Hugh
Hugh hands out the ratings as the Hammers conclude pre-season games
Fabianski: Only had one real shot to deal with and produced a decent save 6
Fredericks: Excellent performance from a guy who really looks the business 7
Ogbonna: Steady Eddie, never in trouble. 6
Balbuena: Couple of scary moments when dispossessed and a misplaced pass led to dangerous attacks. Jury out 5
Cresswell: Worrying when he went down for a few minutes but was excellent on a good evening for the team 7
Noble: Impressive at the heart of midfield, controlling play, turning away from tackles and playing simple balls 7
Anderson: Still only at half pace but that’s pretty impressive – he’s gonna be a star 7
Antonio: One horrible miss but looks well up for it and coming back to his best 7
Wilshere: Nice touches in midfield but generally quiet 6
Arnautovic: Plenty of selfless running and endeavour as we have come to expect 6
Chicharito: Typical goal into top corner from inside box and some sharp running and passing – encouraging 6
Subs:
Diop: Best performance so far with one brilliant thwarting tackle and rarely troubled 7
Masuaku: Again looked the business regularly catching the eye 7
Rice: Excellent performance over the 28 minutes he was on the pitch 7
Obiang: Hardly noticed as it all seemed to pass him by 5
Martinez: Willing worker, ready to get involved in the dirty work but rarely had a chance up top 6
Snodgrass: Another steady performance without over impressing 5
I watched the full game and to be honest it is very difficult to fully assess players in these type of games. I will reiterate we badly need a DM and a forward player (preferable a 10). The jury for me is still out on the new players – cannot say I have been impressed or not but what the preseason has told me is that a number of players are no where near this standard. Fredericks is a disaster waiting to happen defensively – the odds on him giving away a pen against Liverpool must be very short. I have never rated him but someone in the club thinks he is a top player. For me Zaba starts against Liverpool. Wilshere offers nothing – he has absolutely no impact on a game. Again a liability in the team. IMO you cannot play both him and Noble as our defensive pair. We still have no proper defensive shield in front of our back two. We will be opened up at ease against teams like Liverpool. This to me has been one of the biggest learning from these preseason games. The second major learning is we have no pace in our midfield to break quickly – I thought this was Pelle’s plan !!!!!! For me Obiang needs to be sold and sold quickly to free up funds for a top midfielder. So does Byran, Hugil, Cullen etc. The third and final big learning is we have no 10 a real playmaker who will release our forwards quickly – Bernard needs to be signed at whatever cost – this is a bare min or otherwise we are in danger of not fulfilling our financial investment. I really hope the manager sees these things and implements the necessary plans between now and the window close.
Have you anything positive to say John. Bloody hell, I might throw myself off a cliff listening to you. Liverpool will be a tough game as they have better players and more money than us. No is expecting to get much there as usual. It’s going to take time to implement all the new with the players we already have. Don’t get too carried away we are still West Ham. A good season will be an improvement on last season and a nice cup run. It’s about building. Pellegrini is only as good as his players. He had a title winning team at Man City. Completely different to what he has at West Ham. Although I disagree I think we have a d3cent nucleus of players and am not as negative as what your making out.
Unbelievable!…..”very difficult to asses players in these types of games” and then go on to slate Fredericks, Wilshere, Obiang and Cullen with even a pop at Pellegrini. Wonderful assessment…muppet
I think called people names on this site is totally out of order. It is very difficult to assess the new players which I think is a fair point. I slate Fredericks because imo he is a poor player. I slate Wilshere because he has done nothing to date. I have watched these players for the last few years so they are not new players. If you have watched them and you think they are good players then I am not going to call you a “muppet”. I think we are all west ham fans and want the best for the club.
Still think we need a pacey defensive midfielder.Obiang looks like he is already a Sampdoria player.Not interested at all when he came on.
A Christian Dailly type player
Agree about Obiang he wants to go so get a replacement in and let him return to Sampdoria if the fee is acceptable. I didn’t think we looked particularly special but we contained them, the players definitely are very much trying to understand the new system but look a bit better each day. Antonio looks like he is carrying a lot of fat, if he is following the nutritionist advice I would be very surprised as he doesn’t have the body of a professional athlete, hopefully we can get Maia and Bernard that would create a dream midfield 😄
I though it was a relatively good game for a friendly. No player is going to bust a gut (not should they) and risk injury so close to the start of the season. Things are starting to gell and there were some spells of nice football being played.
Noble played some loverly stuff, looking forward to see him chip a few balls to set up attacks. Arnautovic, Chicharito, Rice, Arthur,Cresswell were all on the money.
The new guys only time will tell, but the new boss is no mug, he’s got the best for the money & time he was given.
I’ve supported this great club for over 50 years more or less seen it all. If we can get back to playing some pure attacking (& this manager does) play entertaining football I’ll be a happy Hammer. COYI!!
The steady improvement is there for all to see . The squad ( apart from Obiang) is looking better with every game . The influence of Pellegrini is definitely starting to have a positive effect . These friendly’s , although competitive are not played at Premiership pace and judging players is a difficult job where avoiding injury is paramount just before the season kicks off . Are we ready for Liverpool ?? , well it’s one Premiership team against another and so Liverpool should be wondering also if they are ready to start . One thing is for sure ; with
This new looking squad and a better than decent manager overseeing it we can expect a very different West Ham . An improvement on last season’s final position with a far better goal difference would make us Happy Hammers .
COYHAMMERS