West Ham United vs Aston Villa Post-Match

[VillaTim]

It was never a pen, Cash played the ball . Luckily it didn't matter .

[KevinGage]

On the plus side, if that's how low the bar is now for penalties, we should be on for plenty this season with our attackers.

Defender wins the ball in the box but one of our pacey forwards loses momentum and falls down? Clear penalty!

Let's see if it plays out like that.

[Risso]

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.

Cash doesn't foul him though. Cash wins the ball cleanly:





Soucek then puts his leg between Cash's two legs, making Cash full over:





As Cash falls over, with Soucek's leg between his legs (which Soucek instigated), Soucek falls over as well:





So Cash wins the ball, and is then knocked off balance by the actions of Soucek. It's not really a foul either way, but if it is, it's a foul on Cash. It certainly isn't a penalty. It shouldn't have been given, but as it was, VAR should have checked it properly and recommended to the ref that he has another look.

[Monty]

[Shrug] I'm saying that's how I see it, but that I can also see why it wasn't overturned under the 'umpire's call' thing. Soucek's leg is already on its way when Cash makes the intervention, so it is Cash putting himself in Soucek's business. Cash gets a toe on the ball but does nothing decisive with it, and Soucek's probably favourite to pick it up if Cash doesn't intervene.

[KevinGage]

So does a defender have to dribble or flick the ball out of the penalty area now McGrath-style to illustrate control?

When did this modification come in?

Cash can be a clumsy fcuker at times and maybe his reputation precedes him. But on this occasion it was a nifty bit of defending that should be applauded.

Poor decisions like that can suck the life out of a team. Better sides than West Ham would have taken full advantage.

[Monty]

Just getting the ball was never enough, that's not what we were discussing IMO.

[olaftab]

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.

There was no touch off defender.

[Chico Hamilton III]

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.

Exactly. Defenders used to be allowed one “reducer” early in the game to let the forward know he’s there. Next one gets a card. Looking at replays of yesterday, that was never a penalty. The game’s gone etc….

[Demitri_C]

Pau deserves a s much praise a maatsen. What a pass pick through that was from pau

[kipeye]

Unpopular opinion I'm sure, but I thought Cash did really well against their best player.

[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

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.

Tony Gayle was given the microphone pre-match and said to a full stadium that Aston Villa were the template that West Ham were going to try and emulate

[Astnor]

Looking at those pictures from Risso it does seem it is not a penalty,  I agree to that.

[darren woolley]

Great win and great away day. UTV

[Sexual Ealing]

Trevor Brooking! Violet Kray! Tabloid journalists! Ian Beale! Russell Brand! Henry Cooper! James Corden! Sendo- can you hear me, Sendo?! Your boys took one hell of a beating! Your boys took one hell of a beating!

[The Edge]

It was never a pen, Cash played the ball . Luckily it didn't matter .

Ah but he never played the ball enough.