West Ham v Bournemouth - New Years Day 2020 (ko 5:30) - Match thread

Lukerz

My brief thoughts for what they're worth (not much):

Fabianski 6 - nothing to do, what he did was fine.

Fredericks 8 - one of his best games for us of late, two cracking crosses (one of which was an assist), got up & down all game.
Balbuena 7 - solid in everything he did, couple of loose passes but very steady.
Ogbonna 9 - outstanding performance in setting the tone at the back with his aggressiveness & commanding nature.
Cresswell 7 - fortunate to not get sent off but was pretty consistent down the left, end product was not as good as Fredericks (still hits first man far too often).

Rice 8 - excellent performance all round from him, capped with a fine assist for the fourth. Not asked to do much defensively but contributed with the pressing tactic.
Noble 9 - was the equivalent to Ogbonna, but in midfield. Played a part in two of the first three crucial goals, scored the opener, won & converted the penalty. An all-round captains performance.

Snodgrass 8 - very similar to Noble but slightly less influential. Tireless work ethic & great assist for the opener, plus involvement in the second. Corners were not his best.
Anderson 7 - almost back into his groove. Some nice flicks & bits of control, shown best in his goal (not the most assured finish, but a lovely touch). Plays in fits & starts though, which stops him getting MOTM ratings.
Fornals 7 - very good in helping set the tone with his pressure, work rate & also good, intelligent passages of play. Was wasteful with a couple of chances & did play a couple of slack passes, but a good performance.

Haller 8 - much better from Haller as an all-round CF performance, plus a superbly taken goal. Quietened down in the second half but overall was very impressive.

grey_til_I_dye

And to think I used to doubt this geezer's bona fides... :doh:

https://www.hammers.news/club-news/west-ham-insider-responds-to-concern-over-sebastien-hallers-muted-goal-celebration/

Lukerz

To be fair I think Haller has always had ‘muted celebrations’, apart from his first goal he scored for us against Watford. It almost seems to be a celebration of expectation, that it is the very minimum he should be doing. He may also be self critical that he has not done more & it is a sign of personal frustration.

Hopefully nothing in it in terms of him not being overly happy at the moment. He does give off a bit of that Arnie vibe.

IronHerb

He was first to Noble after the penalty and joined in the other celebrations.
Move on, nothing to see here.

BubblesNeverDies

Having just watched the hoghlights on MOTD, I was going to say how cool is Haller's goal celebration - none of the ridiculous fist-pumping or somersaulting or knee-slides or stupid handshakes (Son,Alli), just a steely-eyed glare that says " this is what I do".
To me it radiated supreme self-belief and confidence, almost arrogance (of the nice kind :biggrin: ).
I'm expecting to see him react that way a few more times in future. :scarf:

Hamstew

I'm sure he went over to the coaching staff after he scored. Maybe MOTD said that.

Jorderz_Moyes_will_be_Moyes

I agree with Lukerz - I’ve taken Haller’s recent muted celebrations as a sign he’s disappointed he hasn’t been doing more, and he’s almost saying ‘I’ve got a lot more goals to score before I have anything to be really celebrating’.

Something else I noticed at the end of the Bournemouth match which was really refreshing was Moyes out on the pitch, slapping players on the back and putting his arm round them to say well done. Didn’t see that from Pelle. Must be nice for the players.

grey_til_I_dye

For me, it was an 'Ibra' type celebration:

"That's what I do, ' ain't no thing."

Cuz1

Maybe moyes should get a celebration cus winning is what he does

OutcastLondoner

Yeah Moyes basically assaulted Anderson when he was subbed off after the goal. Was impressed by that.

Agree about Haller. I think he seems like a laid back character, he’s going his job and expects to be good at it. But you see some of the interactions with teammates are very personal, if not exaggerated. I think for each of their goals he touched foreheads with Anderson. Fornals was so happy for him. His celebration wasn’t just a massive huddle, he actually had ways he connected with all the others. Suggests to me he hasn’t got problems.

And I wouldn’t be surprised if he had been frustrated at his first few months. If he can get scoring, I think any of that will be gone soon. I though Anderson did a good job linking up with him, so hopefully that continues.

Whitehorsehammer

Mike, I agree. I have a season ticket in the West Stand (block 111) and all around are West Ham supporters, as is the case when having a pasty in the concourse outside before the game and in The Cow having a pint before that. Before we moved there were many, mostly in the media that said we will never fill a 60,000 capacity stadium. I said at the time filling it would be helpled as London has a hugh number of overseas visitors many of them would love the idea of seeing a Premier League game in an iconic Olympic Stadium as part of their visit. This is not a bad thing, as long as it does not stop local supporters getting a seat. They may become West Ham supporters from overseas which is good for the brand, marketing and revenue.

Bazshuayi

Jorderz_Moyes_will_be_Moyes said:

I agree with Lukerz - I’ve taken Haller’s recent muted celebrations as a sign he’s disappointed he hasn’t been doing more, and he’s almost saying ‘I’ve got a lot more goals to score before I have anything to be really celebrating’.

Something else I noticed at the end of the Bournemouth match which was really refreshing was Moyes out on the pitch, slapping players on the back and putting his arm round them to say well done. Didn’t see that from Pelle. Must be nice for the players.

This is one of the reasons I love Klopp. Always encouraging, warm, supportive with an obvious mutual bond and affection. Just sayin'

IronHerb

As displayed in the mass celebration of a home point against West Brom.

ASLEFshrugged

Whitehorse - you used the words "iconic" and "brand" in a comment

I will be checking to see if you bear the number 666 as I have reason to believe that you are indeed Satan's offspring...

baracks_a_hammer

grey_til_I_dye said:

For me, it was an 'Ibra' type celebration:

"That's what I do, ' ain't no thing."

Yes for me it was like he was saying “I’ve just scored a brilliant goal, what’s the big deal?”

chicagohammer

Haller, I agree nothing to see here, it might have been a little weird had he reacted in that manner to a simple tap in, but that goal was no tap in

Hamstew

Hamstew said:

I'm sure he went over to the coaching staff after he scored. Maybe MOTD said that.

He ran over to the bench to celebrate with Arthur and Issa.

MrsGrey

#FrenchSpeakingUnion

Ravel49

Bon