West Ham v Newcastle Player Ratings by Niall McDonald
Adrian: Saved by the woodwork twice, don’t recall him making a save of his own 5
Zabaleta: Received virtually every pass standing still, and seemingly unable to move upfield 4
Reid: Surprised to see the skipper come out for the second-half after injury, struggled against their pace on the break 5
Ogbonna: Lacked a bit of the composure of recent weeks 5
Cresswell: Didn’t have his crossing boots on unfortunately and was clearly as frustrated as the crowd 4
Masuaku: Newcastle doubled up on Arthur to little effect. Brilliant running with the ball. Should have taken responsibility for the situation that led to their 3rd through 7
Obiang: Gave the ball away far too often 4
Kouyate: Had a good 15 mins before the interval. Obiang and Cheik will not be first choice partnership in the middle on this evidence 5
Arnautovic: Had much to do when he picked up the ball, and put it away clinically. One moment where he made a clearing header in our box and seconds later was the most advanced player closing down at the other end summed his commitment up 7
Ayew: “I don’t think I’ve seen him score from this far out”, I thought as he lined up the penalty and I still haven’t. His short run-up/stop-start mess was not redeemed by his subsequent goal 2
Antonio: Didn’t look to be at the races from the first whistle 3
Subs
Carroll: More worrying for AC than his lack of chances will be the fact that he isn’t winning aerial challenges these days 3
Hernandez: Arrived with 8 mins to go, no sight of goal. Interested to see if/how Moyes gets him into the team earlier No rating
Neat, honest player analysis: respect, Niall.
So Mr Messiah Moyes of ‘I can do a job anywhere’ fame ran out of miracle dust yesterday, did he? Well, one swallow doesn’t make a summer; so I suppose one bummer doesn’t make a disaster trend…or does it, when this is yet another one of those ‘we’ve never played so badly’ moments? Three points for every time we’ve heard that comment this season and we’d be secure in the PL. There is a grave question to be asked here: what is going down with the players if the dynamic duo of Messrs. Moyes & Pearce can no longer scare them ****eless into frenzied running up and down? Never mind composed, creative football. That’s a long way off. The situation is dire. Seems like a lot now rests on Bournemouth and WBA in what is a compressed PL table. What many saw as 9 easy points to safety now loom as ‘must win’ games to avoid an inevitable slide. COYI.
Fair assesment Niall like you the only players to come out with any credit for me were Masuaku and Arnautovic, lets hope Moyes gets them motivated for Bournemouth another average team at our end of the table we should have the quality to beat at least Lanzini will be back please Moyes play at least one recognised striker alongside Arnie!
An honest ‘fair dinkum’ assessment Niall-thank you!
It seems to me that muscle strain and fatigue has inevitable caught up with some of our players.
I thought that Moyes made a critical error by starting the game with Ayew, rather than Chicharito. or even Sakho.
The penalty miss was shambolic-by interrupting his approach to the ball, Ayew lost all of the potential momentum and power required to push it into one of the corners of the net. I would have had more confidence in Cresswell or Obiang!
Personally I think it’s time to give Moyes and the squad a clean sheet starting with our first game of 2018 . It’s been too easy to criticize 2017 for many and very varied reasons .
I am expecting a new resurgent West Ham in 2018 . Feeling pretty optimistic despite recent poor showings . The indecisiveness and team format with every player putting in a stint should be positively addressed by January . If not , we all know the consequences . But I am optimistic just the same .
COYHAMMERS .