(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
It’s sometimes rare to feel sympathy for a subbed player and the one who replaces him but I did last night.
Once David Moyes decided to replace a player it was odds on Nikoloa Vlasic would be the one and in my view he didn’t deserve it.
Having played on the right side he looked much better than we have seen previously despite an unfortunate headed effort that was saved by the goalkeeper Bono.
Earlier he had been making things happening but was seeing enough of the ball to make the impression of which he was looking capable.
As pointed out by CandH website follower Blimeyblimey statistically he had twice as many shots on target as the rest of the team combined
According to the Pro-stats, Vlasic, Fornals, Lanzini Benrahma ad Antonio were all within 0.2 of each other so maybe some need to get off his back.
So I felt for him as he was subbed again as I did for Benrahma when he appeared whom I have been particularly tough on over recent days.
However, he too made a real difference and set up the chance for the best Hammers chance of the evening with Lanzini’s close range effort being brilliantly blocked.
There were other top moments from him too but the major enjoyment was watching Vlasic start to show what he’s got.
Find our shooting boots next Thursday and we remain very much in the tie.
Completely agree with your view on Vlasic and Benrahma, Hugh. I thought Benrahma gave us a real shot in the arm when he came on. It also proves the point that we shouldn’t write either of these two off as not being good enough for the Premier League or proof that Moyes doesn’t know what he’s doing in the transfer market. We shouldn’t forget that Vlasic has only played a handful of EPL games this season and Benrahma is little more than a year into his EPL career. Neither has got off to the flying start that Jarrod, Vladi and Tomas got off to. But not all players do. Arsene Wenger – who won a thing or two let’s not forget – used to say that he brought players in with one eye on the following season to allow them to get up-to-speed. Let’s get behind the two of them, and have faith that Moyes, Nevin, Pearce and Nolan can provide them with all of the support they need to become more consistent EPL performers.
Err Hugh. If you think Lanzini’s chance was easier than Vlasic’s then you better give up watching. Vlasic only had the keeper to beat from Lanzin,Nevas, Bone and some else on the line.Yes he should scored but….
Ok I’ll give up watching then 🙂 However, I don’t see a difference between a save and a brilliant block
I have been saying it all season to get the best out of Benrahma, players like Fornals and Lanzini need to be on the pitch. However Moyes has refused to play Lanzini, Fornals and Benrahma in the team all season instead prefering to play Soucek whose form has nose dived. Unfortunately that is Moyes, safety first and for me it is the reason we will struggle to make Europe this season.