West Ham v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[john e]

dissapointed with the result but not the performance, wasnt perfect no where near but we did try and play some football.

disagree strongly with all those on here saying we were no different from last season, we played more passing football in the first 30 minuets than in the whole of last season put together.

we had 66% of possesion so how is that like anything  last season ? your talking absolute bollocks

Given threw the ball out instead of hoofing it more today than i've seen any Villa  goalie do in the last 5 seasons,

we were at least trying to work it through midfield, Ok it didnt work all the time but you could see the plan was there.
we were to narrow and tight, but hey we were playing Allardyces anti football,
 WH played no football today, they had that spell after 30 mins when they scored through a series of free kicks and corners, thats there style so far do's to them , but its not football, at least we were trying to play a passing game.

i have never seen a team change the style of play so much from one season to another, its not going to happen over night, but i saw some good signs out there today,

 back 4 were good and solid, better than the hoofers and cloggers of last season,
midfield were industrious and passed the ball well at times, better than anything i saw last season, Ok we were powder puff up front but that will come as the team gells together

i was luke warm toward Lambert when we appointed him, but i liked what i saw today,
 not the final result but the way we were set up and the way we tried to play, i'm not easily pleased i hated everthing about last season, but today bore absolutly no resemberlance to that at all, apart from the result

the future is bright, the future is Day Glow

[KRS]

West Ham away on the first day of the season was never going to be a good start to the season with a new management team and an under strength squad in transition...I was hoping at best for a draw knowing we are going to struggle to score goals with the current players, so to lose 1-0 isnt as bad as some ppl are making it out to be. In terms of performance...its almost as if the season has started too early for us and I'm sure we'll improve with more games and a few more much needed signings. If we dont make a few more decent signings to improve our goalscoring chances then it could be a long few months till the January transfer window.

edit: havent seen any of the game, but if we had 66% possession away from home then that doesnt sound like such a bad performance to me and we just need a cutting edge upfront to turn the possession into goals. If you compare that to last season where we were dominated in terms of possession then its only the shots on goal and chances created stats that we need to improve.

[Steve R]

If we were to go out and splash cash, our marketplace would be the one QPR have been shopping in. We aren't the most disappointed supporters tonight.

Our least effective players today were largely the ones we spent most on.

[PeterWithesShin]

Sky have it as 69.2% 1st half and 65.5% second half. BBC have it as 51% for the whole game. I wonder which is right and why they are so far apart? And they have different opinions of shot on and off target.

[N'Zimidy]

No idea why they are so far apart.

But on viewing the game today it definitely was in the 60%+ in terms of possession. West Ham only had the ball for 5 second spells before hoofing it back to Given or Vlaar.

[tonypvilla]

Think its going to take time for everyone to settle down this season, hey it could be worse we could support QPR !!

[john e]

i took the 66% of SSN
 when the match report came up and the interviews with the managers the stats appear opposite

[Toronto Villa]

Well, that was chuffing hot !!

I hate this weather, bring on February.

As for the game, I suggest that those of you that have already received the first issue of H&V for the season just read Mr Woodhall's mini-report from the Forest game. It sums up perfectly today's game as well. Loads of possession, nice passing at times but no one to stamp their authority on proceedings.

I don't like how narrow Villa are playing. Ireland, Fab and KEA were almost bumping into each other at times. When you add in Zog and Brett criss-crossing, it was far too crowded in the middle. This lead to most of the passes intended to Bent were very straight and thus overhit or easily cut out. Zog and Brett's positioning also meant that Lowton and Baker were often left exposed.

I know that its only one game but based on today, Mr Savage could be right.

Based on today Liverpool, QPR and Norwich are completely fucked. I'll wager good coin on us and Liverpool being ahead of West Ham and the stripey's come the end of the season. Today wasn't good and it shows that there's much to do. I'm just glad Lambert is here and not TSM because we may as well pack our bags for the Championship if he was.

Lambert will get it right. It just won't happen immediately.

[Pat McMahon]

We started out brightly but petered out - I thought our support reflected this too.

My thoughts on a few items for Mr Lambert to chew on:

We lacked physical presence in midfield today  - KEA, Delph, Holman, Zog Ireland all seemed more frail than WHam's, more so as the game went on.
We lacked a cutting edge with our forward passing - plenty of pretty passing across the pitch and in our own half. We didn't get any runners behind their defence.
We lacked width and our crossing was awful. I saw that Motson on the BBC site said we had 10 crosses and not once did they reach a Villa player.

Collins looked very good and I was sad to hear boos for him. He was a limited player but generally gave everything in a Villa shirt.

[PeterWithesShin]

Paul Lambert was pleased with some of the football on display against West Ham - but stressed that his side must turn possession into chances in the coming weeks and months ahead.

Lambert was delighted with the quality on show, especially in the opening half-hour, but felt his team lacked a cutting edge in the final third.

He said: "I thought we started the game really well and I thought for 30 minutes we were excellent.

"But you can have all the ball you want but you've got to score.

"Some of the play, I was really happy with and some, like anything, you're not. But I can't fault the lads for effort. Their effort was excellent.

"We tried, but there wasn't much in the game.

"I thought we looked bright but we've got to turn our possession into chances.

"If we can just get a finishing touch on that then we'll be ok."

West Ham's winning goal was a controversial one, referee Mike Dean overruling his linesman's offside decision following Kevin Nolan's clinical finish.

But Lambert had no complaints after seeing a replay on the final whistle.

He continued: "I wasn't sure at the time but I've seen it on the tape and it's come off one of our lads so the referee's called it right.

"In terms of our lads reacting, the thing is it's the blink of an eye. So I can't fault them.

"They're young. We played a young team but their effort I can't fault.

"There will be mistakes like everybody else.

"There were a lot of positives to take out of it. You pick yourself up and you go again."

Lambert is confident his team will "grow together" as they bed in.

He added: "There's no hiding place. You have to win together and you have to lose together.

"I'm not one for a blame culture. If we lose, we lose together. If we win, then we win together."

[Toronto Villa]

I do wonder if Darren Bent is too nice a bloke to be captain? I'd be happier if it as the concrete one to get in the players faces when needed. I'd rather Bent just concentrated on scoring goals ad not much else.

[Ian.]

Well a couple years ago I'm sure we stuffed the Hammers on the opening day 3-0 and look how that season turned out. We have a lot to do and I'm sure PL knows it and is working on improving it.

[PeterWithesShin]

I do wonder if Darren Bent is too nice a bloke to be captain? I'd be happier if it as the concrete one to get in the players faces when needed. I'd rather Bent just concentrated on scoring goals ad not much else.

I wouldn't have him as captain. I've never been a big fan of strikers as captains anyway. And certainly not one when we play like we did today who is involved so little in the game. I think Vlaar is the future captain.

[UK Redsox]

I do wonder if Darren Bent is too nice a bloke to be captain? I'd be happier if it as the concrete one to get in the players faces when needed. I'd rather Bent just concentrated on scoring goals ad not much else.

Clark seemed to be the defender doing the most motivational gestures.

[Toronto Villa]

I do wonder if Darren Bent is too nice a bloke to be captain? I'd be happier if it as the concrete one to get in the players faces when needed. I'd rather Bent just concentrated on scoring goals ad not much else.

Clark seemed to be the defender doing the most motivational gestures.

I think long term he will be the captain of the club. He is maturing quite nicely and getting better as a player. Vlaar, I hope will be a very positive influence on him.