Well Allardyce very nearly came up with the perfect tactics! Give the Mancs the lead inside the first minute, thereby removing all the urgency and passion from their play, keep the game at 1-0 for as long as possible, then steal an equaliser in the final minutes. It so nearly worked!
Of course Man Utd had more of the ball, but that stat apart, we were in this game from the thirty seventh second right through to the end. Nolan could have scored with a clever near post deflection from a corner. Carroll might have scored with a rasping volley. Nolan so nearly connected inside the six yard box. Cole forced a good save from Lindegaard. And Maiga fired narrowly over.
And what did Rooney and co offer in return? Very little. Jussi was stretched a couple of times and there was an ugly goal mouth scramble mid way through the second half, but other than that, we looked pretty composed and comfortable in defence, with Tomkins playing a key role in screening the back four.
And how unlucky were we to concede? It's true that Collins should have been closer to Van Persie but he got in the block, only for the ball to spin cruelly over and away from the committed Jussi. Without Collins' intervention, Jussi would have saved it.
Of course, had that goal not gone in, we might have come under greater pressure as the game unfolded. QPR made the mistake on Saturday of scoring, thereby rousing the dozing beast. We did the reverse, gave them the lead, thereby administering a perfect sedative. Such a shame that we lacked a goal scorer to pinch an equaliser!
However, a one goal reverse was better than expected, and with Southampton and Norwich drawing tonight, QPR and Sunderland sharing the spoils yesterday, and Reading and Wigan losing, we are in a better position than any of us dared hope for going into this round of games.
However Benitez is now under pressure after two goal less games at Chelsea and Torres is long overdue a hatrick so let's not count our chickens yet guys!
Player ratings: Jussi 7, Demel 7, Collins 6, Reid 8, O'Brien 6; Tomkins 7; Diame 5 (how many times did he give the ball away again?), Jarvis 5 (poor crossing all night) Taylor 6, Nolan 7 (led by example except for his stupid booking); Carroll 6 Subs Cole 6, Maiga 6, O'Neil 5
13 comments:
HF notice how apart from Noble none of our players seem to be able to complete a pass to our players. We passes the ball just over 300 times tonight with an accuracy of 55 percent. That is another reason Noble is in the team.
u back on the pills?
We maybe 7 points clear of drop zone, but potentially our next point doesn't come until 29th December v Reading....and we know what they did to us last year!
Excuses just admit wetspam are shite your only in the prem to make up the numbers mot!
Really missed Noble in the midfield today. Diame gave up so many balls trying to be the linkage player he is just not. He is a tank who can go booming down and make plays in both boxes, but he is NOT a linage player like Noble is
Didn't see the game but from your post it sounds like Collins was at fault again. Typical.
US HF
Really hope Big Sam realizes how important Tomkins is, and let him start as a centre back again next match, when Noble is back in midfield. Collins isn't a bad player, but Tomkins is just better. I wasn't able to watch the game yesterday, but in our last two games prior to that Tomkins has been imense. Yes, we shipped three against Tottenham, but that was mainly due to lack of pace at the full backs, as I see it. Tomkins made some really great tackles, and if it wasn't for him, I think we would have lost more.
As for Noble, I can't understand why some people keep critizing everything he does. Yes, he lacks some pace, like most of the team, but he is by far the best passer of the ball we have. When he gets it, he seldom loses it and he almost never misses a pass. One can say that a lot of his passes are easy one, and this may of course be true, but it is so important to have a player like that, who wins the ball and finds a teammate almost immediately, even if most of the passes ain't cutthroat. Our three best players so far this season has been Noble, Nolan and Reid, and if Tomkins can become a regular starter again, our base looks really solid. And when Diarra gets back from injury, I really expect him to give Diame a run for his money as far as playing next to Noble goes.
The only things we need to sort out now is our full backs, and we should get another striker capable of scoring regularly, preferably one with some pace. Carroll can still become a regular scorer, if Big Sam swings his whip and makes him charge into the box more often for crosses. Anyways, I am still sure that this wil be a much better season for us than anyone expected before it started, and if we get some reinforcements we may become a stable top ten team for the next season.
Cheers from Norway!
So this is where the armchair w,ham fans hang out? You must all be concernerned after being ripped open after 30 seconds with ease. Your defence stood around with their fingers up their arseholes apart from one desperate lunge. Embarrassing or what? 7 pts above the drop zone and i can confidently predict the gap will have narrowed come saturday teatime. You aren't going to beat chelsea are you? Meanwhile you can all scream your racist bile at the tv screen from the comfort of your filthy little homes as those who actually go to games do the same. Seig heil.
Good to see that your West Ham posts still get f*** all replies. You should stick to writing about Leeds.
The stats your talking about... it wasn't just possession. Utd had 23 shots to your nine - 13 on target to your 3! I think two of those came in the closing spell.
WHU - Carry on down the table!
HAHAHAHA
flapping about relegation
what kind of southern softie are you?
Yeah big congrats on the 5 West Ham fans posting
thats a big improvement!
PS. for the best hits, write a leeds story !
YOU KNOW IT MAKES SENSE!
HF, will you be sending 08:59 a banning order?
No 23.50 he won't send me a banning order. He'll probably paint a yellow star on my front door though.
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