Newcastle Utd 3-0 West Ham Utd (26/08/17)

[Marky]

Not at our best today , in truth they could have scored 5 or 6 .Three though did the damage , and we now can be sure of no European football via a league place qualifying process for next season .

A GD of -8 after 3 matches and 3 goals a game getting shipped in is appalling at any level , at this level it smacks of un professional stuff .

Newcastle worked harder than us and wanted it more: they had a plan and stuck to it .

Before a ball was kicked I predicted 4 points from the opening 6 matches , I'm now revising that down to 3 points .Lose to Huddersfield and it will be 0 .That game will follow the rest of the weekends matches and the pressure will be right on .

I'm not sure the Board will stick with him in the hope we can get a win against the Terriers , but let's not forget they are the idiots that put us in a position of having no home game until September 10th , and they are the fools who continually fail to give Managers the squads they need .

Never mind Bilic , it's Gold and Sullivan that need turfing out .

We're on the road to nowhere .

In the last year you have said Not at our best today more than any other since 2009. It's depressing and I follow your posts

[hammer1975]

Has Bilic said anything about why he didn't start our best defensive mid (and one of he players of last season)?

[Morocco Mole]

Starting the woefully out of form Fernandes at left wing then moving him to holding midfield when Obiang and Kouyate are collecting splinters on the bench is up there with the 'Antonio at right back' school of management....

[Wilko1304]

Fernandes actually did alright as the base of the midfield, a lad who can play well when given a clear job to do. Thought Ogbonna did as much as he could too.

This was a poorly managed side. Biggest indictment I can give is that it reminded me of when we had Allardyce and played any Swansea side. Benitez just outmanaged Slav with ease.

Sadly, I don't think Sav understands midfield. No balance, all without roles seemingly, no thread between them. Is almost like we are usually better chasing cos we can bypass it.

[DannyboyDJL]

Fernandes actually did alright as the base of the midfield, a lad who can play well when given a clear job to do. Thought Ogbonna did as much as he could too.

This was a poorly managed side. Biggest indictment I can give is that it reminded me of when we had Allardyce and played any Swansea side. Benitez just outmanaged Slav with ease.

Sadly, I don't think Sav understands midfield. No balance, all without roles seemingly, no thread between them. Is almost like we are usually better chasing cos we can bypass it.

He tries to play like Man City. All players interchanging positions and overlapping full backs, but it ends up looking like nobody knows where they are playing and everyone is clueless.

[Colours never run]

Starting the woefully out of form Fernandes at left wing then moving him to holding midfield when Obiang and Kouyate are collecting splinters on the bench is up there with the 'Antonio at right back' school of management....

Took the words out of my mouth. f*** knows why he's kept persisting with the ineffective Fernandes over Obiang and couldn't believe when I saw the team sheet what Bilic is playing at.

[miles]

Why would you start Fernandes on the left. Not even tucked in centrally like in the diamond we played with on Wednesday but actually out wide as winger. Especially in a game like this. Just boggles the mind, that one.

[Gep]

Business as usual yesterday. Inept management. We've got the tools, however not the workman. Rogue traders.

[the pink palermo]

In the last year you have said Not at our best today more than any other since 2009. It's depressing and I follow your posts

Marky , we're all over the place , no consistency in selection, no regular system, no style of play , no game plan , honestly I cannot see what we are trying to achieve .

Yesterday there was not one single aspect of our game that I could , hand on heart, say didn't need work on the training ground .

One of my travelling companions from yesterday made an astute observation in so much as he felt we were signing players as a marketing exercise rather than what the team needed : recruiting to sell tickets for Stratford as opposed to them buying tickets to see a decent team gradually climbing the league table .

In other words,a tourist has heard of Zabaleta and will go and watch him play rather than if we had signed a RB from the championship .The impact of that is we're turning into Dads Army , an ageing, slow group of players , all of whom have been heard of , but most of whom have had better days .

Who do you think you are kidding Mr Sullivan ?

[the pink palermo]

A good relegation scrap will show us who is staunch and who ain't.

Funnily enough Doc we had a similar chat on the way home , quite excited we were about there being most likely something on every game after Christmas , neatly avoiding the Curbs zone of mid table boredom .

[finlandhammer]

Watching the game yesterday. Can someone tell me why, on 3 occasions, we had a free kick just inside their half. Instead of putting it into the box, we chose to tap the ball 3 yards to the side and after a few more passes sideways and backwards the ball eventually ends up with JH who then hoofs it up to the half way line and is me by a Newcastle player. Rule number 1. When you have a set piece opportunity.....use it ! Who has been teaching these tactics of wasting the free kicks. Saw this as well at the LC game midweek as well.

[Aceface]

The focus is on the defence again, not unsurprisingly. But equally telling is we finished the game with Hernandez, Antonio, Lanzini, Sakho and Kouyate on the pitch and might not have scored if the game finished on Monday. It's critical to note that when teams are accused of being too open, it usually means as a result of adopting an overly attacking set-up - what has been on display at Old Trafford and SJP isn't that. They've just been teams that have utterly failed at both aspects of the game.

[bspur1]

[quote="the pink palermo"
In other words,a tourist has heard of Zabaleta and will go and watch him play rather than if we had signed a RB from the championship .The impact of that is we're turning into Dads Army , an ageing, slow group of players , all of whom have been heard of , but most of whom have had better days .

Who do you think you are kidding Mr Sullivan ?[/quote]
so zabelleta and who else fits thats description?

Hernandez? lanizini ? hart? Ayew? Arnie? Byram? Cresswell ? Fergouli? Koyoute, Ogbanna OBiang?
Samuleson? Haksobonvic? Fernandez? masauka?

Fonte is probably the only other person who fits that bill and surely your not suggesting he was purchased to sell tickets

[ironilunga]

Why would you start Fernandes on the left. Not even tucked in centrally like in the diamond we played with on Wednesday but actually out wide as winger. Especially in a game like this. Just boggles the mind, that one.

He joins an increasingly long line of players that have been used in unaccustomed roles. Kouyate, Nordveit and Antonio spring to mind. The concern, however, is mucking about with younger players roles. Rice and Oxford's development is showing worrying similarities. Now Fernandes.

[Corney Beal]

Has Bilic said anything about why he didn't start our best defensive mid (and one of he players of last season)?

Kouyate and Lanzini both looked way short of match fitness. I doubt they would have made much difference and would have struggled to play a full 45 mins.
If you mean Obiang (and not Kouyate) I'm not sure. By the players own admission though he may take time to feel right after his injury.

Looking back at The Telegraph report for the Southampton game. Photos of both penalties. First one, Antonio crouched down. Second one, four players all motionless,not ready to react at all.
Imagine a a rebound and half of them unwilling to respond to save the point. It has to be a fitness issue that is contributing to our problems.

[sussexhammer74]

Well thank you West Ham for ruining another weekend and boy, you have ruined a few in my lifetime.

It is so blindingly obvious where we are weak. Everyone knows what they are. On here people speak about it. Other fans see it. Why don't the management team of West Ham see it?

You work with what you got. You train with what you got. Don't put square pegs in round holes.

I cannot remember a slow, ambling, misjointed midfield in my life as awful as this current one. Nobes is not Pirlo. we dont have a midfield to protect this luxury.

Zabaleta's attitude is one positive out of this shambles. Professional to the last. Ginge as well. Couple of pros that at least show they give a flying f***.

oh well, there is always next week.

[steps]

The focus is on the defence again, not unsurprisingly. But equally telling is we finished the game with Hernandez, Antonio, Lanzini, Sakho and Kouyate on the pitch and might not have scored if the game finished on Monday. It's critical to note that when teams are accused of being too open, it usually means as a result of adopting an overly attacking set-up - what has been on display at Old Trafford and SJP isn't that. They've just been teams that have utterly failed at both aspects of the game.

We are far too open. Add to that our defence must be the worst in the league, and it spells a recipe for disaster.

Bilic will go three at the back next week I reckon, its how we played for a while at the back end of last season and ground out a few draws and 1-0 wins.

[aaronhammer]

Another bugbear of mine is the 11 men back when defending set pieces. Yesterday 1-0 down and 11 back. Perhaps if Chicharito is up the pitch Lanzini has an outlet rather than getting caught out. Maybe (almost definitely) Newcastle leave extra players back causing less pressure on Lanzini. Maybe, we can counter attack and score a goal? I can understand it against the best sides (not much but a little bit), I can certainly understand it if you're winning, but 1-0 down at Newcastle with 20 minutes left. Not a chance!

[61dicksey]

Watching the game yesterday. Can someone tell me why, on 3 occasions, we had a free kick just inside their half. Instead of putting it into the box, we chose to tap the ball 3 yards to the side and after a few more passes sideways and backwards the ball eventually ends up with JH who then hoofs it up to the half way line and is me by a Newcastle player. Rule number 1. When you have a set piece opportunity.....use it ! Who has been teaching these tactics of wasting the free kicks. Saw this as well at the LC game midweek as well.

We have been doing this all the time inder Bilic, something about retaining possesion but we are not good enough to work ot out from the back, inevitably it end up with Hart, Adrian or Randy when he was keeping goal for a big punt up field , does my nut in ,get it in the box or at least into thier half, you cannot score goals in your own half .

There are several player out there most weeks who do not give a flying one and being a mid table club trying to attract big player we end up with largely unmotivated players only attracted by wages , no hope of winning any trophies just cash.

[The Sherriff]

Yes, my reply messed up, 'submit' vanished and had to cut and paste, missed out Joe Hart, hence ' the only other player'...
Don't normally like keepers having the armband but, Joe Hart for captain.

What a good idea having a loan player as skipper.