Slaven Bilic named as West Ham Manager (09.06.15)
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Comments
We weren't effective, we survived.
We were poor in every part of the pitch and we won because we put in a decent cross and Sakho made a decent run in the last minute. It wasn’t tactical supremacy.
The exact same thing could have happened the other way around, with Swansea scoring and winning, and nothing in the way we approached the game would have been deemed effective. I don’t think the result is enough to condone how badly we played in every area of the pitch.
It was Swansea they hadn't conceded away no two games are the same, you can only beat who is in front of you
I don't think anyone is saying it was a good performance and the manager certainly wasn't post match but it was a good 3 points. We hung in there and had the moment of quality when it mattered and made it count. Most of the players did their jobs, especially when it came to keeping them out
I said we were lucky because as much as they were able to win the ball off us and move it forward, they couldn't actually get it into a dangerous position.
The defenders were reasonably effective but the team wasn't. We survived by chance rather than design.
Many people have previously bemoaned our inability to do the former (what do they do in training don't they practice defending etc) or bewailed our propensity to do the latter. Or have been quick to say that conceding a late goal results from a readiness to crumble and absence of fight and passion.
I think that those who have moaned about those things and the perceived weaknesses seem to have short memories.
Yes it was a poor performance. Will there be others? Almost certainly. Will there be better ones? Yes. Will the best manager in the world change that? No.
Reasons to be cheerful, part I.
This pattern has been in evidence since the start of last season. This season seems to suggest a similar pattern:
Man Utd 4-0 West Ham
Southampton 3-2 West Ham
Newcastle 3-0 West Ham
West Ham 2-0 Huddersfield
WBA 0-0 West Ham
West Ham 2-3 Spurs
West Ham 1-0 Swansea
A group of three defeats followed by a group of unconvincing, but improved, results.
I don't want the season to continue this pattern. It means we'll get a few terrible defeats, and when we do win, it will feel bittersweet, more the former than the latter. I don't think we've played well in one game this season. Ok, we were reasonable in the Cup, but that was against sides below our level. Is the side real quality? No. We have the same midfield as three years ago. Noble and Kouyate have been together since 2014. Carroll is still relied upon to determine the course of a season, same as in 2012. We still have a short-term RB just like we did with Joey O'Brien under Sam. But the side is surely better than what it's currently showing.
In Bilic's first season, we had an identity. I know many say "it was just the Payet show". It wasn't. We were a good counter-attacking side, with adventurous full-backs, led by Payet and Antonio, who could knock the ball about well and then lob Andy on when he was fit and get the ball wide. We went through the pitch quickly, but nor through launching it, through forward thinking passes. The defence kept clean sheets, albeit was also leaky, Lanzini kept hold of the ball. The balance was good.
We've now become an ultra defensive and cautious side, who whenever we open up a bit more, we get beaten. Bilic needs to find some system and solution to get the best out of players. That doesn't necessarily mean getting all the best players on the pitch in their best positions. If he has to leave players unhappy, so be it. If he goes with Masuaku at LW and leaves out Ayew and Arnautovic for a few weeks; £6m vs £45m of signings, so be it. If he drops Hernandez or Carroll in favour of the other, so be it. If he plays Kouyate at CB instead of his preferred CM, so be it. If he sticks Antonio at RWB as opposed to RW, so be it. We need to pick a balanced squad. At the moment it isn't. The only part that looks balanced is the back five, and that has shown in the last few weeks. Zabaleta - Fonte - Reid - Cresswell or Zabaleta - Fonte - Reid - Ogbonna - Cresswell is a well complimented back four/five, with Hart behind them. But he needs to pick a more fluid midfield and forward line and make some big calls.
All IMO.
Otherwise it could be more of the same and basically what we've always done
..the clean sheet (contextualise that with a blunt Swansea strike force).
..never giving up and that they kept on going that to the end (contextualise that with not conceding 1 goal which has this season has lead to the flood gates opening).
The guy was a top 4 talent.
Bilic just had to pick him, he then did things that had nothing to do with coaching...
However you can't just say that Payet coached himself, if so why wasn't he top four the previous 10 years?
Payet saw through some of the stuff at the club and unfortunately created a personal situation which meant he had to go back
Newcastle - got battered
Southampton - spirited performance going down to 10
Huddersfield - poor game but maybe scrapped through the win
West Brom - as usual one of the worst games of the season
Spurs - got played off the park until the sending off. (basically needed Spurs to do something stupid to be bothered to do something in the game ourselves)
Swansea - poor again.
The Mirror says that Bilic will be given until the end of the season to prove he deserves a new contract which fits with S&G's profile
Saints, Huddersfield and Spurs performances were acceptable enough, WBA didn't even want to win at home, you can't level that type of attitude at us, no matter how much you think we should change the manager.
For the first 25 against Spurs we were fine, the injury and change didn't help us
In France
Payet made a big difference to us, but a lot of people had individually outstanding seasons that year.
Payet as such would be a argument for yes he can, but then I think that he was just a rare top 4 talent, a Di Canio type who you just played and let him get on with it.
When I look at our attackers in general I haven't seen it.
Antonio has stepped forward but it was like Bilic stumbled over him and was forced to play him due to injuries.
We had forward players come and go, we have players currently on the books who are standing still or going backwards.
;hmm
Everton look lost without their best player.
We only lost Payet in January. It takes time.
A team get used to a certain outlet to get goals and finding a new way isn’t easy,
Personally I think Bilic will have a good season and then walk, thanks to our owners and fans.
Not the first time and doubt it will be the last - it is a habit we have had with all our owners back to the sixties. As soon as they need to put their hands in their pockets to a large degree to improve the team and move us on a big step they shy away, only difference is that in the past we used to sell our best players to line their pockets.
West Ham are due to a few failings that are well documented where?
I think I know where I would rather be if you are looking for some ambition. Didn't like the way he went about things but I believe he was right to go back to Marseille. ;ok
I've said it often enough, it is always easy blasting someone for not spending enough, after all it isn't your own money. Same with team selection. It isn't your job on the line.