Leicester City 4 Hammers 1
By Hugh Southon
(Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)
So now David Moyes knows just what he has inherited – a squad of players without pace and power until Michail Antonio appears and gives them some brief hope.
The first half of this latest defeat was the embarrassment of embarrassments as an outstanding Foxes team – who will make waves in the Champions league next season – took us apart.
Frankly we were disgustingly bad as they went two up!
The second half was a different affair entirely as we stormed forward after Moyes had quite clearly given them the sort of rollocking they haven’t received in a very long time
Mark Noble gave us hope with a pen after Haller had been fouled and Michail was onto everything causing problem after problem – he remains our great hope for the remainder of the season.
You can blame Pellegrini, you can blame the board for appointing him, but in that first 45 minutes – given what followed in the second half – you simply have to blame 11 players who were entirely useless as the Foxes made fools of them.
Now we really are bang in trouble but as the eternal optimist I take hope from that second half display when with Antonio leading, Haller looked a better player by far as we took 50 per cent of possession at one stage.
We need Antonio to remain fit and we need the team to show exactly what they managed in the second 45 minutes over the rest of the season.
We had more than our moments against a very classy side, back to its best, and had one goalmouth scramble resulted in a goal from Antonio it might have been very different,
In the end a game we had written off anyway was lost so it could be argued there was nothing much lost – other of course than Burnley winning at Old Trafford.
Now the biggest thing on the agenda is a powerful and pacey midfielder and whether it’s a case of Moyes not being able to find one or the board not wanting to dig up the dough THAT HAS TO CHANGE.
The upsides? Some great saves from Randolph, a brilliant Antonio display, a fine Ogbonna performance and honourable mentions for Rice and Cresswell.
But we need more – MUCH MORE!
Lanzini has to be dropped. Some players are contributing badly but he’s contributing Nothing! Fornals is full of enthusiasm so let him start. I bet Zaba wishes he’d called it a day last year it’s no way for such a top player to finish career.
No pace no passion away from home trying for a 00 or 01 no chance when you are leaking goals
Lanzini is totally out of form and does not contribute anything to the team defending or going foreword
Snodgrass is too slow and falls over every time he has the ball.his defensive contribution is shocking and embarrassing .he is easily beaten by the opposition player and should be on the bench at best.
Noble takes a good penalty but is similar to Snodgrass in that he is too slow and also gets beaten too often
We are desperately in need of power and pace in midfield
Antonio was our best player…we need a team of players with the power and desire to fight and not get beaten so easily almost every game.
Good luck to mr moyes with trying to get the board to part with any money this month or have the common sense to realise what an utter mess we are in
I agree with some of what you’ve written. Our midfield is slow – and has been for a good while, not just this season [and last season], and we looked like a team that couldn’t do anything in the first half – we look slower every week. Nobody runs in the team, except Antonio. Lanzini not the player he was before his injury.Fornals should start – when he leaves us – if we are relegated, he will do much better in another team. Haller doesn’t even look remotely interested. Randolph did the best he could under the circumstances. Antonio had energy, and commitment, but that wasn’t enough. Noble is good on penalties. Overall, a total lack of energy, desire . The rest of them: poor.
Meanwhile, back on Planet Reality, there are 15 games left this season. West Ham MIGHT win 5 or 6 of those (being optimistic). Will 15 points be enough to saves us? I don’t know.
We got into this mess through bad management at the Board level. Only good management will prevent this situation from repeating itself.
All you do is blame pelligini it’s the boards fault all of it
Well said Wembley… Agree zabaletta should never have been given another year of getting embarrassed by young wingers… Noble finished, Haller 45 million hmmmm 😂.
So embarrassed to be watching that first half… Lost for words… Sad… 😢
Truth is ” you can’t make a silk purse out of a pigs ear”and West Hams squad are looking more like a pigs ear??? Lost the game by half time, it all became uphill after the first half we were sluggish to say the least?? We need a Alex Song type of a player to drive things and a harder centre forward that can get stuck in like Woods at Burnley???
First half was embarrassing and I am fed up with such inept performances…..You cannot blame Pellegrini or Moyes IT IS the players!
Difference between Moyes and Pellegrini is that Moyes changed it and for 20 minutes it almost worked but oh dear our midfield tonight was shown up badly…..Rice had his worst game exposed out of position time and time again but he will learn and come back stronger but Noble is our weak link other than Mr reliable from the spot he was shocking!…..we will go down if we don’t get a decent midfield player in to play in a 3 with Rice and Fornals……as for Lanzini please get fit soon Mr Anderson
I don’t necessarily agree that “Moyes changed it and it almost worked”. We got a lucky soft penalty called in our favour and after that for 10-15 mins we played with a little more confidence, but quickly returned to the 1st half performance after Leicester got their 3rd.
This lanzini over fornals is beyond puzzling already. Just when the guy was getting in form and lanzini continues to be so poor.
You are right we need a midfielder so badly now.
Just get it done !
4-1 against a team who have struggled for the last few weeks….
Who are we going to attract to the club to try & save us? Forget any of these names keep being mentioned, I don’t think even Joe Allen would be interested atm
That was very poor. We miss Anderson and Antonio so much as without them there is no pace in midfield. That is where it is all going wrong for us. Rice, Snodgrass and Noble should not be played together. Lanzini has been poor but to be fair he gets no decent service from the midfield. Haller likewise.
Defensively we are ok but once again is the midfield that is the weak link. It’s too easy to run through them and get between our lines. Noble is a huge culprit for that because he is too far from Rice and creates a dog leg.
We looked better instantly with Fornals, Lanzini, Antonio all around Haller.
Overall though we were poor and the injuries are really not helping us right now
Antonio is no saviour and it’s unlikely he’ll stay fit until the end of the season. There are too many issues with the squad to fix in one transfer window. The writing has been on the wall for months, we’re going down as 10 years of inept management is finally going to show Sullivan, Brady and Gold that they’ve been out of their depth all along!
Nothing to do with Pellegrini then Nick?
Of course it is, but I find it hard to believe that it’s 100% Pellegrini’s fault that we’ve been in 3 relegation battles in 4 seasons since the move to the new stadium.
Gavin&Stacey my sentiments entirely…… WHO are we going to attract to this desperate club now? Our stock may well have been higher at the beginning of this transfer window and it may prove to be a massive error to attempt to leave signing players to the last days or minutes of this transfer window.
Hanging our hopes on a player like Antonio who has just come back from an injury that has broken down previously is foolhardy, as I’ve seen frustrated fans blame him for his injury reoccurring previous to his latest return.
I’m not hanging my hopes of incompetence turning into decisive action by our board.
Moyes is trying to get a tune out of a team, not of his making and not built in his own image. Hold onto your hats as this is going to be a bumpy ride that may well end in tears. To talk about a team that is clearly lacking in pace and hasn’t got the right personnel in crucial positions is pointless really. Us supporters, like the players, manager, chairmen, opposition managers, teams and fans up and down the country know what we lack and how to beat us. The solution…….. Get the hungry players that we lack into the club ASAP, this may also be the lift that ALL our players need and we may win games that some have already written off.
Looks like a few are waking up to what I and few others been saying for weeks, let’s hope sullivan has ,we look like a team going down seen it a few times before, we stink of relegation and our goal difference which was a slight advantage has been eaten away and we play man ciy and Liverpool twice in next 4 games,so will probably take a battering
Please sell Diop while he is worth something -not much IMO since he is technically very poor- and use the money for a midfielder and/or a right back …
Watching the game live the foul for the pen looked outside the area but I haven’t seen it on tv.
Disappointing to see so much of the away support leave with 10 minutes to go and in truth I have never been in such a quiet away crowd of ours.
We routed an equally shell shocked Bournemouth but we achieved a worse result and played much worse than with Pellegrini and Roberto in goal.Worse result and performance against Leicester than under Pelle as well (Yes they had a weaker 11 out then).
Great decision by our owners then …
Inside
Sentence starting ‘we routed should include against Sheffield.
Anybody got ideas for nice relaxing hobbies??? Jigsaws, knitting, gardening? Watching cricket? Train spotting ? Watching a Tony Pulis side grind out a 0-0 at home? I am beginning to think there must be about a hundred ways to waste the rest of my life that would be better than this.
Yes.Cricket
Hard to choose -cricket get bored to death. West Ham – rising blood pressure until your bonce explodes.