Niall hands out his marks
Fabianski: Quite outstanding save from a deflected effort on goal and then fine block against Rashford 8
Coufal: All-action stuff, now adding one of a back three to his CV 8
Dawson: Another towering display at the back, ending up our only centre-half on the pitch 9
Ogbonna: Forced off after suffering a nasty-looking ankle sprain making a vital block. Hopefully not serious 5
Cresswell: Full commitment to defending tonight, very few chances to get forward 7
Rice: Loose ball led to the goal and you could see he was kicking himself afterwards, played really well notwithstanding that 8
Soucek: I think let’s just be grateful that he was cleared to play 7
Noble: Have to give him credit – I didn’t think he had 120 mins in him these days, plenty of important tackles 7
Bowen: Did a lot of defending, found himself well outpaced by Telles 5
Fornals: Like Bowen had a real job on his hands, without any outlet at all ahead of him 6
Yarmolenko: Don’t like to see anyone injured but I wasn’t upset to see him subbed. Jogged around, posing United no threat at all 3
Subs
Diop: Slotted in well before the clash of heads with Martial 5
Johnson: Impressive. Good in possession in their half 6
Fredericks: Our first ever concussion substitute!? Pushed Telles back really well, stifling the attacking threat 6
Odubeko: A tough evening. Ran more than Yarmolenko but had no more sight of goal 4
Benrahma: Substitute number 5! A little naive I felt at critical moments. Might have run back with some more intensity for their goal 5
Lanzini: Well we can’t accuse Moyes of not making changes – this one was too late though No rating
OK we were solid at the back but then we played six back! The major problem there was we left the up front player on his own and occasionally lumped it in the direction. That is not the thing to do to a young player outnumbered by international level defenders – that just demoralised him.
Three schoolboy errors from the manager
1) yarmolenko starting instead of benrahma
2) odubeko on for second half instead of lanzini
3) striker situation coming home to bite by not getting cover during the transfer window with an out and out striker instead of flair player and a increasingly unreliable Antonio due to his injury history ( which I’m gutted for him as he’s a top player)
Lots of hard graft, we cannot compete (yet) with the top teams strength in depth ie quality of squad.. With all our “unexpected” injuries.. besides the ongoing Antonio saga.. Let’s try and get this sorted ASAP either way,I thought we gave it our all and proud of the performance.. Supporters who honestly thought we could go there and go on the front foot are living in dreamland for pity sake, we had to stay in the game.. if we had conceded early they would have slaughtered us on the break.. Only negative, Yarmelenko NOT A NUMBER 9…lets get this sorted for once and all, his demeanour is terrible and looks as if he is doing us a favour by playing!!!!!. Bowens form is a worry and wonder if he like Antonio is playing with a “niggle” because his pace has dropped off unfortunately.. Time to regroup… COYI..
Seriously you gave Rice and Fabianski the same mark!! Fabianski was outstanding tonight and Rice’s ball control and passing was no where near his normal standard. Likewise as disappointed as we all were with Yarmolenko at least he touched the ball in fact his injury was picked up getting a ball into the area that sadly we didn’t anticipate so to mark him below the young kid who frankly was out of his depth and anonymous doesn’t do the kid any favours because if he wants to make it he has to learn from this. If Dawson had scored in the last minute we would all be happy but frankly tonight our ball control was diabolical just like against Fulham we gave the ball away too easy and too many times it is becoming a worry
As predicted by most we are toothless without Antonio.For a club of this size to have 1 recognised striker is ridiculous and to make matters worse for us Hammers fans we were on National TV and the mockers will have a field day over that stodgy display.
With no fit Antonio we’re no threat up front.Yarmoleko was never the answer and for some reason Bowen’s form seems to have deteriorated. Still say we should have rested players to give us a better chance tonight
For the first time over many years, we have a solid defence, however I agree with Artran we rely on Antonio and without we have little effect as a attacking force.
As for Fornals, he reminds me of Anderson afraid to tackle who constantly dances side to side between two opposing players .
He is slow and offers no threat ,