Another clean sheet, another win, 29 points and big hopes for more of the same against West Brom on Tuesday night.
The manager had a pretty straightforward job on his hands today with the hapless Haller gone and Mikey Antonio back.
Quite simply he was able to pick his best team and if there is a complaint it would be that we should have won b y more and would have done had he not performed his usual trrck of bringing on the ineffective Yarmolenko for the most subbed player in teh PL – Jarrod Bowen.
The Ukranian’s awful decision making in shooting with Mikey free in front of goal was criminal. I would have bet my life away Bowen would have spotted him and found him
And frankly most of us would prefer to see Bowen remaining on the pitch despite his non stop running than watching the newly bearded Ukranian appear.
The same was true of Benrahma. Here was a guy enjoying his best performance yet for the Hammers taken off for Lanzini. The Argentinian was ok but there just didn’t seem much point.
Another win…29 points, eighth place and defensively a West Ham team as good as we’ve seen in a long while but those substitutions.
WHY?
Can’t win can he. Complain when he doesnt make substitutions, complain when he does. For me though it’s about several things. One, because players like Bowen are putting so much in they tire greatly the last ten minutes, especially defensively and they lose concentration. Two, it’s a team game with a big squad and lots of games coming up in a short period so great to rest key players when possible. Three, it keeps everyone involved, keeps subs a part of things and great fo team morale and spirit within the camp. Keeps everyone on their ties and motivated. Four it wastes time at the end of a game when you’re holding onto a one nil win. Ok that’s four reasons but there’s probably more. Great management from Moyes. My rating 9 out of 10.
perfect, thanks
Well said Mickey, I think you got it spot on.
I actually thought he could have used another substitution too, rather than not make any.
The players were clearly getting tired and we were sinking back further and further. Sure, Yarmolenko didn’t offer much, but you can’t know that when he’s bringing him on. Sometimes he can really turn it on, sometimes not. But Lanzini did quite well I thought, he was closing players down a bit more higher up the pitch than Benrahma, who had definitely played well, but we were starting to give too much away.
Personally, I would have also taken Antonio off around 75 mins, as he was clearly knackered, and will need to go again mid-week.
Don’t agree Hugh Bowen as much as I like him would have done the same as yarma
Bowen should gave went off before Benny
Agree with Mickey entirely. Moyes is the best manager we have had for years! GSB should offer him a better contract now!
Agree Antonio was in a better position for a square ball but it was a lot more difficult pass than it looked unlike the easy one Bowen greedily avoided to Benrahma when he was in acres of space. Fornals had a great day I thought as did Benrahma who seems to be improving every game. Well done Moyes and team COYI !!!
There’s a bigger reason Bowen gets substituted. His worst game for us. Poor decision making and passing. I lost count of the amount of times he gave the ball away today.
Please!
His worst game? To be honest in the first half he was nothing less than exceptional. So please…
I said the same but didn’t get posted
Benny shouldn’t have come off but Bowen should have
Gave the ball away and gave up loads of times
I thought Bowen was ok today – mixes good work rate and generally good set piece delivery with some poor decision making. I thought commentary was right with the observation that Bowen just takes one too many touches at times and certainly did with a couple of chances today. However something I am sure he will improve as he appears prepared to work hard. So overall not worst game nor do I think it was the best he has played for us. Thought Fornals looked back in better touch today though which is a good sign as he was below his best before Xmas.
8…I agree Benrhama coming off for manu. Not one I would have made but the bench shows we are work in progress and need to move more on in the summer and get a few in… But overall a game we never looked like losing but we need a clinical approach to our finishing to kill off games ⚒️⚒️
Did we win ? , yes . Is there another half to the season ? ., yes .
Moyes needs to try his players good or bad , it doesn’t really enter into the equation .
There has to be a period of trial & error . Thankfully for Moyes we have the opportunity to experiment a little with some kind of comfort . We can’t expect too much so soon . Our squad
Isn’t big enough or deep enough yet to compete in Europe & maintain premiership status .
A lot of teams have enjoyed European football whilst being unprepared for Europe .
A short lived time in Europe can be devastating for a lot of clubs …
West Ham United are Not Prepared for it and so a mid table finish to this season would be very welcomed instead of fighting relegation next season due to European dreams . We need to grow first . WE ARE JUST NOT BIG ENOUGH yet nor READY FOR IT .
A cup win would be nice , but let’s not above ourselves .
Had we kept Snodgrass, we would not be discussing Yarmalenko. Snoddy is a two way player who knows how and when to defend.
Will watch WBA match later – they won…
His worst game? To be honest in the first half he was nothing less than exceptional. So please…
I thought Moyes got everything spot on today, a very positive team selection (thankfully the lessons of playing 3 defensive midfielder have been learned). Good subs but I would have personally kept Benrahma on for a little longer. Great result and very good performance by management. Now go get Sarr !!
Moyes has definitely frustrated with his subs at times this but just writing WHY instead of giving him a good rating after a fantastic win and clean sheet is just a bit petty really sorry but it is….Manu came on and agree with an earlier post he was closing down higher up the pitch and it helped. As for Yarmalenko he had an indecisive moment should of squared it we all know that – have you forgotten about the two almost identical positions Bowen was in and was equally indecisive though? That’s not to take anything away from Bowen he was fantastic especially first 20 minutes which essentially got us the 3 points. Frustrating to see such a negative article after seeing us win the kind of game we’d of thrown away in many recent years. Solid 8 for Moyes today against a tough team to break down even on a bad day for them.
I’m loving these clean sheets ..totally different look to us now …all credit to Moyes we needed a steady ship and he was definitely the one to captain it ..our defence has been outstanding,,alot of that to do with oggy ,,what a cracking player and the perfect attitude to go with it ..I had my doubts about dawson but he has proved his worth by far …brilliant ,no negative fron me today ….but I will ask ,,,get the players we need signed asap..we cant go on with 1 forward ..stop dithering dave,, coyi⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒⚒🙏🥂
We have, right now, the lowest positive goal difference in the top ten. Against better teams we will not always get away with 1-0 games. We need more strikers, particularly once we get a bad run of injuries.
And Moyes’ substitutions can be crazy. Taking Benrahma off and leaving a very tired Antonio on seems the height of cluelessness. This is going to cost us against less forgiving opponents.
David Moyes is the best thing to happen to this club in years. If you don’t believe this just think back to the last days of the Pellegrini era & that ridiculous clown of a goalkeeper that he signed!!
Agreed 100%
100% agree. No need to rate Moyes down for subs. Have to have an eye on the next game in three days, and keeping the squad engaged. The man saved us twice and is now building something really strong along with other coaches. Long may it last!
I agree with Sean and others – remember that Burnley beat us at the London stadium in July – and here we should have made the points safe – but remember Burnley only lost 1-0 to Man Utd midweek
Well done to Moysie and team – I am sure that they have their reasons for the substitutions – when Yarmo came on against Chelsea and scored the winner no one complained
Moyes got it wrong in the first half against Brighton and admitted as much
Otherwise I think that this season he seems to be getting most things right