Well Avram Grant must be thinking, out of the frying pan, into the fire. Yes he had his problems at Pompey last season - and that is my bid for understatement of 2010 - but at least his players were prepared to fight and to stick to a game plan. The shower of shit on show yesterday had all the punch of a korma curry!
Yes it is only one game, as one poster said yesterday, but that poster clearly has amnesia and has wiped 2009/10 from his memory. What we saw yesterday was a depressing continuum, more of the same, a carbon copy of so so many inept performances from this "team" of misfits. I'm not blaming Avram - yet; but something dramatic has to be done, and done quickly!
I would be amazed if we see Tomkins play again this side of Christmas. The boy is suffering from the footballing equivalent of Traumatic Stress Syndrome. It started in the Bolton game last season and the horrors of the Wolves game pushed him over the edge. He was beyond dire yesterday, it was truly one of the worst performances I have EVER seen from a player in a West Ham shirt. Bloody hell, I'd have Gary Breen back before I'd pick Tomkins based on his last two performances; because, remember, that was Tomkins' first competitive start since the Wolves fiasco.
I don't want to crucify the guy, I still hope he can become a competent centre half, but yesterday he gave the ball away so often it was frightening. You can work on that but what you can't do is inject pace into a player who hasn't got it, as Noble shows. Centre backs can disguise a lack of pace - look at Bobby Moore - but to do so, they have to read the game and have fantastic positional sense. Tomkins has neither. He needs to go out on loan and develop away from the pressure of the Prem.
We can replace Tomkins, we have Da Costa, Ben Haim, Gabbidon and Reid (who I would pick in that order), but what do we do about Green? Yes he made a very good save yesterday, but if he hadn't tipped that Young effort over the bar, we would have been lambasting him for allowing himself to be chipped. After watching replays, I think he was lucky to be on the pitch to be honest. He did foul Carew after the Tomkins error and, with the foul outside the box, Green would have gone as the last man, had the free kick been given. I suspect the referee thought Carew had hit the post, not realising that the Green foul allowed Tomkins time to recover. The officials, of course, balanced things up, to a certain extent, by allowing Downing's off side goal.
Mind you, sending Green off may have helped us! He was all over the place yesterday and played like a cricketer who has the gips. I saw Phil Goat Edmonds once suffering from the gips. He lost his action, he lost his run up, he couldn't bowl the ball on the wicket, never mind at the stumps! Like Tomkins, Green's mind is blown apart. Every time the ball is crossed into the box, he is in a state of total panic.
Once again, we saw Villa parking a player in front of him at corners and Green allowing it. He just stands behind the guy, like a pensioner in the queue at the post office. Can you imagine Reina and the Liverpool defenders allowing that? For God sake, he only needs to have a little wrestle and appeal to the ref for protection, but no, he stands there and waits for the corner to be taken and then tosses a coin when the ball is in the air to decide whether or not he should come for it! "Heads, heads, heads, shit, heads, I've got to come for it!"
The back four are a mess as a result. They don't know what Green is going to do and obviously have no confidence in him. Green's panic spreads and chaos reigns. But what do we do? The number two is injured and Stech is just a kid. We need a new keeper but can we afford one?
Avram has one hell of a mess to sort out. Zola took over a team that was playing well and left behind a total mess. We saw yesterday the extent of the malaise. Unless something dramatic is done before the window closes, we will be dependent on others to stay up again. And who knows, with Wigan, Blackpool and West Brom in the division, we may be lucky again. But watching yesterday, we will have to shaft Lady Luck until she is totally gaga to survive!
You don't want to crucify JT??! Ummm, you already have HF...in TWO posts already...you have him nailed firmly to a cross with no resurrection!! I've seen Tomkins have some awesome performances but yesterday simply wasn't one of them! He will probably be replaced sure, but I can't see Grant doing to him what Capello did to Green!
ReplyDeleteOn the subject of Green...I think you need to watch those 'replays' again?! You could clearly see in real time, never mind the following numerous replays from different angles, that he played the ball before contacting Carew through his momentum. Carew knew that which is why he didn't make a song and dance! Carew's first touch was too heavy and enabled Green to make ground. The referee knew it as well which is why he waved away Downing's ridiculous protests!
I also say he could develop into a decent centre half. It is two games in succession now Shaun.
ReplyDeleteI may be wrong about the foul - that is academic to be honest - but what about Green's performance over all? Do you agree that he is a large part of the problem?
I certainly agree that Green is a large part of the problem. He's got no confidence, has no idea of his surroundings, doesn't seem to be all that vocal about where he wants his back four and if I see him flail at punching another ball I'll...
ReplyDeleteAnother issue I had with yesterday's match, as I had with Zola last year: playing players out of position. Reid is primarily a centre-back and Tomkins was used at fullback all pre-season, why does this suddenly change on match day one? Same issue with putting Mark Noble wide-ish on the left, it just didn't work.
Our midfield is drowning in overcrowded average players.
You only have to compare the scorelines in both the Wolves debacle and yesterday's defeat to realise that not many of our players exactly covered themselves in glory, let alone Tomkins.
ReplyDeleteI'm not wearing my claret 'n' blue goggles, but I'm a fan of Green. Sure he makes mistakes, but then, so do the majority of keepers. Any top keeper with a leaky defence in front of him will be doing well to keep it down to nil!
Rob Green is highly respected by his peers and rightly so. The Pros know HF! Got to hand it to Tim Howard in his interview on Sky yesterday for his high praise for Green...and if one of the world's best ever keepers and England's most-capped player, a certain Mr Shilton, rates him...then that's good enough for me and I rest my case!
Capello knew and look what happened. The managers know and look at how they crowd him at corners. The opposition players know, look at how they fire in so many crosses. Green was responsible for more goals against than any other keeper in the Prem last season. When he doesn't hae time to think he is brilliant - the reflexes are superb - but his temperament is suspect and his has ghosts yelling in his ear eery time a cross is about to come into the box!
ReplyDeleteI have a problem with my v key and keep typing his when I mean he! I'm like Green at corners, eery time I go to type his - I mean he! Or his! Or he! Or...fcuk, just close the eyes and hit a key!
ReplyDeleteSee no v in every above!
ReplyDeleteYesterdays game was awful but its yesterdays game.
ReplyDeleteKovac shouldnt have been in the squad, Ben Haim should have started instead of Tomkins, Piq and Barerra should have started. And Sears or Nouble brought on as sub with Stanislas.
We lacked Passion something our youngsters have an abundance of.
Come on HF,
ReplyDeleteZola had nothing to work with from the chairmen, you'r completely ignoring the circumstances he had to work in. But you cant say this now because you would have to admit you were wrong about him. Will people finally begin to accept that it was the players and less Zola that were responsible for last season?
The pre-seasons got you comparing Grant and Zola and you said it was basically the same side. We saw the same side yesterday minus Zola and it was a worse performance than we saw under him.
Grant will have to make big changes now, because he has seen what Zola had at his disposal.
Admit you were over-critical of Zola HF.
...and when Ben Haim starts, you will beg for Spector! Gabbidon is much better than him!
ReplyDelete13:13 Your a very SAD man with a very ropey looking website with 0 comments give it up
ReplyDeleteI am no Hammersfan fan but his site does bring inteligent debate.
I disagree to a lot of what he says and admit some posts are just plaine shite
But i would sooner post on WHTID than post on your bedroom d.i.y guide to idiots
Ok, but......
ReplyDeleteGoalkeeper:-
Lets judge Green once some kind of half decent defence is in place
Defense:-
Let's get work out our best from Reid, Da Costa and Ben Haim in central defence to partner Upson.
Gabbidon played best on the left of the central defensive pair, so lets get him match fit in the cups and cover Upson.
Get a proper Right back now!!!!!!!
Midfield:-
Need "Der Hammer" fit and Kovac shouldn't be playing for us. Get Barrera in his proper position, is he a right or left winger and play him there. Faubert should stick to playing as an out and out right winger/right midfield in a 442. Else he shouldn't play.
I don't think Diamanti should be playing as midfielder in a 442 or 433. Play as an attacker or not at all.
Attack:-
I don't know who is best, but until we sort out the defense and midfield it's difficult to tell.
Summary:-
Sort out the best central defender to partner Upson and get a Right Back now!
Oh perleeease don't use Capello as reasoning HF! According to you...he knows nothing and should be dismissed?!
ReplyDelete...and I fail to see why crowding a keeper at a corner or simply putting in crosses have suddenly become revolutionary and ground-breaking tactics devised solely for Rob Green?!
Tell me, just how do you figure out that "Green was responsible for more goals against than any other keeper in the Prem last season"?? I take it you mean...in your opinion?! What you're saying is that the defence has no responsibility when a goal is conceded and are blameless? Yeah right!
Facts are, out of the 14 ever present players in the prem last season, 6 were keepers. Green was one and conceded 66 goals. BUT, Burnley's Jensen and Bolton's Jaaskelainen also played all 38 games and shipped 82 and 67 respectively!! Four other teams apart from Portsmouth (same, 66) conceded more goals than West Ham. Simples, no?!
Good and fair assesment of yesterdays game. I had the misfortune to be at the game yesterday and came away fearing for our season. Where do I start. Green was at fault for their opening goal. He chose to punch the cross when he could of caught it, and he didnt get enough distance on it. Reid was played out of position. The boy has played most of his career at centre half, so the decision to put him at right back was puzzling to say the least. He played in the world cup as the right sided defender in a back 3 so anyone saying he played there in the world cup is wrong. Tomkins was awful and again it was a strange decision from Grant to make him first choice centre half partner to Upson. Surely we have better options than him. This shows how poor our squad is, that the fact Noble, Kovac and LBM all were in the starting 11!!! It must be a real kick in the teeth for players like Behrami, Diamanti, Dyer etc that these clowns get a game ahead of them. As for Grants formation and tactics, like when Zola tried, I dont think we have the players to make it work. You need a solid defence which we dont have, and you need 3 quality midfielder which again we dont have. Then you need wide players who are a threat and will make the fullback think twice about going forward. As we didnt have this, the fullback drove our wide players back making a 4-5-1 with Cole isolated upfront. With the players we have we need to revert to 4-4-2, with Faubert and Berrara wide. Cole needs a clever box player alongside him, and we need a natural right back.
ReplyDelete13:13, why would you waste time in setting up a website to bring this site down?
ReplyDeleteIf you don't like it then don't visit. It's people's choice if they choose to read and visit the website.
Or alternatiely, bring in a decent keeper and discover how good your centre backs are! Dunne and Collins / Clark are not world beaters are they? I remember somebody claiming Collins and Upson couldn't play together because both were too slow (do you still look in Basildon?) but Dunne aint exactly Mill Reef is he? But with a decent keeper SHOUTING AT and ORGANISING the defence, Villa are tight at the back.
ReplyDeleteDutch, I agree except I think with Barerra and Diamanti as the wide men, we could make 4-3-3 work. Shame we missed out on Sule. The need for a right back has been obvious for 2 years now. What's the problem in sourcing one FFS. Look how good Luke Young looked yesterday!
As for Behrami, he is on his way out. Dyer is still recovering from playing 60 mins in a friendly; forget him. I have a compost heap in my garden that could accommodate him!
Spot on Pete. How sad are these guys?
Shaun, its nice to have a name to compare notes with, i thought HF's appraisal of yesterday game was on the money and I was there. For me it was a penalty and luckily enough the ref missed it. I think teams have sussed us out big time mate, Bolton are our bogey team ... why ? because Davies is a lump that puts himself about to which Upson then gives the man marking job to Tomkins ... Tomkins has had a habbit of silly mistakes since Lucash neill left .. for me he needs a loan at a decent Fizzy pop team and then come back much like he did after his Derby loan 18 months ago.
ReplyDeleteteams know Green is weak on crosses and so with someone like Carew we knew he was gonna be getting plenty yesterday and we never had a game plan to stop them coming in to which they did all day long ... For me Green, Upson Parker and Cole looked lost yesterday and totally disilusioned with the club and the waffle the two daves keep comming out with
Then we have supposedly improved the squad ... Hitzelperger is ok but TBH, Reid, Barrera and Piquionne are no better than what we already have. Everyone who followed the team last term knew two major things, 4-3-3 didn't work, and that we also needed a decent RB, CH, creative midfielder and a decent goal scorer ... yet if we can afford Henry, Van Nistleroy and Beckham why are we scraping around for players who are nothing but bargain basement gambles ...
HF, write some shit admitted, but this weekend and over time he has been on the mark over Duxbury, Gollivan and he called the shots for yesterday ... I am at the game next week and am intrigued to see if Avraam makes the changes or that he hasn't watched a single video of last season and learnt sod all except to re invent the wheel the hard way ... harmony in the side my arse ...
Finally, Bellamy is available but why isn't he coming ... we'll be keeping Kovac because berahmi wants out and Diamante is aluxury we were stupid enough to pay £5m too much for.
I appreciate its only one game but the sooner we get relegated and rebuild from the roots up the better, if home grown players and out supposed big four show no fight for us fans then we need a total culture change and start from scratch.
Hang on Tom, that's going too far in my book! No mention of the R word please! Blackpool, Wigan and West Brom are going to be scrapping with Sunderland and Newcastle for that honour!
ReplyDeleteLay off Green for once, just give it a rest. If Shay Given was in goal yesterday would have kept a clean sheet, of course not, would we have been over run and conceded 3 or more goals, of course we would have. Looking at the goals there is no closing down from the midfield on the ball, the cross for the header you have players seeing the danger but just moving across and standing there saying 'go on cross it past me im not challenging you'. How can a goal keeper or defence have any confidence whatsoever when you are getting absolutely battered from the 1st minute because our midfield is incapable of retaining possession or putting pressure on the ball in and around the area. It wouldn't have made an iota of difference who was in goal yesterday.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe you guys. We Pompey supporters supported Avram and our battling ragbag of loan players and they stood by us until the end of the season.
ReplyDeleteOk we got relegated, but here are you guys moaning after one defeat.
Think yourselves lucky, you've got a great manager, owners with money and you're still in the Premiership (by the skin of your teeth).
Try supporting your team instead of slagging them off!
1655, cobblers mate. Would Given have "punched" (or rather flapped at) that cross that resulted in the first goal? 'Arry's wife could have caught that!
ReplyDeleteShaun, I am not justifying Capello's decision, I am saying he rated Green and look where it got him! Shilton probably has money on Green getting to 50 caps - and he is as good at betting as Matty!
ReplyDeleteNo Shaun, not my guess work. There was an index kept and published. If Stani looks in, he may be able to give you the name of it. It was discussed on here when the information was released - around about the time of the World Cup kick off.
I think the defence take confidence from the keeper, not the other way around. Green should command his six yard box. He doesn't. He should boss the defence. He doesn't. He should take charge at set pieces. He doesn't. He can use his hands for crosses so has a massive advantage over everybody else but how many crosses did he take yesterday? How many does he ever take? Not many! As for crowding the keeper, of course it is not a new tactic; but how many does it work with?
Tom 16:01... Likewise, good to make your acquaintance mate, and 'big-up' to you for supporting the boys at Villa! You obviously saw the Tomkins backpass to Carew in real time, but the reality is, Green DID get a faint touch on the ball as he came out to block. That touch inadvertently resulted in deflecting it into the path of JT who was unlucky not to score in his own onion bag!!! Green played the ball, thus Dean actually made a rare right decision in waving play on!
ReplyDeleteThat aside, Green deserves more protection and he simply isn't getting it! Crosses won't be coming in from the last third if the full-backs are doing their job. Closing down and dispossessing wide players are 'basics' for any full-back worth his salt! Not just full-backs but wide midfield also in positions further out! Space and time are key...and you can't allow it in the Premier League! Villa's width was top drawer in Downing and Albrighton yesterday and the sour fact is Reid and Ilunga couldn't cope with them, which resulted in Green being bombarded with too many dangerous centres.
HF, Green doesn't command his 6 yard box? Green doesn't boss his defence? Green doesn't take charge at set-pieces? Green is inept when it comes to crosses??
Well, all I'm gonna say is that David Coles, Peter Shilton, Tim Howard, Ray Clemence, David James and myself ALL disagree with you!!
Well those that do agree with me include Sam Allardyce, Macdonald, Ferguson, Coyle...the list goes on and on!
ReplyDeleteOh really HF...well it's a well known fact that those you mentioned...Sam Allardyce, Jane MacDonald, Sarah Ferguson and Nadine Coyle...know absolutely sod all about sod all, never mind football!
ReplyDeleteWho else is on the list....Michaela Strachan perhaps? Jenny McCarthy? Louise Redknapp? David Plunkett?!