Saturday 18 September 2010

Stoke 1 West Ham 1 Avram not there to see that it was nearly good!

In the beginning Avram created the team and the tactics. 2 Now the defence was unformed and void, and darkness was upon the face of the Greenness; and the spirit of Zola hovered over the face of the squad. 3 And Avram said: 'Let there be Da Costa.' And there was Da Costa. 4 And Groves saw Da Costa, and saw that Da Costa was quite good; and thus Avram divided the opposition forwards from the Greenness. 5 And Avram called the Da Costa centre half, and the Greenness He called keeper. And there was 45 minutes and there was a whistle, one half. {P}

6 And Avram said: 'Let there be some tacklers in the midst of the team, and let them divide the forwards from the defenders.' 7 And Avram made the midfield, and divided the defenders which were behind the midfield from the attackers which were ahead of the midfield; and it was so. 8 And Avram called this team West Ham. And there was forty five minutes and there was a whistle, to end the first half. {P}

9 And Avram was not there to say: 'Let the players of West Ham be gathered together unto one place, and let the clean sheet appear.' And so it was not. 10 And so Avram could not call forth the clean sheet from his defence, and through the gathering together of the players he could not call forth His Victory; and being not there, Avram could not see what might have been good. 11 And Avram did not say: 'Let the defenders put in tackles and close, challenges yielding possession, and possession bearing control after its kind, wherein is the seed of victory, upon the pitch.' And so it was not so. 12 But the Pulis brought forth tacklers, their challenges yielding possession after its kind, and possession bearing control, wherein is the seed of victory, after its kind; and Pulis saw that it was good. 13 For there was a whistle and there was a restart, the second half. {P}

14 And Avram was not there to say: 'Let there be ball retention in the midfield of the team to divide the opposition from our goal; 15 and let there be forwards holding up the ball to give relief unto the defence.' And so it was not so. 16 And Avram was not there to revert to two great strikers and 4-4-2: the greater striker to win the ball, and the lesser striker to shoot towards the goal. 17 And Avram was not there to set another player into the midfield to give relief unto the defence, 18 and to rule over the midfield and over the match, and to divide the opposition from the Greeness; and being not there, Avram saw not that it might have been good. 19 And lo, there was a cross and there was a header, two lost points. {P}

20 And Avram was not there to say: 'Let the midfield swarm with swarms of busy players, and let Obinna fly ahead of the midfield in the open firmament beyond the Stoke defence.' 21 But Pulis created the great Stoke monsters, and every tackling creature that kicked and crunched, wherewith the midfield swarmed, after its kind, and every winger too after its kind; and Pulis saw that it was good. 22 And Pulis blessed them, saying: 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the West Ham net, and let Stoke points multiply in the Premiership.' 23 And there was a whistle and a draw, still bottom of the table! {P}

Player Ratings:

Green 4 (First half howler, shared responsibility for the goal, one good save, although fortunate that the post came to his rescue in truth):
Jacobsen 6 (Looked neat and tidy most of the time.)
Da Costa 6 (Must take some responsibility for the goal as grounded as Jones headed home Pennant’s cross)
Upson 6 (Generally strong and neat in his defensive duties but horribly out muscled by Jones when Green turned that shot onto the post)
Gabbidon 5 (Cross came from his flank and he was nowhere to be seen. His distribution was poor all game);

Behrami 5 (Conceded stupid free kicks, collected an absurd booking have committed three fouls in the space of 30 seconds and offered next to nothing going forward)
Parker 6 (Scored a goal and ran around a lot but his first FOUR passes went to Stoke players. He lost possession twice outside his own box trying to run with the ball rather than pass and played one crazy cross field pass into touch, setting up a Delap throw in the closing minutes.)
Noble 7 (Kept ball well from what I saw and put in some lovely tackles to win back possession.)

Piquionne 6 (Great shot against the bar and linked up well)
Cole 6 (excellent defensively at set pieces but offered nothing going forward)
Obinna 5 (Ran around a lot, enthusiastic but takes the wrong option 99% of the time.)

Sub Kovac 6 (Did his limited job reasonably well after replacing Behrami.)

19 comments:

Dan said...

Disagree with your comment about Green, thought he had a solid game today. The second half save was world class. As for the 1st half incident, I thought it was a really good ball in and Green wouldn't have been the only keeper that would have had problems with that.

Thought we used the media well this week, putting all the pressure off the players and onto to Avram (who can take it). The players performed well as a result of that.

Stani Army said...

NOBLE 7!!! HF??? Has Dale done your ratings for you? I admit, he made two good tackles but he was awful the rest of the game. His crossing, something people say is his strong point was a joke. Wasted important set pieces when the defenders came up by hitting the first man. Criminal.

I am flabbergasted you gave him a 7. Tell me it's a typo!

I don't think Da Costa could do much for the goal. Great cross, awesome leap. Da Costa had no chance once Jones had the run and leap.

I also think Obinna, Gabbidon and Jacobsen had better games than you have given them credit for.

Obinna (Now he's a real two footed player! :)) looks very good. Showed Noble how to cross. Left foot for the goal and right foot for another set pieces that caused Stoke problems. He will be very important for us.

Hammersfan said...

Stani, you have it in for Noble with a vengeance. There was one dreadful free kick that I saw. The possession share firsdt half was 58% to 42% in our favour. Noble was at the hub of that. He also performed his defensive duties very well and, unlike Behrami, took the ball when he went to ground.

Obinna was ok, nothing more. His decision to shoot from 30 yards out when we counter attacked was selfish and crass.

Da Costa should, at least, have jumped to offer some sort of challenge to Jones in my opinion. What about Green's positioning? There was a big debate in the pub where I watched the game about how much blame, if any, he should carry. I thought he was slow to get across the goal and that he made no real challenge for the ball. Had Jones seen a keeper's fist coming towards his face and felt Da Costa jumping with him, he might have been less focused on the ball. It was a great cross from Pennant but where was Gabbidon? Parker was trying to close out the cross but was coming from yards behind.

Anonymous said...

Stani mate - top marks once again.... You were watching the same game as me.

Stani Army said...

16:37
Stop it, they'll think I'm talking to myself :)

HF,
Yep, we had the same conversation in regards to Green when Pennant floated it in. He was too close to the goal line and too near the front post for a cross from the right by a right footer. Even if he couldnt get there, he should have at least made an effort. The fact that he didnt tells you how far off he was in terms of positioning. And it was a floated cross too. Did you see Green when they hit the bar and he thought it was in and dropped his head? Imagine that had gone straight out to their player! Plonker. My mind is made up about him, he is far too risky to persist with.

Noble at the hub? More like at the pub. He was hardly seen anywhere. I dont wanna criticise Noble too much because he's a good guy. But when will he improve? We keep hearing it but we cant wait forever. He wastes vital set pieces and it absolutely riles me. These set pieces are important for a team like ours. And he has to stop trying to make those straight passes forward because only class players can do those. I think the guys around you (die hard local lad Noble fans) influenced your judgement HF. Hitz to replace him when fit please. Behrami caused a lot of disruption and breaking up of play and I give him credit for that.

Apart from Green, our defence looked decent today. It shows that if you pick your better players then things will begin to work themselves out. That is why Green and Noble cannot be persisted with.

I would make three changes from today's side for our best team. Green, Noble and Piquionne would go out for Boffin, Hitz and Barrera. Barrera can swap wings with Obinna like he and Piquionne did today.

I think Da Costa tried but with Jones coming in with that force he was in an impossible position unless he wanted to fracture his cranium by thrusting it upwards into Jones' chin. Once a striker gets the run and jump in, it's difficult for a standing defender. It's why I'm surprised that strikers are not taught to defend set pieces as if they were attacking i.e give them self a run onto the ball and in some cases, clear it over the bar rather than out if necessary.

I will discuss the psychology of Obinna's 30 yard attempt after my tea :) but I think we have a player there, even if just on loan.

Headmaster said...

Enjoyed the biblical theme, even if it did go on a tad. That said, I'm not sure we missed Avram a jot today - indeed his absence may well have contributed to the point we got. That's worrying, if true.
Overall, I was well pleased. Thought Da Costa, Jacobsen and to a fair degree Upson and Gabbs did well today.
I too thought Noble played well but I also agree with those who say Obinna is very pronising for us. Thought Piq did ok. Cole for me was utter pants and Green still worries the crap out of me - his confidence, as betrayed by his body language, is shot to bits.
Off the mark - onwards and upwards let's hope.
PS - well done Watford. :-)

Headmaster said...

Stani - well spotted on Green giving up on the one he thought was in. Absolutely.
Anyone who doubts that this guy is in utter turmoil and is a shadow of his former self is deluding themselves.
He has to be dropped, has to be.

Hammersfan said...

Yes we all commented on the head dropping too. It looked absolutely dreadful. His mind has gone. We were also hopping mad at the way he was politely standing behind the queue for the delivery of every set piece. No shouting, no attempt to take charge, he's like a little 12 yeard old kid queuing behind the 16 year old bullies boarding the school bus!

Headmaster said...

Thing is HF, if we can see it what message is he sending out to his defenders for christ's sake? He was never a commander of his 6 yard area, always an exceptional shot stopper but it is an area of his game that is now catastrohically poor and will cost us goal after goal unless he sorts his head out.
Dan - I'd love you to be right but if you think Green had a solid game mate, you must be related to the fella or something!

Hammersfan said...

Yep. The club and the players keep giving him their public backing and talking him up, but he was arguably at fault to some degree for all three Chelsea goals last week and, of course, was utterly hopeless for the second goal. He was at fault for Villa's first goal too. This cannot continue. As I've said before, I don't think a rest will solve the problem either. There are fundamental technical flaws in his game. His hands face the wrong way when collecting the ball, he takes the ball away from his body rather than into his body and he has no positional sense whatsoever when it comes to crosses. he is an accident waiting to happen every time the ball is crossed into our box! His kicking is awful too! There was one dreadful clearance into touch and that other one that hit Shawcross and nearly created a scoring opportunity on the rebound. Then there was that dreadful pass to poor Jacobsen in the penalty box. You could the Dane was thinking, "What the fcuk have you given me the ball for?"

Anonymous said...

Are you serious in saying Green didn't shout at his defence on free kicks.

You amaze me at your blindess, as for your marks of the players, I won't even go there!!

I suggest you watch the game again when they repeat it and watch Green shout his head off at our defenders. At one free kick he shouted so much to try and tell the wall of two to shift over a bit, in the end they did and the Stoke free kick taker hit the wall, had Green not said anything the ball would have been on target.

Congratulations on yet another moronic post Spursfan

Hammersfan said...

He may have shouted at the wall but what about at corners? You, sir, need to take off the "See no evil" glasses!

T.I.S said...

Green did make alot more noise than he usually does with his walls. He was shouting very loudly, don't know how on earth you didn't hear it (the one where Pennant hit the wall I believe

Stani Army said...

I did see and hear Green shouting at the wall. He over did the shouting then because he doesn't do it at all at other instances. If you watch him, when he does shout it is after a delay as if he thinks to himself 'O yeh, I should be shouting right now shouldn't I?". It's why he forgets to do it at crucial moments when there is no time to think. His kicking was poor toady too. Yes, the positioning of his hands was mentioned by Pards and the sky presenter. His technique was poor when he made his world cup gaff too. Cricketers know how to field the ball with one knee down and Green got that wrong too which is why it went in. He was totally in the wrong line behind the ball.

I hope Grant is brave enough to drop him after backing him in the media before the Stoke game. When players are fundamentally decent but are just having a bad time of things then it's ok to persist with them. But Green has far too many flaws. Add to this the situation we are in and we cannot continue taking that chance with him. Whether or not Grant holds onto his job could well come down to this one decision.

We shouldn't be feeling nervous every time the ball goes near our keeper whether it is from a back pass or cross, but with Green I certainly do and as Headmaster suggested, he also does.I'm sure others do likewise.

Did you catch the whole game HF? You gave the impression you missed some?

Stani Army said...

I agree with Headmaster that Grant wasn't missed. Groves and Petrovic showed much more on the side lines than he has in his whole career. He just stands there like an undertaker. Groves and Petrovic were directing pitch side with positive body language (thumbs up etc) and Keen was in the stands linked up to Groves. Top marks to them three for opting for that.

Headmaster, I think Cole worked hard but he needs to get up the field and closer to their goal more. That way he can get the shots off. But with Piquionne on one wing not looking to provide it was difficult. If we get Berrara in then I'm sure Cole will look for the crosses in the box.

I shouldn't really compare Obinna to Drogba but I'm sure we can all remember when he started over here in the prem. Obinna is showing the same kind of symptoms of playing in the fast paced prem. I think he has it in his locker to score from far out which is why he has tried it on a couple of occasions. You get the sense he has done it before. It hasnt come off because he seems to look rushed in his shots but I'm sure he will get up with the pace of the prem. Also, when he begins to receive better supply and get more chances, he wont feel the need to snatch at them as he knows the chances will not be few and far between like today.

Hammersfan said...

I saw the whole 90 minutes but in a pub on a not very big screen and with the volume not terribly loud. I saw Pards but couldn't hear what he was saying sadly.

Hammersfan said...

Anon, if you have a point to make about the football, I'll be happy to carry it. If you just want to score cheap points against Headmaster then please don't bother; I will simply delete your comment.

Anonymous said...

Fascism plain and simple - no different to book burning! I hope your kids fall in love with someone from a different ethnicity, get married and have kids themselves Wwwwmmmmmwwaaaaahhhaaaaaaaaaaaa!

You post lots of non football related topics..... hypocrite.

Hammersfan said...

What are you on 0908? What do you mean?