Wigan are a strange team. One week they look dreadful, the next they surprise you. Our cause was certainly helped by the fact that they had two players suspended - and crucially Rodallega was one of them - but the previous week the Mancs had struggled to kill them off, so this was no walk over.
Let's start with the positives. Leaving aside the dreadful performance against Liverpool, we have been difficult to beat in recent weeks, either because we have scored ourselves, or because we have kept the opposition scoring down. Yes the results against West Brom and Blackpool were disappointing, but we didn't lose, did we? Away to Arsenal we defended well. Away to Birmingham, we deserved to win and, 15 minutes apart, were much the better of the two sides. But we haven't turned that into points so far. Maybe beating Wigan is the starting point. Maybe.
Yesterday, Obinna, Piquionne and Stanislas combined well as an attacking unit and Behrami and Parker clicked in the centre of midfield, to the delight, no doubt, of Noble's critics. At the back, Tomkins looked a much better partner for Upson than Gabbidon and Jacobsen put in a competent, unfussy performance before he came off. All good so far.
The trouble is, to win games you can't afford to have an obvious Achilles heel, and this team has a few. The major one now is Gabbidon. He has looked poor at centre half and he is NOT a left back. He conceded the penalty stupidly - how the Assistant Referee didn't call it is beyond me - and was also done for the Wigan goal. He is too easily turned and he ignores the basic rule of stay on your feet in the box when challenging. Even with the Wigan goal, he risked a second penalty by trying to take the ball in the box. It is a dangerous game to play. You look brilliant when you pull it off but a complete mug when you don't. Gabbidon is more mug than Einstein!
But who replaces him? Ilunga has looked hopeless. Spector is Spector. Brown is just a kid. So who else is there? The sale of Daprela looks ever more baffling as each game goes by.
Then there is Parker's habit of diving recklessly into tackles. Halsey was generous yesterday. There was one double footed challenge from Parker where he got the ball, but I groaned. Half a second late and Parker would have been off and his opponent would have been on a stretcher. Then there was that mindless clatter on the edge of our box. Parker again looked bemused when the free kick was given but there was never going to be any other outcome. He slid in, from the side and behind, and cleared up his opponent's standing leg. He should have been booked for that, no question and Wigan were given a great scoring chance from the free kick. It was a senseless challenge because Wigan had a better chance of scoring from the resultant free kick than they had in open play. It is as if Parker gets a red mist and loses all sense of what is appropriate in a given situation. He has conceded two free kicks that have resulted in goals already this season and is walking a suspension tightrope due to bookings.
Then there is Barerra. He did ok yesterday but how good is the guy? Maybe he will find his feet and start to excite us, but Etherington looks a much better player to me and selling him looks foolish.
The biggest worry about yesterday is that it could easily have finished 3-3. Wigan had a legitimate goal ruled out for offside and missed a penalty. I know we missed a great chance from open play but, the fact remains, that Wigan should have scored three against us, and if Wigan can score three, what chance do you stand against the good teams? We can't rely on our strikers netting 3 or 4 every game to get points. Stanislas looked good offensively but he can't defend, so Gabbidon was always going to be exposed; and exposed he was and at fault for the goal and the penalty. The old issue of balance therefore remains. We don't seem to be able to attack and defend in the same game - it is either one thing or the other.
So, in summary, the three points were welcome but the result does not tell the whole story. We allowed Wigan far too much of the game and looked the second best team for the first 25 minutes of the game and for a good 50% of the second half too. We created more chances than Wigan and scored more goals but so what? Wigan are one of the worst teams in the division and should have scored three goals on the day anyway, the number we mustered. So, there are reasons to be cheerful, one, two, three. But God help us when we get hit by a team with a rhythm stick, because this team still doesn't know how to cope when under pressure.
And as a footnote, any singing of the praises of Wally Downes is ridiculously premature. Wigan should have scored three. Great defensive coach? On the evidence of that game, Downes' defensive drills are as effective as his diet!
16 comments:
Hit the nail on the head HF. Our defensive frailties are there for all to see and we will not be playing an out of sorts Wigan at home every week! So, where is the defence, the organisation and cool defending that we need to be able to clinch wins against better teams than Wigan? I don't see it. Not with Da Costa missing and Illunga out of form. I hope Jacobsen is not injured. But we are very thin and disorganised at the back. The defence is a bigger problem than all the others put together!
They were the lowest scoring team in the top four divisions so a win should have been the least we expected. I think we were fortunate to have Rodellaga missing and yes, it could have ended up 3-3.
I think you're being a bit harsh on Gabbidon. He kept Nzogbia quiet most of the time and apart from being late for the pen, he did well. There was one excellent tackle in the first half. Certainly if it was between him and Ilunga at left back then there is no argument. As for the fault in the goal; I think Gabbidon had it covered until your favourite dancing queen Behrami arrived on the scene and decided to do the splits in front of him. Gabbidon had to then go around Behrami hence taking him that bit further away from the player he had covered.....Nzogbia I think, who laid it off to Cleverley to shoot, evading Gabbidon who would have been in from of it had it not been for Valon. Anyone else think Green should have done better though....it was in the middle of the goal. Behrami had a good game, I must say.
As for those teams you mentioned when you made the point about us being difficult to beat, I have a theory why....Mark Noble. I think even you saw how well our midfield and thus the whole team knitted yesterday. There was much more fluidity, pace and dynamism all-round. The last three games Noble has missed, we have scored 7 goals. Had we had our defence sorted out earlier, we could have collected 9 points instead of 5. We scored 2 against Brum, 2 against Brom when Noble was out. He came back against Blackpool and Liverpool and we scored 0 in both games. Yesterday without him we scored 3. He is a luxury we cannot afford.
Yes, the sale of Daprela is baffling.
I have noticed with Barrera that he is too eager to score himself when in from of goal. Just a simple pass could give his team mate an easier chance. He did it yesterday and a couple of games ago too. Needs to look at that and bring some composure. Needs to realise that an assist will be as equally beneficial to the fans and mangers opinion of him as a goal.
Like the little indirect Dale comment at the end....and I agree :)
Matt Fry, as i've said for a while must be recalled and thrown in at the deep end. He's getting valuable experience at Charlton where they lay in second position in league 1, and experience in a position we need the most.
Give Wally Downes a chance, it's only been 3 days.
Agree with your analysis HF,and your conclusions.There is an underlying fragility in this WESTHAM side ,and it is definitely in defence our major problems lie.GABBIDON is no left back,he is now well past his best,lost a yard of pace, and that is the primary position GRANT has to fill.ILUNGA has never looked right since his injury against WOLVES .The centre back pairing of UPSON,TOMPKINS,REID,BEN HAIM still has not been decided upon by GRANT because of injuries,so he like us is still none the wiser,but I still think TOMPKINS will come good.There are a lot of fringe players in the squad that will never progress to regular first team players because the quality is not there,that is a big problem that GRANT is having to contend with,through no fault of his own.In effect ,although on paper we have a big squad ,GRANT is limited to a much reduced number.So we are back to the same old nutmeg,lack of quality in depth.PIQUIONNE,JACOBSEN and OBINNA are now regulars and they deserve to be,as will HITZLSPERGER.The likes of REID,BEN HAIM,and BARRERA the jury is still out ,but I think they will come good.So all in all GRANT ,although not bringing in real quality,because of financial reasons and our status, he has definitely improved us as a team.So from that perspective he deserves credit,and if it wasn't through injuries to crucial players we would be higher in the league.But if we see more performances like against LIVERPOOL the problems run deeper than just lack of quality,GRANT may be on borrowed time.
mhh...but I think it's also ridiculous to judge him after a few days in charge.
As you said, it's obvious that our main problem is the left back position and we need a acceptable solution. It could become even worse if Jacobsen got injured...
Two penalties conceded in two games Stani. That is a problem! Gabbidon has been poor at centre back and, although he tried hard yesterday, was ultimately at fault for the penalty and, I still think for the goal. Watch it again. Gabbidon tries to tackle and gets a toe on the ball, but he is inside the area when he challenges and again risking a penalty. That first half tackle you refer to was also inside the area and was dangerous. He got the ball that time but he is a penalty waiting to happen at the moment.
Your Noble obsession hhas not relented I see. I will wait for him to return before proving you so so so wrong! That argument can wait for now!
No I don't think Green could have done better. It was a lovely strike from Cleverley and, I think, took a slight deflection into the bargain.
TIS if Matt Fry was good enough, he would be in the team. He clearly isn't ready.
I am not judging Wally by the way. I'm saying it is far too early to judge him. One other blog is putting our victory down to Downes and that is absurd given the score could have been 3-3!
and stani i still wouldnt blame noble as he has bee nby far our best player and the reason we score more without him tends to be grant keeps changing the formation when noble is out when hs in the team we kee ptrying to play 4-3-3 whe nhes out we kee pplaying 4-4-2 and we end up scoring more and we may score more but what is the point of scoring if we keep conceding
We also had a penalty shout that could have been given, Piq was clipped by the Wigan defender shortly after their missed penalty so it went both ways. We deserved a bit of luck anyway.
I hope Stanislas is given more games in the first team, he is a bit sloppy at times but he tried hard and did make things happen and looked threatening on occassion. I also hope Grant sticks with 4-4-2 from now on, hopefully with Hines getting a run alongside Piq up front, he could score a fair number of goals playing off Piq's shoulder, moving Obinna out wide in place of Barrera.
Wigan were poor but the most important thing was getting the 3 points, a loss or even a draw and it would have been season over.
Wally Downes had only been there 2 days before Saturdays game, what the hell are you lot talking about. Yes, whoever said Wally did a great job is obviously high in the sky, but to say he is at fault for West Ham *potentially* letting in 3 goals, is stupid. Give it a few weeks and Wallys experience and talent will show.
As for Wally during the game, he was absolutely brilliant. When did we last see someone shouting their mouths of like that to the players? The last person was probably Alan Pardew and he didn't evwen do it that much as it is. Before him, well, it was probably Harry Redknapp 10 years ago. Wally is great for this club. During the match he was screaming at the players, ordering them about, praising them, all the things that need to be said. Grant will wait until half time (and even not say it then) or at full time when we've already lost, but Wally was up and down like an excited dog and was barking instrucinos left right and centre. Wally will prove to be a HUGE addition to the West Ham staff.
Bring on Man U tommorrow night. If Man U put out a weekend side with Wes Brown, Macheda, Obertan, Carrick, Evans and Smalling then we could well get something out of it - that something being a semi final double leg against teams we can beat. Except for Man Utd, Arsenal are the only big team left in the competition, and we played better than them in their own back yard a few weeks back only to lose to a late goal. Point is, we should - and could - give this cup a right go and walk out with a win tomorrow night and head into a semi final on a high after beating the cup champions.
COYI
HF,
Gabbs' handball pen was just unfortunate. You cannot do anything about that. I disagree he's been poor at centre back and I use Sav as a barometer. The games he played, he played well, so well in fact that Sav did not pick much out :)
Tackles do happen inside the pen box HF! His first one was brilliant. If you're gonna criticise him for when he gets it wrong, you have to commend him for when he gets it right. I noticed it in your write up for that game and here now too that you're looking at his well timed tackle from the wrong viewpoint...from the "what if" viewpoint.
As for the Noble argument, I'm entitled to that view. And you can wait but by the time he comes back we will be nearly out of trouble and the argument would have been won already :)
I want you to consider this one thing I noticed about Green and that's that he gives up when he thinks the chance of a goal occurring is inevitable (even though its not). For example, if a defender fails to mark a man in the middle of the goal, when Green is then called to make the save, he does so in a resigned manner as if he's saying to himself the chances of them scoring are huge, it's not my fault so why try 100% to save it when I could start my moaning at the defender asap. I'm not sure if I managed to explain what I saw clearly enough, but some keepers try even if there is no chance of a save, he doesn't try hard enough even when there is.
Having second thoughts Fred? :) The reason people think Noble has been our best player is because he does one or two good things in a game and that's all people remember (positive bias). It's the reverse of Boa Morte. He does one or two bad things and that's all people remember (negative bias). It's favouritism.
So why does Grant play 4-3-3 when Noble is in the team? In fact, it's more of a 4-5-1 and this very point has been part of my argument all along. I have said before that when Noble plays we look a player light. To cover for him, we have to play 5 in midfield leaving the striker on his jacks. You have merely backed up my point.
23:31
Completely agree with your 2nd paragraph.
no stani noble has bee nour best playe rbecuase he has he hasnt done anything wrong at all where boa morte does everything wrong and in ur case he makes one gd tackle and you forge tabout wha thes costing us so are u saying u wud rathe rhave boa the nnoble if so u r a tosser
Our defense has been a problem all year, all last year as well. Its funny how in the offseason we still really didnt address it beside jacobsen, and i see that as average. Our problem lies on the left and centre back. We need two guys, young talented and mobile. My ideal would be Micah Richards (cant find a starting spot w mancini and would love to get out) and Kieron Gibbs (isnt replacing Clichy anytime soon. Our offense looks pathertic because we have to drop so far back to cover for our damn defense. I do like the effort Downes has been showing
Fred you moronic imbecile, I didn't insult you so don't insult me. Are you Noble's dad or something that it hurts you so much when someone criticises him about his FOOTBALL?
Go learn some etiquette and worldliness before you fall into the hands of the BNP.
Where did I say I would rather have Boa than Noble?
"[Noble] hasn't done anything wrong at all". Right!!! Well done Fred!!! I don't even need to say anything more after that.
as u took it as an insult u basically r saying boa is better then noble and i see when noble has done something wrong as i critisized him most of last year this year though there has been nothing to critisize were you look for excuses to critisize him no maatter what which is probably why you started commenting again or coincidence and apart from noble you try look at the positives for every other player
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