we are in midfield especially , and until Maresca trusts his bench, it looks as if reputation beats form in his selections. Still, if we can't beat the Hammers ,it will be REALLY embarrassing for the entire Club, top to bottom.
Jackson was replaced, as was James. Jackson looks spent, he's simply played too much and a rest will do him good. He also slipped a few times again, please check his studs, somethings wrong. Colwills' only a youngster but he's been played too much as well, and mistakes are coming from tiredness. It's only a matter of time before Palmer blows up too, you can't play kids game after game, they will run out of steam. Better management of game time required. Pretty poor game from two very edgy teams but credit to us, we had the will to win for the 2nd half.
Was it just me or did Palmer look massively unhappy even after scoring the winner in this game? Don't tell me he's already starting to get frustrated! Maresca needs to be better with his subs. Simple as. There's no way we're going to progress if we can't trust the subs and a change is set up when needed.
Palmer sure didn't do his "Frozen" set piece. I couldn't believe how slow and boring we played. Players were walking not running for large parts of the game. Palmer was often running in circles looking for someone to make a run. Hate what Maresca is doing to slow everything down. Once Gusto took off from the back 4 and raced down an open touchline then stopped as if shot when he reached the half way line !! What's that about ??
Was out of town and missed the game, saw the highlights, didnt look like we got going in the first half. Jackson definitely needs a break, as does Palmer. I am just hoping we can scrape 5th this season.
Going in at half time 1-0 down and having played like Mogodon addicts, I was thinking One Billion quid, 3 managers (or is it 4 ??) and losing to the Hammers at our place is enough reason to lynch everyone involved with Clearlake !! I'll look on 5th place as not improving. Surely we can get 4th with the talent we have, just up the pace and use players properly, and find a Plan B ASAP, cause Plan A is not going too well anymore.
Well 5th place will get CL this year, so I was meaning getting into the CL. But yeah we should be going for top 4. You gotta think Liverpool and Arsenal will be 1 and 2. 3rd and 4th will be two of Chelsea, City, Newcastle, Forest and Bournemouth....maybe even Villa. I am not confident we can stay on top of all of them, especially City and Forest.
I didn't know 5th gets CL, so there's hope yet !!! Can't believe our pair of Mugs didn't manage to strengthen the Team one jot during January, they really are useless. Also questionable is the plan to buy kids and sell them for a profit . None of them ever play, and actually LOSE value, so we struggle to sell them at all. Genius' at work. We'll never win anything with Fernandez as the midfield partner for the excellent Casiedo, with Jackson as our only striker, and a mistake ridden Goalkeeper. Back to Middle, and Middle to Front are just not connecting properly, and Maresca needs a rethink to sort it out. PS. I think Jackson is on the right track and will be very good, he just needs help and especially decent service.
