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How we rated the Irons against United

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Fletch1

maccaRatings from CandH’s Niall McDonald

Adrian: Couple of cracking saves at 2-1 and another from Ibrahimovic  at 3-1. Tough gig behind our back line  6

Kouyate: Caught napping by Martial for the 3rd. Took over from Antonio on the right 4

Reid: Resolute but was pulled all over the place by Rooney and Ibrahimovic 5

Ogbonna: Had the same experience as Reid, but was less resolute 4

Antonio: Received no support from Feghouli in attack or defence. At least he stopped himself dragging Ibrahimovic down and being red carded after 90 seconds. Injured on 55 mins 5

Obiang: Very neat footwork and crossfield pass led to our goal 6

Fernandes: Looked sharp in the middle. The birth of our midfield partnership for the next few seasons? 6

Cresswell: A brilliant overlap helped create the equaliser. Replaced by Masuaku on 44 mins, hopefully just a precaution 5

Payet: Another assist and did his share of defending before the break. Gave away the ball for their crucial 2nd and then just gave up for me 5

Fletcher: HE SCORED A GOAL!!! Finally his hard work and ignored runs were rewarded. A poacher’s finish got him off the mark 7

Feghouli: Woke up after 35 mins, dozed off again at the break then woke up again in stoppage time. Only injuries kept him on for 90 mins. Awful 2

Subs:

Masuaku: Timed his return from injury perfectly. Seemed unsure if he was left back or wing-back, ended up being neither 4

Lanzini: Found it difficult to create anything tonight 4

Zaza: Does a shot that goes off for a throw-in count as an attempt on goal? 2

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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

9 comments

  • Cheik you Whats the koo says:

    Look, I’m the same as fxtwhu… More of a reader of your blog than a commenter. But tonight we were simply bossed off the pitch. Right now I feel we have far too many passengers in the side that aren’t pulling their weight. On Sunday watching us against Spurs I singled out Payet as the man who wasn’t pulling his weight. He done an interview this week on the club website saying he wants more of the ball… If you actually watch him off the ball he is so weak in defence it’s embarrassing, he lets people run round him and doesn’t even bother to try and tackle. Tonight I hold my hands up and say we were outplayed, but my god… When you think what sort of quality United can bring off the bench to change the game compared to what we have… Gold and Sullivan seriously need to look at themselves and Bilic and think what is going on. I’ve been a season ticket holder for 10+ years now and as the rest of you I’ve been through the worst. The worst for me being 07-11 but last season I really thought we could build on something. We had a real opportunity to build on a great squad with great spirit to make something good, instead we’ve signed 15 average freebies… Are these down to Bilic or Sullivan? Who knows. The only gem that stands out is fletcher and I’m happy for the kid that he got his first goal tonight against his old firm. I really hope we put tonight behind us and crack on Saturday the same way we did against Spurs and United (on Sunday) and give us something to cheer about come May instead of that feeling we’ve had for years.

    I know it’s been a rant but as I said, I don’t comment on here but wanted to speak to all of you!!!

  • northern hammer 1972 says:

    Just returning home from tonights woeful performance and can’t remember seeing a West Ham side lacking any kind of fighting spirit. We should of been 4 down by half time.
    Can somebody remind me the last time Ogbonna sprinted or broke into a sweat!!The guy is an absolute joke. The number of times his mistakes or lack of awareness have cost us goals this season is untrue.There was a point in tonights game he backed off Ibrahimavic that much he was nearly in the crowd with us!
    Would be interesting to see his opta report reckon Adrian covered more ground and made more tackles than our Italian International.
    Don’t start me on feghouli he makes tore look fast and slim!!

    • West Ham Fan No 32 says:

      Agree with you NorthernHammer about the lack of fight, do you blame the players or the coach ? It seems to me that every match this season has been a similar story, in honesty last season we got away with a lot of really poor starts also.

  • fxtwhu says:

    I’m sure compared with many users of this site I am a mere junior. I’ve been a season ticket holder for 8 years but been a fan for at least 30 of my 35 years. During that time I’ve seen some of the most exciting football and some of the worst. Bad football I can handle but no heart is a struggle to swallow. Tonight I think we were Beaten by a stronger team. The thing that worries me more than anything is the lack of fight. Any player can have a bad game but effort should never be missing. Although Payet will be the aim of most criticism (2nd goal) I think that the real problem lies with our inefficient transfers. We had a real chance this summer to build on a great season but I feel deflated with our doing it in the cheap approach. Team spirit and togetherness got us through tough games last year. This year however 77 new players all on the cheap (excluding ayew) has somehow broken that spirit. Look it’s early doors and there is talent in the squad (not quite hanging the rope on the eaves) but just gutted that once again in January we will be wasting money on journeymen and those from the last chance saloon when it could’ve been so much more

  • West Ham Fan No 32 says:

    I would agree Feghouli 2 for first half, 2nd half I thought he deserves a 6 had two great chances to get us back in the game didn’t get them but signs he was improving. the defence were woeful Fernandes had a good game but was responsible for the first goal he missed Mkhitaryans run, the second and third goals the whole defence were asleep and the 4th they had given up for. I don’t usually blame Slav but despite picking a good team they never looked motivated, they didn’t look like they were pressing as a team and lacked desire and belief, the goal we scored against the run of the game should have fired us up but again we looked half asleep in the second half. If we don’t produce against Arsenal and the Mickey Mousers I would definitely be asking questions of whether Slav is getting the best out of this bunch of talented players and whether he should be replaced before the winter transfer window because tonight was very worrying other than Fletcher, Fernandes and Obiang.

    • Stinger says:

      Feghouli deserved a ZERO. It was like watching someone who had conned their way onto a football pitch despite ever actually having kicked a ball before.

      You thought he deserved a 6? Jesus Wept.

      • West Ham Fan No 32 says:

        You need to get a grip Stinger he was better in the second half, we all have our own opinions you don’t agree with mine no worries it’s only an opinion, if you read it I agreed in the first half he was useless in the second half as the game went on in my opinion he improved specifically after Antonio went off and he was played as a winger in his natural position.

  • Stinger says:

    Feghouli & Zaza.

    Professional footballers????????????? Really?????

    Oh and Zaza, your team has just been beaten 4-1 in a cup quarter Final, **** Off with the swapping of shirts with Slaten. That was an utter disgraceful thing to do. He should never be allowed to play for us again after that alone.

    Awful performance and in the end very lucky to only lose 4-1. Another cup dream goes begging.

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