Former Hammer Danny Gabbidon criticised Slaven Bilic tactics in taking off Pedro Obiang yesterday.
Speaking on his twitter Gabbidon said “Slaven Bilic got that wrong for me at 1-0 and looking like scoring he brings Obiang off & plays Lanzini CM with Nobes”
Gabbidon added on social media “Then watch how many West Ham players are left up field when the 2nd goal goal goes in! 5! This is only 1-0 remember #naive #WHUFC“
Later saying “Everton showed more every energy 2nd half nullified Payet too” & “Leave five up field all season and see how many clean sheets you keep….”
When questioned by a West Ham fan on what Gabbidon would have done:
The licensed coach said: “Kept him (Obiang) on… it was 1-0 not 4-0 coulda taken Antonio off he weren’t great…” or “Take Lanzini off then”
Gabbidon made 113 appearances for the Hammers between 2005 and 2011. He was signed from Cardiff City for £175,000 in 2005 but was released in 2011 to join QPR on a free transfer before later join Crystal Palace before returning to Cardiff City when he hung up his boots last year.
His statement alone tells you who should have been pulled off either Antonio or Noble and if it is Obiang, then Noble because Noble was the other defensive midfielder, the one with no pace, the one that they ran through easilly in the second half and was often seen following the action trying to react but without the pace to make a difference. If Barclay is winning man of the match you know the midfield aren’t working well, Barclay is not imo a good player and this is the only time I remember him playing against us and making a noticeable difference, that’s because Noble doesn’t pick him up where normally Kouyate would play him out of the game, as for the second goal where he scored despite having about 10 seconds to realise he was arriving late all the defenders eyes were fixed only on Lukaku and the ball, that’s rank average defending. The other mysterious substitution was Fernandes, I think Antonio is an amazing player but he is not a right wing back, if he was 22 or 23 I would say it’s ok too experiment with him and let him learn the position but he isn’t and any value we get from him as a right wing back we are not likely to see for a season or two so for gods sake do away with the experiment and play a player that can defend as well as attack in that position. Slav could have done any number of things pushing Kouyate into midfield for Noble and switching to 442 might have worked to deny Barclay some space but he didn’t and hopefully sooner rather than later he will realise Noble’s age is catching up with him, the physicality and athleticism of the PL now means he is not fitter than most players which is something he always was previously and now we can all see his limitations. In the transfer window if Slav isn’t going to use Nordveidt he should look to find an experienced defensive midfielder to compliment Obiang, the forward position still isn’t solved either, if its true about Icardi he would be a good shout but the way Slav sets up its still mostly about crosses which isn’t his game, if Antonio is the out and out forward it looks like most defences whilst having to work hard to contain him are doing just that, Antonio has got most of his goals for us arriving late at the far post and scoring his trademark headers, 343 doesn’t suit that, 451 or 442 does.
Terrible substitutions …. How can Bilic leave on Noble who is awful and take of a player having a good game who can run !! Noble is the cause of our problems . He is the weak link in the team . He does nothing to help attack or defend because he can’t run . I like Bilic but he must realise that Noble is yesterdays man and stop treating him like his son .