I predicted this would be your reaction on friday, everytime we win its the same with you. Give CH a bit of credit for once.
Carrabuh give Hughton credit? Not a chance of that ever happening Fenland. If we now go on and finish top half he will still want him replaced in the summer.
Just what are you crediting him for, correcting a game plan which was totally wrong, badly practiced and ill prepared in the first place. The players didn't have a clue what they were supposed to be doing in the first half. Yes, well done CH.
so you are putting none of the first half down to a clear lack of confidence? typical. were you at the game because anyone who was will tell you that it was massively down to that. every little mistake saw heads go down. to the untrained eye it might have looked as though players were giving up - they weren't - they were just struggling to find some form. its one of the reasons the crowd stayed with them, despite an appalling first half. yes there were a few boos but it could have been far worse than that. it was no worse than after the cardiff game when we played really well. and at half time he made a subtle change that changed the game. we'll never know if his initial instruction was to push higher up as well but considering the players have stated he blew his top at half time i imagine he was not satisfied with the players attempts in the first half to play the way he wanted all along.
Who said anything about them giving and not trying, nobody? As for the confidence, it wasn't Hughton that instilled it, it was the goal which until we had the penalty was still lacking. If the players were lacking so much then why would you allow them to be so outnumbered in midfield, its stupid. The tactic change certainly wasn't subtle because the midfield actually started staying in the midfield rather than sitting off them or running away upfield from the ball when we had possession.Don't try and make out that it's not what they were told to do because whilst he told them to push up and press in the second half he told them to do the reverse in the first. It was obvious and VERY much a tactic Hughton has a long history with. We then score a free kick, (yet again another goal not from open play). West ham then have to attack in numbers and leave massive gaps for us to pass into. The team were badly prepared for that game and Hughton had been out thought by Sam ****ing Allardyce of all people.
not sure if anyone has on here, but there were plenty of grumbles at half time that players 'weren't trying' or 'weren't behind the manager' which was clearly not the case. the goal undoubtedly had a huge effect on morale, nobody can argue with that, but we did force the issue by squeezing west ham better in the second half, forcing them to give possession away a few times before the penalty incident. we were showing signs of getting back in the game. how the **** do you know what he said to them in the first half??? seriously, if ever you've seen a team with less confidence than that i'd be surprised. no manager tells his team to sit off a six man midfield. you wouldn't even do that in park football. talk about making hughton out to be useless - you've just accused him of being worse than most park managers. it was purely a confidence issue and this was obvious for so many reasons, not least the fact that in the first five to ten minutes we pressed high up the pitch. only a total fool would not understand this and clearly you are not a fool, therefore you are making something up to suit your argument, as usual. there have been times we've sat back in games before, certainly true, but that wasn't the case yesterday. as what little of the confidence pre-match drained away we drifted deeper and deeper and failed to pressurise. it really was that simple and maybe it did need a rocket up them at half time to get them to realise what they were doing. its not always easy to tell what you are doing when playing and morale is sapped. now you're moaning about goals from open play for **** sake!!! we've scored 18 goals this season in all competitions and only two were not from open play. of course west ham attacked in more numbers when falling behind - that's one of the advantages of taking the lead. their hand was forced, just as ours was when we fell behind. i wouldn't have played 4-4-2 - i think it was brave rather than stupid (seeing as it paid off) - i'd have played 3 at the back to combat their quirky formation, but that's a personal preference and it might not have worked as players aren't used to it. honestly, to just spout negative after negative after negative all the time must depress you enormously. we won, deservedly so in the end. be pleased and enjoy the fact we might, might, have just turned a corner. ah, but you can't. because that doesn't suit your agenda. what a life you lead
I find the argument that the manager set the team up wrong in the first half an odd one. You can't be absolutely sure whether the system will work until you actually try it. Tottenham got torn apart by trying to press the West Ham midfield-6 Allardici special, so the obvious conclusion, if you suspected that West Ham would be set up the same way, would be to try to absorb pressure and sit off. Try to play on the counter. How many times did Lambert get it cataclysmic ally wrong at first? Hell, how many times did Fergie get it wrong at first? It was all about how they reacted that made them successful. my gripe with Hughton is that he has often seemed slow to react or unable to. Here, it appeared he did so at the earliest possible opportunity.
Does anyone remember the scene from Silence of The Lambs? Here is a pointer [video=youtube;X_DVS_303kQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_DVS_303kQ[/video]
Oh dear, how can you be so narrow-minded? It's just annoying. Hughton set up a team which went out and won a game. You criticise him when factors out of his control don't go our way but when his half time team talk changes the game you still slate him. You clearly have something against Hughton and no matter what he does you will never be happy.
i didn't think spurs did press them at all to be honest but i'm going from memory of a game i was barely watching! from what i recall they gave morrison all the time in the world just to add, that game was the first time west ham had tired that particular tactic and it caught everyone slightly unaware and caused possibly the stand out result of the season so far. it is tricky to play against a team with no striker when they play with so much pace on the counter
Much as results went broadly our way yesterday, Sunderland winning and Stoke leading were not part of the plan!!
Europa league seems to be a curse. Newcastle and Stoke league form suffered when they were in Europa too.
And all for the criticism of Moyes, as it stands United go ahead of Everton, Spurs and their neighbours, and just 3 points off second place. Mad.
Pressing is probably the wrong phrase from me - they tried to harry West Ham in midfield to win the ball back, but with two fewer men they got frustrated and the defence lost shape.
