West Ham (H) | PL | Post Match Thread

Good result but we all know any half decen team would have put us to the sword long before we went 2-0 up. Poor subs then we conceded natch
 
Two very important wins in six days. Great for morale and definitely improved going forward.
A multitude of sins still very evident at the back though. 18 shots to 8 in West Ham’s favour and so easy to play through it verged on the embarrassing at times. We were a mess defensively even before Gundogan and Walker came on. Some truly brainless passing in the last 20 mins and Gvardiol (again) matched Walker for positional ineptitude. Desperately need Stones and Dias back and properly fit
 
christened at st marks said:
whats that got to do with no DM
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Well there is no DM is there? Midfield is porous. So he's got to put Kovacic in there and generally have more of the possession than the opponent to give us a platform to score.. But the stats show that West Ham had 17 shots which shows our fragility defensively. The only way to close the pores is to buy a reputable DM in this window.
 
Good win and great performances from Savinho and Haaland.

Scoreline flattered us.

So much sloppy play from start to finish though. The start of the game until we scored and then the last 20 mins were dreadful.

Lots to work on still but some nice play for the goals.
 
EdersonsSmiley said:
True, we actually managed some really decent performances in the opening 30 minutes of some matches and then collapsed later on. Currently there is just nothing good to take from our performance, we create next to nothing and concede chances for fun, oh and our set pieces are truly horrific.

I really fear what Brentford might do to us, they are essentially a better Spurs who already hammered us.
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Strange thing to say when we just scored four goals and had numerous other chances
 
Happy clappers are back out en masse by the looks of it.

Yes we have won 2 games in a row, which is great!

But let's take a look at the bigger picture.

Leicester should have beaten us last week. They created some really good chances.

Today we could easily have been 2 down with the Kudos chance and Soucek chance from 8 yards.

We don't control games in large parts like we used to. We have a 10 minute spell here n there. And when the ball is turned over the opposition are on the edge of our box within half a dozen passes.

And we are very sloppy with our passing and individual mistakes litter our games.

These wins are papering over the cracks in our squad.

Anyone can see we are not in the top 5 in the league when it comes to watching us play.

Swap the last 2 opponents for a top 6 side team, and we don't walk away with 2 wins.

Still a long way to go and I expect more disappointment than elation this season, the longer it goes on.
 
My last season as a season card holder the joy has gone out of watching City, it’s not the club it’s not the team that’s disappoints it’s the entitled wankers who constantly moan and vilify the players both at the game and especially on social media. Just listened to KDB he sounded exasperated at the reaction of some fans.
This club has given the best 10 years of my footballing life and to listen to some so called fans it’s done it for me.

Anyway another win onwards and upwards
 
IMG-20250104-WA0006.jpg

From The Sublime to The Pressing Issue...​

A decent first win of 2025. We started brightly & The Hammers came to play. Again it was noticeable the opposition kept targeting our left with Kudus up against Gvardiol. They created a few half chances & easily matched us in the opening exchanges.

IMG-20250104-WA0002.jpg

However, Savinho's early deflected cross from the left got us off the mark, & this visibly lifted us. We began to see the real Manchester City, as we vigorously pressed high & hunted them down in packs, not giving them a moment to settle, BUT around the 35 minute mark, we seemed to lose steam & WHU started creating several chances.

Fortunately for us, the Striking Viking rose to meet a majestic header shortly before halftime, after a wonderful piece of skill & a cross from Savinho to give us a much needed 2 goal cushion going into the break.

IMG-20250104-WA0003.jpg

We battled for control after the restart, but again it was evident our levels had dropped from earlier in the game, & generally from what set us apart from the rest over the last 7-8 years. Recently, we just can't seem to consistently reach those levels.

We needed another goal because with better finishing, the Hammers should've at least been level. Just when we needed him, another piece of Sublime skill, control & a killer through ball was despatched by Savinho to Haaland, who held off a challenge whilst shielding the ball to brilliantly chip the on-rushing keeper to make it 3-0.

IMG-20250104-WA0005.jpg

Regardless of being 3 goals up, we still looked vulnerable in defence & were unable to sustain our front line pressing & retain possession as we've become used to. We had 3 x 30+ year olds in central midfield & tbh, the lack of physicality became more stark with the introduction of Gundog.

Another sweeping move saw Savinho cut through the Hammers wide defenders to deliver the ball to a central KDB, who opted to feed the advancing Foden on his right, who calmly slotted the ball through the keepers legs to make it 4-0 City. Weirdly, it didn't feel like a 4-0 game, but after the last couple of months, we'll take any advantage we get, as we've done enough in recent years to deserve a lucky break or two.

IMG-20250104-WA0001.jpg

The Hammers got a consolation goal & continued to create chances right until the final whistle. I think it's abundantly clear that our ageing squad doesn't have the physicality to do what we've been used to doing. We've grown old, & because of poor succession planning, we don't have the younger world class talent to replace the likes of Rodri, KDB, Bernardo & Gundog.

Pep is sticking with what's worked for us in recent times, but we don't have the players who can physically do what we used to do for 90 minutes, which has been made worse by Haaland's lack of pressing prowess. When he's scoring cricket numbers, it's not as noticeable, but when he's not, it like playing with 10 men.

When we pressed WHU high & aggressively, we were night & day in comparison to them. However, when we sunk back into a defensive shape to conserve energy, WHU took the game to us, & it was only their lack of finishing quality that kept the score at 4-1.

We know what the issues are, so it remains to be seen what we do about it this summer. The bell is tolling for Gundog, Walker, KDB, Kovacic, Stones & Aké. I'll give Bernardo a pass for now. They're still top class operators, but they're all 30+ year old world class operators, & the last 2 months has cruelly shown us that PL brutality & physicality can overcome world class if we don't have the energy to match it.

Over to Pep, Txiki & the new dude...
 
BlueMonkey79 said:
Happy clappers are back out en masse by the looks of it.

Yes we have won 2 games in a row, which is great!

But let's take a look at the bigger picture.

Leicester should have beaten us last week. They created some really good chances.

Today we could easily have been 2 down with the Kudos chance and Soucek chance from 8 yards.

We don't control games in large parts like we used to. We have a 10 minute spell here n there. And when the ball is turned over the opposition are on the edge of our box within half a dozen passes.

And we are very sloppy with our passing and individual mistakes litter our games.

These wins are papering over the cracks in our squad.

Anyone can see we are not in the top 5 in the league when it comes to watching us play.

Swap the last 2 opponents for a top 6 side team, and we don't walk away with 2 wins.

Still a long way to go and I expect more disappointment than elation this season, the longer it goes on.
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We’ve only got to get two more wins from 18 games to be safe.
I reckon we can do it.
 
A little shaky but again it is about time we rode our luck and we were a little more clinical with our chances. Another positive performance from Savinho and a little confidence booster for Phil and another valuable minutes for KDB too
 
Bringing Gundogen and Walker on made no sense to me, a couple of classy moments from Savio and Haaland . Our needs seem so obvious
 
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I mean this should be shown to Pep repeatedly until he stops picking these guys.

There are alternatives. At 4-0 up do JSP and O'Reilly do a worse job than these two? Legs have absolutely gone, as well as a brain in Walker's case.

The first hour there were a lot of positives. KDB and Foden much sharper. Haaland bagging, Savinho finally coming good for my fantasy team. Gvardiol looked sharper and more confident than recent games too.

The DM position needs addressing before our next run if fixtures post Salford. Kovacic can't do it, neither can Gundo.
 
Gundoggin said:
Great 3pts and some superb goals . Going forward we look sharp again BUT our midfield is a fucking shambles. We need legs and energy in there to stifle the turnovers and keep possession. It’s difficult we desperately need to buy someone to help Kovacic and Gundogan.
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Gundogan shouldn't be a factor in any decisions...
 
BlueMonkey79 said:
Happy clappers are back out en masse by the looks of it.

Yes we have won 2 games in a row, which is great!

But let's take a look at the bigger picture.

Leicester should have beaten us last week. They created some really good chances.

Today we could easily have been 2 down with the Kudos chance and Soucek chance from 8 yards.

We don't control games in large parts like we used to. We have a 10 minute spell here n there. And when the ball is turned over the opposition are on the edge of our box within half a dozen passes.

And we are very sloppy with our passing and individual mistakes litter our games.

These wins are papering over the cracks in our squad.

Anyone can see we are not in the top 5 in the league when it comes to watching us play.

Swap the last 2 opponents for a top 6 side team, and we don't walk away with 2 wins.

Still a long way to go and I expect more disappointment than elation this season, the longer it goes on.
Click to expand...
But we played who we played today and won , cant you just enjoy us winning and think about all the problems we all know about tomorrow
 
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