West Ham (H) | PL | Post Match Thread

Pep said ‘Our performance was not good’…’Against Everton we played much, much better than today, much much better than today against Everton, and we draw’.

I agree with Pep. I thought we were worse today than we were against Spurs in the 0-4 defeat. Difference was the chances (and there were more of them) we had in the Spurs game we missed and today we scored; plus West Ham missed most of their chances.

Both the Spurs game and today could easily have both been 3-3.

But we’ll take the three points when they come at the moment.

The positives are the same as the last few weeks: Nathan Aké and Savinho. Both excellent. And nice to see Haaland getting some mojo back.
 
Rammy Blue said:
Great win and 3 points, we needed it.

Let’s not gloss over it though, we were fucking dreadful for large chunks of the game, lots of players awful.

That said, you only have to look at the subs and the bench to realise how limited Pep is with options - he brings on Gundo and Walker who both play cameos like they’ve been on the lash. Grealish is out of favour due to whatever, leaves Doku and Nunes coming back from injury otherwise it’s the kids.

Yes, I think Macatee should have had more minutes, but other than that, hands are pretty much tied.
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Agree with you about Gundo, Walker and Grealish need replacing this month! Don’t wait will cost us many points if not!!
 
3 unbeaten. Great result. Lady Luck has turned our way. As poor as some of the possession and defensive stuff was, there were continuing positives up front. 10 days to work on things and be up for a scrap at Brentford, then Ipswich and hopefully reinforcements for the tough games to come afterwards - Chelsea and Arsenal.

Come on City; January's here; time to kick-on.
 
Loads of space in front of the back four on numerous occasions, I bet Kudus couldn't believe the freedom he had at times. There is a Rodri shaped hole no doubt and until somebody is instructed to actually stay holding in midfield then we're always going to be fragile on turnover.

But, I saw more intensity today, more closing down, a bit more like the old City. And some great attacking play. Lucky to get the win but hey, we're that bit closer to 40pts!

Savinho mom
 
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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Absolute bollox.

Leicester shouldn’t have beaten us as they didn’t score.

We shouldn’t have been 2 down today, again, because they didn’t score.

Yes, they both had chances but didn’t take them. We did, we won, and you sad sacks aren’t happy.

We’re coming back from an extremely difficult period where injuries and fatigue seen our levels absolutely tonk. Times like this are about progress, not about complaining about us playing ‘The top 6’, because we weren’t playing them.

Enjoy the good days, understand the bad ones. Progress at this point is all we can expect.
 
Positives and negatives from today.

A 4-1 win is definitely a big step forward. Haaland is getting his confidence back and is much more involved in games. Savinho is developing into a real handful. Kovacic isn't Rodri but he does a job. We weren't the team that wasted chance after chance, and were quite clinical for a change. At times, we played with pace and intent, and there was some pressing in the opposition half.

However there are still problems. We still insist on playing ourselves into trouble regularly. Akanji, Foden, Bernardo and Walker, when he came on, were all guilty of this. The subs seemed pointless and ill-thought through, albeit we were well in front by then. We still look half-hearted in challenges. Players need to stop and think when they receive the ball, instead of knowing what to do with it. We never seem to get Pep's signature overloads these days; everyone's too static.

But 2 wins on the trot definitely helps.
 
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After the subs were made, our midfield 3 was 97 years old (Gundo, Kev and Bernardo). Added to that, Walker has essentially had 1 decentish cameo this season, but is mostly just a liability. Aside from longer term squad needs, Pep needs to move on from his loyalty to players and just think about what is best for the team.

At 4-0, 20-25 minutes for Gundo in a midfield without covering legs, does nothing for him, doesn't add control and is at the expense of development minutes for squad players. 20-25 minutes for Walker (with everyone in defence moving round) does nothing for him, makes the team weaker and is at the expense of minutes for other players. They have both shown what they can and can't do this season.
 
Psychedelic Casual said:
Pep said ‘Our performance was not good’…’Against Everton we played much, much better than today, much much better than today against Everton, and we draw’.

I agree with Pep. I thought we were worse today than we were against Spurs in the 0-4 defeat. Difference was the chances (and there were more of them) we had in the Spurs game we missed and today we scored; plus West Ham missed most of their chances.

Both the Spurs game and today could easily have both been 3-3.

But we’ll take the three points when they come at the moment.

The positives are the same as the last few weeks: Nathan Aké and Savinho. Both excellent. And nice to see Haaland getting some mojo back.
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Dont forget Kovacic. He isn't getting enough love for all he does... When he doesn't run into s cul-de-sac that is :)
 
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jrb said:
I didn't think anything. You can't with City ATM.. Like every blue I was happy with another win, but the win shouldn't mask the overall performance. Pep called the overall performance out after the match. If Pep can see it, I hope you can?
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I've already stated what I thought would happen before kick off. That we'd put in a scratchy performance but that I hoped we'd have enough to win. I therefore limited my expectations and was happy with how it turned out. Right now, I take our wins any way that they come.
 
Biggest cause for concern was the numerous times they attacked with greater numbers than we defended.

There was one particular 5 on 4 that was 15-20 yards ahead of Kovacic’s efforts to get back. The only real surprise was 4 City players defending!!
 
GaudinoMotors said:
Źzzzzz touchy touchy. I love the smell of the last few windows complacency in the morning.
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You're complaining about a squad that has literally conquered football, saying it wasn't good enough when purchased. The levels of idiocy required to reach that conclusion is fucking baffling mate. You know we're the current league champions right?
Did you expect us to win the league every single year forever?
 
Dax777 said:
Dont forget Kovacic. He isn't getting enough love for all he does... When he doesn't run into s cul-de-sac that is :)
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He’s good with the ball, excellent at getting us out of trouble by carrying the ball forward, but he’s found wanting defensively. He’s not a 6.
 
Ajm1985 said:
After the subs were made, our midfield 3 was 97 years old (Gundo, Kev and Bernardo). Added to that, Walker has essentially had 1 decentish cameo this season, but is mostly just a liability. Aside from longer term squad needs, Pep needs to move on from his loyalty to players and just think about what is best for the team.

At 4-0, 20-25 minutes for Gundo in a midfield without covering legs, does nothing for him, doesn't add control and is at the expense of development minutes for squad players. 20-25 minutes for Walker (with everyone in defence moving round) does nothing for him, makes the team weaker and is at the expense of minutes for other players. They have both shown what they can and can't do this season.
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We won 4-1
 
Dax777 said:
Dont forget Kovacic. He isn't getting enough love for all he does... When he doesn't run into s cul-de-sac that is :)
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He struggled today. His substitution was a respite for him. Too many times he gets caught ahead of the lost ball and unable to recover.

That said, he put in a few decent challenges while he was on and tried to keep the ball moving, rather than slowing it waaaay down.
 
Psychedelic Casual said:
He’s good with the ball, excellent at getting us out of trouble by carrying the ball forward, but he’s found wanting defensively. He’s not a 6.
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Made so many recovery tackles. Domf against the fastest guys WH had to offer. One on Kusus and the other on thr small fella that stole Akanji's cookies only for the class teacher to bail Akanji out
 
Damocles said:
Yeah our squad is shit mate, full of 3rd choice signings.
How we've been the most dominant club in this country for the past 5 years is a mystery. WE should have signed guys like Maguire and Fred instead
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Woah there, Pep wanted Maguire and was annoyed we didn't get him
 
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