I think we can all quite safely say the Sunderland game is a match that West Ham can forget about very quickly. The performance from the whole team was just not up to standard and its game that we need to move on from very quickly.
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Right from the word go we just weren’t at the races and Sunderland looked a lot more up for it than we did. The fight in the team wasn’t there and there are lot of things the management need to look at from today’s game. So what have we learnt from this match:
1. Goalscorer?
I have said for a good couple of months now that we haven’t got a goal scorer in the squad and today once again proved that we really do need one. I can remember only two shots on target from the game and by then we were already 3-0 down and if I can remember rightly they were in the last ten minutes of the match. I don’t even think Carlton Cole had a shot all game. I hope this Wellington Paulista proves to be a natural goal scorer because it is about time we signed one. Once again a striker hasn’t scored and it is still only three goals from Andy Carroll and Cole.
2. We 100% need a new left back
Despite how much I want West Ham to bring through the youth I just don’t think Danny Potts is quite ready to be starting week in week out for West Ham. I think another loan move for him would be ideal and I think it should be to a Championship club. He needs to build up his strength and just improve in general. I have seen him many times at youth level and he really has got the potential to become a good left back, so I am not knocking him, but I just don’t think he is quite ready just yet.
We are apparently in the market for a new full back and we need to make sure we get a quality one. As I have said before we have good squad players that can play in that position but we don’t have a player in that position that stands out from the rest.
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3. We need Noble in the team
There just wasn’t a midfield and I didn’t even notice Kevin Nolan on the pitch. I am a very big fan of Mark Noble’s so this might sound a tad biased but I just think he makes, not just the midfield but, the whole team tick when he is playing. He keeps the ball moving and will always try something different. Nolan was non-existent and I think it is because having Noble in that holding role allows him and Mohamed Diame, when playing, to get forward to support the striker.
4. No attacking flair
The sooner we get Diame back starting for us the better. Without him in the team we don’t have that motivation from midfield to run at people from the middle and bring the team forward. He has the power and speed about him to get past people and create something different for the team. We also need to make sure that get him signed up to this new contract and don’t allow him to leave in this January transfer window. I don’t think we have got the players in our squad or we would be able to get a player in to replace him.
5. Not good enough away from home
Big Sam has come out and said that we are getting worse away from home and I have to agree with him. The performance and especially the defending were just embarrassing and we need to bounce back against Manchester United in mid-week and especially against QPR next weekend.
We have won only twice away from home this season and one of those victories was against relegation favourites QPR. I think we are relying too much on our home form too much and although we have got a good record at home we can just hope that it will continue and keep us in the league.
Sam Allardyce has said that we need to recruit some new defenders and that is massive priority now especially with the injuries we have picked up. We can’t really allow anyone to leave this window and hopefully James Tomkins can cement his place in the back four and prove to everyone he is the player that we all know he is. Next weekend against QPR is now a must win game and the whole team needs to put in a performance.
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A shocking, shocking performance. Nolan might as well not have been on the pitch. When he is not scoring you notice how little he contributes elsewhere.
I know Diarra is coming back from injury but he was absolutely dreadful too – slow, slow, slow and constantly either fouling or giving the ball away.
Dan Potts had a poor game, but I hope he doesn’t just get dumped (like he did last year after a poor performance) because it will set him right back.
You’re right about the need for a goalscorer but I don’t see how one fits into the system we are playing
The system is gonna be our downfall. pacy teams will always exploit us.
I agree with all the points raised here. I actually think that we have a really good squad but for some reason it’s not gelling. Hopefully it’ll all come good quickly. I have fath!!
I agree Noble is the heart of West Ham, and as you and l have said he allows Nolan to go forward just as he did Parker(Who got all the plaudits)undeserved at times (in my opinion). Which is happening again with Diame. Danny has a great future and l think half a season with a Championship side to toughen him up would be good. Tompkins l think it is a disgrace the way he has been overlooked, Read and him were great last year and the media said we had one of the best defences his confidence has taken one hell of a knock. I have heard that Paulista is not as good as the agents have made his CV look, that is from a guy on the Radio who has watched him many many times. he will not make many challenges so another fluffy player like Miaga ( Who plays like he does not give a dam for the shirt) Cole did not have a lot of service and to be fair he is grabbed, pushed. and held back a lot of the times that Ref’s do not see. We need a player that can strike the ball from wherever and not have to wait to get a foot from the goal line, it is sometimes called taking responsibility and having faith in his ability not keep passing it out to the corner post, so that the opposition can build a brick wall in front of the goal. Yes Diarra was bad and l thought he was slow, but there again NO Noble to kick butts.So l do not have a lot of hope of getting to many goals with what have been bought in. So WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE. Maybe Joe can let a few whip in between the sticks FINGERS CROSSED. But l think Cole and Tompkins should not go anywhere they care about the club. The Demba Ba’s of the Football world do not.
If the press is to be believed Big Sam has finally admitted what everyone has been saying for some time that we need more cover in defence. We appear to have more Strikers than we need for the system being played and more midfielders as well. However bad the team were against Sunderland it could be down to key players missing, Noble, Diame in the middle, and a goal scorer up front. We need a defence so getting Danny Simpson, Figueroa, and Olsson should be high on the list as we would have some cover. If Tomkins goes in an exchange deal with Newcastle so be it. Carlton Cole could go as well. Potts should go out on loan and Diarra could go to QPR if they want him.
We would then have some competition for places and some cover in defence.
It’s all very well to say this or that player should not go because the care about the club, if we lose matches that counts for nothing. Winning even if it’s 1 – 0 is acceptable, but we need to consolidate, and put in some consistent performances. If we have players that only turn up if they play the big clubs because they want people to notice them that does not help when you have to play the rest of the PL teams. In the championship is was the away form that helped because the home form was dire, now we are in the PL it’s the other way around. So I would agree with Sam we do need defenders, but ones that can and will defend, and know how to.
So we all know what is needed let’s hope that Big Sam can be busy in the transfer window, the problem for us is that everyone now knows what Sam needs to do. So expect the prices for mediocre players to increase. So should we expect loan players nearing the end of their careers or will he plan longer term rather than look for just a short term fix, and hope that he can get it sorted out in the summer?
I cannot see the logic of re-inforcing our defence by letting one of the best young centre halves in the country leave the club. We saw the limitations of James Collins today – he’ll head and block all day long, but get the ball down and run at him and he’s in trouble.
Tomkins and Reid should be the bedrock of the team for the next five years.
We need better, younger, fitter full backs – and lots of us were saying so in the summer.
What a shocker! Cant believe how poor we was, Sunderland didnt even play particularly well which is even more annoying. Potts showed he wasnt read and Olsson should be made priorty and hopefully before QPR! I think Demel has been exceptional lately so RB isnt a worry for myself.
I love Carlton for his effort but he has no footballing brain, as soon as Chamakh came on I saw a player with talent. As soon as he won the ball he would lay it off and spin the defender or show again for the ball? If you watch carlton he just stands there.
Anyway I think we will finish roughly where we are now. So all in a satisfactory season.
How can you say Sunderland didn’t play well? What a crazy and utter clueless statement to make.
I agree, I think Sunderland played pretty well so the result wasn’t quite a depressing as losing against that awful Reading team.
Teams are working us out – press hard, attack with numbers and play on the ground with pace and we’re in trouble. Not too many teams are brave enough to do that away from home which is why our home record is still ok.
We need a re-think if we are going to get any points away from home.
No Sunderland didn’t play that well. We were just shocking. Simple as that.
You’re using that as an excuse. Sunderland looked a much better team than us. They had pace and they could pass the ball.
unfortunately carlton cole was never a natural striker and never will be. that’s why Zola spent so much time on him trying to teach him the role. this investment has not paid off and it’s time to cash him in. we are also in desperate need of creative, pacy midfielders. Tomkins must be at the heart of our team and in the side. collins is not up to it and is a squad player at best. what is more clear is that our system does not work consistently and will not provide goals.
Nothing short of pathetic. Allardyces one saving grace is SUPPOSED to be the fact that he can motivate and organise teams and make them hard to beat. The organisation on Saturday was non existent and the performances, if I can call them that, of Vaz Te, Nolan and Diarra were pitiful and an insult to the shirt. Mark Noble and Diame were missed badly for a real combatative edge, and the lack of any form of cutting edge up front again stood out like a sore thumb. I said at the outset that teams who were speedy, pressed us and kept the ball on the floor and passed through us were going to be our downfall, and so it proved yet again. We are ONE DIMENSIONAL and ONE PACED and so easy to work out. To even think of allowing James Tomkins to leave the club beggars belief…so much for all the claptrap from Allardyce and Gold/Sullivan about keeping home grown talent and stopping the flow of talent to other clubs. Some things never change.
nolan says we must do better well tke a look at yourself kev weve been carrying you for about 5 or 6 games now forgotten how to score mate