West Ham v Aston Villa Post-Match Thread

[citizenDJ]

Also, Bent as captain? Seems a strange one to me, he's never struck me as captain material. Although I don't like to see strikers as captains, should be a defender or a defensive midfielder for me, someone who is going to be in the middle of the park most of the time amongst the action so he can marshal the troops if need be.

Yup, that surprised me, as well.

And me. I said on the match thread, I don't know how much of a leader he is in the changing room or at training and so on, but he never strikes me as a captain on the pitch. But then, who else would we choose?

[JUAN PABLO]

at the moment I can not see any captain material , that is what is worrying . I suppose it will be Dunne when hes back but I could see it eventually being Vlaar.

[Risso]

Also, Bent as captain? Seems a strange one to me, he's never struck me as captain material. Although I don't like to see strikers as captains, should be a defender or a defensive midfielder for me, someone who is going to be in the middle of the park most of the time amongst the action so he can marshal the troops if need be.

Yup, that surprised me, as well.

And me. I said on the match thread, I don't know how much of a leader he is in the changing room or at training and so on, but he never strikes me as a captain on the pitch. But then, who else would we choose?

It doesn't help that he's the most isolated, least involved player on the pitch.  I could see the idea if you have a player like Rooney, who is always dropping deep and popping up all over the pitch, but making Bent captain is like making the triangle the lead instrument in an orchestra.

[JUAN PABLO]

One big difference between us and them was Diame . Thought he looked great

[fredm]

With only three first team players out on Saturday, you only had to look a the bench to see how woefully thin the squad is. We need at least three in before the end of the month, otherwise I fear for us over a long season. I hope the board back him.

Looking at the squad it is imperative that we replace the two players dropped by Lambert with two who will be regular starters. That must happen before 31st.  Do not necessarily have to be direct replacements but must increase the strength of the squad.

[john e]

Just back from game / London
That was thoroughly shit
As bad as anything McLeish served up

did you not see us away at Spurs last season ?

[Yossarian]

Also, Bent as captain? Seems a strange one to me, he's never struck me as captain material. Although I don't like to see strikers as captains, should be a defender or a defensive midfielder for me, someone who is going to be in the middle of the park most of the time amongst the action so he can marshal the troops if need be.

Yup, that surprised me, as well.

And me. I said on the match thread, I don't know how much of a leader he is in the changing room or at training and so on, but he never strikes me as a captain on the pitch. But then, who else would we choose?

It doesn't help that he's the most isolated, least involved player on the pitch.  I could see the idea if you have a player like Rooney, who is always dropping deep and popping up all over the pitch, but making Bent captain is like making the triangle the lead instrument in an orchestra.

I was bass triangle in a band once.

[john e]

It might have been as bad as Norwich, but I seriously doubt it will be when the manager's had a whole season in the job.

Bingo.

Yes, it was piss poor in many ways, but fuck me, what kind of transition does anyone expect in 90 minutes of competitive football, and having made minimal additions to the squad?

What worried me was the people in the 'season expectations' thread hoping for a top 8 finish.

after seeing us on saturday, i'm more hopefull of a top 8 finish than i was before

i've waited a very long time to see a Villa side looking to keep possession and try and play some decent football, it didnt come of but we will only improve,  Lambert will work on making us better but at least he will work from a good foundation of the way he wants us to play

West Ham in my opinion will be in a relegtion scrap, and we will be top half

[levico]

I think it's all been said about Saturday really. I'm not panicking, it's just one game and the transfer window is still open.

Can't help thinking though that as things stand we resemble a decent Championship side and as good as Lambert is, he will struggle with that. I'm not saying we are likely relegation fodder but Robbie Savage may have a bit of a point. I think it is all down to whether Randy is prepared to fork out for some real quality over the next two weeks. I suspect not but hey ho, at least we're not Portsmouth.

[Percy McCarthy]

It may be worth bearing in mind that that moron Savage tipped us for top ten last season.

[hartman_1982]

It might have been as bad as Norwich, but I seriously doubt it will be when the manager's had a whole season in the job.

Bingo.

Yes, it was piss poor in many ways, but fuck me, what kind of transition does anyone expect in 90 minutes of competitive football, and having made minimal additions to the squad?

What worried me was the people in the 'season expectations' thread hoping for a top 8 finish.

after seeing us on saturday, i'm more hopefull of a top 8 finish than i was before

i've waited a very long time to see a Villa side looking to keep possession and try and play some decent football, it didnt come of but we will only improve,  Lambert will work on making us better but at least he will work from a good foundation of the way he wants us to play

West Ham in my opinion will be in a relegtion scrap, and we will be top half

This exactly. We had 65% possession on Saturday, we just lacked penetration. In many ways it was a typical opening day 0-0 but they grabbed a scrappy goal. The difference was one team kept the ball and passed it on the deck, the other punted it 50 yards at every opportunity. It wasn't perfect by any means, but the crowd need to stay with him while he implements it and we will be fine.

[JJ-AV]

Naughton and Charlie Adam would do me. I know Adam would be on big wages but his fee would be relatively modest, and it'd still only leave us with two established, experienced CM's so Bannan and Delph would still get time on the pitch.

I agree we lack pace, but I'd rather persevere with N'Zog and get Gabby and marc back firing first.

[alexkeble]

we were attempting a new patient, short passing philosophy, which simply lacked attacking drive. Too many of their passes were sideways or backwards, stunted as they were by two rigid lines of defence. West Ham's long ball strategy avoided the congested midfield area anyway, and the slightness of Villa's midfield meant that despite Lambert's team winning most of the headers, the second ball was almost always won by West Ham. Stilted and unconfident, but probably not the best place to try the new system. You can read a full tactical analysis of the game if you like, here: http://www.thechalkboard.org.uk/#!westhamvilla/c24gb

[themossman]

You'd hope a lot of it is transitional, and take some comfort from the fact that we are now trying to play decent football. Which makes the McLeish era even more bizarre given that it put the process started by Houllier back 2 years and involved us probably turning over, at great cost, more unsuitable players like Hutton.

[markus209]

Think about under Houllier; there were some absolutely shocking games (Sunderland at home springs to mind) and I think a lot of it came down to the fact he was trying to completely reverse our style of play from a counter attacking side to one that keeps possession. By the end of the season though i think there were promising signs that things were getting there.

Lambert has a bigger job, as last season we weren't a counter attacking side. We were a defensive non-attacking side. We have to expect some poor games (Although yesterday wasn't anything like that Sunderland at home horror show.) We weren't impressive by any stretch of the imagination and we didn't create many chances but we did keep possession well and looking at the stats we had more shots. The shots may be misleading though as I think most were long range efforts.

Facing a newly promoted side away from home is always a tough start to a season. I reckon we will finish this season much stronger than we start it as the players get used to playing Lambert's style of play and he gets his own players in. I'm not going to get too worried just yet.