It’s been clear for weeks, even when we were winning, that the Hammers need to be much sharper over the ground and in front of goal.
Today against Palace it was all far to evident again.
We all love the Pelegrini way but to reach the level that he demands of his teams is clearly going to take a bit more time as the players learn that they really do need to be far more incisive, pacey and creative.
There’s a big difference between playing a passing game and passing the ball to death – we were still doing it at the end when the game needed saving.
Yes we have waited many moons to see a Hammers team flicking it around man to man on the ground but there’s a way to go far as I can see.
Sideways and backward movement is all well and good but when you have invested much in the the likes of Lanzini, Anderson and Yarmolenko with Fornals and Wilshere it’s fair to expect more than we saw today.
So to hear the boss complaining about a Rice penalty decision – debatable though it may have been – when there was other stuff which needed closer examination was surprising.
The one moment that we saw Haller at his best for the goal was when the ball was moved at real pace and it’s that level of performance we have to reach throughout games over 90 minutes.
Today wasn’t a disaster but it’s probably fair to say we are somewhere off the finished article.
COYI
Well said, Hugh. Lack of ambition against another team who lacked ambition. Very frustrating and annoying. I’m not a great fan of Lanzini but even less of Fornals or Wilshere
Exactly. Painfully slow build up, always cut inside and play the ball back. Each time we do somehow find ourselves crossing the ball, we get a chance or cause some panic clearance and get a chance from the second ball.
Agreed we are painfully slow in the build up,pass sideways and backwards too often and the tempo is dire with no movement
Options are limited to play the ball forward because..No1 Haller isn’t one to run in behind (not his game)….Antonio gave us that before his injury,so midfield have to try & work a opening hence pass pass pass
You raise some good points Hugh – to me yesterday showed how much we are missing Antonio – someone who is prepared to risk losing the ball by running at the opposition – if he loses the ball twice and then creates a chance or scores the third time it is worth it
One suggestion that others have made is to use Arthur wide left as he has pace and is direct (so if he was on the bench he could have replaced Lanzini with Anderson moving central – I think that it made sense to sub Lanzini since he was coming back from injury)
What the game showed is that we have someway to go to reach the top 6 – hopefully with time we will see why we spent the money on Fornals
COYI – let us get Silva the sack after teh International break
We lack the belief ,energy and intensity to become a top 6 side and that will all come from the management.
2 mistakes led to 2 goals but we should of beaten an average defensive palace.
Anderson would be a top player under a Klopp or Guardiola, need to change our mentality now or we will achieve nothing under the current management, Oxford proved that.
Couldn’t agree more. Can we have some more crosses too? I think Pellegrini had a call from Alladyce that cut out half way through and he only heard the hoof it up to the big guy on goal kicks and not the get some crosses in advice.
Completely agree Hugh. So frustrating to see us lose a game which we should have won to go 3rd. So sick of seeing us play with no urgency and 10 passes sideways and backwards instead of through the channels. This gives time for opposition to get 10 players back to defend. Only time we went up a gear we scored. To concede both goals from set pieces is so frustrating when they should prepare for these all week. Anderson and Lanzini very disappointing and Anderson’s record of 9 goals in 43 appearances is poor return considering how much we paid. Would love to see Nathan Holland given a chance instead. Lanzini contributed very little with only 1 attempt on goal, and failed to make a single key pass before being substituted. Why do we always play with only 1 striker and fail to adapt this against different teams when it’s obvious Haller needs more support? Great striker but he can’t do it on his own.