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Comments
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West Ham – What a turnaround from last season. They were close to the trapdoor and until Moyes came and found a resurgence, it seemed like they may go. It was still very up and down though and it was only late on they kind of pulled away. The previous manager/s (including Moyes!) had spent a fair bit of cash for not so much reward. They still have many of those around that they cannot move on. I still felt the squad and side was very unbalanced although the likes of Bowen, Benrahma and Dawson gave them some British quality and experience. Bowen had done well last season. I still thought Rice, Antonio and even likes of Noble were the key men but we have seen strides from a number of players who maybe looked less than captivating last time out. Soucek and Coufal may not be exciting names but have been so effective. Soucek with goals and man of the match performances and has become a bit of a talisman. I always worried about the defence but a few have improved here too. Lingaard gives them more attacking threat and shows they will still be very competitive with the big wages. They still have lots of expensive talent like Fornals, Lanzini and Yarmolenko who are not regulars and the squad maybe does need to get younger but they have made strides in that direction.
I did not expect them for one minute to be 6th or anywhere near the top. I would have said top half would be a major surprise and expected them to be 12/13th to 17th place really – but just enough to survive. Oddly not having fans may have helped as the atmosphere was not always the best at the London Stadium. They can relax a bit more. Moyes has shown he is a good manager. He may have been characterised as a yesterday man but he has done brilliantly this season so credit to him. I thought his appointment would be short term to get them up, steady the ship and they would move him on but he maybe there a while longer. However, just as last season went poorly and this season has gone well, it can swing the other way as outside the top 6, as we have seen you can be sucked into a struggle any season if you are not one of those juggernauts.
Today they won easily. 3-0 maybe flattered them a bit, but it was definitely a 2-0 game. They had all the chances outside of maybe the one McGoldrick one and Ramsdale made several saves. They broke on us at will and the likes of Lingard and Lanzini caused us problems all game. They were better and more dangerous in general play and on set plays. They looked stronger and more physical but also better with the ball. Oddly they did not have much with it but did not need to have really. They were more effective and economical in everything they did do. Better finishing and they could have had more goals. It was a comfortable win where they just moved us from side to side, watched us lose it or cross it to them and then broke. They pressured us a few times at the back/midfield but after they led, they dropped off their press as did not need to. It was as if as soon as they scored, they did not need to do anymore so just played at a canter.
Opponent Man of the Match – Lingard. Not even close. His little flicks and skills got them into good areas and he ran with the ball causing us all sort of problems. He had a number of efforts on goals and obviously got fouled on the penalty. Cresswell took a few dangerous set plays and Lanzini buzzed around. Rice was accomplished in the middle too. Even the lad Johnson looked good.
Referee/Officials - Simon Hooper. They got the offside right and he was correct to give the trip. The penalty was easy. Not sure I understand the double jeopardy rule – surely it should be if it is an intentional trip which this was it should be a red card rather than an unintentional trip being a red card – it seems the wrong way around or have I misunderstood it. To me that should be a definite red card and the rules should be changed. There was no play on the ball and was a horrible, cynical foul and I would say the same the other way around. Outside of this yellow, Lundstram got one also for a poor foul. A few times we were not even quick enough to foul as they broke!
Got most of the decisions right (IMO from my viewpoint in front of the screen) and was probably 50-50 on any contentious ones.
Can we start a petition to have him permanently.
Also, let's not forget to mention Dawson who has been a revelation, he's getting better every game and becoming more confident with the ball - what was it that they didn't like him for at Watford?
From potman to potential HOTY (I know that's unlikely, but I had to find a way to use "pot"
BTW your opinion might not be agreed by a few managers !!!! and it was a fairly straightforward match to officiate IMO.
Lanzini isn't strong enough and doesn't really commit himself enough to tackles to be an effective central midfielder, which is fine as that isn't really his game, but he just doesn't seem to do much with the ball any more. With a fully fit squad, I'm not sure he even makes my bench.
Benrahma was on 5 mins & got an assist. That’s the difference.
Luke, in that case Fredericks, who was on for 4 minutes, scored so perhaps he should have played instead of Coufal. I don't think Lanzini was playing like for like with Benrahma or Noble for that matter.
Herb - not really the same logic, but if you use that logic, you could argue he maybe deserved a start at LWB, which is where he played after he came on.
Benrahma has a string of starts as one of the attacking midfielders, with half a dozen assists, good work rate & influential performances. Lanzini has now had more or less two years where his contribution is very little. He’s not as bad as people make out, but games pass him by (for me).
But do agree we all see different things during aw game 👍🏻⚒👍🏻
I think the thing for me that Lanzini just doesn't offer anymore is an ability or propensity to run with the ball. Against Sheffield United, he was on for an hour and took on nobody (according to Whoscored), Benrahma was on for five minutes and did. I'm not saying Lanzini doesn't bring anything to the table, because he does (3 key passes on Monday), but we look most dangerous when we have players who can transition us from defence to attack - Antonio, Benrahma, Lingard, Bowen, Rice are all players who can run with the ball and get us up the pitch.
Noble had 1 aerial duel. Same as Rice and Lanzini had 0.
Noble had no shots. Neither did Lanzini.
Noble made 22 passes compared to Lanzini' s 27.
Dribbles - 0 for both players (Surprising? Lingard 8, just for comparison)
Noble made 1 interception, Lanzini 0.
Blocks and Clearances - Noble 0, Lanzini 1.
Fouls, Lanzini 0 Noble 1.
Touches, Noble 24 Lanzini 35. Lingard 61.
Losing possession, Noble 0 Lanzini 4. Lingard 4.
Of course this doesn't tell the whole story of a match as there is no context. And we aren't comparing like with like. But it isn't fair to say Noble did nothing and imo also unfair to say Lanzini is being scapegoated.
I was yelling at the TV every time Lanzini lost possession but looking at the stats he wasn't as bad as my perception.
If you think Lanzini was playing more like Lingard and Bowen, you can compare their stats. I got all this from whoscored.
Maybe we should compare Benrahma and Lanzini but it would have to be in different matches.
To be fair, I think most of us have a loyalty to Lanzini as he’s been here a while now. What’s that, nearly 6 years. He was here at the Boleyn & now here with us in the new stadium, played under 3 different managers. I want him to recover his old form. He had a very bad injury & that’s not his fault.
He also has had limited minutes. I think his attitude has been spot on, especially in those Cup games he’s played against lower league sides. I do think he has looked sharper this season & part of me wonders, if we give him 5/6 starts in a row, will he find some rhythm? Whenever I see him in the side, I don’t think ‘that’s a loss’. I’ll always text somebody & say ‘I really hope this is the day he looks like his old self’.
I think the ball to Lingard was a simple pass, but agree it was still a nice ball. He had acres of the pitch in front of him & I would expect any decent footballer to be able to float a pass into another player from there with nobody between him & Lingard & under no pressure. But that would have been a nice move had Bowen made a better run or Lingard cut inside & finished. Benrahma’s bit of play for the third goal, or his ball for Souček at Villa Park. That’s what I expect Lanzini to be able to do.
I just want him to have a game where all the analysis at HT & FT is about him. Think the last time that happened was Huddersfield away back in 2017/18.
I know stats don’t tell the whole story, but given in two of those seasons we’ve had no real danger of relegation, & where he plays, I think you are entitled to expect more than 2 goals.