Hugh hands out the marks
Adrian: No chance with the goal and little else to concern him – confident on most that came his way 6
Zabaleta: Another Steady Eddie performance from the veteran – kept it simple and was always constructive 6
Reid: Badly at fault for the goal when standing off and looks just another defender rather than the main man these days 4
Ogbonna: Failed to see and do much to help on the goal and often uncertain and nervous 5
Cresswell: Got forward well and provided a great cross for the goal. Decent at the back 6
Obiang: Little impact either defensively or offensively – needs to show much more 4
Kouyate: Where has the high energy midfielder gone – almost anonymous for long periods 4
Masuaku: Some thrilling runs but found some stout defending on the way – always excites 6
Lanzini: Outstanding performance at the heart of all our good stuff 7
Arnautovic: The guy’s on a high…willing, determined, never stops running and there are no lost causes – what Antonio used to be 7
Carroll: Two fabulous goals with head and foot. Everything you want from a striker as I eat acres of humble pie. 9
Subs:
Noble: Made a big difference when coming on after the break. His range of passing really got us on the move 7
Chicharito: Remains a fringe figure and offered little – the German experience looks to have taken the edge off him 4
Rice: Involved in an oustanding piece of solo work and must b seriously difficult to keep him out of the team – top performance over limited period 7
VERDICT: It was never pretty and we made hard work of it for long periods but it all came right in the end at the death courtesy of two great goals from Andy Carroll – the winner arriving in the 94th minute. What shone through beyond that was the spirit which has been present since David Moyes took over. Yes, there’s still a distinct lack of quality and our inability to press games is nerve shredding at times but we never say die and Arnautovic’s non stop effort typifies what we are all about these days. Mark Noble gets too much stick and showed when arriving as sub in the second half that his range of passing is still seriously required. The win lifted us into 16th place with the game in hand against Spurs to come on Thursday. Given our approach to such matches I certainly won’t be backing against us.
Pretty much agree with those marks, although Arnie as MOM, imo.
Okay so Carroll showed against weaker opposition what he can do.Trouble is he goes missing far too often whether it be injury (self inflicted mainly) or out smarted(not hard to do) by opposition players.great to get the 3 points all the same.I bet if he starts against the spuds there won’t be any goals.Anyway I think he must have read the comments on this site to get rid of him and hence the improved performance.Anyway that’s a mug’s opinion.
Are you kidding 5 for Ogbonna? That last ditch tackle was the best defending I have seen this year.
I for one have to apologise to Carroll as i was cursing like a lot of Hammers fans when the team was announced.When he is like that its great as we all know.Lets hope it continues.God it feels good tonight .Still worried about Obiang And Kouyate but Nobes definately changed things when he came on.And just to crown a great night that excuse for a referee Madley had another horror show at Swansea.Perfect.COYI.
Right about Nobes, and that was key to Carrolls big improvement in the second half. Better supply line.
Carroll a 9, you are having a laugh. He was awful first half and Moyes is very lucky tonight because he has got away with a win despite doing everything possible with his team selection to throw it away. Carroll cannot play up top as a lone striker, we have all seen this and if he thinks he can I am sorry the sooner this guy goes the better. Carroll was a passenger in this system in the first half. He got lucky tonight but I am delighted he did as it was a huge 3 points.
spot on Hugh. Couldn’t agree more.
What happened to Obiang? I had to look at the stats just to see if I missed what he did, but there was nothing.
Good team performance, but spurs will be the real test, with not many options to rotate.
Two goals – one at the death – to grab three vital points scores nine in my book. Two top and totally different goals and I’m not a fan. Praps i got a BIT carried away though 🙂
At the end of the day strikers are there to score but Carroll was truly awful first half. One mark I must disagree with is Ogbonna – I thought he was the standout defender. Kouyate just his and was lucky to get 4. Well done Nobes – still our top man in central m/f
A pretty good assessment there Hugh!
Carroll 9- not so sure; he did virtually nothing first half, but scored the winning goals.
Most old-fashioned CF’s would be expected to put away the first goal, but the second goal, on a very acute angle, was a beauty! I’d settle for a 7.
Chicharito had only 15 mins to get into the game, so I felt a 4 was a bit rough-he will come good. Hard to assess by numbers..
Lanzini was superb in my eyes, especially in the first half-could have easily had a hat trick’ was also instrumental , as was Arnie, in setting up the late winner-an 8 for me!
Arnautovic-really on a roll-8
Declan Rice 6-very mature play-7
Thank you Hugh
That is ridiculously harsh on hernandez. He made runs drawing defenders out.of position, on at least 3 attack that lead to chances. Only arnie was managing that before his arrival. Once both were on west brom couldnt cope with actual movement.
Your score for Carroll I’d generous. Two great finishes in an otherwise static and out of position performance. He put in the worst cross I’ve ever seen on his strong foot which lead directly to Ogbonna’s last ditch tackle. Any other decent striker and the game is lost right there.
Ogbonna for me by a mile !covered for the unimpressive cresssell , two blinding pieces of defending by oggy kept us in the game , We were awfull tonight especially in midfield ! Kouyate and obiang made noble look world class ! This was west brom ! Who at times after playing 48 hours earlier made us look as unfit as under bilic ? Carroll’s goals are more than welcome but about half a season too late ! Kevin will be stroking his Rodger tonight even allowing for the miss of the season and a very average game ! Took his goals brilliantly even if the winning pass wasn’t meant for him with his right foot ! Call it lucky but he hit it sweet and we deserve some luck what with 12 baggies on the field ! Don’t you just luv it when you not only fek the oppo,s but the ref as well who was carrying on madleys legacy from a northern point of view , he was awfull ! We looked more in control when rice took over from cresswell , so much more solid , a defender who can defend ! Must play Thursday !
Let’s hope spuds are as tired as us ! Play like that and we get whooped ! Can’t believe I’m being so negative but we were very poor tonight but boy did we need them 3 points ?
Let’s hope there’s new blood coming in because if not its gonna be a long stressful second half of the season ! Not seen the other results ? Doesn’t sound like we pulled away very far with 3 points 😉
Agree generally with the scoring, but Cresswell poor, Reid worse, Zabaleta caught too high up the field too often, Obiang and Kayoute the worse games this season and it seems as if someones worked out Masuaku only have one foot and always favours going left, Lanzini not involved enough for me as when on the ball looks quality, Ogbonna was far better than Reid, Carroll did bits and peices but not enough on the ball, despite 2 goals. But Arnie was for me the MotM, tired clever runs and chased down the ball. £24mil bargain!
A great result we need real presence in midfield Obiang and Kouyate look lost at the minute I hope they find themselves on Thursday am going to be there with three Spuds aaarrgghh COYI!!!
Adrian: I don’t think many keepers would have stopped the deflected shot. Very talkative with defenders, made a brilliant one hand catch on a cross, always trying to get the players going on counter attack. 7
Zabaleta: Was better than other days. Clearly a quality player who now lacks speed thus needs to be surrounded by other players to shine. He can’t do it on his own. 6
Reid: Not a captain, how many times do we have to come back to this ? seemed relieved when armband was off of him, but what a disastrous first half. 3.
Ogbonna: Kept us afloat a couple of times, and was the fastest running of our defenders. 7
Cresswell: Still far from what he was two seasons ago. Put in the cross for the equaliser, but A LOT of wasted balls and absent for defensive duties. Kanu made a fool of him. 4
Obiang: Seems to be another player who can only shine if/when surrounded by pother quality players. Cannot carry the weight of his duties alone in midfield. 4
Kouyate: A couple of sparks here and there. What has happened to him ? Has his buddy Sakho’s adventure affected him that much ? 4
Masuaku: several nice touches, but still too much waste in his attack and too easily beaten when defending. 5
Lanzini: Mostly good but still a tad away from what we could expect from him in a leadership role. 6
Arnautovic: The soul and flesh of the team. Never gives up and gives the magic ball for the winner. 9
Carroll: Not a great match but for the two goals. Too often static in attacking positions and with the ball floating in the air. Has he been told to restrain from making challenges ? 8 because of the goals, 5 without them.
Subs:
Noble: Brought stability and mental rest when coming on. Did not miss a single pass or block. Helped keeping Obiang not getting a yellow (which the ref was going to give him). deserves a 10 because he was flawless and turned this around with his presence.
Chicharito: Still isn’t used to his strengths, and needs more than 15-20 minutes to impact. People however do not realise he unsettled Brom defenders with his running and looking for one touch pass situations. 6.
Rice: Impeccable in yet another role and position, that of left back. Was not overcome once, unlike Cresswell. Got me standing out of my seat with his double dribble and pass to Chicharito. He has shown again how important he is to the future of this team and club. Has it all : body, vision of the game, composure, enthusiasm, personality. 8.
Referee : pitiful. Masuaku’s wasn’t a yellow. Nor was Carroll’s (that was not even a foul, and the ref was right in front of the action). However, Dawson’s block on Arnie was clearly a yellow, and he kept the card in his pocket. He called Ogbonna and Rondon to argue about who knows what, because both players ended up laughing together after being scolded with a “what was that about ?” face. Yet another ref who doesn’t have a clear understanding of the game and lacks of consistency at the time of evaluating actions. Fortunately did not have an impact on the final result, unlike you know who (crazy Bobby) 4.
Lapsus : Noble avoided Ogbonna from getting a yellow, not Obiang.
Reid was truly shocking, indecisive, backing off and at fault for the goal and a couple of other near misses. And he was closely followed by Chek who is looking worse each game.
I was against playing Carroll so I was wrong. Whatever way you cut it, he saved us and got a huge three points for us.
But I have to agree with others who say this was akin to a Bilic performance. We were poor all over the park. Only Arnie, Lanz and Carroll got us out of jail with Nobes also making a telling contribution.
Not quite sure where go from here, other than hope the Spuds are shattered and that there are three other sides who fail to pick up over the coming months because we don’t look capable of digging ourselves out of trouble without some serious help.