West Ham Utd 2-2 West Bromwich Albion (11/02/17)

[mushy]

Randolph is often susceptible to crosses to the back post, especially the long looping ones where the ball is above him, it seems to be his Achilles heal. Poor judgement again.

[Turns to Stone]

What we did do well was get behind the full backs a lot on both sides. Trouble is Feghouli, Antonio, LAnzini, Snodgrass etc mostly took the wrong option when a little more composure in deciding what type of cross/ cutback etc was best would have paid dividends

I think it's interesting that the two goals we scored were from long distance shots and following up. They were massed in front of us with 4 big defenders and the 2 wingers dobling up as full-backs as Allardyce used to do.

The problem with our strikers was that they made themselves incrediby easy to be marked. They didn't pull the centre-backs around enough. They didn't create enough space for our attacking players and they didn't get into goal-scoring positions enough.

Calleri and Antonio are obviously different sorts of players to Carroll and they really should have pulled wide and tried to drag the two centre-backs around (that's what Sakho would have been doing). Had Carroll been playing he would have drawn at least two centre-backs towards him (and probably a ful-back as well). The West Brom 18 yard line was incredibly congested on Saturday, and I can't help but think that a more experienced striker would have been better at manouvering defenders around.

It's worth noting as well, that Carroll (much like his mentor) is particulalry good at getting in the ref's ear. Something that we sorely missed on Saturday.

[The Old Man of Storr]

He's been good of late. He just needs to iron out some poor moments like gifting their opening goal. He thankfully later atoned for it and that's what I like to see, the right reaction.

It was hardly ' gifting ' was it - Noble passed the ball to him knowing the West Brom player was bearing down on him , and then Chadli had Kouyate and Randolph to beat which he did so with ease , some referees might even have blown for a foul [ on Feghouli ] had he been wearing a blue or a red shirt .

[Colours never run]

That reminds me, I was going blue in the face screaming st the team to shoot at sight of goal, even from distance and to stop trying to walk the ball into the back of the net when we aren't that good at doing that. Kept banging on at them whenever in their final third to test the Keeper and was ecstatic when Lanzini let fly with a couple of semi speculative efforts which resulted in both goals. It's an ongoing bug bear of mine down the years that we don't shoot enough from distance when in shooting range.

It can seem like hopeless situations but they'd be surprised just how much the Keepers get either tested or leads to a goal in one way or another, instead of just reverting to type and the easy option of constantly passing it out wide predictably going around the back. The opposition know majority of the time what's to come and mop it up accodingly. I want to keep seeing more of that shooting from distance especially when the box is congested. Foster was hindered and rooted to the spot because he couldn't see the ball properly and it causes chaos.

One of the reasons why I was so keen for us to try and get Siggurrdsson either now or the Summer. He doesn't need asking twice to let fly with a quality shot working Keepers or scoring anyway.

[Colours never run]

It was hardly ' gifting ' was it - Noble passed the ball to him knowing the West Brom player was bearing down on him , and then Chadli had Kouyate and Randolph to beat which he did so with ease , some referees might even have blown for a foul [ on Feghouli ] had he been wearing a blue or a red shirt .

For me he definitely gifted the ball back to them and his reaction spoke volumes. He looked guilty as sin and he was entitled to feel like he ****ed up. I would have done in his position. Even the bench and physio were too embarrassed to come to his aid when trying to style out a feigned injury like that was the reason why I weakly lost the ball. I also blame Randolph for his part in the goal too, really poor goal keeping. The root cause of the goal though stemmed from Feghouli not dealing with a straight forward situation and being lightweight losing the ball as soft as he did. It's unfortunate for him because what I did like was him being available in the first place to help out, just that he then fluffed his lines by not dealing with it which then led to a crucial first goal for them needlessly.

[Faubert's Boot]

Thought it was a very entertaining game.

People criticising Feghouli still need to open their eyes..... starting to wonder if this guy's name was Dave Smith whether he would be given a much easier time. He's played a minimal number of games and contributed a decent amount, despite the fact he's still settling in to the premier league style of play.

Calleri looked like he had improved too, needs to bulk up but was attempting to get more physical and showed a few good passes, some great touches and some intelligent play.

Obiang was superb.

Noble looks like he can't take to larger pitch. Looked knackered at around 65 mins.

But overall a great game and we deserved to win.

[Hockley Hammer]

Feghouli made himself available for a pass the entire game, more than any other player on our side in my opinion.

I wouldn't have said I was a big fan of his, but I was very encouraged with his second half performance.
We need players who want the ball and he was there with Antonio, Snodgrass & Lanzini always wanting the ball. This is a huge difference to earlier in the season, when nobody wanted to take any responsibility. He didn't have a great first half but I liked the way he played in the second half. Put one ball across the six yard box which was begging to be finished.
If he only scores tap-ins then fine by me - we don't score anywhere near enough of those kind of goals - they all count.
I wondered why he has started a few times. Maybe the manager knows he needs to feel that he is part of the team and stick by him to see the best of him. I'll go with the Manager's opinion. I don't think we would have been better in the second half if he had been replaced which a lot of us discussed at half-time.

[Turns to Stone]

The root cause of the goal though stemmed from Feghouli not dealing with a straight forward situation and being lightweight losing the ball as soft as he did. It's unfortunate for him because what I did like was him being available in the first place to help out, just that he then fluffed his lines by not dealing with it which then led to a crucial first goal for them needlessly.

I actually thought that the root cause was an ill-judged pass by Mark Noble to a player who had his back to an onrushing midfielder.

Noble didn't need to make that pass. Feghouli should have been stronger, but Noble, Feghouli, Kouyate and Randolph should all be equally embarrassed by their role in conceding.

[Johnny Byrne's Boots]

..........................................

I actually thought that the root cause was an ill-judged pass by Mark Noble to a player who had his back to an onrushing midfielder.

...........................

That was what I though at the time and I've seen nothing to change my mind since.

[Crouchend_Hammer]

Noble didn't need to make that pass. Feghouli should have been stronger, but Noble, Feghouli, Kouyate and Randolph should all be equally embarrassed by their role in conceding.

Yep. Nailed on.
Our defensive record is poor over the last couple of seasons not so much down to personnel, just bad decision making, individual and collective mistakes and lack of discipline/ concentration. Plus we always seem to get very very stressed and panic ridden late in games. Even someone as composed as Reid seems to get very hot-headed when defending a lead in closing minutes.

The best defensive units are not always composed of the best players, but everyone knows their job and people don't **** up

[mushy]

Did anyone see the old boy in the blue jacket lose the plot in 138 yesterday, so ****ing funny.

If you are referring to the white headed guy in about row 5, he has been going for years and hasnt changed a bit.
Used to be in the back row of the chicken run around about the edge of the penalty area North bank end.
Think they used to call him 'The bank manager' or similar, maybe that was his job.
Spends the entire match standing up and abusing the linesman, someone behind him told him to 'shut-up' on Saturday, never heard anyone do this before, the crowd around him always used to see him in a humorous way.
I love the blokes passion.

[Upton Carp]

IIRC Feg was tackles by the defender coming in from the back. All Feg had to do was stand his ground and he would have won a foul. Went down too easy IMHO.attaching his

[mushy]

That was what I though at the time and I've seen nothing to change my mind since.

Noble played the ball short putting Feghouli under pressure, simple as that.
Feghouli needs to be stronger, thats all.
I reckon that will come.

[WoodfordJnr]

I must of been watching a different game .. i thought Feghouli played well. If anything it was one of the better games ive watched at the new stadium.

[Hammertapp]

It continues to worry how fragile we look at the back. The Allardyce days really are over, eh?

Whereas Palace are looking astoundingly solid at the back

[Colours never run]

Feghouli simply thought he could take more time than was needed and wasn't alert to the ball. He was rooted to the spot on his heels and barely made much of an effort to come towards the ball. After feeling the tackle about to come he reacts too late and can only toe poke it back into their path. But again, his reaction and everyone else's told me everything about who the main culprit for the goal was. But for the life of me I don't see how Noble should shoulder the blame for a simple pass that wasn't dealt with properly. I certainly didn't want him to aimlessly punt it up field handing back possession cheaply as their was little other option. Feghouli also has a habit of drifting infield a lot making us narrow and no out ball wide, which has also caused us some issues. If he's to come infield in the thick of it, he's got to be switched on and aware all the time or he condedes possession cheaply like he did on Saturday. Feigning the injury just made it all a lot worse when not even our own bench were buying it to come to his aid when he was calling for it to save his blushes.

That aside, I did think Feghouli made amends to his early **** up and reacted in the right way when others could have hid before him. I like him, just think he needs a bit more perservering to get used to the pace of the game more which I think he struggles with at times.

[the pink palermo]

^^^^

Fair comments those

[mushy]

Feghouli also has a habit of drifting infield a lot making us narrow.

I was watching him carefully on Saturday, when we are in possession he is practically rooted to the touch line, clearly under orders. he also moves up and down away from the marking defenders, so there is always an option.
When in possession its true he drifts inside, but if you have the left back hogging the line then quite clearly this is a good move, does need someone to play one-twos with though, give and go is one of his strengths..

[Graza]

Most of them are well capable of failing to score from there.

I would say about half our players on the pitch would have finished from that position (not Calleri). But probably on 3 would have made the run - him, Lanzini, Antonio. There is a place for tap ins (normally our 6 yard box) but the "assist" for Lanzini on Saturday wasn't exactly a defence splitting super pass. If every such pass even ended in a shot Noble would have assisted hundreds of goals this season already.

[brooking1966]

Randolph is often susceptible to crosses to the back post, especially the long looping ones where the ball is above him, it seems to be his Achilles heal. Poor judgement again.

I thought McAuley impeded Randy with his arm over the top of Randolphs shoulder arm, clear foul.