ELPO: Astra Giurgiu 1-1 West Ham Utd (18/8/16)

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CWM
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by CWM »

I was well impressed with Burke last night. I also think Byram played really well defensively for the vast majority of the game.
Oxford was the only other stand-out player as well as maybe Obiang (he did well at braking down a lot of the Astra's play but passed the ball back too much for my liking. That might be fine against stronger opponents but not last night).
Tore was unimpressive although he does look fiery (he reminds me of Gattuso actually) and when fully fit i can definitely see the benefits of having him on the pitch.
Calleri didn't have many opportunities to show us much he did fine and I am excited about him.

I think bringing Collins on and having a back 3 put Oxford out of his comfort zone a bit and he didn't handle that very well. However, as CB I really would like to see Oxford start for us most games. Maybe he brought Collins on to ease some of the strain on Ogbonna, the guy was pissing sweat.

For some reason I always get to a point in a match where i see a camera close-up of Noble and am reminded that he's actually on the pitch. I love him but I cant really remember him actually doing much last night besides his good penalty. Could be wrong.

Not disappointed with the result, more disappointed with our lack of potency in attack. Defensively I think the back 4 did really well, until Slav switched it up that is.
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by simonirons »

Plenty of positives to take from that..

Three young english defenders that could hold them positions for many a year to come.

Calleri got himself in some good positions, Payet, Lanzini, Tore, Feghuoli will all make the most of that.

Tore grew into the game, still looks a little of the pace, looks a bit mental, I reckon he'll get cult hero status here.

Antiono back out wide and further up the pitch, I was more gutted for him with that miss then I was with the result.

Reckon Slav will crank it up a bit next week, will see a few more experienced heads out there and hopefully will get the job done.
Last edited by simonirons on Fri Aug 19, 2016 1:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Skandi Brudson »

simonirons wrote:Plenty of positives to take from that..

Three young english defenders that could hold them positions for many a year to come.

Calleri got himself in some good positions, Payet, Lanzini, Tore, Feghuoli will all make the most of that.

Tore grew into the game, still looks a little of the pace, looks a bit mental, I reckon he'll get colt hero status here.

Antiono back out wide and further up the pitch, I was more gutted for him with that miss then I was with the result.

Reckon Slav will crank it up a bit next week, will see a few more experienced heads out there and hopefully will get the job done.
I think he'll be pony
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by DODGYDAL »

If it had been a one off most would naturally have had a grumble, but it would have been written off.

The concern, and it is a concern, is it has so far happened in 3 of our 4 games. When you then have people starting to wonder if our players are DELIBERATELY unfit so they last the season longer, then you know things aren't quite right[/quote]

You might have a point you might not I really don't know and I guess unless you are in the inner circle of the club for want of a better phrase we probably won't. I can agree that things aren't all rosy but on the flip side I don't think they are as bad as people are making out. I just think it's all very West Ham at the moment everything can't all slot in to place for us. New Stadium should be exciting (not for all granted) promises of broken transfer records (player then gets injured) injuries to other new signings and key players the more things change the more they stay the same is what it is to me at the moment.
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by davids cross »

Skandi Brudson wrote:Had a quick look on "Genunchi In Sus Maro Mama", the Astra forum.
When another poster makes you feel that you're really not trying hard enough.......Image
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Iron-on-transfer »

I still think that Lanzini and Payet are the glue that holds it all together. Without them it does look ponderous and disjointed. Think last season it was no different when we were without them two.

My biggest head scratch at the moment is that we are not retaining the ball or making telling tackles that come off like we did last year. We also seem very easy to dispossess and are seemingly getting pushed off the ball very easily in the middle as opposed to last season. Hopefully that's just down to fitness and rustiness but that's been the biggest eye-opener for me so far.
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Pulls up Trees »

If they are being purposely kept unfit to last longer into the season, then it's totally bonkers. You end up losing the early games instead of the later ones, so it makes no material difference in the end. Especially if we go out of the Europe League early on because of it too!
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by bobd_uk »

Pulls up Trees wrote:If they are being purposely kept unfit to last longer into the season, then it's totally bonkers. You end up losing the early games instead of the later ones, so it makes no material difference in the end. Especially if we go out of the Europe League early on because of it too!
Doesn't make any sense. If you make players play when they're unfit then they'll get injured. Which means that they can't train, come back unfit and miss loads of the season. Literally no benefit to anyone.
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Hammer1972 »

I don't think that's how fitness works.
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by the pink palermo »

Gutted that Iron Mike couldn't bury the chance to stick us 2-0 up , but you cannot fault his hunger , desire and sheer bloody determination to make up half a pitch to get on the end of Brownes cross .

Exactly the right attitude .
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by TSmitty »

I've come to the conclusion that everyone on here is correct.

Injuries, unfit, x had head up ass for 10 secs / the whole game, y sucks all day every day, z was brilliant last week, where was he today. We need, we don't need. etc etc. I agree with it all.

Over it all we're West Ham. We could dress the entire Real starters in C&B and come out and play like 11 grannies with walkers, or bring in 11 Relegation Rogers and play like 11 Messis. It's just the way it is.

It's early days this season and it will be a long one, no need to panic or if you want to panic, knock yourself out. On the other hand we should all be concerned, till next month when we win every game in September.

We watched unbelievable crap 90% of the time with BFS, but we watched we laughed we cried. We had an outstanding season last year right out of the blue and we were glued to the magic then we had the floor wiped with us by Swansea, we laughed we cried.

I for one sit down and watch every game now with hope at least and sometimes it's worth it in spades, other times not and the TV is in immanent danger.

We're West Ham, that's the way it is, it was never going to be easy
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Brixton Hammer »

the pink palermo wrote:Gutted that Iron Mike couldn't bury the chance to stick us 2-0 up , but you cannot fault his hunger , desire and sheer bloody determination to make up half a pitch to get on the end of Brownes cross .

Exactly the right attitude .
it was an amazing run to get there...credit where its due.
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by HammerMan2004 »

the pink palermo wrote:Gutted that Iron Mike couldn't bury the chance to stick us 2-0 up , but you cannot fault his hunger , desire and sheer bloody determination to make up half a pitch to get on the end of Brownes cross .

Exactly the right attitude .
I was gutted his header didn't go in.

His body language is just a world away from when he played right back.
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Humbug »

Antonio is a fantastic player for us. Love his attitude , his heart and will sweat blood to try and get on the scoresheet. Slav has made lots of errors with him and I just hope he'll STOP playing him right back RIGHT NOW!!!!
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by TSmitty »

[/quote]

I was gutted his header didn't go in.

[/quote]

You and me both, but right or wrong, off day or on, I'm certain he'll be back and you gotta love him for it.
It's a shame he never got the chance for the same kind of run as the kid, that must be a real knicker wetter for any FB.
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by smuts »

the pink palermo wrote:Gutted that Iron Mike couldn't bury the chance to stick us 2-0 up , but you cannot fault his hunger , desire and sheer bloody determination to make up half a pitch to get on the end of Brownes cross .

Exactly the right attitude .
He got pelters for the miss, but he'd just sprinted 70 odd yards, he had to stretch for it, etc. Very unselfish from Browne but when he broke clear, he had to go for the finish.
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Spider Webb »

You guys kill me hahaha. So Slaven keeps trying Antonio at RB....you guys keep yelling at him to stop it. It takes me some time, but he finally concedes and decides to play him forward. And Byram at RB.

You guys yell at Slaven for playing Valencia wide. He finally plays him back up top...not good enough for y'all.

Listen we were starting an experimental line up against the defending Romania champions. I don't care how much some of y'all try to downplay Astra...they're a good team. You don't win a championship by not being a good team. 3 of their players play for Romania's national team.

1-1 away is a good "result". Did we play like ****? Yes. I expect a more aggressive, offensive performance in the return fixture.
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Kialos »

My main observation from last night was that Pinky and Tore share similar hair colouring and build and could have swapped places with the performance on the pitch not much altered....

I am quietly confident we will progress into the group stages, but not the teams finest 90 mins nor Slaven's.
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Wilko1304 »

Spider Webb wrote:You guys kill me hahaha. So Slaven keeps trying Antonio at RB....you guys keep yelling at him to stop it. It takes me some time, but he finally concedes and decides to play him forward. And Byram at RB.

You guys yell at Slaven for playing Valencia wide. He finally plays him back up top...not good enough for y'all.

Listen we were starting an experimental line up against the defending Romania champions. I don't care how much some of y'all try to downplay Astra...they're a good team. You don't win a championship by not being a good team. 3 of their players play for Romania's national team.

1-1 away is a good "result". Did we play like ****? Yes. I expect a more aggressive, offensive performance in the return fixture.
Baffling, this. You've basically answered your own complaints by summing it up at the bottom. Except y'all is an awful thing to say and a real pox on spoken or written language.
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Re: Astra Giurgiu v West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Iron-on-transfer »

Wilko1304 wrote:Except y'all is an awful thing to say and a real pox on spoken or written language.
He's either from Texas, a 12 year old, or both.
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