West Ham United FC v Sunderland

Please Sam take off Cole before its to late ffs

Maiga comes on and sets up a goal , Cole starts and does fcuk ALL !! Come on BFS start with maiga from now on till Carroll`s fit please !!!!!!

Nolan with 3rd goal of the season

I am so proud of all of them today , they just did,nt give up

Well deserved point there......Proud of the team today, never giving up.

As for Sunderland, leaving Campbell on the floor while they were attacking, and as soon as they lost the ball fuckin winging for us to put it out....wankers!

We got real grit and determination these days....its good to see

i can only go by the highlights but it looked like we should have had all 3 points, great team spirit though and another game where we have had grit and the will to go to the last seconds, Big Sam is breading a no loss mentality.

SemiOldIron wrote:You know what they say on the training courses, to succeed you've got to prioritise, so - list of priorities...

- 3 points
- clean sheet
- no injuries
- no bookings
- maybe, just maybe, not being last on Match of the Day

We can but hope!

COYI!!

Dunno why I bother. Since it's inconceivable that we could actually get through a match without someone getting injured, I'll reckon that priority list as a total wipeout.

Did you compose it Semi, or copy it from somewhere?

Good result in the end but probably could and should have been even better. Collins' pass wasn't that horrendous, it hit Diame which took it straight into the path of Larsson. I'm a believer in the defence as a unit rather than individuals, I think Reid's continuing improvement needs to be considered in line with the organisation and 'talking through games' that the experience of Collins is, in my opinion, clearly giving him. I like Tomkins but still worry about him at this level after his previous two seasons in the top flight, and his performances and errors for Team GB in the summer. O'Brien similarly remains in the team because he is part of the unit that is generally performing well. Re the goal, I do think Jaaskelainen could have got a stronger hand to it and turned it round the post - Fletcher's shot was not right in the corner.

I am in two minds about Diame. He is a barnstormer, wins the ball, can take players on, sees the space to run into - I love all that. But his first touch is often poor and his final ball, at times, even worse. More to like than dislike so far, but I'm still to be totally convinced. Noble pulled the strings admirably again, Nolan did what no-one could two years ago and got us out of jail when we needed it. He will be huge this season. I really like Coley but I do think it is time to give Maiga a go from the start - when Carroll returns, Maiga's chances will be even more restricted and I'd like to see what he can do from the start. Jarvis has done more than enough to warrant a start now, in place of Vaz Te for me. I'd keep Taylor in the side for now, unless Benayoun has a stormer tomorrow night.

For the Wigan game tomorrow night, I'd go with:

Henderson
Spence, Tomkins, Potts, McCartney
Diarra, O'Neil, Nolan
Benayoun, Maiga, Jarvis

Subs: Jaaskelainen, Fanimo, Taylor, Moncur, Turgott, Hall, Vaz Te.

Saturday's game was one that - given the amount of chances we created - we should have won. 12 shots to their 2 yet we only managed a 93rd minute equalizer. We are not clinical enough in front of goal. Starting Taylor and (the ineffective this season) Vaz Te isolated Cole up front and denied him any real service. Whether he would have capitalized on good service is another matter. We looked much more threatening when Jarvis and Benayoun came on

As for team selection - I think Tomkins deserves a chance in the PL. We have played 5 games and Collins has cost us 2 goals. Yes his pass straight to Larsson should not have led directly to a goal on Saturday but his positioning when Larsson crossed the ball was awful. Not sure where Demel was either BTW. He should have been covering around as well. I agree about Jussi for that goal. Having got a hand to the shot he should have done better

Diame is an enigma to me too. He is clearly a powerhouse who likes to carry the ball forward. This is fine if he has a genuine holding player behind him - as he is just as likely to lose possession as beat several men. Nolan is clearly not that player out of the central 3 in midfield, therefore it has be Noble. Trouble is, Noble does not see himself as that sort of player but rather a creative midfielder. I don't see Noble as a creative player at at all. His short range passing is good - albeit too slow at times - but his long-range passing is poor. Unfortunately he thinks he is Glenn Hoddle too often. If Noble is to stay in the side then he has to adapt his game to sit in front of the back four, keep it simple and keep the ball moving whilst offering a protective shield in front of them. If he cannot do it then Alou Diarra surely can. I hope Nobes adapts to a new role

Matt Taylor is simply too slow at this level. His dead ball delivery is his best asset, yet somehow Noble is still taking ineffective set-pieces. It is about time Taylor and Jarvis were given their chance to take them if they are on the pitch. Taylor should be a squad player/emergency left back from now on. He is never going to offer us what Jarvis can going forward. Maybe bring him on when we need to shut up shop on the left hand side?

Joey O'Brien - I am still not comfortable with a VERY right-footed player playing at left back when we have a perfectly good one on the bench in McCartney. It is so obvious that his lack of left foot and lack of technically ability means he is always going to come inside onto his right foot and be liable to get caught in possession. It is SO easy to read and he has been caught out a few times already

Carlton Cole - I admire his tenacity, loyalty, humility etc but he is simply NOT a Premiership striker. Certainly not a top ten side Premiership striker. If that is where we genuinely want to get to in the short (ish) term then we are not going to do it with CC as our main striker are we? Be honest peeps. He is not mobile enough, wins few headers and has a poor first touch. Any pace he had seems to have gone since his knee injury too. His goalscoring record throughout his career is poor and given his age it is unlikely to improve is it? Maiga deserves a chance in Carroll's absence. If he is not given his chance before Carroll returns from injury we may never know if he can play that lone role. I think he can

All about opinions !

From Nicki on facebook......

Israel international Benayoun, who is on a season-long loan from Chelsea, is unable to play because tonight’s match falls at the start of the Jewish holy festival of Yom Kippur, which includes a 25-hour period of fasting, prayer and no w**k

and

Diarra is injured.....He picked up a leg injury in training last week and is out of contention

That news dont help , I wonder what sort of team they will be throwing out . Two good reads from Dan C and Mr P , reading them both twice you two do talk some sense with regrads to players . I too think CC is a nice bloke and I do like him but I feel he is holding us back , time to let him go to Liverpool and splash some more cash to find a replacement for Carrol ( if hes still with us ) , never know D&D might just buy him , a bit early than they had reckoned on , but it aint imposable .

Tony and dan do indeed have a very eloquent and informed post on west ham and are always a good read

Yep....Tony and Dan are the dogs

Jiggs wrote:Yep....Tony and Dan are the dogs

and we rarely agree either !

Doesn't really matter to me tone, I like reading different opinions

I seem to remember we generally used to always agree in the forum's previous incarnations - I blame the opinion-dividing Carlton Cole! ;-)

Dan C wrote:I seem to remember we generally used to always agree in the forum's previous incarnations - I blame the opinion-dividing Carlton Cole! ;-)

Me too ! I think we do generally agree Dan. There are a few players who divide opinion though

Carlton Cole
Winston Reid
Mark Noble