West Ham United vs Aston Villa Post-Match

[john e]

In fairness to West Ham, they did try to play out from the back a bit more yesterday but got caught a few times like we did when we first started the new way

That’s one thing we did yesterday we played out from the back beautifully, we are learning and not giving us fans heart failure anywhere near as much

[KevinGage]

'They're saying he touched the ball but not enough?!?!?' - this has been the rule since forever, just touching the ball doesn't necessarily mean it's not a foul. Cash got a toe on it but they clearly thought Soucek would've had it under control were he not clattered...

That's not the issue here though.

On the feed Alan Smith (and I assume the other pundits) got the Stockley Park muppet said Cash didn't mean to touch the ball.

What the actual fcuk.

Maybe he was practicing ballet moves.

[AV84]

In fairness to West Ham, they did try to play out from the back a bit more yesterday but got caught a few times like we did when we first started the new way

That’s one thing we did yesterday we played out from the back beautifully, we are learning and not giving us fans heart failure anywhere near as much

I read a few reports about other team's pre seasons and I think West Ham and Chelsea were two mentioned as trying to play the way we do, but they were struggling to adapt.

[LeeB]

In fairness to West Ham, they did try to play out from the back a bit more yesterday but got caught a few times like we did when we first started the new way

That’s one thing we did yesterday we played out from the back beautifully, we are learning and not giving us fans heart failure anywhere near as much

I read a few reports about other team's pre seasons and I think West Ham and Chelsea were two mentioned as trying to play the way we do, but they were struggling to adapt.

Lol, it's like Lambert trying to play like Guardiola.

[berneboy]

I watched Bailey’s ‘Miss’ where he hit the post. I’m convinced it glanced off the defender who threw himself in front of Bailey’s shot which would otherwise have gone in.

[AV84]

We seemed to adapt very quickly to Emery's style when he came in, but it may have been a case of him recognising what the players he had were capable of, and only asking them to adapt so much at first. As he's started adding his own players we've got better and better at it. If he'd just come in and expected us to play like we are now straight away, it wouldn't have worked.

[KevinGage]

In general I'd rather have linesmen in each half and one running the goal line as you get in other sports. Rather than the farce of ten minutes rolling VT back and forth and drawing wanky lines on a screen in a desperate attempt to rule a goal out.

Would be three sets of eyes on the one incident with the final call still with the ref.

If two of his assistants said "No pen, Cash got a touch and Soucek is a bandy legged oaf," that should have been enough to get to the right call. In two minutes max.

[VillaTim]

The squad depth has improved. What came off the bench yesterday really helped get that result over the line. Squad management will be crucial this season and Emery is a master at it.

[OCD]

We seemed to adapt very quickly to Emery's style when he came in, but it may have been a case of him recognising what the players he had were capable of, and only asking them to adapt so much at first. As he's started adding his own players we've got better and better at it. If he'd just come in and expected us to play like we are now straight away, it wouldn't have worked.

First thing Emery noticed when he took over was that he felt we were rushing it a lot. He wanted us to slow down, which is easier to do.

[Somniloquism]

I watched Bailey’s ‘Miss’ where he hit the post. I’m convinced it glanced off the defender who threw himself in front of Bailey’s shot which would otherwise have gone in.

Nah, direct onto the post although the defender might have blocked it / knocked it in if on target. Surprised he didn't feint the defender then lift it but the rest of his play until that point was spot on. I honestly thought West Ham was playing an untried keeper with his line stance at the corner then bombing out into no mans land for that ball.

[Monty]

You're correct that just winning the ball doesn't mean that a foul isn't then committed, but in this case, Cash does win the ball, then Soucek puts his leg between Cash's legs, and they both fall over.

My feeling is that the penalty was harsh for this reason, but I think it's really stretching it to say there's no possible other interpretation. Cash doesn't have the ball under control, he hasn't knocked it firmly away from Soucek, and he's swung his legs in Soucek's way which is why the tangle happened.

Like I say, not a penalty for me on the balance of things, but I can see why it was given as umpire's call. Depending on the original decision clipping the bails means out or clipping the bails means not out, and I'm content enough to live within that ambiguity.

I just strongly, strongly suspect that Man Utd would've got that overturned for them. But that's another story - they probably wouldn't have had it given against them to begin with anyway.

[Chico Hamilton III]

No idea at the time whether it was a penalty or not as there were no replays shown on the screen. So we had the mad scenario where the fella standing next to me called his dad in Brum who was watching on telly to ask what was happening at the game we were watching live.

[martin o`who??]

No point in going over and repeating about who did what - all I know is, that as an ex-defender of 1970s vintage, I wouldn't last five minutes in the game today. Can't tackle, running to cover with their hands behind their backs in case of some ridiculous handball decision.
An utter joke now.

[ChicagoLion]

Last season, it gets chalked off , if the VAR sends the ref to the screen it gets chalked off.
Now it’s a new interpretation, so will it be the same for handball? Because refs have no idea now what is a handball offence.
So it should now be, that the ref only stops the game if contact with the ball is very obviously deliberate, but I bet it won’t happen and it definitely won’t happen against Liverpool Manure or Citeh.
The whole thing is a farce.

[john e]

In fairness, it made the winning goal all that much sweeter though