Sevilla v West Ham Utd 10th March 17:45

OutcastLondoner

Our off-the-ball movement when we have possession is so lethargic. You see moments when it switches on and we look really good but for some reason we no longer seem able to maintain it. I think that makes the attacking midfielders look worse. They might dawdle ok the ball but I rarely can see a good option for them

MrsGrey

Lads in the studio. Top marks.

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

MrsGrey said:

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years said:

welovethehammers said:

Also maybe Benrahama to start after doing well off the bench.

Think we say this every week but with whoever it was that was on the bench, not just Benrahma

Our sub attacking midfielder is always the one who does the most, whoever it is

But that sub is sent on to just go for it.

The problem isn't the sub doing well, the problem is we have 3 attacking midfielders during the game who, are doing very little

Need to be creating more and scoring more given the financial outlay we've put into Fornals, Benrahma, Vlasic and Lanzini

jay_in_cpt

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years said:

welovethehammers said:

Also maybe Benrahama to start after doing well off the bench.

Think we say this every week but with whoever it was that was on the bench, not just Benrahma

Our sub attacking midfielder is always the one who does the most, whoever it is

Apart from Vlasic who generally fails to
Impress when starting or as a sub… IMO.
Still got a chance, will
Hope Bowen is back, but guess Sevilla will also have some regulars back….
Fornals and Vlasic poor tonight otherwise decent effort…

alderz

I thought Vlasic was ok. Not much more than that, but he seemed more of a threat than Fornals did.

jay_in_cpt

alderz said:

I thought Vlasic was ok. Not much more than that, but he seemed more of a threat than Fornals did.

Agree, but OK isn’t good enough and Fornals is more consistent in decent performances, Vlasic seems just not up to scratch for me.

Yeoldhammer

Tie isn't over by any stretch, a bit more quality and we could have been coming back with a draw. I think we can get one on them but its whether we can shut them out. Can't see us keeping a clean sheet so would need to score at least 2.

steve

The place will be rocking ,If we get the first goal .We go on and win

PrestonHammer

We're still in it but I don't trust our attackers to put the ball in the net.

Lukerz

1-0 down, no away goals, home crowd, Bowen back

I mean come on it’s going to be tough - it always was - but this is far from a white flag jobby

I’m not being negative about that, boys were incredible

One moment where we switched off cost us, otherwise we were faultless defensively, decent on the ball & a little unlucky in the final third

welovethehammers

Wouldn’t mind seeing a little bit of experimentation, ie a few youth players against Aston Villa. It’ll give Antonio et al a little rest and if the youths catch our eye, it gives us a fresh option off the bench in the second leg against Sevilla.

yoyo

We still have every chance in the 2nd leg. We all know we mustn't go one down, I'm sure this will be mentioned again nearer the time

WHU_Champo_league_in_7_years

alderz said:

I thought Vlasic was ok. Not much more than that, but he seemed more of a threat than Fornals did.

Ok isn't really enough though is it

Fornals has a little more credit in the bank, Vlasic doesn't have any

But I agree that Fornals carried as little a threat as him

thornburyiron

I know it means nothing and could all go alarmingly wrong but Sevilla haven’t won away in Europe this year and have only scored once so they may feel some pressure.
They were delighted when they scored but at the final whistle with only a one goal lead they weren’t smiling as I think they sense this could be far from over.
One thing that’s almost a given is that if we expect or aim to get to the final or even win it the odds are high in that at some point it’s likely we’d have to play them. Let’s get it over with now.

MunichHammer

thornburyiron said:

I know it means nothing and could all go alarmingly wrong but Sevilla haven’t won away in Europe this year and have only scored once so they may feel some pressure.

We haven't won at home in Europe this year, scoring zero. 😉

claretandbluesky

I think they will try and shut up shop and defend the lead and unfortunately we are not great in front of goal at present as Antonio is off the pace. Bowen will be essential.

I really think we were professional and showed quality yesterday against a top team. But for one set piece badly defended we would have got a 0-0 in my view which would have been a great result. We must be honest also that although we cannot say it was lucky, as it's exactly what he intended to do, a little like Lanzini's equaliser against Spurs last season, if he tries that twenty times it goes in once.

I am optimistic that 1-0 down at half time can be overcome.

thornburyiron

Munich we played 3 group games and won 2 of them. Sevilla played CL games and couldn’t win away.

Kuchinghammer

In defence of Fornals... he was trying for the killer through ball and the Barca-esque intricate short passes. They make a big difference if they come off, but he looks poor when they don't come off.
Johnson excellent, Soucek and Rice at home in top competitions. The whole team effort was brilliant. 👏👏👏

OutcastLondoner

I think criticism or Fornals is actually that he gave away some really simple passes - not the killer ones.

steve

I blame Fornals baby sorry but the truth hurts

PrestonHammer

steve said:

I blame Fornals baby sorry but the truth hurts

Ban the baby!!!

claretandbluesky

It's such a problem that both Fornals and Benrhama have immense ability and can make us so much better but both are now very inconsistent. If we could get them to decide who is going to have a good match and who isn't between themselves before kick off it would make things so much easier, as it is we have to play them and see. It the difference between them and Bowen, he will have 9 out of 10 good performances and they will have around 5. We need everyone to be on song next week.

OutcastLondoner

I’ve genuinely started to believe it’s structural. Not just them and Lanzini. Bowen’s a more individual player and, frankly, better than them. They need the attacking unit to be flowing and it isn’t. Often very static. Antonio often out of position. They, of course, are part of the problem with the movement as well.

Kuchinghammer

OutcastLondoner said:

I think criticism or Fornals is actually that he gave away some really simple passes - not the killer ones.

Yes, I'm not denying that. My point was only that he has the vision and skill to make such passes, and when they work it makes a big difference to the team. IMO he's getting flak because of the free kick before the goal, which a Sevilla fan would put down to their superb pressing. After that, confirmation bias set in and we noticed every mistake he made. And yes there were more than usual 🙁

welovethehammers

I really think the atmosphere is going to be special next Thursday. It’s not often we are facing a top team in Europe in a competitive setting. Cherish this match if you’re at the stadium as nights like these are few and far between as a West Ham fan and it could go down in our history books if we win.

claretandbluesky

If we were to come through it then we would have sky high confidence that we could win the whole thing. They must be favourites with Barca I imagine.

ASLEFshrugged

claretandbluesky said:

If we were to come through it then we would have sky high confidence that we could win the whole thing. They must be favourites with Barca I imagine.

Barca drew 0-0 at home with Galatasaray and Gala have not lost at home in Europe this season

Barcelona still favourites 11/4
RB Leipzig 9/2
Sevilla 5/1
Atalanta 8/1
Olympic Lyonnaise 12/1
West Ham 14/1

MunichHammer

thornburyiron said:

Munich we played 3 group games and won 2 of them. Sevilla played CL games and couldn’t win away.

I know, I know. It's all about semantics, really. This year (calendar) it was our first match in Europe so technically we hadn't scored at home this year.