Niall McDonald rates the Irons on a nightmare winter evening
Adrian: I guess this might be the last we see of him! No cup heroics this season 4
Nordtveidt: Scored the second. Watched the 4th go past. Ricochet off him led to the corner for the 5th… Not his night 3
Reid: Can a centre-half really be your best player after a 5 nil drubbing? We need more like Reid 7
Ogbonna: Minimal contact but enough to give the ref the decision to make. Sloppy thereafter 4
Cresswell: Looks short of confidence. Got the ball and gave it straight back too often 4
Fernandes: Bright for the first 20 mins 4
Lanzini: Bright for the first 20 mins… 5
Feghouli: Bright for the first 20 mins…. Wasn’t the easiest chance he missed but when they are at such a premium they look worse 4
Obiang: Seems a long time ago but I thought Pedro had a really good first half 5
Antonio: Started the week up front and ended it there after an hour on the left wing where, again, his defensive weakness was exposed 4
Carroll: An unhappy birthday for the big man. One flick-on created the chance for Feghouli otherwise very isolated 4
Subs
Payet: Couple of runs and flicks. One terrible set piece. If it’s a positive sign, he is now cup-tied 3
Noble: Brought on to see the game out… 3
Fletcher: “do something Fletcher!”, my son implored. He was disappointed but through no fault of Ashley No Rating
I agree with your ratings; & very troubling they are, too. They reveal a group of players who have no confidence &, judged by this performance, have no footballing ability either.The defence,, Reid apart, have absolutely NO idea. Ogbonna wasn’t too bad, but he is slow & complacent. Whatever else he might be, Nordtveit is NOT a defender. What has happened to Cresswell ?
This isn’t the first time that the defense has put in such an abject display – & it won’t be the last. Remember Arsenal, Man U, Southampton, WBA & Watford all putting 3 or more past us. Make no mistake, until this defense is sorted out, we are in grave danger of being sucked back in to the relegation battle. We got two very fortunate wins against Burnley & Hull, & you could say the same about Bournemouth. Luckily , we got nine points from those games. With this defense, who can be confident that we will pick up another nine points any time soon ?
It was rubbish and embarrassing, the attack is non existant and the defense is worse. Bilic doesn’t seen to have a clue.
What was the point of the substitutions? It’s beyond me!
Need to bring two-three very tonic players now. Snakeinthegrass is one of them.
Then, need to pair Oxford with Reid. Forget Nordveit at the back. Get rid, throw in the toilet, and flush hard please. No personality, no nerve. No good.
Then, sort out the situation at right back. If Byram is ready, put him back in action. If not, get someone else. Lichtsteiner for instance.
Then get someone playing up top with Carroll, and for whoever’s sake, bridge the gap between the attacker and midfielders. It was again apparent when Fletcher received a great pass from Payet. He dribbled two players from City, then got flooded with five defenders and nobody from our team to pass to. That is not normal and is unacceptable. This needs to be rectified quickly, because there is no reason to concede that many goals if we are not following up in attack. Clearly, there is a major fear to be caught on counter attack, yet we concede all these goals. WHY ?
Need to sign players with more backbone, Reid was good, I thought first half Obiang and Fernandes were. Lanzini is great on the ball but without it he needs to stick the boot in instead of avoiding tackles, we are not physical enough without the ball, we made it very easy for City, play like that too often and we will struggle to stay up. I love Slav as a bloke but he is not getting the best out of those players.
no confidence…and a 5-0 loss is not going to help. Afraid we are in a situation where we have to see out the season, win enough games to avoid the drop and try again next season. Not sure 3 signings will magically turn this around…but I still luv the Hammers!!!
What goes round comes around, we had a soft pen against Hull and got one against us last night. That’s not an excuse. Our attacking play against quality defences is poor, 9 goals at home (and at leasst two were penalties) The stadium is like playing a cup final every week massive and daunting. No fan contact near the pitch. It is not a threat to opposing sides.Bilic is not at fault here, Payets loss of form may be, but all the transfer speculation around him doesn’t help his mental attitude or application. I am concerned however why AC was subbed and then we continue to put crosses into the box ! There doesn’t appear to be a plan B with the personnel we have. It’s a big game now against Palace, without Kouyate an even bigger challenge, as Alerderci will be up for this believe me.
I hope Slav realises it’s time for change, Bring in Oxford, start Fletcher and give Martinez the nod for the bench. Please please drop Nordveit and hope Byram is fit at RB.
We need 6 more wins so games like Palace have to be targeted as one of those.
Keep the faith
COYI .
a 7 for Reid, are you kidding me!!! the third goal was totally his fault for getting sucked in to the play and the City player going all around him. He’s been desperately poor this season, half a second late to nearly everything though he did have one great last ditch tackle against Sterling, he has the turning circle of a Volvo and not a patch on the rock he’s been the last three years.
Ogbonna is too casual and not solid enough, not generally critical of managers but I see few signs of defnsive work on the training pitch being transferred to matches. Bilic and his coaches needs to deal with that first and foremost.
I thought Nordveidt was rubbish until the Swansea game but he’s changed my mind, he’s been much better of late and has the pace to deal with people like Montero and Sterling, pace that Reid clearly lacks. Not going to blame him for the OG as it was clearly one he had to go for given where Sterling was and it was one hell of a cross in. We mustn’t forget that he’s being played out of position, rather than getting Kouyate to drop into the back three, how about letting Nordveidt do that and leaving Kouyate freer in the midde to burst forward, which is something we’ve not had from central midfield all season.
Noble is no longer a sacred cow and must be glad Kouyate has left for the African Cup of Nations as both Obiang (defensively) and Kouyate (offensively) are stronger options this season.