West Ham Utd 2-3 Newcastle Utd (23/12/17)

[Langley Hammer]

Was Newcastle's first goal caused by a poor wall or poor goalkeeping? Haven't seen it again yet but the actual free kick didn't seem that well struck from where I was sitting.

Adrian was not in the correct position, and not quite ready for the kick. He takes a step to the left, just before the kick is taken. I though he was too far off the line also.

The free kick was taken well, but I didn't think there was enough pace on it too beat Adrian easily.

[smuts]

Was Newcastle's first goal caused by a poor wall or poor goalkeeping? Haven't seen it again yet but the actual free kick didn't seem that well struck from where I was sitting.

He was too far across. Almost like he expected a ball into the box and he got caught out.

[Iron Butcher]

First post here so take it easy on me !

My second trip upto the bowl today my first game being the 4-2 lost to Watford last year. I've seen a total of 11 goals in 2 games there, must be some kind of record !

But anyway I went there with high hopes today but like everyone was pretty disappointed. We seemed to be lacking some creativity today which does worry me that without Lanzini we look abit lost its a serious position i really hope they look at in Jan not that im expecting much from the chuckle brothers in charge.

It may of just been me and my eyes are not great but we hardly won any balls in the air today ?

One thing I do think is a positive is that at 3-1 down we still had some fight in us and did take it to them in previous years i honestly think we would of ended up losing that by a few more goals.

And lastly what was up with Ayew and that penalty ? I hate with a passion with that little stop they do on the run up. Why do that and then still put it where the keeper went ? Give me a Julian Dicks hit as hard as you can any day of the week !

[Sarfend Hammer]

We don’t have enough creative play without Lanzini. Even Noble provides more creatively than either Obiang or Kouyate. Noble and Lanzini do a better job of holding our shape.

Their first goal should have been stopped by Adrian. The second was down to Zabeleta getting nutmeged and left behind. With Obiang going through a poor run of form and Kouyate having an ineffective season we can’t afford to play them both.

[Billydinho]

To the mugs who booed Ayew for missing a penalty, please don't come back.

[TommyHammer]

Still can't get over how we've taken points off Chelsea and Arsenal and lost to this mob. 1 point from their last 27...as Terry on TalkSport said...'its in our DNA to muck up'

[The Old Man of Storr]

Just finished watching the game - we weren't that bad , just lost concentration for the Atsu goal , the marking for the Diame goal could have been better - as for the free kick , it was an excellent free kick , no doubt about it , had Adrian been a couple of yards to his right he may well have saved it .
Another early goal for Marko , at this rate he's going to break his Premiership goal scoring record of 11 goals for Stoke City , 2015/16 - he could have had another but it went wide of the post .

Marko should take the penalties in Mark's absence .

Ayew made amends from an Andy Carroll knock-down - for the last 20 minutes we searched for an equalizer , we worked hard enough but missed the guile of Lanzini and Noble .

Next .

[Billydinho]

Antonio’s problem is that when he was good, it was partly due to his motivation to succeed, and play for the club

He’s been quite vocal in the changing room about wanting out for a good while now, and it shows on the pitch

Sell. ASAP

Why though Chalks? Why does he want out?

[DrVenk]

Just finished watching the game - we weren't that bad , just lost concentration for the Atsu goal , the marking for the Diame goal could have been better - as for the free kick , it was an excellent free kick , no doubt about it , had Adrian been a couple of yards to his right he may well have saved it .
Another early goal for Marko , at this rate he's going to break his Premiership goal scoring record of 11 goals for Stoke City , 2015/16 - he could have had another but it went wide of the post .

Marko should take the penalties in Mark's absence .

Ayew made amends from an Andy Carroll knock-down - for the last 20 minutes we searched for an equalizer , we worked hard enough but missed the guile of Lanzini and Noble .

Next .

Broadly agree TOMOS, but there were some negative to take note of:

I think we gave them too much respect to begin with, sat too deep, invited too much pressure, and failed to close them down. I think this was a tactical error, and I'd like to see Moyes develop a line up all prepared to force the game and get in their faces.

Some players don't seem with it. Antonio and Kouyate have been too indifferent or too cr*p for too long now. Reid has become more inconsistent. Obiang - well, he was very good for a few games, but then goes and has a couple of stinkers. We can't ignore how Zabaleta is getting done too often each match as well.

But under Moyes, we've got Masuaku and Arnie firing, Noble performing better, and Cresswell and Ogbonna (today aside) looking solid. This still leaves DM, RB, an AM, and at least one Forward to buy in Jan.

Much work ahead.

[Humbug]

1st goal -Adrian shouldn't have been beaten from that distance
2nd goal - Newcastle player (I think their number 9) who was standing in an offside position but not influencing play , does influence in the 2nd stage by rugby tackling Reid and preventing him from closing in on Atsu, allowing him space to pick out a pass in our box. How the officials missed that is beyond me!!!
Also just too easy to nutmeg and run around Zab (his legs look gone I'm afraid).
3rd goal - What the hell is Zab doing committing himself to intercept a ball 20 yards in the opposing half, leaving us wide open if he mucks it up (which he does).Did you see how quick Arnautovic was chasing back to try and cut out that cross? Those Newcastle players had a 20 yard start and Arnie still nearly blocked the cross.
One thing that most of our players lack are footballing brains!! We have the most brainless set of players in the PL (exception being Ginge Pele and Mark Noble and a great intelligent young player in Declan Rice).

[smarthammer]

Bang on Old Man of Storr – we weren’t that bad – just the usual profligate West Ham who fail to maximise opportunity and bend over for our opponent. But let’s be honest Newcastle had their chances in the first half which could have put them out of sight.

Arnie continues to improve, missed Lanzini (who’d have guessed) I doubt Spurs will have to face a similar sanction for Ali’s fakeness!!

Next

[kayahammer]

Same old WH off to a flyer then lose the plot. Watching from the stands, we were constantly undone by a simple tactic of the ball floated into the left back position. Cresswells reading of the game to get to the second ball was appalling. Moyes should have seen this and changed the back 5 to a 4, he didnt hence the result. Another thing that so pisses me off is when we are trying to raise the tempo, the ball goes out for a throw and it takes an age to get it back into play. Sullivan please give 50 kids a Saturday job as ball boys to get the poxy ball back quickly. This is really basic stuff that is constantly overlooked.

It also gives the opposition an excuse to slow the game.

[Patito]

Was Newcastle's first goal caused by a poor wall or poor goalkeeping? Haven't seen it again yet but the actual free kick didn't seem that well struck from where I was sitting.

Wall was terrible IMO.

[Knighter10WHU]

Standard performance from Kouyate in CM again today, lots of running about without actually being involved in the match. I'd rather we had Hernandez on the pitch and went more attacking, with 5 defenders plus Obiang we SHOULD be able to defend well enough to still win games.

The way I see it, in pretty basic terms, Lanzini and Hernandez are our best forward players and Arnie is our best form player. The side should be built around them not trying to get as many defensive minded players on the pitch as possible.

[The Old Mile End]

Given the majority of yesterdays team played in the midweek debacle at Arsenal, there'd be a good argument that the momentum lost in Tuesdays con job had a direct affect. Certainly the level of football played was equally dire, though the same could not be said about the intent.

From the word go we were looking for the long ball. We sorely missed Noble and Lanzini and had no ball playing midfielder out there. When Noble doesn't play, we are crying out for a fetch and carry man - someone exactly like Josh Cullen (who I am quite sure would have done well in these last two games).

So, we give up on a League Cup QF only to lose at home to a relegation rival in the next game. I think neither West Ham as a club, nor David Moyes as a manager, has the luxury to pick and choose their games. The last two results are direct evidence of that.

We are halfway through the season, and the evidence is that an average of a point a game will ensure survival to do it all again next time around. It looks like there will be a possibility of relegation for at least 8 clubs come the last two games of the season. We are more than likely to be one of those clubs. That being the case, a run in the FA Cup will not be welcomed by the powers that be.

It is so good to be at this next level.

[hammers92]

Suppose we’ve now gotta throw the Shrewsbury game too as there’s more concentrating on the league to be done

[bristolhammerfc]

A performance that highlights poor recruitment.

Zabaleta is a player at the end of his career and it's clear that Reid doesn't trust him to cover the gaps. Reid getting pulled out of position and doing his customary high kick to try and clear when a header would be better, leads to the free kick.

Midfield has no pace. Although Reid is fouled for Newcastle's second and it shouldn't have counted, our midfield were plodding back.

Ayew never looked like he was going to score the wrongly awarded penalty. The lack of leadership on the pitch was clear.

For the third, Obiang should have covered the ball coming out but bottles it leading to the mistake. Only Arnie comes out of the game with any credit for me.

We are STILL short at right back, we are still a good centre back short, we are still a defensive ball playing midfielder short and still a striker short.

We missed Collins, Noble and Rice today and when that is the solution it shows how poor our squad depth and recruitment has been.

[The Old Man of Storr]

Antonio’s problem is that when he was good, it was partly due to his motivation to succeed, and play for the club

He’s been quite vocal in the changing room about wanting out for a good while now, and it shows on the pitch

Sell. ASAP

Pining for a move back to the Championship , realises he's not good enough for West Ham , got to admire his honesty really .

[Crouchend_Hammer]

:

To the mugs who booed Ayew for missing a penalty, please don't come back.

This.

Shocking. His first touch after the penalty met with boos. Awful. And then jeering him when he was subbed.

I like Ayew. Strong character. Shows a bit of leadership and passion

[bubbles1966]

We scored two goals. So the attack has done it's job.

We let in three. All starting with Zabaleta who was utterly awful. Bloke lost the plot and was thumping the ball into OUR players regularly. Atsu murdered him.

Joselu also sat on Cresswell and Masuaku.

I think Cresswell was picked pretty much because of his set play capabilities. Understandable in Lanzini's absence.

Benitez picked the two weaknesses and they exploited them well.

We missed a pen, had one off the line, missed a clear header etc. They played a fluid, counter attack game.

Cracking game. Flew by.

Masuaku's dribbling is a delight and Arnie really looks top drawer lately.