Swansea 1-1 West Ham Utd (10/01/15)

[carnage]

He does offer a threat in behind but have we ever utilised it with a cutting pass/Carroll flick on? I can't remember him in a one on one a la Henry, not that I would expect him to score it.

[Hockley Hammer]

Fabianski made decent saves from Jenkinson and Downing.
He also did well to force Carroll to shoot wide from the spilled free kick. If Carroll hit the target Fabianski blocks it so it wasn't a miss as such.
Plus the header off the line.
A decent amount of chances for the away side most after they had equalised.

[the pink palermo]

not that I would expect him to score it.

My assessment as well at this point in time .He may come good and Bobby has written a well considered piece in this thread on his abilities ,Time will tell .

[bubbles1966]

He does offer a threat in behind but have we ever utilised it with a cutting pass/Carroll flick on? I can't remember him in a one on one a la Henry, not that I would expect him to score it.

No, we haven't.He, and Sakho, both seem to wander offside regularly.

It will sometimes make it easier for Carroll to impact though as the threat pushes the opposition deeper.

The caveat as ever is that it was Swansea, a team that seem utterly clueless when confronted with Carroll.

Every other team seems to have realised that you stick a proper holding midfielder just ahead of him, but Swansea employ a bloke the size of a Subbuteo piece.

[cockney farmer]

He's quality , we (Sam) don't play to his strengths the run just before he came off terrified them ( he might have got us a win if he'd stayed on)

Best bit about yesterday was listening to Spurs lose as we approached Taunton

[bullyhammer]

[
To those saying we played well, I disagree. I can't even begin to guess at what possession we had in second half. If it was 30% I'd be amazed. We offered nothing until they scored. I hope we don't see 3 CBs again. It's no good having a spare man in the back line and offer nothing in midfield.

Pretty sure it was 45/55% in our favour at the half, and was 60/40% to them by the end. So 30% second half would be about right.

I understand those who say the opposition are always going to have good spells, that you have to give them credit for not allowing us to attack, that Swansea have a good home record etc. But none of that can hide the fact that the phrases, "clean sheet" and "respect the point" are foremost in our manager's mind when in comes to the general way we play, especially when a goal up. I don't expect all out attack from start to end, and shutting up shop with 10 mins to go is understandable. I'd just like to see a little more adventure from time to time.
Don't think Sam would get on very well in the SAS, his motto seems the exact opposite of theirs...

[Welsh Iron]

The closest away game for us and it made a nice change not to have a 3 hour drive down the M4. As a result, the Gwent Hammers were well represented, although we couldnt get seats all together as only a few of us are ST holders so most had to wait till tickets went to general sale.

As for the game, when the team was announced it was obvious that we were respecting the point, which wasnt too much of a disappointment as Swansea play well at home. Once the game progressed though, I thought we could have got the win. I could understand Nolans inclusion, with Song not travelling and in fairness, his performance was big improvement on Tues night.

A piece of individual brilliance from Big Andy gave us a bit of lift, as we were a bit quiet up till then. I initially thought he'd lost the ball, then saw it screaming into the top corner from some quick feet and a great strike. The celebration was definitely aimed at the home fans. We were at the other end, behind the goal.

Collins did gesture to the bench that he'd taken a knock but seemed to run it off within a few minuites. it looked as though Nolan also took a knock in the kidney area and visibly struggled afterwards. There wasn't any booing I could hear in our area (lower tier to the right of the goal) when he went off

The equaliser was a bit fortuous, coming back off the post to hit Noble and go in. Another day and it may have bounced wide. It wouldnt have happened if Collins had been on the park anyway, as it would have been his man to mark. As it was, I think it was Nolan who was the nearest of our players so maybe he should shoulder some of the blame.

Jenkinson was my MoTM and we need to do whatever it takes to make his move permanent. How good was that block, eh? Cresswell also had a good game, he's taken to life in the Prem really well.

All in all, a point away is a decent return but I think we couild have come away with all 3 if we'd have kept the pressure up early in the second half.

Ah, well. back to the M4 for the remainder of the season

[giantsteps]

What chances? Neither goalkeeper made a save worthy of the name. Our right back had one fizzing shot and we had a nod from a cross cleared off the line. Other than that I didn't see the goal threatened.

It was a nothing game. We never got our foot on the ball. We scored a goal born from individual brilliance and conceded an awful one from a corner. Other than that there was nothing to report.

We had loads of chances.

Downing had a rasping effort palmed over the bar by their keeper plus Jenkinson had a powerful, swirling shot saved.

Cresswell had a decent ree-kick saved which the keeper could only parry away which Carroll latched on to (and should of scored imo).

We had a header cleared off the line, which is what Noble should of done the other end really.

How many more chances do you want?

[Pulls up Trees]

Sloppy goal to concede, totally unprofessional from Collins. Modern day footballer being a mincer. - there was no need to have the physio on knowing he'd go off having to defend a set piece. A few of the players seemed to tell him so when he came back on after the goal.

That's very harsh mate. Especially as the officials have new rules to treat head injuries much more seriously.

I'd say it was more unprofessional of the rest of the team for not picking up one of Swansea's biggest players when they knew Collins was off.

[James P]

How many more chances do you want?

Maybe you're right. Just felt where I was that there was only one team playing second half. We just seemed completely incapable of retaining possession. I felt it was a poor half.

[Aceface]

Valencia's currently filling a Diame-like function - he's a good outlet for getting the ball downfield when we're parking the bus - which seems to have crept back into our game management - even if the end product, like Mo's, isn't quite there at the moment. The difference is we know Valencia has some goalscoring pedigree so we just have to stick with it until he gets into the groove.

He seems like a massive confidence player - after that strike at the KC he was shooting from all angles and distances for the next couple of games. Whereas now he's losing the ball because he's trying to take an extra touch or trying to take it closer to goal before pulling the trigger.

I like him, but I can foresee some grief coming his way from some quarters if he doesn't start netting a few more in this second half of the season.

[peter49uk]

Valencia's currently filling a Diame-like function - he's a good outlet for getting the ball downfield when we're parking the bus - which seems to have crept back into our game management - even if the end product, like Mo's, isn't quite there at the moment. The difference is we know Valencia has some goalscoring pedigree so we just have to stick with it until he gets into the groove.

He seems like a massive confidence player - after that strike at the KC he was shooting from all angles and distances for the next couple of games. Whereas now he's losing the ball because he's trying to take an extra touch or trying to take it closer to goal before pulling the trigger.

I like him, but I can foresee some grief coming his way from some quarters if he doesn't start netting a few more in this second half of the season.

Or if they were able to get players breaking out to support him, what I saw when he was the outlet ball he had at least three swans around him. But that's what happens when you defend so deep and in numbers.
I just hope his confidence doesn't suffer ,and that he is also getting a lot of support from the coaching staff.

[Johnny Byrne's Boots]

I've been racking my brains for who and what AC's goal reminded me of and I've finally remembered.

Dennis Bergkamp.

[sendô]

Plenty of chances to win it but for their keeper making some good saves we might have done, and their goal was a rebound off the post from a corner when Ginge wasnt on the pitch.

For me the formation was wrong, we sat too deep and invited more pressure than we needed, but as stated above, we made enough chances to win it. Still, not a bad away point.

[bullyhammer]

I've been racking my brains for who and what AC's goal reminded me of and I've finally remembered.

Dennis Bergkamp.

An Arse player!!?? Wash yer mouth out! :lol:

[Johnny Byrne's Boots]

^^^^^ That soap tasted awful.

The real problem with their goal wasn't Ginge being off the pitch, it was Noble. He has one job at corners, to stay on the back post. On the replays it looks a bit like he had already left his position and was moving towards the ball as Gomis was about to head the ball. He literally abandoned his post.

[Billydinho]

Andy Carroll is nothing like Bergkamp.

Jesus, let's not get carried away gents. Good goal but not likely to be making any DVDs.

[ashbanki]

For my sins,I was seated(along with my daughter) amongst the hardcore home fans, who stared on Carroll from the warm up!!
When Carroll scored and came over to cup his ears at our stand's most vocal critics they were apoplectic!The thumbs up from AC had my daughter returning the sign and a nervous couple of seconds for me!!
Every player put in a shift - with Noble being my MOM.Nolan just has not got the legs and we really missed Song's forward passing that makes the receipients run on to the ball rather than slow down or stop for it.
Good day that ended with many of the home fans around me feeling they were lucky to get a point and that that "gypo" Carroll scares the **** out of them.

[neathiron]

Good point earned, but thought Swansea were there for the taking yesterday what with a few of their key players missing. Great goal from Carroll which came from out of nowhere, couldn't see who scored it properly at the time, only seen ball flying into top corner of the net. Good for him to silence the Jacks who were calling him Gyppo every time he got the ball. Only when i seen the replay in the concourse at half time could i fully appreciate how good a goal it was. Not good when you're short sighted and been on the beer early doors as well, causes havoc with the vision! Same with the Swansea goal, didn't realise Collins was off the pitch at the time until i read it on here I did groan when i heard Nolan was starting, but in all fairness he didn't have a complete mare like he did at Everton. He made a few good interceptions. As others have said i also thought Jenkinson had a cracking game, as well as Cresswell and Collins. Thought Downing had a quiet game or am i being harsh, perhaps expecting a bit too much seeing as he's put in so many good performances this season. Also heard before game that there had been some aggro between West Ham and Portsmouth fans who were down in Newport yesterday. Any truth in this?

[bullyhammer]

For my sins,I was seated(along with my daughter) amongst the hardcore home fans, who stared on Carroll from the warm up!!
When Carroll scored and came over to cup his ears at our stand's most vocal critics they were apoplectic!The thumbs up from AC had my daughter returning the sign and a nervous couple of seconds for me!!
Every player put in a shift - with Noble being my MOM.Nolan just has not got the legs and we really missed Song's forward passing that makes the receipients run on to the ball rather than slow down or stop for it.
Good day that ended with many of the home fans around me feeling they were lucky to get a point and that that "gypo" Carroll scares the **** out of them.

Can imagine your position! Thanks for the insights; it's always useful to get the opposition view, puts thing into better perspective.