Something that brought a smile to my face As I was watching Gillette Soccer Special listening to Berbatov scoring our second the very next Goal was Mesca putting Crewe two nil up
The only good thing to come out of that game is the League table. The honeymoon is over for Rene - poor team selection; poor substitutions.
Cottager think that is slightly harsh..... Team wasn't what I would have picked but we did win plus the subs I thought were ok thought Kaca was the right decision and ok I would have gone for Dembele instead of Bent.
Great to get the 3 vital points - 2 wins out 3 matches over the break, both coming from behind. (Yes, I am very conveniently avoiding the KC defeat with our weakened team - MJ was focussed on West Ham) Despite not having picked Kara, we did well in midfield and created some 30 shots, with 11 on-target, obviously a better of conversion should have given us a clearer margin against a poor Irons performance - irrespective of the sending off. The equaliser was thoroughly deserved after a period of sustained pressure. However, the weakness in central defence gave West Ham some ridiculous opportunities - maybe we have too many languages to cope with in talking to each other or hearing the 'keeper's calls???? We should never have gone behind! Ok the wind did not help, but we could have been punished further for such sloppiness. Aaron Hughes may not be as tall nor as quick, but would have reduced the level of unnecessary nervousness. Up front, I also wanted to see Dembele come on, rather than Bent, but can't really blame Rene given the pressure of the match. Still, having said that, I think C58 is being a bit harsh. Sunderland up next for the second half of the Pair of Must-Win January matches. COYW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! C58 - I think you are being a bit harsh
Great result... So relieved. Think everybody was stressed and especially after the West Ham goal the team showed why experience matters. I thought Dejagah would have been better than Duff but he did have a good game. Bent is useless... We were playing with 10 men the last 10-15 minutes. Berba and Bent were a pain to watch equal to half a player each. The team selection again a bit puzzling but we dominated the game. Better conversion rate and would have been a celebration... It still is a celebration.
Both CB's were awful. Confidence is key but these 2 were dire today. It seriously needs sorting out but who's out there? A better team would have punished us. Harsh treatment on Senderos, I'm no fan but fans use him as the scapegoat. Still I thought we'd win, predicted a draw at first but changed my mind. WH are by far the worse team I've seen this season. Oh and Nolan deserved to go, no doubt about it.
Well it was mission accomplished but it was very nervy. Conditions were difficult and I can't understand all this passing around at the back. We're not good enough for all that and against a better team we would have been punished. I don't want to moan too much because we did win and had 60%+ possession but West Ham were poor, even with 11 men, and we should have been able to do so much better and made that much more comfortable than it was. Hopefully that will help with confidence and with Dempsey and a few new faces coming up we can move on upwards.
We're still 2 points ahead of schedule! Well deserved 3 points. I'd like to think that even though we played against 10 men wed still have won if Nolan had stayed on the pitch. What happened Taarabt!
Not really: - played as individuals not as a team - at times people didn't look as though they wanted the ball - slow, predictable passing; mostly sideways and/or backwards - huge gaps between back four and midfield and midfield to front - poor communication, especially between CBs and Stockdale Maybe it was down to the dreadful weather, but I doubt it. PS Dembele should have been given his chance over Bent who looked as fat as he did disinterested. PPS the game was crying out for Dejagah from the start.
I think C58 has a point... At points we showed brilliant moves. Think tiredness and weather have had a huge impact. The cup game is not in my priorities this year.
I do see what you're saying C58 but there's always another set of stats/ways to look at things and in the interests of balance here's my four penneth worth: Fulham / West Ham Shot count 30/11 Possession 67/33 Passing accuracy 85/65 Total passes 562/257 Attacking passes 390/177 Crosses in box 32/12 The one disappointing fact is our tackling success rate 56 / 83 I've not compared to games where MJ was in charge but I don't think they were any better. These numbers don't take away anything from your observations though C58.
