Norwich was expected …Watford was spectacular but not many could have predicted more than a defeat at Manchester United .
Instead, in many respects it may have been the best of the three games because it contained great stuff from both sides of our game.
Defensively, there were times when we were outstanding with Ogbonna and academy product Ben Johnson probably the best of them.
Offensively we showed in the second half that we have a lot going for us and whilst the likes of Mikey Antonio, Jarrod and Tomas Soucek are regularly named there’s one another ho deserves a mention – Pablo Fornals.
He has been quietly effective over the games since the restart displaying great energy and after a slow start to his Hammers career looks to have justifiably nailed down his place in the team.
David Moyes was delighted to finally seal our survival with the point and speaking at https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2020/july/22-july/david-moyes-we-earned-our-point-and-could-have-had-more said:
He explained. “It was going to take a big swing of goals for teams to catch us, so we felt in a good place.
“Actually winning at Norwich and then winning at home to Watford, we felt as if that would be enough, but I think coming here and making sure we sealed it [was good]. For me coming back here it was a good point to get today.
“I think it’s tinged with disappointment in the second half. Certainly at the mid period, the 30 minutes in the middle of it, I thought we’d played well and could have got another goal.
“I have to say Manchester United played very well in the first half and penned us back. Fortunately enough, we got a penalty which gave us that chance for a lead – but we’d earned it. What the players have done and the way they’ve gone about their business, they had earned a little bit of good fortune.”
“The biggest thing about West Ham is we’ve been scoring lots of goals and making lots of chances
“It was probably a concern at the start, certainly coming back from lockdown, where the goals were going to come from. Seb Haller’s been out injured so it meant that we had to find somebody else who could do it – and Michy Antonio stepped up to the plate. He’s scored us the goals.”
Absolutely agree Hugh it was a deserved point and when we were under pressure it was a joy to see organisation and determination in our defending – brilliant work by D M and the team. For me it was great to watch a WH game on TV against a form team and just enjoy us competing in every department – I was excited not worried for a change. COYI
Completely agree too about Pablo Fornals, his work rate is fantastic.
There was a table published on Sky Sports recently that showed Tomas Soucek runs more per 90 minutes played than any other Premier League player but guess who was 6th in that same table – Pablo Fornals.