West Ham v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[hawkeye]

too many players that are probably not good enough for this level. A very poor West Ham side beat us without breaking stride. very worrying

[pauliewalnuts]

Not really sure why everyone was expecting us to beat these. I must be one of the few that still thinks we are extremely lightweight and really not good enough. I do believe we will be playing much better football than before but still think we will struggle. Didn't expect much and got exactly that.

To be honest, i don't think there's a single poster on here who thinks we have been anything like good enough for a long time.

[tarzansbrother]

Oh dear. We have a terrible squad and some even worse individual players. Our £24m striker needs 6 games and our £10m star signing from last year needs a fukin rocket up his arse. This shambles is gonna take time and some money from our invisible chairman who is selling his assets. One big big fukin plus is Paul Lambert. Time and patience will be the key. This is a big ship to turn around but in Lambert we trust.

[ktvillan]

We looked unfit and slow, and lacking in urgency, width, imagination and pace.  There was some nice passing but with very little end product or penetration - reminded me of West Brazil under Tony Mowbray, and we know what happened to them.

Our movement off the ball dried up especially the  last quarter hour which meant the passing game fell apart.     

West Ham looked very ordinary but we barely troubled them.

Still it's early days, new players and old ones getting used to a new style, so I think we have to be patient.  But it does look as if we need strengthening in several areas.

[citizenDJ]

Well.....that was a bit of a disappointment.

You could see plainly the shift in philosophy that Lambert has already instilled, and in fact our passing and retention was much improved, so that at least is a positive start. Add to that, Lowton ad El Ahmadi both looked good, and Vlaar too, although he'll need to just stay calm under pressure a little more. Holman looked a bit out of his depth, to be honest, and I can't see him being a first team regular, but you never know.

The need for a left-back is obvious, but it's the attacking options that need more thought; Bent is a brilliant finisher, but if we can't provide the service (and Holman and N'Zogbia can't, in my view), then perhaps it is worth buying, say, Kenwyne Jones to play up top as well. He can hold the ball up, let the attacking midfielders join in the attack more. We could also play a more effective 4-4-2, or at any rate with two strikers who complement each other.

Or, do we stick with the strikers we have, and spend on improving the attacking midfielders? Perhaps it's just wishful thinking to rely on Ireland to recapture the consistency of quality he showed at City. Will Albrighton and Bannan be good enough?

Either way, we need to bring in some new blood somewhere, or it will be another tough season, albeit a slightly more attractive one to watch. And maybe that's the best we should hope for, at this stage of Lambert's tenure.

[Monty]

Cue panic. I thought the whole approach was much better and it just needs time to click. We were also up against one of the worst teams we could have had on the opening day, who were also awful apart from a 15 minute spell when we lost our heads.

Delph was very good, El Ahmadi showed composure, Vlaar and Clark looked like they could develop a partnership but certainly had a very poor 15 minutes, and Ireland was also promising. However, Zog looked like a rabbit in headlights, Holman looked lethargic and Bent did nothing and received nothing. Bannan needs to play, I think, and Zog needs a spell on the sidelines.

Work in progress, undoubtedly. But you can see the plan, the improvements which will benefit us long-term. By building their style carefully Swansea have ended up in a situation where they can lose their manager and keep the style going as well as they did today. Meanwhile, that manager finds that changing around a side (and changing it less than the job Lambo has) is not easy. Ozz said that he thinks it's the worst we'll play this season: I agree. Let's not panic.

[lovejoy]

Calm down this is game 1. A bit of perspective please.

[Percy McCarthy]

I don't agree with all the negativity expressed on the match thread. Yes, we were weak in their half; yes, Bent had nothing all game; yes, some of the final passes were poor.

But from what I saw we will get a whole better: KEA and Vlaar got better through the game; Lowton, Baker and Delph played okay. Ireland fizzed in parts.

Holman will improve, IMO.

We let ourselves down and N'Zog particularly failed to give us a senior-player performance.

I hate playing newly-promoted sides in the first game, especially away.

I particularly dislike playing against Sam-sides - his teams are always set up to stop and bludgeon.

I am optimistic that after a slow start we will start to do rather well this season...

... on the back of one or two more signings.

I agree. The alternative doesn't bear thinking about.

[supertom]

We're really lacking in quality. For me, looking at that display we're in need of 2-3(4) decent signings. We need a few reliable, experience players who've done it in the Prem.

Looking at the team, our only really reliable and experienced domestic players are Given and Bent. That aside we have a few foreign signings who need to bed in and youngsters, as well as the inconsistent and unreliable Ireland and N'Zogbia.
We lack even say a Nolan. Someone who's a midfield general and consistent. I mean he's hardly a world beater but he'll score 10+ for the Hammers this year and probably make a further 10 as well.
We could also do with a barnstorming midfielder. Someone who'll just drive forward and bring the team with him. Delph and El Ahmadi are tidy players, decent with the ball but they not the sort who'll make bursting runs and get us on the front foot.
For me we still need:
LB
CB (To compete with Clark)
CM
WINGER
STRIKER (target man or a Bergkamp type)

Playing without width isn't gonna work. Certainly not for us. We need some pace and we need to use it. If no one's going to support Bent from midfield then he needs a decent strike partner. So we need another experienced option to compete with Gab.
Ship out N'Zogbia. It's time to cut our losses.

In all honesty without that lot I think we could struggle. We'll struggle away from home in all honesty. The question will be how effective we'll be at home. If we still can't score goals at home we'll be in serious danger again.

That said, for me Lambert will get us playing better. He's the man for the task but it might take a few years. We could seriously do with outlaying 20 million because we've lost far too much quality in the last 2 seasons. Randy's playing a dangerous game.

If we have to go into too many games with a bench like today then I'm a worried man.
Still Liverpool got twatted today, so it's not too bad! Ha ha!

[brontebilly]

frightening really today against another dire team. thankfully it happened with 2 weeks left of the transfer window. Given was decent. Lowton started ok but looked a league 1 player in the second half. Vlaar was muck in the first half, improved in the second a bit but brainless at time. Clark made some rash decision and I'd like to see him push forward with the ball a bit more. Baker was probably our best player but doesnt offer anything with the ball. El Ahmadi was excellent in the first half but died out of it in the second. Delph isnt good enough at this level. Nzogbia and Holman both diabolical. Ireland some decent flashes but he has no heart. Bent might aswell not have been playing. To make matters worse, the three lads that came on had zero impact. Gardner in particular had a shocking cameo.

I dont know what Lambert can do but we need a far better player next to El Ahmadi in midfield. I dont know is it worth considering trading Nzogbia already. First game of the season but he just looked as bad as he did consistently last season today. Ireland has plenty of talent but no heart. Never does he look to get beyond Bent or receive the ball in a place where he might get a kick. A highlights player really.

For a new manager, you expect some kind of impact but today was pretty much a continuation of last seasons shambles. New players needed fast.

[Pete3206]

Too many average players and we still haven't replaced Petrov with a leader on the pitch. If you're going to play so narrow down the middle of the pitch, you might as well flog Darren Bent and strengthen the side with 2 or 3 players who are going give the opposition something to worry about.

Too nice and too easy to play against. We need some scary and vocal characters to get us going.

[atomicjam]

Cue panic. I thought the whole approach was much better and it just needs time to click. We were also up against one of the worst teams we could have had on the opening day, who were also awful apart from a 15 minute spell when we lost our heads.

Delph was very good, El Ahmadi showed composure, Vlaar and Clark looked like they could develop a partnership but certainly had a very poor 15 minutes, and Ireland was also promising. However, Zog looked like a rabbit in headlights, Holman looked lethargic and Bent did nothing and received nothing. Bannan needs to play, I think, and Zog needs a spell on the sidelines.

Work in progress, undoubtedly. But you can see the plan, the improvements which will benefit us long-term. By building their style carefully Swansea have ended up in a situation where they can lose their manager and keep the style going as well as they did today. Meanwhile, that manager finds that changing around a side (and changing it less than the job Lambo has) is not easy. Ozz said that he thinks it's the worst we'll play this season: I agree. Let's not panic.

Totally agree with this. We will get better and those passes will create goals.

[usav]

Too many average players and we still haven't replaced Petrov with a leader on the pitch.

That is a great point.  He always got too much stick from the blinkered fans, but we are a different and better team when he plays.

[pauliewalnuts]

I dont know is it worth considering trading Nzogbia already. First game of the season but he just looked as bad as he did consistently last season today

Have to say, I defended N'Zogbia last season, but I've seen nothing in the pre-season matches, or today, to suggest that he's improved at all. If someone offered us a decent whack for him this window, and we identified a replacement, I'd take it.

He's infuriating. He worked hard enough, but when he gets the ball, he just seems to have no idea what to do with it. I don't know if he thought going to Wigan he was a big fish in a small pool, and that gave him confidence to take players on and beat them, but with us he just looks totally clueless as to what to do with the ball when he's got it.

For me, the main reason we created nothing today was that Delph and KEA were doing their job in midfield, but Holman (who I thought did absolutely nothing and looked lost) and N'Zogbia offered nothing to us going forward.

[PaulMcGrathsNo5Shirt]

Let's not panic, it's one game.

I thought the first 30 minutes we were pretty decent. Patient in possession on the whole, and the passing and movement was excellent. However, as soon as they got closer to Delph and even more so to El Ahmedi we struggled. They both went deeper to retrieve the ball and therefore the space between Bent and our midfield was huge. Unfortunately we carried Holman and Ireland today who in the main were anonymous. N'Zogbia I thought looked bothered and did cause problems. The substitutions were ineffective if i'm honest, Gardner and Weimann in particular.

I think today will show that we still need to pick up a couple of players and I think we will see some in the coming week or so...

No panic chaps...