All season I have used this blog to question Zola's perverse tactics. First it was the obsession with 4-3-3, then the insistence on playing a right footer on the left and a left footer on the right of midfield. Well we have just won two games in a row for the first time this season, scoring 5 and conceding none: and we have done it with a 4-4-2 formation with Diamanti on the left and Behrami on the right!
I think it is high time that Zola explained himself. Yes we have suffered injuries and yes there have been all sorts of off field distractions, but at the heart of our difficulties has been Zola's poor tactical decisions. Even with Hull down to 9 men today, we lost all penetration down the left once the right footed Collison replaced Diamanti on the left. There, in a microcosm, was an explanation for our struggles this year. Let's hear from Zola, explaining the thinking behind his perverse tactics and acknowledging the errors of his ways. Otherwise, I fear a return to 4-3-3 next season, just as he reverted to it this year, despite the failure of the strategy the season before.
Sitting in 13th place, we suddenly feel comfortable but we are only 4 points above a relegation place so we are a long way from being out of the woods. Before kick off Boetang said that we had the better players but Hull had the better team. He was wrong on the day but I understood where he was coming from. We now need Zola to keep it simple and play to the strengths of his players, instead of chasing a tactical dream that has proved a living nightmare! An apology would not go amiss too!
44 comments:
Can't you just be happy? Go to WHL.
your bolgs are full of crap........i dont think you really understand the game but I know you dont understand WHU...try writing on a differnt site as your constant drivel and negativity is far more lillywhite than claret and blue!
I would be so much happier if we had 35 points now! THAT is the point of this post!
diehardwhu, if I don't know what I am talking about, why have we looked so much better after reverting to 4-4-2, with players played on the corrct flanks? Please explain. Because Zola probably won't!
Would you like that in the form of a personal written apology? Move on - he doesn't have to apologise for having bad tactics - if we've found something that works then he can apologise by sticking with it and keeping us well away from the relegation zone
I quite like the sound of a 4-4-3 tactic, do you think we will get away with it, or do you think someone might notice we've seeked an extra player on the field? I suggest the extra man would be an ideal role for Tevez...
Nope, I would like the question asked on camera.
LOL 1913. I've changed it! Maths! It's so bloody hard you were the only one to spot it!
3 points and 3 goals and yet you still have something to moan about.
This is hardly surprising, you're just cementing everyone's opinion that you are a tool!
4 points above relegation now, maybe, but they will go bust with Portsmouth, soon!
I dont totally agree hammersfan. I think a right footer on left and left footer on right works in a 4-3-3 on condition we have a midfielder that just sits and ilunga and faubert are playing and they bomb on. in a 4-4-2 i think we have to have right footer on right and left on left. Although in fairness even tho Diamanti is left footed and was playing on that flank it did appear to me he kept coming central nearly all the time and we lost width anyway
AppyAmmer
Is this for real??? Some kid playing a bit too much Football Manager and now an expert in tactics.
Some of our finest moments this season has come from Diamanti on the right. Not the left.
Get behind Zola!!!
Some of our best moments have come through Diamanti, full stop. How many of our goals have come from crosses into the box? If you don't get down the outside of a defence, it is so much harder to create openings. Players on the wrong flank are reluctant to go wide and put in crosses. The evidence is undeniable. First time we have won two games on the trot - and it is the first time we have set up properly for two games on the trot. Guess that's just coincidence in your book though!
How many of our goals today came from crosses from the wingers as a result of the formation then Hammersfan??
Scott, to answer that, you have to understand that the option to go down the flanks opens up the middle too. If the opposition know you will always come inside, they simply congest the middle of the pitch and say, pass your way through that. How many times have we seen that happen this season? By using the full width of the pitch, you require the oposition defence to stretch itself thinner, which creates space both down the flanks and through the middle.
Thank God the players were strong enough to win a game against Hull even though the selection and tactics are persistently the wrong ones. I am quite happy for Behrami and Faubert getting a goal today. But the real diamond was Diamanti. What a player and how we really need what he brings to the team!
ive read all this and what a load of toilet you all speak. tactics, well lets say right now not one one of you lot sounds like you know how to play with youself let alone give advice on how to pick up points in the real world. leave the real decisions to the pros and just support the team instead of using these pathetic websites as a negative wanking machine
An interesting point frank. I trust you said the same thing whilst Roeder was in charge!
Oh my god are you fcking kidding me?
we have had pardew, Curbs,and Arry thge thief.
and finally when we get ourselves a decent manager, who likes to play football the west ham way you want to start to question what he knows about football.
Fck me on this i fancy all you know about football you'll get on the back of a stamp.
it's west ham fans like you that give the club a bad name, or one name springs to mind clueless.
everyone seems to forget that for the short time he has been here it has been nothing but agg for him, yet does he moan?
no he just sends a team out to try and play football in the correct way with what he has to work with, and i've never heard him mention bare bones once.
i'm guessing you lot were the fans that slaughter Lucus Neil last season without noticing what he brought to the team? hence the shocking defending we have seen this season without any leadership.
and no doubt one of these muggey fans i listened to when Zola came here"HE'S A CHELSEA MAN, WHY DO WE WANT HIM AND HE IS ONLY HERE TO TAKE US DOWN" Jokers i've been going west ham from the age of 4 travelling from mile end every week and we finally have a manager who John Lyall would be proud of and we have idiots who say they are west ham fans trying to pick faults in him.
Please stick to your train spotting sites and leave the football to the boys who understand the game and what west ham are all about
All the way from Mile End!
Actually, I greeted Zola with open arms and would love him to succeed. The fact of the matter is that he has a worse win ratio than Curbishley (whose football I hated), Roeder, Redknapp and Pardew (whose football I loved!). If he sticks to 4-4-2, and uses the flanks, as in the last two games, great. Love him or hate him, you have to look at the facts. We draw far too many games and lose too many games. Why? Because of Zola's tactics!
Ha ha. Oh HF. What a laugh. When you're fighting relegation and have had an awful a run as we have this season a win against one of your rivals is priceless. Personally I wouldn't have cared if we had won 1-0 today with a shot that deflected in off of Spectors Ar*e! As it is we won 3-0 with a committed performance full of little class here and there, a goal for our No 1 forward, more trickery from the excellent Diamanti and a clean sheet to boot! Most of us were happy with that. But feel free to question tactics, style and slate the manager - why not eh!
I haven't slated the tactics today, far from it! That's the point! Had he set up like this earlier in the season, we would be in the top half of the table!
It's not the tactics it's the attitude that has improved and the return of top man Cole. I hope Sullivan has another rant b4 Man U. Although we should be fired up by now. Lastly let's hope Diamanti can emulate the great Di canio he always did well at Old Trafford.
Everton beat Man Utd 3-1 today playing a 4-3-3 with a right footer on the left and a left footer on the right (who scored).
Barcelona won 4-0 tonight playing a 4-3-3 with a right footer on the left (who scored) and a left footer on the right.
Hull play a 4-4-2 with a left winger and a right winger every week, yet they are in the relegation fight. Why?
Oh because 4-4-2 is dated and no-one uses it any more except mediocre shitters who are happy to plod along doing fuck all.
Man Utd, Arsenal, Barcelona, AC Milan, Chelsea, Ajax etc. none of these teams play a 4-4-2 with 2 wingers. They play a 4-3-3 or a diamond midfield! Why? It works!
West Ham, and especially the fans, have always been scared of progression, that's why Zola's 4-3-3 scares the fans so much. Too continental, doesn't work in England they cry!
Or more likely....
We don't get it, how can players do 2 roles at once? This scares us! We don't understand!!!!
It is, of course, down to the quality of the players at your disposal. Look at Stoke - they play to their strengths. Everton are an interesting one. When key players are unavailable they struggle badly. Remember, if we had beat them, we would have gone above them. When all the Everton cogs fit together, they look superb, but when they don't...
If we had Messi and co, yep Zola could play 4-3-3. If we had Ballack, Lampard, Cole (x2), Drogba, etcetera we could play 4-3-3 or a diamond. But we haven't!
When you have mediocre players, you use a system that is simple to operate. Look at Stoke and Birmingham. Wouldn't it be good to be where they are in the table at the moment? Somebody quotes Hull without understanding that Hull have more points than the ability of their side merits. Why? Because they are organised properly and so play as a team.
We do not have a pool of high quality players so Zola needs to cut his cloth accordingly.
do us a favour, we're all in a good mood after getting a very valuable 3 points yesterday and you come out with this drivel?
you're posts are ALWAYS critical and negative.
not all West Ham fans are as cynical as you are and I really hope that other fans reading this article don't think we are all like this. otherwise they will think we are a bunch of idiots.
chill out ffs, you're gonna have a heart attack.
In Hammersfan's defence, he is not questioning the tactics of the game, he is questioning the tactics of the games prior to Brum and Hull where we struggled with a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 diamond.
Still, he has to have something to dig his teeth into doesn't he?
So is your glass still half empty? Its this sort of negativity that contributes more to taking teams down than tactics. If you have nothing constructive to say say nothing at all. Asking a manager to apologize, do me a favour.
So HF I assume then you have actually taken part in and completed the FA coaching courses? As someone said previously this isn't champ manager on the PSP. I have seen west ham play 442 this season and play badly and lose even with lefties on the left and righties on the right, why is that then if 442 is so bulletproof to victory and playing well?
Have you seen us play badly this season using 4-4-2 cOL? When? I am struggling to remember us losing playing 4-4-2 with Diamanti on the left and a right footer on the right (who plays wide right naturally - which rules out Noble!). Of course the formation is not a guarantee of victory, we could play 4-4-3 (as I mistakenly posted originally) and would still lose to Barcelona! It is about playing the percentages! How many games have we lost / not won because the wrong team with the wrong tactics were employed?
Here's a list:
Fulham at home.
Everton at home.
Blackburn at home.
Burnley away.
Hull away.
Sunderland away.
Turning the draws into wins and the defeats into draws in those games would give us an extra 10 points now, and a position where we would be pushing for Europe, not looking over our shoulders. The games is about margins. Zola has cost us 10 vital points because of poor tactical decisions.
And another point to the moaners, this article and the one on Lawrenson (which is very positive about our performance yesterday) figure as the top two articles of the West Ham All Sources page over the last 24 hours. If West Ham fans hate this blog so much, why is this? There must be a lot of Spuds visiting our board and then hitting the link for this blog!
So you are scared of progression. You have just admitted you are happy for West Ham to sit in mid-table, like Stoke, forever.
Thanks! :-)
Hammersfan 0 - 1 Anons!
This is an absolute classic, the absolute definition of irony AND arrogance.
Hammersfan writes; "And another point to the moaners"
You are the one complaining about tactics whilst completely ignoring the effects injuries had. Zola preferred a 4-5-1 / 4-3-3 formation which wound up disastruous.
He's a young manager learning his trade, I'd personally much rather see these lessons learnt whilst we have an average team and whilst we are not competing for a European qualification spot.
You remind me off my brother, one moment I backing you up saying your just objective. The next, like now, I get an glaring example that you are just an over confident ignorant **** with a me against the world attitude.
You genuinely do spoil what West Ham means to many, you have no damn clue what this club is about.
Now go on pick holes and small pieces of this comment, you'll just show yet more of your own ignorance you try to ignore.
Why don't you show your true place as a fan, give us your identity and show up in a pub for a pint. (yeah yeah I'm posting as anonymous Einstein, it's due to not being bothered to register not hiding anything like you so often accuse people of)
"If West Ham fans hate this blog so much, why is this?"
Hate, dislike or anything alike does not dictate what the general populace view.
"I would be so much happier if we had 35 points now! THAT is the point of this post!"
Why does your post not reflect this then?
Why have we looked so much better after reverting to 4-4-2, with players played on the corrct flanks?
We ALL knew this, we don't need to listen to a whining old prat in order to know.
It's how you go about it sunshine, what you do, not what you say.
"Nope, I would like the question asked on camera."
You'd like to raise negativity to give yourself a sense of conviction, congratulation on proving a point for many.
"Players on the wrong flank are reluctant to go wide and put in crosses. The evidence is undeniable."
I'm sure GFZ had ample belief in his approach, and I'm sure he has the required intellect to learn. Bringing up old dirt brings no good when used to boost a hitcounter.
Quiet commical really, you dedicate so much time to raising that precious hit counter and checking who has received the highest amount of views. When, at the end of it all you get sweet FA from doing so.
"figure as the top two articles of the West Ham All Sources page over the last 24 hours"
Changes nothing with regards to people liking the articles, as clearly the comments received show an interest in the site. Not a like.
Arrogance and ignorance again just goes to show your a misguided self serving prick once again.
Now go wank over your hit counter once more mr smiles.
Who says I want to sit in mid table for ever? I don't! I would rather be in mid table, which is where we should be based on the ability in the team than where we are though!
Hull, Burnley, Blackburn, Stoke, Everton and Birminham are all examples of teams better than their parts; that suggests very good management. West Ham, Liverpool and Man City are three glaring examples of teams weaker than the sum of their parts, which suggests poor management!
One poster above says he is happy for Zola to learn his trade at West Ham! Great, so we let him cut his teeth and make mistakes, possibly getting us relegated, before he leaves to win the Champions League with Chelsea? What a great vision! We are a feeder club for managers as well as players now!
Look, the facts are there to see. Last season Zola experimented with 4-3-3 and our form slumped; he went back to 4-4-2 and we climbed the table. In the summer we recruited players to theoretically suit a 4-3-3 formation and Zola reintroduced the tactic. What happened? We ended up in the bottom three. So Clarke, as last season, wins the tactical argument, we revert to 4-4-2, we stop shipping goals, we start scoring goals and we start to climb the table. Now Einstein might extraploate a theory from this. Great minds amongst the West Ham fan base, however, think there are unseen variables involved! And before you quote injuries, we won last season playing 4-4-2 with Tristan up front impersonating a lamp post!
I've dedicated my life to creating the earth's biggest screwdriver, only to discover that you dwarf it. I'm gutted. I thought I could claim creation of the World's Biggest Tool but it looks like your parents beat me to it.
LOL I have the patent stamped on my dick! The patent number is 4000 digits long and there's still space for the patent agent to sign her name!
You can't win the Premier League playing a 4-4-2. Simple facts.
So by you demanding we play a 4-4-2 you are saying you want West Ham to finish in mid-table.
Thus you are retarded and support Spurs!
Anons 2 - 0 Hammersgimp!
You complete fwit! There's a big difference between winning the league and finishing 5th. Ask any Tottenham fan!
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