Yuck! Stupid Villa on Wednesday!

steve

That was so good to see after the liverpool game ,to bounce back like that proves how far we have come ,Hope those 2 goals for Lingard helps him to push on with us ,Well done moyes .And great game lads ,really put Villa in there place

steve

Oh yes and guess Moyes does win football games

Pearces_Left_Foot

Well done Moyes and the players after the Liverpool game when we seemed so flat and not really at it at all to put in such a good performance shows we have bounce back ability and good team spirit good to see lingard do well. Would like benhrahma to get a goal soon think it will do him a world of good to get it out of the way.

thornburyiron

Seems odd only being 2 points behind Liverpool. Normally we are lucky to be that close by the middle of August. They must be desperately looking over their shoulders.

Yeoldhammer

Coufal was immense kept Grealish down all game.

IronHerb

Did you notice Hoddle commenting on the 'strength in depth' we have?

#justasking 😀

Lukerz

IronHerb said:

Did you notice Hoddle commenting on the 'strength in depth' we have?

#justasking 😀

Whilst everybody is fit, this is the case. I would say with us it’s the quality rather than depth. We have a decent level of replacement on the bench, rather than numbers; Diop, Balbuena, Lanzini, Fornals, Bowen, Yarmolenko. That’s a good level of substitute. A lot of clubs have one or two options & the rest are pretty average.

Focus is on keeping them fit. Maybe Moyes can do it. Many felt SouDec were blowing on Sunday yet today it was as if it was first day of the season.

alderz

IronHerb said:

Did you notice Hoddle commenting on the 'strength in depth' we have?

#justasking 😀

Is that the same Hoddle that thought we’ve been playing a back five for the whole season?

We do have strength in depth in some positions. We just don’t in others.

Hamstew

IronHerb said:

Did you notice Hoddle commenting on the 'strength in depth' we have?

#justasking 😀

I noticed Hoddle bringing every conversation back to be about Grealish

baracks_a_hammer

Small shout out to Fredericks. He must have been frustrated at Coufal being preferred over him. He’s had his injuries and patchy form but he came in when asked and played his full part in an immense overall team performance

IronHerb

The Coufal / Fredericks ploy worked perfectly. Grealish was the threat and apart from one excellent pass to Watkins he was kept quiet. With Fredericks in front of him Coufal did not need to worry about bombing up the wing as he usually does, Fredericks took care of that for him. Coufal took care of Grealish with Fredericks helping out. His defensive knowledge probably gave him the nod over Bowen for that role.

It's great when a plan comes to fruition.

OldCastleSwift

Dodger58 said:

But the muppets in the (BBC) studio claim Villa had an off day ... grrrrr

I've just watched the MOTD highlights. Seems to have been a real inconvenience to them that West Ham won. 'Just an off day for Villa', they concluded.

At least Micah Richards acknowledge the job that Coufal and Fredericks did on Grealish, which goes a long way to explaining why they had an 'off day'. Moyes got it spot on tactically and our players outperformed theirs.

alderz

I didn’t think the MOTD analysis was bad, tbh. They had a whole section about how good they were. The only thing they did wrong was they didn’t bother to actually show any of Grealish being marked out of the game. They just mentioned it at the end and moved on, rather than criticise their little baby boy.

PrestonHammer

I'm waiting to hear what Gabby "Grealish is my love child" Agbonlahor has to say about last night's performance.

Lukerz

I did take some joy from Grealish going down after a challenge from Coufal, he barely touched him (a free kick was given), Coufal gave him the ‘get up sunshine’ & then within 20 seconds we were 0-2 up.

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

The togetherness of this squad is unreal

Another Moyes masterclass, completely outplayed villa when a lot thought we'd lost our edge during Liverpool

Didnt think there was much reading into the Pool game, we just weren't at the races and they controlled the midfield....the lads looked sharp today and fit

Shoutout to Coufal because if it wasn't for the fact that Cancelo is playing like KDB but at RB, he'd 100% be in with a shout to get in the PFA team of the year....hes just a fantastic player

£6mil or whatever it was is a huge bargain, easily signing of the season in the league

And respect to Lingard, I supported him because Moyes did and ive seen the resurgence of Stones who just needed that confidence back, but even I didn't expect that type of performance after the lack of gametime

He was bright, hungry and played with a passion we've seen Moyes install in us since he came back

Man...I love this season

Lukerz

Was there not a penalty on Souček in the first half? Seemed to be tripped but nothing was made of it?

OutcastLondoner

Credit to both Lingard and Stones by the way. I didn't want either because I feel like so many English players never bounce back from these dips and media scrutiny (like Hart etc.) but both of them have done well. Obviously we'll have to see whether it's more than one game for Lingard but it will be hard to contain that kind of energy.

baracks_a_hammer

Some people might not be old enough 😂, but I feel this season is (so far) closer to season 85/86 rather than 2015/16. The latter largely revolved around the freakish form of one individual. 85/86, in spite of the front duo’s goals, was underpinned by the tireless work of the likes of ward, Devonshire, dickens, etc.

alderz

baracks_a_hammer said:

Some people might not be old enough 😂, but I feel this season is (so far) closer to season 85/86 rather than 2015/16. The latter largely revolved around the freakish form of one individual. 85/86, in spite of the front duo’s goals, was underpinned by the tireless work of the likes of ward, Devonshire, dickens, etc.

I was not alive, but I have read about that season a fair amount, and I've always been jealous that I've never seen us do anything quite like it, so the comparison is really exciting.

I would agree that it feels difference to 2015/16. This time our form and our approach feels sustainable and like something we can build on (though I do think we are playing ever so slightly above ourselves right now), whereas 2015/16 felt like the wheels could come off any minute.

OldCastleSwift

Lukerz said:

Was there not a penalty on Souček in the first half? Seemed to be tripped but nothing was made of it?

He was too honest, IMO. There was contact that unbalanced him and Cresswell was appealing in his underrated Scouse way. The BT pundits (two ex-players) said it was definitely a penalty (Brown-Finnis even made the point that someone like Grealish would have gone down and been awarded one); Peter Walton said it wasn't.

Personally, I think it would have been a soft one, but I'm convinced certain players/clubs would absolutely have been awarded it.

Lukerz

2015/16 was fuelled by emotion.

Fair play to that squad, because they all bought into that, epitomised by that classic 3-2 win in the final game (probably the best game I have seen).

The appointment of Bilic, was almost suited to being an interim one-year deal for that reason. The group built a collective emotion, ran with it, & the signing of Payet just could not have gone any better. He was world class for that one season, but has not been since & wasn't before.

I do agree with alderz, I can't help feel we are playing just above ourselves, but another half a dozen games with performances as they are, maybe we can start to think maybe we are just that good. The humility & honesty of this squad is great to get on board with, the effort levels, but there is a substantial bit of quality to go with that.

thornburyiron

For me Lingard epitomised what Moyes keeps saying in that he wants energetic young(ish) players who buy into the project and want to work for the team.

OldCastleSwift

I also think Rice being captain has made a big difference. He seems to have a very naturally positive and infectious personality. He's 100% effort and commitment in every game and I think this is rubbing off on the squad. Noble has been a great captain over the years, but I think Rice is more of a presence on the pitch; he's so comfortable on the ball and that must instill confidence. It's almost as if he represents the new West Ham and Noble, as much of a legend as he is, the old.

thornburyiron

Interesting on MOTD that Sidwell said when they were discussing Soucek that he’d been talking to Rice who’d said he loves playing alongside him.

OutcastLondoner

alderz said:

baracks_a_hammer said:

Some people might not be old enough 😂, but I feel this season is (so far) closer to season 85/86 rather than 2015/16. The latter largely revolved around the freakish form of one individual. 85/86, in spite of the front duo’s goals, was underpinned by the tireless work of the likes of ward, Devonshire, dickens, etc.

I was not alive, but I have read about that season a fair amount, and I've always been jealous that I've never seen us do anything quite like it, so the comparison is really exciting.

I would agree that it feels difference to 2015/16. This time our form and our approach feels sustainable and like something we can build on (though I do think we are playing ever so slightly above ourselves right now), whereas 2015/16 felt like the wheels could come off any minute.

The thrill of being able to beat anyone was so good during the 2015/16 season though. If this season didn't end up leading to something we built on, I'd remember 15/16 much more but I agree this feels more sustainable. Both seasons have been kind of freak seasons but I actually think the bigger teams have done better this time around than back then, so it is impressive we're still up there.

Lukerz

One bit I found amusing, the assistant referee in front of Moyes (after our opener) nodding his head as if to say ‘finish lad’.

buffybegood

Lukerz said:

Was there not a penalty on Souček in the first half? Seemed to be tripped but nothing was made of it?

I said this during the match, pretty sure it's another that would definitely have been awarded to Salah, Kane or Grealish. Maybe not as nailed on as the one on Soucek a few weeks ago, but yet another that we didn't get that another team would have.

buffybegood

I thought we pressed and won back possession more times in this game than in any other game I can remember. Benrahma in particular seemed great at this, Lingard too, and, tbh, I'd much rather they be there to do it as it means there's a bit less for Antonio to do; as much as I want him to have through balls to chase or players to close down, I kinda cringe every time he does.

BubblesNeverDies

Have a look at the player ratings on BBC.
Villa's highest rated is Watkins, average 5.52 with Grealish at 4.32
West Ham's highest is Lingard, average 9.15 lowest is Ben Johnson 6.8

Let's all laugh at Villa.