West Ham Utd 2-0 Watford (10/02/18)

[NW5hammer]

Most of us thought we'd struggle today but that was impressive. We clearly deserved to win. Moyes managed to put out a positive formation and the players returning all fitted in well with a balanced system. I though Kouyate and Creswell were good and the fact we had three attacking players meant the rest of the team could concentrate on keeping their shape. Watford's legendary pace didn't trouble us at all. We didn't smash them but that was a vital three points with the whole team looking up for it to the end. Arnie makes all the difference, of course, but Hernandez and Antonio were a constant threat. Ogbonna was superb. A good all round top ten performance.

[HoppyHammer]

After Liverpool we have 3 home games on the trot and Moyes has made us difficult to beat at home. Moyes has done great job considering where he started after the disastrous start to the season. the financial reality of the PL is that the only clubs that can afford to play open football and go for the cups are the rich top 6 clubs. Every PL manager will always be under pressure to stay in PL.

We need to achieve that this year and then let Moyes have a clear out in the summer. I know a lot will never have a good word for the owners but Sullivan's interview made some good points which he now needs to deliver on, especially buying players which have not been properly evaluated. Just look at the rubbish we bought at the start of last season, all of which have gone

[vietnammer]

Re the 70% (quoted) possession they had and comments saying we lack pace, after they'd pinned us back for a while 2nd half it sounded (radio) like we were able to break very effectively. Been a while since we've done that.

Terrific win boys!

[gouldie]

Thought ginge was immense today, and after slagging cresswell off for the last year I’m happy to hold my hands up and say well done to him today.

[Blow Bubbles]

I am happy to hold my hands up tonight after my recent criticism of Hernandez- he was superb today. Really suited to playing with Arnie and Mario - and with Lanzini to come back!

To a man I was impressed today, maybe I would have wanted slightly more from Antonio if I’m being super critical but out of position and back in the side, I won’t slag him off.

Ginge MoTM for me. Immense. AGAIN. Give him a bloody new deal will you!!!

On them, they love a dive don’t they? And Deeney is a ****.

[Crouchend_Hammer]

So you're saying our players giving the ball away in the second half was part of Moyes 'anti-football' strategy? :lol:

What a load of nonsense. This was a must win game and we won it convincing despite being put under heavy pressure in the second half. Our players struggled to get their foot on the ball and were making the wrong decisions when in possession in that spell - Noble, Antonio and even Arnautovic were all guilty of it at various points. We have struggled to dominate games in midfield all season because of our personnel there which is why Moyes sets up like he does. If we had actually invested in a decent defensive midfielder or two in January I'm certain we'd be retaining the ball more in these situations. As it is he's doing the best with what we have at the moment. To try and make out he's Allardyce Mk2 is laughable

If you defend with 8 or 9 players on the edge of, or even in, your own box you will invite pressure. It was non-league stuff second half. Did Watford sit back when they were beating Chelsea? Did Brighton sit back vs us last week? Course not. They continued to take thr game to us, nullifying us as a threat by attacking. Yes it worked on the ha this occasion but very fine margins. We definitely got the run of the ball and, thankfully Collins and Ogbonna played well.

Even in the first half we didn't really string together much attacking play. Yes we made some chances from set pieces, but Antonio hardly got forward at all. When he did we scored, but I don't remember him attacking the box without the ball once. He contiually held back when he coukd have got ij the box to meet a cross.

I am in no way comparing Moyes to Allardyce. Allardyce is a **** and Moyes is a decebt bloke. I quite like Moyes. But let's not make out he isn't what he is. Which is a defensive minded manager. Fair enough. His perogative that doesn't mean everyone has to enjoy it, win or not. He took off two attacking players and brought on two defenders. Allardyce used to get murdered for that kind of thing.

[Grovellini1972]

Good display and like many was worried for us today. Good to see two up top. Hernandez has quality and worked his socks off don’t sell him in the summer. Arnie was brilliant. I. The second half when he just ran at them doen the middle you could see he knew they were ****ting themselves and couldn’t handle him.
The two up top worked well together. Ginge and Oggy were solid Zan put in another great shift. If only we could build on this now ,
Moyes got it right today well done and glad he put the youngster on in the subs. ⚒⚒

[Sir_Trevor]

the financial reality of the PL is that the only clubs that can afford to play open football and go for the cups are the rich top 6 clubs.

Swansea did incredibly well to beat Notts County 8-1 while not playing open football and not going for the cup.

[DaveWHU1964]

Good result in the scheme of things, for those who are talking about not playing a nice brand of football, we haven't played good football (except 1) since GSB took over. Surely we can't blame Sam, Billic and Moyes for that....

We have spent peanuts on our defence, free transfer of a goal keeper, no defensive midfielder. The last two managers have resorted to a formation they would prefer not to play. But yet we will blame a manager who has an unbalanced squad which was weakened in the last window, who has lost one league game this calender year.

We had one year of nice football, that was down to us getting lucky signing a world class player, but again what happens a lack of investment on a right back and a defensive midfielder costs us a position in the champions league and the next season upset our world class player with broken promises about next level signings.

we can change the manager over and over again, the results and the team's play isn't going to change while our board are playing real life football manager.

You should post more often.

[kevino]

Great result and I thought Arnie was superb today. A constant threat to their defence.

Second half tactics seemed strange after a very decent first half. Antonio was like a second left back he was playing so deep and we gave the ball away far too often. At one stage I thought we were going to bring a second goalie on to try and see it through! Anyway it was nice to see us get some luck for once with the second goal.

Collins was superb and I lost count of the number of times he headed the ball away. Not sure how many stayed until after the whistle to see him walk all the way to one end and into our crowd to give his shirt to a fan. Seems to absolutely love West Ham and we should keep him here as long as we can, imo.

Also though Zab was excellent today. Lots of good interceptions and really showed his experience. Ogbonna also very good. Main disappointment for me today was Mario who looked far too casual on occasions and was frequently knocked off the ball. Hopefully he will learn from this.

Great feeling on a Saturday night to win!

[arlhe]

Fine performance, with lots of good performances. The simple fact is we are far and away a more effective unit going going forward, when Arnie is in the team.

[Samba]

I never doubted us...
Very pleased that the team we wanted to turn up, turned up. V good performances all round by the look of it.
Arnie back was a big difference. I said way back that he's the (sulky) sort that needs a lot of love, i) from his manager, ii) from his team-mates & iii) from us. before he performs. He's getting all three & is sure performing. Some players are just like that. Long may it last. He causes er, mayhem, in opposing halfs.
L'pea took his goal well, as we all know he can, although the defender took the slightest oppo to go down, trying to get it ruled out.
Which reminds me, the difference between our players behaviour at our corners, to their players at their corners. Everytime they're like a bunch of angry chimps, No racial slur inferred or intended.
Back to feeling more optimistic about us staying up, but it is still close down there.
Now, how about a win at Anfield on Bobby's day?

[Captain Slaphead]

After Liverpool we have 3 home games on the trot........

Nah - Swansea away is next

[Irrons]

Nah - Swansea away is next

No...it isn't

[TheHandOfDog]

We were solid, more than we could say about our game against Brighton. I still think we need to calm down and try to play football and not look for the long ball so fast. We could play some really good football with Arnie, Hernandez, Lanzini, Mario and Antonio. Good result with a solid defensive showing. As I said earlier I really thought we were going to lose this but then again I thought we were going to do ok at Brighton. God, football is a mind f***.

[mumbles87]

Main disappointment for me today was Mario who looked far too casual on occasions and was frequently knocked off the ball. Hopefully he will learn from this.

!

I thought this but I then thought this guy has been out of the inter team so isn't 100% match sharp. he comes to England and because of injury to obiang he is thrown in the premier league at the deep end.. 3 hard games aswell where he ran himself into the ground

[HammerMan2004]

Had a **** load of fun in block 146 in the second half. Delighted with the win. Can’t wait to be happy tomorrow

[goa127]

I think some people went to a different game today to the one I went to. I saw an imperious Adrian only have to make a couple of saves and a team in yellow completely fail to make many real chances despite humbling the league champions last week. I've seen too many west ham teams throw away 2 goal(often 3) leads in the past to not enjoy seeing us squeeze Watford out of the game in the last 10mins. It's not 1978 when with 2 points for a win everyone just came for the point and we could attack with 8 men. It's football for grown ups and I for one won't be disappointed not to be criticized on MOD for naïve defending and inability to see the game out COYI

[burnsyboy]

Great day out and fantastic result! 1st half was superb and should have been 3 up at half time, 2nd half was squeaky bum time! Ginger was superb lost count of the headed clearances he made 2nd half. Hopefully we’ll make it back up again soon

[Hugh Jargon]

What a great result. If we avoid I injuries we might just about get 40 points. We are a very average side imo. Need to keep Moyes and give him 50 million in the summer.