West Ham vs WBA Official Match Thread

[JayK]

Didn’t criticise him for it as such after the Burnley game because I didn’t see it , I never got to see this game either but I would have thought that if he was fit enough to see out the 90 on Saturday when there WAS an available replacement on the bench , albeit a youngster , then Antonio is fit enough to see out the last 10 mins last night when there WASNT a striker on the bench .

Instead he brought on Noble and pretty much risked destroying, in 10 short minutes , everything he’s supposed to have built and what everybody is creaming their jeans over....

Does that make sense ? I’m trying not to contradict myself here

You could see at around 80 minutes he had a shot that so poor, and he was blowing out his arse. We'd have risked him getting injured had he stayed on. The issue was we only had defenders and Noble left on the bench.

Like Whisky has said, who’s fault is it there’s no striker or attacking player on the bench? There was a worry Antonio had a niggle after the Burnley game so surely you would have someone on the bench who could adequately replace him.
Moyes has done much better than I expected and I give him credit for that. Also he’s not been helped by the board barely supporting him in the window and instead asset stripping, but he picks the squad and should also know Nobes shouldn’t be there now.

And Tim, you made perfect sense

[mkhammer]

We're 2-1 up 10 mins max left ,Baggies are pressing, shit or bust as always happens...we have,Bowen,Fornals,Mickey,
Yarmo still on the pitch...Brings Nobes on to sit a bit deeper,tie up the MF...still leaves us three attack minded players..
Antonios spent,thats when pulls happen....Makes perfect sense to me ,was calling it and would have done the same thing...
Watch what Pep and Klomp do in similar situations...The role Nobes plays well and can do, is what was needed.
Irrelevant if Nobes even touches the ball or lays a pass....he's picking up,marking players,closing down,blocking passes..etc..
not all footie is about the ball,off the ball stuff is just as important.
End result is we won....Again..

And finding it really interesting how Moyes is building a Side,seeing some really nice stuff,as good as most at times,
way to go yet...we need our Attack minded MFers to start firing properly...way to hot and cold...it's there tho,It'll Come,
someone will get an arse kicking soon.

Nice to be up there in the Mix......Moyes Coaches and Players have enabled that...with No help from elsewhere.

[BlackDiamond]

Replacing Antonio with Noble was odd to say the least. But, hang on a mo, wasn't it you who criticised Moyes for leaving Antonio on too long against Burnley ? Or am I imagining things again ?

Didn’t criticise him for it as such after the Burnley game because I didn’t see it , I never got to see this game either but I would have thought that if he was fit enough to see out the 90 on Saturday when there WAS an available replacement on the bench , albeit a youngster , then Antonio is fit enough to see out the last 10 mins last night when there WASNT a striker on the bench .

Instead he brought on Noble and pretty much risked destroying, in 10 short minutes , everything he’s supposed to have built and what everybody is creaming their jeans over....

Does that make sense ? I’m trying not to contradict myself here

Adequately explained NM, you don't want to hand the attacking impetus to your opponent regardless of the team your facing; especially with only a one goal margin. That sub choice was just plain wrong.

It pains to say it, but Mark Noble dwelling on the ball deep in his own half, these days, is more a liability than a useful inclusion.

And I wanted to see Benrahma, Lanzini and Bown all on the pitch but when you remove Fornals, the whole team structure loses it's useful harmony.

I would say Lanzini is now a useful squad player and if we recruit a decent forward, then Antonio goes back to wide left and pushes Benrahma on the seat next to Lanzini. However how likely is that to happen, the decent forward bit...

What is very likely, is an un decent forward will be brought in...because that's the way we roll

[jameskel]

If we get a decent forward, then Benrhama has to play. Not sure Bowen passes enough and Lanzini has lost it

Could play Yarma, then the new forward could get plenty of taps from 40 yard shots

[Whiskyman]

We're 2-1 up 10 mins max left ,Baggies are pressing, shit or bust as always happens...we have,Bowen,Fornals,Mickey,
Yarmo still on the pitch...Brings Nobes on to sit a bit deeper,tie up the MF...still leaves us three attack minded players..
Antonios spent,thats when pulls happen....Makes perfect sense to me ,was calling it and would have done the same thing...
Watch what Pep and Klomp do in similar situations...The role Nobes plays well and can do, is what was needed.
Irrelevant if Nobes even touches the ball or lays a pass....he's picking up,marking players,closing down,blocking passes..etc..
not all footie is about the ball,off the ball stuff is just as important.
End result is we won....Again..

And finding it really interesting how Moyes is building a Side,seeing some really nice stuff,as good as most at times,
way to go yet...we need our Attack minded MFers to start firing properly...way to hot and cold...it's there tho,It'll Come,
someone will get an arse kicking soon.

Nice to be up there in the Mix......Moyes Coaches and Players have enabled that...with No help from elsewhere.

Agree with everything you say apert from the Noble bit. The coaching staff aren't stupid. They must see that the 2021 model isn't performing the way the 2015 one did. I completely agree that Antonio was knackered and needed a rest. I don't even really care there were no strikers on the bench because, as has been said, we only have one proven striker on the books now. But what I simply cannot understand is why we had THREE CDs on the bench.

Pep and Klopp , and every other successful manager, make exactly the same tactical tweaks every week. But they have quality they can bring on from the bench. Unfortunately age has caught up with Noble and I disagree with you in that I don't think he can do the job he was brought on to do. His legs just won't do what his brain is probably telling him needs to be done. It's not just about marking players, and the other things which you say, quite correctly, are important. A player also needs the ability to react to situations he sees developing around him, and that's something, at least from what I can see Noble can no longer do.

Imo Billy Bonds went on too long and it was sad that some younger fans will only have seen the shadow of the great player he once was. I honestly think John Lyall was influenced by sentiment when he picked him. It must be very hard to tell a club legend, which Bonds undoubtedly is, "sorry mate, you just can't do it anymore". Ferguson could, by all accounts do it. Probably why he won so much in his time. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.

[Dwayne Pipes]

Agree about Bonzo playing too long but we don’t like cutting ties even when it’s fucking obvious their times up
Captain Fantastic apparently being offered another year and a bit of coaching on his contract.

[brookingslovechild]

We're 2-1 up 10 mins max left ,Baggies are pressing, shit or bust as always happens...we have,Bowen,Fornals,Mickey,
Yarmo still on the pitch...Brings Nobes on to sit a bit deeper,tie up the MF...still leaves us three attack minded players..
Antonios spent,thats when pulls happen....Makes perfect sense to me ,was calling it and would have done the same thing...
Watch what Pep and Klomp do in similar situations...The role Nobes plays well and can do, is what was needed.
Irrelevant if Nobes even touches the ball or lays a pass....he's picking up,marking players,closing down,blocking passes..etc..
not all footie is about the ball,off the ball stuff is just as important.
End result is we won....Again..

And finding it really interesting how Moyes is building a Side,seeing some really nice stuff,as good as most at times,
way to go yet...we need our Attack minded MFers to start firing properly...way to hot and cold...it's there tho,It'll Come,
someone will get an arse kicking soon.

Nice to be up there in the Mix......Moyes Coaches and Players have enabled that...with No help from elsewhere.

MK about nails it.

Hard to whinge after 4 results on the bounce without a CF , slightly baffling that he didnt stick the young kid on the bench and would still like to see him given a proper run out to see if he has potential.

Other than that and for all my misgivings , credit moyes, coaches and players buying into the system and roll on no injuries , which could well and truly scupper us.

[terrya1965]

Replacing Antonio with Noble was odd to say the least. But, hang on a mo, wasn't it you who criticised Moyes for leaving Antonio on too long against Burnley ? Or am I imagining things again ?

Didn’t criticise him for it as such after the Burnley game because I didn’t see it , I never got to see this game either but I would have thought that if he was fit enough to see out the 90 on Saturday when there WAS an available replacement on the bench , albeit a youngster , then Antonio is fit enough to see out the last 10 mins last night when there WASNT a striker on the bench .

Instead he brought on Noble and pretty much risked destroying, in 10 short minutes , everything he’s supposed to have built and what everybody is creaming their jeans over....

Does that make sense ? I’m trying not to contradict myself here

I don't disagree with you.

Whose fault is that,that we have no other Striker at the club?Give Moyes what he needs Sullivan.

We need someone in similar mold to Antonio,that can hold the ball up.When he went off,it was backs to the wall time and it`s all because we haven't got anyone at the club.I knew that would happen.Didn't need Mystic Meg to tell me.

The situation is not just ridiculous, it is scandalous.We have just NINE First Team Midfielders and Forwards at the club.

We are a couple of injuries or a Covid outbreak from disaster and we all know where the finger will point?

If that happens,there will be many on here that will be called hypocrites,including myself, from the likes of yourself and the other fella.But I know,there is only one culprit and it`s the little fat gnome that sits in our boardroom who will f*ck up any chances of us having a bit of success.

[Whiskyman]

Agree about Bonzo playing too long but we don’t like cutting ties even when it’s fucking obvious their times up
Captain Fantastic apparently being offered another year and a bit of coaching on his contract.

Utterly ludicrous if true. Not for nothing are we regarded as a soft ouch and a rest home for those looking for a final payday. What possible justification can there be for squandering money on a contract for a player who can no longer be considered a first team asset ?

[mkhammer]

We're 2-1 up 10 mins max left ,Baggies are pressing, shit or bust as always happens...we have,Bowen,Fornals,Mickey,
Yarmo still on the pitch...Brings Nobes on to sit a bit deeper,tie up the MF...still leaves us three attack minded players..
Antonios spent,thats when pulls happen....Makes perfect sense to me ,was calling it and would have done the same thing...
Watch what Pep and Klomp do in similar situations...The role Nobes plays well and can do, is what was needed.
Irrelevant if Nobes even touches the ball or lays a pass....he's picking up,marking players,closing down,blocking passes..etc..
not all footie is about the ball,off the ball stuff is just as important.
End result is we won....Again..

And finding it really interesting how Moyes is building a Side,seeing some really nice stuff,as good as most at times,
way to go yet...we need our Attack minded MFers to start firing properly...way to hot and cold...it's there tho,It'll Come,
someone will get an arse kicking soon.

Nice to be up there in the Mix......Moyes Coaches and Players have enabled that...with No help from elsewhere.

Agree with everything you say apert from the Noble bit. The coaching staff aren't stupid. They must see that the 2021 model isn't performing the way the 2015 one did. I completely agree that Antonio was knackered and needed a rest. I don't even really care there were no strikers on the bench because, as has been said, we only have one proven striker on the books now. But what I simply cannot understand is why we had THREE CDs on the bench.

Pep and Klopp , and every other successful manager, make exactly the same tactical tweaks every week. But they have quality they can bring on from the bench. Unfortunately age has caught up with Noble and I disagree with you in that I don't think he can do the job he was brought on to do. His legs just won't do what his brain is probably telling him needs to be done. It's not just about marking players, and the other things which you say, quite correctly, are important. A player also needs the ability to react to situations he sees developing around him, and that's something, at least from what I can see Noble can no longer do.

Imo Billy Bonds went on too long and it was sad that some younger fans will only have seen the shadow of the great player he once was. I honestly think John Lyall was influenced by sentiment when he picked him. It must be very hard to tell a club legend, which Bonds undoubtedly is, "sorry mate, you just can't do it anymore". Ferguson could, by all accounts do it. Probably why he won so much in his time. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.

Mate I agree with you...Love Nobes to bits always will and stick up for him when have to...but, and said it a few times here
and elsewhere he doesn't start for me...hasn't for a while prior to this season,as well...
The fact is there's been no one else....for some reason owners and managers,don't seem to like the "Get Stuck in"
MFers...and relied purely on Nobes to fulfill that role...look at how many guys that could have taken over from him,
we've let go over the years.
But as I saw it yesterday the 10 Min do a job thing..I'm fine with....Moyes isn't picking Nobes on merit...yet he still gets
dug out for using him.
Even at Moment either Rice Or Soucek go down he comes in...I'm not happy with that...nor is anyone.even Nobes himself
has admitted two 90 Minute games a week is way to much for him....two 15 minute run outs till we have someone else,
maybe he's still ok............For this season...