Irons 1 Burnley 0
It was absolutely horrible, as poor a game of football as you will ever see at this level.
And I hate to say it but had the ultra defensive Burnley not paid one of the most nervous West Ham teams you will ever see so much respect – notably in the first half – it could and probably would have been very different.
Mark Noble’s goal off a rebound from his penalty which was spilled by Burnley keeper Tom Heaton was the difference between two poor sides without a striker between them on the night.
But what was so scary was that having taken the lead on the stroke of the interval, the Hammers decided the best game plan was to hang on for the final 45 minutes.
In the end they managed it but the how rested only on the fact that Burnley didn’t have a decent striker on view from the four with which they finished the game.
Sam Voakes spurned a couple of great chances as the Hammers seriously put the London Stadium crowd through the mill before ending their run of eight games without a win.
Of course, come the end of the season no one will remember this high tension performance and we can just be they grateful for three points from any game however they come.
The upside is that this should help confidence grow but this team really does have to start getting on the front foot and pressing opposition teams.
Not many of us can take much more of this and I’m now off to take an extra blood pressure tablet.
Oh and by the way despite the performance we are now in 15th place and that’s really all that matters I guess!
COYI
This game was a disgrace!
If Bilic insists on playing with a single ‘lone-wolf’ striker and three center-backs, we will be doomed.
Carroll essentially did nothing up front by himself
Once again Payet was left too far out on the wing. Ideally, he should be playing in a cntral attacking position, just behind 2 strikers.
Antonio was once again dragged back to a wing-back position- absolute bonkers!
Bilic should consider something like a 4-4-2 formation with this group of players. he would have more options up front, and a more balanced defensive unit.
The 3-4-2-1 is not going to save our bacon.
I’d like to see Ayew(or Fletcher) start up front with Antonio. carroll could be used as an impact sub.
Payet could be used at the tip of a mid-field diamond, with Kouyate being pushed into the defensive midfield position. The two central midfielders could be filled by Noble/Obiang and Lanzini. back 4, could see Cresswell, Ogbonna, Reid, and either Nordeveit ar Arbeloa.
Sure, we still have a problem with the RB position, but our fans want to see our team playing attractive, open football. Bilic is wasting the talents of Payet, Lanzini, and Antonio, by playing them in wrong positions in a disorganized formation.
Despite the win, it would have to be one of the most insipid performances I’ve seen for a very long time; if Bilic persists with this negative, defensively minded approach, he may quickly be on his way out..
Such a shame, since he is a very good coach, who seems to have lost his way!
can’t disagree. still willing to give it time as we are clearly woefully short on confidence but for me, the flat back 5 crap is just atrocious. bilic is wasting both antonio and cresswell in this formation and making us a hoofing team.
“Carroll essentially did nothing?” you were obviously watching a differrent game. We were poor but he won every ariel duel and held they ball really well. 3 points, clean sheet and we go again on Saturday.
Sure Carroll won a lot of aerial duels, but where did the bloody ball go to
Absolutely to no-one, except when he did make some useful headers out of defense.
You seem happy about the 3 points and the clean sheet.
If Burnley had taken one or two of their easy chances, there would have been 0 or 1 point and no clean sheet!
Do you really feel that our played well..
If so, you must be very easy to please..
Sorry mate, garbage is garbage, is garbage, full point.!
This was what I dreaded more than 4 bad results- a few scraped points without sorting out the real problems. This is not a good side having a blip, suffering from lack of confidence, settling into a new home or whatever excuse you want to use. We have played nearly half our games, so the table tells you correctly that this is a group of decent players but a rubbish team. We know the defence is poor, but we are slow & short of ideas going forward too. Some will say good sides ‘grind out’ wins, but all our wins have been a struggle. I have said Bilic should continue if we get 7 from The 4 games, but not if we play like this! At the end today Bilic looked like a man on the edge. He certainly doesn’t make ME feel confident, let alone the players.
I agree with you ‘Hammer64’
I would also like to see Bilic stay as manager, but only up to a certain point.
This man, of such great intellect and creativity, seems to be terribly ‘lost’ st the moment.
Like you I am more concerned about the ‘bigger picture’ (our playing style) rather than the 7-8 points which we should be able to get.
However, it is hard for folks like you and me, to make insightful comments..
We really are not privvy to what the relationship is like between Bilic and the players..
We also don’t know if there is some sort of division within the squad..
One thing I do know (or so I think, LOL), is that Andy Carroll has got Bilic tied around his little finger. We’ll soon see when Sakho is fit to resume..
If Sakho is not made our number one striker (in place of Andy Carroll, then we will certainly know that all is not well in the state of Denmark (or in Bilic’s case, Croatia)).
Put a fit Sakho together with Antonio up front, and the goals will come (in which case, AC can be used as a super impact sub).
Burnley came with the game plan to Stiffle and defend. Hoof it and kick us every time we got the ball. For Christ sake give them a break.
Kin hell do some of you ever give it a rest.Same faces,same bloody moaning..
If you’ve got Dry Pants, then stop ‘kvetching’!
The article pin-pointed a clearly awful performance..
If you can’t make a decent contribution, it may be better to say nothing at all
Give it time and you may start to moan too.
Lol Tony, it was a dreadful performance but we got 3 points which ultimately is all that matters. I am not sure why Noble was still in the team, he may have got a goal and hit the post but that aside his pass accuracy was poor and very negative, when Burnley pushed forward they bypassed him easily as for Lanzini he didn’t make a single tackle block or interception all game, he is not a no 10, the team as a whole made barely any tackles, there was little energy and nobody was closing down the opponents, Obiang looked like he was playing on his own in midfield and for me was our man of the match. I thought we looked better with Fletcher and Ayew on. If we put in a good performance against Hull on Saturday and Swansea all will be forgotten. Winning ugly is better than losing or drawing pretty every day of the week COYI!!!
I agree with you mate..
Obiang was one of the few decent West Ham players.
he seems to be getting better every game..
4-4-2 — It’s screaming out – 2 up front ( and I mean STAY UP FRONT !! ) .
Good on ‘ya Ironworker..
Glad to see that I’m not the only ‘nutter’ who can see that a 4-4-2- might be the solution (or partial solution). Not really Einstein thinking required, is it?
If we can see it, then why can’t Bilic see it – I don’t get it?
COYI & Ironworkers!!
It was crucial to win but ..OMG …. it was a terrible game . Obiang is starting to play with confidence and is by far the best central midfield player in the team . Noble should not be in the squad … again he was awful Sacko should be first name on sheet when ( if ) he is fit . without doubt our best striker and better than any of the big name signings brought into the league last summer .
COYI