Hammers 0 Newcastle 1
West Ham collected their first trophy of the year via The Asia Tournament wooden spoon!
And despite an improved second half performance they can have no complaints on the back of a lifeless first 45 minutes which brought back too many recent memories of similar performances at PL level.
And it took another good performance from Jack Wilshere to give the Hammers an improved second half look as he took control of midfield.
Manuel Pellegrini had made it clear he wanted a far better 90 minutes than he had seen against Manchester City but in fact he saw worse.
Newcastle took the lead through Muto in the first half when the Irons included the likes of Josh Cullen, Aaron Cresswell and Winston Reid.
The display was dull and dreary and produced not a single shot on goal as the Geordies dominated throughout.
The same criticism could not be directed at them after the break with Snodgrass and Wilshere in particular giving the team more threat and from the Scots corner Anderson headed against the bar as the Hammers rook on a livlier look,
But once again we ran out losers on the back of a dreadfully slow first 45 minutes – a scenario which has existed for too long.
Interestingly young Ben Johnson was again given more minutes when appearing off the bench late on for Zaba demonstrating that he is again likely to be making his presence felt on the first team this season.
Disappointing for the Hammers but this is not the time for over reaction.
Hugh, we must have been looking at a different game. Wilshere has not improved one bit from last season. On the ball he looks good but go back and look at the tape of the second half and he just stood when he did not have the ball. Not good enough for a professional footballer. If Pelle thinks he is a player who can make a difference well I am sorry he has no impact and got caught a number of times in possession in dangerous positions. Young Johnson was the highlight, a super second half and for me he should be giving the RB position as he is so much a better player than Freds.
yES WE MUST HAVE BEEN WATCHING DIFFERENT GAMES GIVEN THE OVERWHELMINGLY GOOD RESPONSE FROM MOST FANS. sorry caps lock on
I know its a friendly but were having a laugh if we think this teams ready to battle the top 6 are bench is terrible… may have a great 11 but are subs are all poor… i hope im proven wrong
Worst 45 mins.. no effort or interest..Rice apart ! Ogbonna a disgrace.. followed by Sanches, Why we persevere with him, I don’t understand..Nobes on made a big difference ! hope the knockers take notice.
Heat and humidity a huge factor. They looked to really struggle with keeping up. Will be completely different in a few weeks time.
The first team needs to start taking shape soon. Can’t see Cullen or Sanchez anywhere near the first 16. Desperate for another option up front.
It’s hard not to overreact to performances like that. You try and take in to consideration that it’s a pre-season friendly and that it’s in China with high humidity however the same is true for all teams taking part and the truth is, it was another example of a team wanting it more. That obviously grates particularly with the mess Newcastle are in at the minute.
I don’t know if I’m imagining it but West Ham always look like the worse team even in matches we win. Today we didn’t create space, we weren’t anticipating any passes, nobody was on the same wave length, particularly in that first half. What worried me more is just how poor we look at the back. I continue to be concerned by our full backs but without Balbuena and Diop, we don’t look good enough. Reid is back after 18 months which is a valid point but we simply don’t know if he’ll get back to a decent level or if he’ll remain injury free. Ogbonna has no consistency. He’s either good or bad, there’s no in between.
On today’s evidence we need 5 more players, full/wing backs, a CDM, centre back and another striker. in that order of importance.
Am I overreacting?
Probably when u remember the way we played towards the end of last season.
The end of last season involved a lot of teams with not too much to play for or other things on their minds. Masuaku looked good because he didn’t have much defending to do. Form from 3 months ago doesn’t mean a lot. I am happy with our attacking options but defensively we were poor last season and haven’t strengthened that area so logically, it’s unlikely we’ll be a whole lot better.
Nice to see a Jack Wilshere who is looking match fit & showing glimpses of his best.
Yes, glimpses is correct.
Yep sure not the time for over reaction from the fans but Pellergrini won’t like what he saw especially in the first half
.and while it is not the time to over react all said wins are wins and they breed confidence and more wins
So much resting on Hallers shoulders from what i have seen in this tournament.Toothless up front.We need another striker as backup to him and Chicho.On a positive note Wilshere has looked sheer class in the 3 friendlies so far.
You can say a number of things like he didn’t play or it’s early in pre season but the fact is if that’s what we got to look forward to them God help u us..not one shot on target against an awful Newcastle team run by Steve bruce ..don’t care what kind d of game it is but that was truly shocking.I bet haller is thinking what the f eck have I done …and I think it shows us if haller is injured were do the goals come from that’s if he scores a few ..truly shocking ..I can’t get over not one shot on target in a pre season game 😂😂
We don’t mix it up enough. We get up the pitch, they form a wall, we can’t break it down so we just pass sidewards and backwards until they get the ball back. I want a passing team but I also want a team that can use their brains and do something different when plan A is clearly not working. It’s why we lost to Brighton, Cardiff and others last season. Man City have world beaters so eventually they can find or create space. We aren’t that good, we can’t afford players that have all the attributes to make that work which is why Antonio can sometimes be our most effective player. A lack of technique yes but the speed and brute force to smash the wall down and make something happen.
I’m venting, I know we’ll get better. There are areas however that only new blood can fix.