West Brom vs West Ham - Saturday 16.09.17 3:00 Match Thread

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Comments

  • FlorinRaducliousFlorinRaduclious
    Once we realised WBA were not going to attack we needed to change system, the 343 with full backs as wing backs was too defensive so we could not create. Our 'spare man' in space when attacking was always one of the outside CBs, who aren't our best creative options.

    We should have been more adventurous IMO changed to a 4231 or I think a 442 (Hart;Cress,Reid,Fonte,Zab;Arnie,Kouyate,Obiang,Ant;Carroll,Hernandez) at half time, especially as it seemed Collins was struggling. Little bit disappointed Slav was not braver to change formation today.

    With Hernandez, he works so hard but he is not a wide man. Either play someone else in that role or play a different formation.

    However it's a point away from home which is always useful. We move on.
  • baracks_a_hammerbaracks_a_hammer
    Sakho is the only one of our forwards who can run the channels and be effective when he does so
  • chicagohammerchicagohammer
    A clean sheet and a point away from home is never bad, unless the opposition is a really negative WBA, then the result will leave you feeling totally flat.

    Gawd knows what WBA were thinking, they did know that they were playing West Ham Utd didn't they?

    I swear that if ever Tony Pulis is appointed our manager, I will take a sabbatical.

    Agree with most of the comments here, let's set ourselves up so that our fox in the box, can actually get into the box, I do not recall Tony Cottie playing left wing

    Not a disaster, but not that great either
  • baracks_a_hammerbaracks_a_hammer
    If Spurs beat Swansea by four goals or more, we will be out of the drop zone. Come on you... ;hmm nope I can't bring myself to say it
  • stevesteve
    take the point move on that's 4 away games and only one home .
  • SuzanneClaretSuzanneClaret
    Yeoldhammer said:

    Good away point considering our start to the season.

    So am i still match thread creator after a draw ;hmm

    Go for it.
  • alderzalderz
    Whilst I hear the argument to have gone 4-4-2, you just know that that would have opened us up, WBA would have stayed defensive and we wouldn't have broken them down, and we would have lost 1-0.

    A clean sheet away in the PL for a team who conceded 10 in the first 3 games is a positive.

    But yes, no more Hernandez on the wing. If 3-4-3 is the way forward, it needs to be Carroll or Hernandez imo
  • YeoldhammerYeoldhammer
    edited September 2017
    SuzanneClaret said:

    Yeoldhammer said:

    Good away point considering our start to the season.

    So am i still match thread creator after a draw ;hmm

    Go for it.
    its up, long may the 0 goals conceded continue
  • YeoldhammerYeoldhammer
    still think Carroll should be our last 20 minute guy i just think Hernandez in the middle will force us to play the style of football that the majority of fans want to see and we will not see punts up the top as much. I just think Hernandez has the movement to pull players left and right alot better and Antonio and Arnie probably want a more mobile player to play off than a flick on from Carroll.
  • grey_til_I_dyegrey_til_I_dye
    edited September 2017
    WBA were obviously waiting for us to open up, as they had nothing to hurt us n our starting shape.

    Would have liked the win, and we were the only team really looking for it, but as alderz said, after shipping 10, 2 clean sheets, one of them away, is no bad thing.

    i think we need to accept that this season has to be played in sections.

    Our first challenge is to get away from the relegation spots, and be bottom of the middle third.

    IF we achieve that, then we can start to look at taking more chances and opening up more.

    Until then, be very difficult to beat.

    We played two quite poor sides, and lost both, conceding 3 in each game.

    We've played 2 sides of a similar standard got 4 points and not conceded.

    I'll have that for now.
  • BarneyBarney
    a draw is better than a loss but I am finding myself questioning Bilics tactical ability more and more. we have a good squad of players but you have to use them correctly ie little pea or Carroll or play them as a pair. Bilic also seems poor at adapting our tactics as the game changes. i will take the point but Bilic????????
  • grey_til_I_dyegrey_til_I_dye
    Barney

    Well, he managed to go from 10 conceded in 3 to 0 in two, so I think he deserves some tactical credit.

    He will not be unaware that he is sacrificing Chicarito atm, but sometimes that is what you have to do.
  • OutcastLondonerOutcastLondoner
    SuzanneClaret said:

    At the end if this game I'm going to hunt down the Radio London commentators and rip out their voiceboxes ;angry

    This was probably the only highlight of the day.

    I'm not sure why we've got rid of wingers, who might not have done that much but could've settled, to waste money on Arnautovic who's showing even less.

    He has to work out how to play Hernandez as a striker. I find it so frustrating watching AC on his own, even when we try to cross to him we're rarely able to actually find him.
  • PengemanPengeman
    Was Bilic trying to boost players' confidence today? After battering in the previous three away games today's clean sheet should have boosted player confidence. They can defend and with a bit of luck can also score. With Carroll in the team it is always going to hoof in a 3-5-2 formation and that marginalises Hernandez. I don't think Fernandez can play in the middle in this formation. He could be the second striker in 4-4-2 formation but that has leaked goals. That is the conundrum Bilic has to solve as Hernandez is wasted on the wing.
  • MrsGreyMrsGrey
    baracks_a_hammer said:

    This was such a poor game, devoid of any quality that it deserves to be last on MOTD in 3 weeks time

    Match of the Day - The Insomniac Edition.
  • imagelostimagelost
    I think we played ok
    It's like the team finally clicking together
    Gotta be injury free
  • chicagohammerchicagohammer
    I do not think that AC liked being taken off, not one bit, he was shaking his head the entire time it took him to saunter off.


  • imagelostimagelost
    Some one check stats

    1st half """" yesss pants"""
    2nd ?????
    Clean sheet , point from a bogie team arguable ;hmm
  • MrsGreyMrsGrey
    chicago, I noticed. ;ok I wasn't sure if he was disgruntled at being taken off, the way he played, or not scoring.

    He wasn't a happy bunny though.
  • OutcastLondonerOutcastLondoner
    I reckon he was probably just frustrated. He didn't do much wrong but it's not like things were going so well that he would've felt he had a chance of changing things. It was one of those days where the balls to him weren't exactly right, nor was he was always in the right places to attack them - which I think is hard against CBs like those in a Pulis side.
  • SuzanneClaretSuzanneClaret
    Friends at the game said Hernandez was playing pretty central.
  • WHU_Champo_league_in_7_yearsWHU_Champo_league_in_7_years
    The first 3 games we conceeded 10 goals

    We now have 2 clean sheets I couldn't care less who they were against as it looked as if ANY team could knock past 3 past us

    He's steadied the ship with 3 at the back and hopefully the goals will start to come

    I'd be more embarrassed if I was a WBA fan not only have we been rubbish away this season but we were the superior team and showed more ambition which is working for them

    Feel Lanzini is just so key to this teams creativity as he can do stuff with the ball at his feet that no one in our team can
  • claretandblueskyclaretandbluesky
    I think Chico will come into his own when Lanzini comes back and that for me is the key to moving us to the next stage, should he come back motivated and at his best he will attack the box more directly and Chico will give him an outlet and hopefully finish, as he is our finisher that we lacked all last season (hopefully).

    Both ourselves and West Brom lacked a creative force and Lanzini should offer that. Sadly we have paid big money for both Arto and Ayew who we could reasonably have hoped to offer creation yet none has been sighted yet. I would happily have swapped them both for a carvalho figure who can bring solidity to the midfield.

    I do wonder at Slavs tactics at times and taking both Chico and Carroll from the pitch would seem a strange one if looking to take the points. The main thing for me however is that the team spirit is good at present and we do have players who can win games so it's a case of just picking up some points and getting mid table by Christmas for me and seeing what we may be able to do after that.
  • ASLEFshruggedASLEFshrugged
    Pullis seems happy with the point which considering they were 8th at the start of the day at home to a team that were (and still are) 18th is some sort of compliment

    The heatmaps suggest that Hernandez wasn't playing as a winger,
  • ASLEFshruggedASLEFshrugged
    Just watched the whole 90mins, Hernandez was definitely not playing as a winger
  • Brother_SledgeBrother_Sledge
    Hernandez was in a great position begging for the ball - when Antonio chose to shoot following some good work # if only
  • OutcastLondonerOutcastLondoner
    He definitely wasn't playing as a striker either though. Some in-between midfieldy role that meant he wasn't in the places we needed him to be.
  • baracks_a_hammerbaracks_a_hammer
    Didn't a stat show he only had one touch in their penalty area?

    It may have been a combination of him not playing in a position that suits him best and not getting the service

    From a creative point of view, both sides were very poor. But the clean sheet of course is brilliant news.

    One thing's for sure - Carroll and Hernandez are not conjuring up memories of Hartson and Kitson
  • KuchinghammerKuchinghammer
    I hope, when an attacking combination finally clicks, Slav has the sense to stick with it. Forget reputations and past performances, just keep the chemistry going. And I have a sneaky feeling that Ayew might be part of it. Or is that wishful thinking? ;luck
  • LukerzLukerz
    After 20 mins, the pattern of the game was set. We were gonna dominate the ball, they were gonna sit back as a result of their loss to Brighton. Pulis went back to what he knows. Make sure you don't lose back to back games. They were happy with a point from the moment they kicked off.

    The emphasis was on us to win the game. This is where 3 at the back does limit us. Whenever the CB's had the ball, they couldn't do anything with it to influence the play. So it ended up with us only having one creative player on the pitch; Antonio. And in any case, he is not creative in the sense of Lanzini, more through being direct, which often results in a worse than 50% chance of actually leading to anything productive. Several times he looked like he was going to threaten the backline of WBA but just did too much or took on that extra player and was muscled out of it by 2/3 WBA players.

    Carroll never has an impact on Pulis sides; it's what they want. Sakho, Ayew and Hernandez would've caused bigger problems.

    As a result, no Lanzini results in no real goals . All our goals this season have been fortunate. All the result of some kind of rebound/pinball moment.

    0-0 is not a bad result. Problem is next weekend could see yet another defeat and the slowly increasing positivity will go back to '4 points from 18' negativity.

    Shame Obiang's effort didn't bounce down over the line. The sort of moment the game needed. 0-1 to us would've given our start a whole new perspective.
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