Relive every moment of every first team game since the beginning of the 2005/06 season. Our archive of matchday threads originally posted in the General Discussion Forum.
I thought the crowd where okay when the team gave us a bit of a lift but not the other way round, think that sums us up though
- oh and also Aliadiare was only on for 14 mins, first touch set up a really good chance and I thought he looked interested quick with a nice first touch…
If we got rid of Bellion and Aliadiare I wonder what subs would have been today
I agree ...sort of...Aliadiare - did set up a good chance as soon as he arrived..and then went missing......we're half way througfh the season, and ive not seen anything from either of them that would encourage me to play(or pay) them, so I say, send them back in january and try some other options....we dont exactly have much in reserve at the mo, so they are an option, however, i think we can do alot better :lol:
Two pieces of magic from West Ham this afternoon were worth the entrance fee alone. Both in the first half, both in the Centenary/East Stand corner. First was the drop of the shoulder by Yossi that sent his two barcode markers in completely the wrong direction, the other the Zidanesque turn from Marlon to evade his marker.
Entertainment wise we were good for large parts of today, result was a bit harsh but we'll learn from it.
St Evenage Matt wrote:Two pieces of magic from West Ham this afternoon were worth the entrance fee alone. Both in the first half, both in the Centenary/East Stand corner. First was the drop of the shoulder by Yossi that sent his two barcode markers in completely the wrong direction, the other the Zidanesque turn from Marlon to evade his marker.
Entertainment wise we were good for large parts of today, result was a bit harsh but we'll learn from it.
one of the best bits for me from today's game was when marlon ran half the length of the field and won the ball back quality.
All the good luck we had vs Birmingham was replaced with bad luck today. Very good performance mostly and we were extremely unlucky to come away with nothing.
Ratings:
Carroll-6 Wasn't commanding today but 1 very good save
Konchesky-4 His worst performance for us by a mile. Is allowed one bad game though
Ferdinand-6 Not up to his best
Collins-8 Excellent. Looks like we're blessed in the central defensive department
Repka-5 Too many mistakes
Etherington-7 Much better. Looked like he wanted it today
Mullins-7 Much improved on when i saw him at Blackburn and he was crap. Very very unlucky with the shot that hit the post
Fletcher-7 Also good and great tackling
Benayoun-7 Must have been injured when he went off but was dangerous up to that point
Zamora-7 Fantastic hold up play and unlucky when denied by the block off the line
Harewood-7 Very mixed performance but mostly good
SUBS
Aliadiere-5 Came on and looked out of touch
Bellion-6 Looked alright
Not dispondent by any means but annoyed at our misfortune today. Defensively we were a shambles at times though Collins looks quality. Given our posession, build up play and chances we should have scored more than just an own goal and a penalty. A clinical finisher like Owen was for Newcastle today is needed in the January transfer window.
Thought Collins won a lot in the air. Certainly did not look out of place. Score flattered Newcastle. Play them again with Owen not having the breaks and we could win by two goals.
Areas we can improve?
Repka continues to be punished for his mistakes. Is he just unlucky?
Too many players were caught on the ball and lost possession as a result.
Too many poor passes going to nobody/opposition.
Lack of goals from midfield is a weakness. How many have the midfield knocked in this season? Although we are scoring at a good rate we should be getting more from around the park.
Thought the Yossi substitution was totally unnecessary. We were well on top at that point and threatening a goal. Bellion came on as a right winger (a completely ineffective performance by the way) so Marlon could go upfront but the formation change just disrupted our momemtum. Think Pards was a little too impatient today. Playing with four strikers (with an additional centreback thrown upfront for the hell of it) for the last ten minutes was amusing to say the least, but hardly the most intelligent way to go about getting an equaliser.
Rocketron wrote:
Rewarded with the loudest "One Marlon Harewood" that I've ever heard.
top marks for marlon with that run, showed real grit and determination i hope he does that, more.
liked the 4-5-1 formation, we just need the back five to become acquainted a bit more with each other, as you could see from collins and carroll's arguments each other was unsure about who was doing what.
I thought the crowd where okay when the team gave us a bit of a lift but not the other way round, think that sums us up though
- oh and also Aliadiare was only on for 14 mins, first touch set up a really good chance and I thought he looked interested quick with a nice first touch…
If we got rid of Bellion and Aliadiare I wonder what subs would have been today
A bit harsh considering he's only had the odd 5/10 mins. I think he would improve with more games and he did create a few chances in the mere 13/14 mins on the pitch. Unproven, but also untried.
Win some... lose some. Sometimes the game goes our way, sometimes they don't. But 25 points from 17 games is a bloody sight better than anyone predicted at the start of the season. We were up today against possibly the two most lethal strikers in the Premiership and we came off second best. OK, it happened, let's move on, Portsmouth is next, I would hope to get something there...
billybondsballbag wrote:What, was his daughter there?!
you bugger, I was about to go for that...
On the footie. I thought that most players played well individually (i'll except the woeful Repka from that) but the tactics were way off. For which Pards has to be blamed.
We should have put the Newcastle defence under a lot more pressure - given how suspectit is. To do so, we shd have played 4-4-2- with Harewood up front, not wide with Yossi in a 4-5-1. We needed to test Bramble and Boumsong's composure (ha ha) with a big fast striker looking to take the ball past them on the deck and cut it back tao a partner/midfielder following in. You cant get that kind of pressure on a defensive pair with a lone striker.
4-5-1 away, fine. But shd have played 4-4-2 at home yesterday.
Yes, Bobby needed the other striker up with him, granted. However, to say we were 'under pressure' most of the time belies how close we came on several occasions to not only levelling the game, but if we took our chances taking the game to Newcastle. Simply, our errors cost us, theirs' didn't. Apologies if I sound like the proverbial broken record but that's the difference between top-class finishers and fair-to-above-average finishers like I feel we possess.
BMU.WIC wrote:Yes, Bobby needed the other striker up with him, granted. However, to say we were 'under pressure' most of the time belies how close we came on several occasions to not only levelling the game, but if we took our chances taking the game to Newcastle. Simply, our errors cost us, theirs' didn't. Apologies if I sound like the proverbial broken record but that's the difference between top-class finishers and fair-to-above-average finishers like I feel we possess.
I agree mate, but its also the difference between having £27 million and about £1.5 million.
All we can do is expect our players to give 110% if they aint as good as the opposition so be it!!