Crystal Palace 0 West Ham United 2
The coach will take the plaudits for the changes, but the substitutions made the game for West Ham United. The impact of bringing on Aaron Wan-Bissaka was immediate, with the right back running with the ball after beating a forward deep in his own half, keeping possession whilst under pressure in the opposition half and then laying it off.
No wild hoofed cross but great right back play which developed into a controlled attack via Bowen, Paqueta and a bit of Fullkrug which led to Soucek’s goal. Watch the highlights of the second goal and you’ll also see Wan Bissaka sprinting outside of Jarrod Bowen to draw the defenders’ attention to the right at the same time Fullkrug ran to the left.
Of course, the Hammers captain scored himself but having two willing runners – both substitutes incidentally- full of running to pull the defence around was a great site and again, conspicuous by its absence in the first half.
Furthermore a degree of control and pace was eminent from the Hammers’ newest debutant at right back, that gave me a feeling of security down our flank that wasn’t there in the first sixty minutes. As Palace huffed and puffed in the last 15 minutes it felt as though one of our weaknesses from the first half has been closed off by the entrance of our newest number 29.
In addition, considerable kudos to Max Kilman: looking more controlled each time he plays and he performed another crucial defensive block very late on. Plus of course he can carry the ball in a way that we didn’t see a Hammers defender doing so much last year. Kilman moving forward and actually sending a perfect ball (I’d even say in the style of a Paqueta pass ) to Jarrod Bowen was a very welcome sight for our second goal. especially since so many touches in the first half were poor. The pace of his through pass was spot on.
Goalscorers Soucek and Bowen
Alvarez came on for the last 15, one big stretch tackle and a couple of sprints so he looks strong and fit and immediately The Hammers looked more solid in the centre with less coming through the midfield, Rodriguez and he looking solid.
Not perfect, but some very positive signs: Still the Soucek/Paqueta midfield looks wrong, (but credit the coach for persevering, Soucek’s goal was typical of him arriving late in the box like days of old).
Kudus still looks wasted on the left and Bowen, bless him, had a quiet game until he ‘clicked’ into action and did what he does best to make it 2-0. A good result against a not very good Crystal Palace side who fluffed their own chances. Confidence is a great thing and Lopetegui’s celebration at the finish speaks volumes. He got there in the end, with his proactive substitutions having the perfect impact upon the game.
AWB looked a far better option that Coufal. Fullkrug looked more intelligent than Antonio. I made Kilman our MoM. We looked far more proficient after the substitutions.
A 3 pts most welcome
And so a big applause to J-Lop ??? – Oh no, certainly not.
Once again, he fielded a ridiculously weak first 11.
I wonder what Steidten + Sullivan must be thinking about spending so much money for 8 new players, and only 2 start, whilst the Antonio’s, Coufal, Soucek, Mavro’s etc continue to do their under-performances. If CP took their 1st half chances, we could have been 0-4 at HT?
Goodness by now, after a couple of bad pre-season friendlies + weekly training schedules, the new head coach and his team can surely see how bad these players are, and spare us having to chew away our fingers nowadays.
So no, I cannot applaud substitutions which should have been starts anyways. Dont know what Lopetegui is trying? I know it would be disillusioning the new players who believe they might as well have stayed at their former clubs?
Simple Simon!
Please do one!
All the new players take a little while to bed into the speed of the Premiership! oh I forgot you were on the training ground all week to assess all the players fitness levels and match sharpness- have faith in the manager get behind the 11 on the pitch from the start and in time J Lo will find his best eleven.
Enjoy the win and chill out!
Simon. Ever played cricket?? 40 overs to bat. The best bowlers are on to start. Only 10 overs each. See them off then score runs in the last 20 overs. This means you don’t put your best hitters in at the start. First batsmen are there to block and frustrate the opposition. Any runs are a bonus. Then, when the opponents are chucking their best at you and getting nowhere, you are in a position to take advantage. Start swinging at the second string bowlers and the runs begin to flow. Using the 40 overs well wins the game.
If we start trying to score as many as we can from the outset of the innings, then we discover that we are all out for 100 after 10 overs. 150 after 15 if we’re lucky. This makes it easy for the other team to plod to a victory without breaking sweat. Doesn’t always work of course but generally a successful strategy.
Same applies to football. Not always the obvious and best idea to go all out with all our efforts right from the beginning. Think 90 minutes not 15. So trust the manager/coach to find a tactic that works for the whole team trying to get a result.
Julen said ‘we had to work very hard today’. I think that is the minimum we can all expect from our side whatever the score.
As andy says – Enjoy t he win and chill out.
COYI
What the hell are you smoking?
Ok I applaud the win. But why Summerville getting no game time? He must be so frustrated. Surely deserved 25 mins on the left today?? Am I missing something?
OK, but why were AWB, Todibo and Fullkrug not on from the start? Palace should have been out of sight by half time, as they were in April. Coufal, Antonio and Cresswell are past it. None of them should appear unless WH are 3 goals up with 5 minutes left.