West Ham Utd 2-0 Huddersfield Town (11/09/17)

[Samba]

[/quote]I get the point that it is a distorted interpretation of reality, but nothing more than any representation of stats from a marketing perspective. Don't take it personally Samba[/quote]

I didn't Chaz!
I honestly didn't realise that's what clubs do.
So if we ever did a mass boycott protest one day (we never would), where no-one turned up, the attendance afterwards would still show 56/57k?!
Why bother giving an attendance figure at all if it's not based on reality? Just say "more or less the same as the last home league match". Quicker to put 5 numbers obvs.
Tomorrow I'm going to say that I nearly won the lottery last night but I was only 6 numbers out.

Re: long ball game or no long ball game.
To me it's all relative.
Yes, of course it's not as attractive but it is just one aspect of football.
I'm not a fan per se but I would prefer we avoided relegation by playing the long ball than get relegated whilst playing attractive football. Of course I would PREFER avoiding relegation by playing attractive footy.
Monday night was just about getting 3 points. But then aren't all games about that?
Constantly playing the long ball means you've a) got a big target man in your team &/or b) you haven't got skillful enough players to get goals by passing/dribbling past players.
An interesting point last season was in a Chelsea game the oppositions (not us) long ball game turned the mighty N'golo Kante into a little boy lost, chasing shadows. Took him out of the game completely. So it can be very effective on occasions.

[JAL76]

Given the importance of the game I personally thought it was a very good effort all round. Players and manager deserve credit !. I was looking to see high energy, high commitment mixed in with aggression and attitude. For most parts I think we achieved that winning most of the second ball duels. Carrol played exceptionally well, I have always rated his unique strengths and what he can bring to the overall team despite his injury problems - he really does cause chaos and is a real handful to deal with and close down. We should have been at least 2 up by the break and if so we would probably have ended up winning by 4 or 5. This was such a critical game in all regards so I think it unfair to criticise or nit pick on the style of play. It was just good to get the win and 3 points - we need to consolidate and build with a further 3 points at WBA. I was sat among a great bunch of Lads corner of BML -

Our match night experience, travel wise, did not significantly improve on last season however, I will comment on this on the correct thread.

[Burnley Hammer]

After the Newcastle game, fans were calling for more energy, passion, and intensity as well as more evidence of strategy and shape. That's what we got against Huddersfield. I see little to complain about at this moment in time.

[Danny's Dyer Acting]

You've posted a photo from around 30 minutes before kick-off to back up your point?

This was taken about 7 minutes before kick-off



At kick off it was pretty much full although it did empty a bit due to the rain though

http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/license/845832510

http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/license/845832420

Both of those appear to be the first half. Struggling to see these swathes of empty seats. It's pretty common knowledge that most clubs now announce the tickets sold rather than through the gate number. If 57k is the official number I'd guess it's somewhere between 52-55k actually there. Probably toward the low end given the weather, night time kick off and general mood in the lead up.

[Colours never run]

Really impressed with the performance, considering how half-arsed the Newcastle and Man U games were. Thoroughly earned that win. Fair play to Huddersfield, they didn't do much but I think they'll just about stay up
This season.

Only negative for me out of our players was Kouyate; can't really remember him doing much apart from fluffing a chance. Maybe I need to watch more closely. Obiang on the other hand snuffed out virtually everything. Is he typically a DM? I had him down as more of a playmaker, but decent tackler regardless.

He is, in my book. His games geared for a quality DM. Has the lot in his locker; speed, awareness, tackling, interceptions, decent accurate passing range, intelligence to cover for others and he even has an eye for a pass. One of Bilics mistakes was hastily dropping him straight after Old Trafford. Ok, he ****ed up big time for their 1st goal giving away possession but it happens and it wasn't a droppable offence for me. Then he continued to leave him out. I love Kouyate, but he just isnt a quality Centre Midfielder, he muddles through games sometimes good moments along with some very bad moments. The consistency just isn't there. His role should be at centre Halve in a 3. That would make us seriously strong at the back and he can still join in all set pieces looking for a goal.

Obiang and Noble should be the middle 2 as they compliment one another well out of everyone we have at the Club playing in those positions. Having said that, I'm reluctant to tamper with a winning side right now so I'm happy for us to go again.

[Colours never run]

And once most people were in there seats during the game say around the half hour mark, it looked pretty full to me which is impressive considering it's only Huddersfield on a Monday night on the telly, especially after all the recent furore surrounding the Club. Not many Clubs can boast that kind of attendance and certainly 1 starved of success.

With spacious bright white seats they're always going to look worse, but when you actually start counting them up you soon realise its probably more like a few hundred or at worst couple of thousand. If the capacity is still set at around 57k I'd say a good 55k were there on Monday night. With so many families attending these days with catering/facilities available it's not uncommon for kids to be taken to the bogs/kiosks. Not that it's just families that wander off, I needed a piss myself just before half time.

[TheHandOfDog]

It's true, we have a fantastic following for the kind of club that we are. Just a shame the board doesn't reflect the fans.

[Beavis Danzig]

kouyate's biggest quality is that he can catch a man and tackle from behind without fouling them.