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How we rated the Irons against Spurs

hughhat

 

Hugh marks the boys on an incredible night. Not an easy job because a dreadful first half means a mark or two has to be taken off here and there.

 

 

Adrian: A couple  of decent saves inside a performance which wasn’t always as secure as it might have been with one long range shot near the end  dealt with poorly as the pressure bult. But ok in the main 5

Byram: Zabaleta is a tough act to follow but Sam did well – getting forward and making his presence felt. 6

Kouyate: Asked to join a back three and looked uncertain at times in that awful first half but grew into things well as the Irons turned on the magic 6

Rice: Couldn’t get his head out of the way for Dele’s second and provided the deflection but apart from that the teenager was a colossus getting his head on everything that mattered at the back. Trust me he’s got the lot

Ogbonna: Brilliant goal, great defending in second half but marked down like the rest because oft hat first 45 minutes 6

Cresswell: Started to come back to the form we know he has in him as the game progressed and crossing much better than of late 6

Noble: No complaints, led from the front on his return and did most that was asked of him 6

Fernandes: Impressive – few balls wasted and always trying tom make things happen on the gallop 7

Lanzini: Coming back to his best but still not quite there 6

Ayew: Finally he starts to pay back some of that £20 million and was in precisely the right place at the right time for his goals. As a result his confidence grew and looked good on the ball 8

Carroll: We’re still waiting for some goals but it was AC doing what AC does with the flick ons etc but we need to see more from him 6

 

About Hugh5outhon1895

Hugh Southon is a lifelong Iron and the founding editor of ClaretandHugh. He is a national newspaper journalist of many years experience and was Bobby Moore's 'ghost' writer during the great man's lifetime. He describes ClaretandHugh as "the Hammers daily newspaper!" Follow on Twitter @hughsouthon

7 comments on “How we rated the Irons against Spurs

  1. Did Arnautovic touch the ball once he came on?

  2. Hugh, i understand all these marks are in your opinion but i only agree with half of those. You could’ve made it easier for yourself by marking just the 2nd half as all of the players in the 1st half scored no more than 2. Absolutely dreadful football continuing the theme on what we’ve seen of late. Players walking, not chasing back, not closing down, giving up too easy after a tackle, poor marking, ball watching, i could go on. All of them lacking courage and determination.

    That must’ve been some monumental half time team talk as the 2nd half they actually looked organised for the most part. Ayew deserved his MoM and a lot of credit has to go to Kouyate for filling in yet again in a position he has already stated is not his fave. The rest of the team did what they were supposed to do and paid very handsomely to do. They got most of the basics right but there is still room for improvement. Cressy is not a winger. Stop playing him there Slav. Someone must’ve tranquilised Carrol as he seemed very sedentary to his normal self but effective in defense. Byram still needs work but you can see improvement which is a positive. Given the task of looking after Delli Ali for set pieces which turned out badly for him as he was clearly not up to the task. Other than that i thought the 2nd half team, as a team, performed to the standard we would like to see each week. If they do/can then we will see a much more elevated end of season league table position.

  3. Could have done but much to writ and covered it briefly In the bold words at top

  4. Think you’ve been generous to Carrol, first half he looked clueless and uninterested, he didn’t improve much second half to be honest. Also Rice looked uncertain at times, on one occasion he gave the ball away cheaply that almost led to a 3rd for the Spuds, so 6 would be more accurate for the young fella. On other hand, Cresswell was the only player who showed any real desire first half, so I think he deserved a 7. Equally, think 5 is harsh on Adrian…yeah one fumble towards the end…but he mad two superb saves to us in the game at 2-0 down. I’d start him against Palace.

  5. I agree, I’d start Adrian now based upon last night. He had just one sloppy moment but was otherwise assured and a safer pair of hands than Hart. Pains me but Ayew has to keep his place too. He got into the right positions last night and also looked like he had more energy and commitment second half. Perhaps because we actually pressed out of possession and created opportunities for him. And Ogbonna looked more like his old self too so keep him in. Best of all was Lanzini, getting back to his best which is great news for us all.
    I hope we can carry this pressing, commitment and energy into Saturday, playing higher up the pitch with aggression and desire. Best 20 minutes of football we’ve delivered for a very long time when you consider they had a handful of very decent players on show.

  6. Im agreeing with all your ratings Hugh, because despite the bad performance in the first half, the whole team improved by a mile in the second half.
    Carroll has been critisized by some, but in the second half he was asked to come deeper so that others could run past him into the spaces he created. Also very West Ham.
    Fenandes was back to his best ( still my favorite amongst the younger players ).
    Noble and Rice marshaled the team the way only they can. Rice never stopped screaming at his defenders the whole match. He is what we’ve missed for years. A center back who can organise and boss his co-defenders.
    The first half was a hangover from Brighton, but I hope the second half was a sign of christmas future.

  7. Rice I believe has had the best passing accuracy then any other player every game he has played . he did against Man U and Southampton and against Spurs 97% pass rate.
    He is payed less then Quina transfer mkt rates him at £450k.
    But not even mention his skill and ability. His composure & passion are incredible. He just wants to play and leave it all on the pitch.
    For me Rice should be started above even Reid at this point & should def be in w Back 3.
    Our Defenders are aging so keeping him happy which he just wants to play is important even being pulled at Newcastle didn’t seem to effect his confedince. Made a mistake but so have Reid Ogbonna & Fonte.
    This kid is the real deal & hope to see him at West Ham for is Career.
    Stats from Spurs game for Rice

    https://www.footballfancast.com/opinion-2/statistics/declan-rice-stakes-claim-for-regular-role-with-strong-display-vs-tottenham

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