SPUDS AWAY .......... COYI, match fred, toosdy 23rd

OutcastLondoner

All those 5G conspiracists were so busy with the coronavirus when the real mystery of our time is the Moyes reboot

Pengeman

A better performance than against Wolves but still too pedestrian and no cutting edge. I thought Balbuena played OK. Unlucky to concede the first goal. Antonio did not have that much service. Anderson and Lanzini were no impact substitutes and can't understand why they get on the pitch. I don't think the midfield missed Noble once he went off. Now there is a week's rest and hope that Haller returns and Antonio stays fit. Need to play two strikers to stretch the opponents' defence.

whupathman

sky say first goal should not have stood

horshamhammer

Sack Moyes and give it to Nolan for the rest of the season. Least he would fire them up a bit.

Lukerz

Even Nobes don’t look up for it

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

The lads dont care,sick of watching them put in no effort

Also Moyes needs to look at his tactics

We don't have Haller which is a big blow but it's the hand we've been drawn,we need to win games now and this tactic (if you call it that) isn't going to get us the points we need to survive

buffybegood

sky say first goal should not have stood

Sounds about right, we had 2 goals disallowed in quick succession for unintentional handball earlier in the move, but, even though VAR checked it, Spurs are allowed to keep their handball goal.

Btw, how do we quote a previous post now?

alderz

Lukerz

Listen I’m not a fan of the owners, and they do an awful, awful lot wrong, but comparing them to the Wolves owners isn’t really fair because they just don’t have the cash to be able to compete with owners likes Wolves’.

Sure, that raises the separate conversation of whether they have the money to own a club at this level in this era (no they don’t, not a club that doesn’t bounce between leagues at least).

Hamstew

They are in it it to make money. They'll sell to the highest bidder as soon as they are able to imo.

whupathman

Sullivan family are billionaires and Gold was highly placed on the rich list as well. They have money they chose not to spend it, which is allowed, then get out of the club and stop milking it.

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

Not just the money, it's how its spent

We are only fans, I was super excited by Haller, Anderson, Ajeti, Diop, Yarmolenko etc etc. But the truth is I can count on one hand how many times I've actually seen any of them play a full 90 live

Our recruitment team need to look past "good on paper" and find players that we actually need

This team is full of players who are lazy and frankly dont seem to care whether we win or lose

OutcastLondoner

Champo, I think that’s a result of us not fundamentally not having a plan at any level. Managerial appointments seem almost random the way we jump about styles and we completely change staff each time. We go from Bilic’s full-blast attacking football to Moyes’s whatever football to Pellegrini’s attempt to make us a team that controlled itself (but often looked boring as a result) back to whatever Moyes does again.

There’s no consistency there and so there’s no consistency in who we buy. And then we’re shoving players in wherever we can make them fit.

I do believe Haller was the right buy but his strengths were well-documented and we instead sold anyone who would’ve played up to them. We’ve always needed another defensive midfielder but we sold the closest cover in Obiang, only to buy Fornals who might shown a few glimpses but hasn’t been amazing and was a completely unnecessary buy.

The players aren’t doing enough but what actually are they supposed to be doing? They’ve played ok when they’ve come out with intensity and kept that up a couple of times under Moyes. Why on earth have they done it so few times?

welovethehammers

I am sick of Lanzini getting game time when he has done absolutely nothing for far too long. He shouldn't be starting and shouldn't even be an impact sub.

We're in a relegation battle which means what we've been doing hasn't been working.

We've been trying to use him as a creative source for far too long, yet he hasn't scored, assisted or even set up clear cut chances for a long time.

To quote Einstein "doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results is insanity".

Surely when needing some creativity, rather than doing the same thing each week which hasn't worked, we should try a new approach? We had Silva we could have thrown on alongside Antonio for example.

chicagohammer

Lanzini was decent during Moyes previous stint and it strikes me that Moyes just cannot see Or admit that he has lost his mojo, Bowen was decent and Rice put in a shift but the determination to play just one up top has become tiresome.

I got the impression that we were defending the nil nil at the start of the 2nd half and they had four decent chances early in the half, their first goal was fortunate and could possibly have been disallowed but it was clear that only one team was really in the running to win this one.

We were not terrible, better than the other day but with sharper finishing we could have shipped four or five, as soon as they broke out from OUR corner, I was shocked that Kane failed to finish.

Anderson - words fail me

jay_in_cpt

Welovethehammers...While I agree Lanzini has been poor since returning from his lengthy injury. IMO the one person who has really degressed is Anderson, talk about hot and cold performances, he is simply freezing cold...This guy looks like he's simply not interested or up for it.

IMO we did play better than against Wolves, but while playing just Antonio upfront I cannot see us scoring, even tho we had a few chances.

IMO Sad reality is we have a PAST IT manager, who I never wanted back ( I did want Pellegrini gone ) but certainly not Moyes in his place, and a squad who look destined for the drop..At the moment I'm not sure we are better than any of the 3 teams below us...

I do not accept once Haller is back it'll change etc, he also has been average at best, even tho most of the time we have not always played to his strengths admittedly....

Just gotta hope we can survive, but deep down can't see it at present..

Yeoldhammer

If we go down, surely we will have gone down with the most expensive squad in history with the biggest capacity stadium ever in the championship.

Hamstew

And the biggest screen

alderz

Yeold

I would have thought so, but I'd imagine that the title of "most expensive squad" would increase year on year, as transfer fees and wages inflate. In my opinion, the squad of 2002/03 that went down would be a far more 'valuable' squad today than our current squad.

ASLEFshrugged

I think Newcastle in 2016 was supposed to have been the most expensive squad to get relegated although I'm not sure if that allowed for inflation, how much would Manchester United 1973-74 squad cost in today's money? Lou Macari cost £200k in 1973 when the record transfer fee was £225k.

Also Newcastle with the largest stadium, St James Park is the 8th largest stadium in England. Obviously that's for all-seater stadiums, back in the day they used to cram 70-80k into some grounds like the Valley

Apparently Moyes could be in trouble with the FA for him comments about VAR

OutcastLondoner

I miss Kouyate's gangly legs bulldozing us/hurtling up the pitch

chicagohammer

Despite it being my birthday yesterday, I still received the following message “please note that according to the recent relaxing of the lock down protocols, west ham players are now allowed within the opposing teams penalty box, so long as they continue to not pose a threat”

Thought that was cold

welovethehammers

jay_in_cpt - Yes Anderson isn't playing well but imo Lanzini is far more of a laughing stock than Anderson is. The pair of them together though hardly install confidence though. I'm not convinced by Ajeti but there's still an unknown factor with him and Silva. You can almost guarantee Lanzini will do nothing if he plays and to an extent Anderson too, however Ajeti and Silva might offer something different. We have nothing to lose. I would have also called back Diangana assuming this is something we can easily do.

Yes Moyes might not be great but the 1 up front issue is largely caused by the fact that we don't have options up front. We have plenty of wingers and attacking midfielders in Lanzini, Anderson, Yarmolenko, Bowen, Antonio, Fornals and to an extent Wilshere too. However no real strikers.

What irritates me more about Moyes is he isn't willing to try anything new, make subs earlier, use more subs etc. If it's not working on the pitch, then we need to change our approach; something Moyes fails to do.

BubblesNeverDies

Maybe he's saving them for the "winnable" games .
On another note, Noble saying he's 33 and can't be relied on with matches coming thick and fast, well I'm watching a 34 year old who's organised Palace's defence and wouldn't we like to have him - Gary Cahill.

MrsGrey

In midfield?

MrsGrey

Also, he was a very lucky boy t get away with that deliberate handball, not to mention the blatant foul on van Dijk that should have been a pen.

VAR not covering himself in glory. Again.

Hamstew

Anderson cost us £40m and Lanzini what £10m? Both horrendous players ATM but there is no way Lanzini is more of a laughing stock imo. Lanzini was purchased after a very successful loan spell and went on to have many great seasons. His injury imo has made him go backwards and maybe it's time for him to move on. Anderson I will never get the love affair people seem to have with him. He's had one half decent season and that was even on and off. He cost an absolute bomb. At least Lanzini is now seen as a sub so it's obvious he's not in form. Anderson I think we can agree is usually a starter.

jay_in_cpt

Welove..agree re Moyes, he publicly said he did not favor the extra use of sub, obviously as he has no clue how to use them. IMO Pellegrini played too open football that was easy to see, but Moyes often seems to just not have any idea. Will have to diasgree re Anderson/Lanzini..again IMO Anderson is so far out of touch at the moment I actually feel embarrassed watching him, at least we can say Lanzini is still coming back ( OK he's had a while, but perhaps he takes a while ) from one of the worst injuries a footballer can get ( ACL )....
Hope that both Lanzini and Anderson do find their form , we don't half need it!..
Hamstew- agree re your comments...

welovethehammers

Hamstew / jay_in_cpt - I wasn't referring to their performance in relation to how much they were bought for.

Neither of them would inspire me with confidence coming off the bench but Lanzini even less so than Anderson. Also, Lanzini not playing well has nothing to do with form. He simply isn't a good player. We could wait another year and he still will look slow, lightweight and give the ball away countless times while offering no danger in an attacking sense.

Even before his injury I didn't rate him particularly highly. There was a very brief period where he did play well for a handful of games but I can think of a period when pretty much each of our squad looked good... even the players we perceive as our "stars" (Cresswell, Masuaku, Fredericks, Yarmolenko etc).

I'm actually agreeing with you about Anderson not playing well but perhaps Lanzini being so poor is making Anderson look a tad better.

Hamstew

We'll have to agree to disagree re Lanzini. I think he was a brilliant player and had many great seasons. He was on the brink of playing with Messi at a world cup. For me his form ties in with his injury but this may mean he may never get back to that form. My point was more about him being more of a laughing stock. To me they just aren't even comparable. Anderson was bought for £40m like it or not and has had one ok season. Lanzini isn't even a first team player anymore.

ASLEFshrugged

Lanzini got injured training with Argentina, I doubt he got called up for the 23-man World Cup squad unless someone thought he deserved it