Entertainment Goes Missing In Action
What a sorry excuse for an elite level football match that was. A tumultuous battle of trench warfare between two sides equally determined not to lose. A game as grey as the Everton shirts where nothing exceptional occurred during the entire ninety minutes. It was so grim even VAR fell asleep and couldn’t be bothered to intervene. Was this entertainment worthy of the extravagant ticket prices charged? Are dour, old-school managers like Moyes and Dyche, who got left behind by the game some years ago, really the best that clubs like West Ham and Everton can find? In the end, Everton deserved their win by default, scoring with the type of goal that the Hammers concede all too frequently. Along with Areola’s fine save to prevent an even more embarrassing defeat it was a brief flicker in an otherwise dull afternoon. If Dyche can be cut some slack some slack because a) his brief is probably survival at all costs in perilous circumstances; and b) because his side were playing away, what is the excuse for Moyes? Into his fourth straight season at West Ham, having spent hundreds of millions to shape a side in his own image and what we get is a run of shambolic, disjointed displays explained away by a barrel load of implausible excuses. Nice work if you can get it!
Team Selection and Its Unintended Consequences
The West Ham team selection may well have raised a few eyebrows when it was first announced. The replacement of the suspended Emerson with the ageing Aaron Cresswell was expected, but Mohammed Kudus starting in place of the hitherto undroppable Thomas Soucek came out of the blue. It was high time Kudus was given a start, but had expected it to be as replacement for goal shy Michail Antonio. Kudus began full of promise, his energy and neat footwork threatening to give the crowd something to cheer but then faded as the game progressed. The omission of Soucek required James Ward-Prowse to drop deeper and he rarely impresses there – his passing laboured, his lack of pace apparent. His best work is done further forward where opponents are required to keep a careful watch, providing others with space. It was no shock when he was taken off. Cresswell did nothing particularly wrong but equally he didn’t do much right – at least creatively. Emerson is the only full-back at the club who supplies width and offers invention going forward – he was sorely missed yesterday.
The 21 Day David Moyes Low Intensity Workout Plan
Having to play seven matches in 21 days must always be a challenge. But that is not a reason to approach each game with such low levels if intensity. West Ham have now played three of those games and in each they have been weary and woeful. Even making wholesale personnel changes for the Europa League didn’t change the lacklustre, half-hearted attitude that has ben seen on the pitch. Unless it is a case of getting back quickly into their defensive shape, the team appears to have no apparent plan. Pre and post-match, Moyes claims he knew what to expect from a Dyche Everton team. Yet he was seemingly clueless on how to combat it. His hangdog caution and negativity must surely transfer to the players taking the field? Last season it fell to Declan Rice to galvanise and inspire through words and example. Kurt Zouma isn’t that guy. In the early exchanges there was hope that Kudus and Lucas Paqueta might have the tricks to unlock the visitors defence, but as Kudus faded, Paqueta became frustrated and increasingly over-egged the showboating. In the final knockings when we should have expected everything but the kitchen sink to be thrown at Everton, the game petered out with a whimper.
David, You Have Three Games To Save Your Job
The clocks have gone back and the nights are drawing in – so it must be time for a brand new season of You’ve Got Three Games To Save Your Job. We already know the script for episode one. Routine defeats to Arsenal in Wednesday’s EFL Cup tie and at Brentford in the League will be be followed by a scruffy victory over Olympiacos in the Europa League. The clock is reset and off it goes again. Rinse and repeat until we are mathematically safe from relegation. Must we live through the same charade again? Can’t those in the boardroom not see that Moyes is Yesterday’s Man? That his continued presence is doing nothing more than sucking any remaining joy out of the club. I have to believe that the squad of expensively assembled players are more talented than they look most weekends. That with a more enlightened coach they would prosper and be viewed in the same positive light as Tottenham, Villa, and Brighton. Thanks for the Conference cup win and a top six finish, Dave, but that was then, and this is now. Time for a change before the season becomes a meaningless slog.
Down With The Halloween Decorations
Ten points from the first four games and then a mere four from the next six. It is common to look at form over the last six games and just one win against the hapless Blades is poor in anyone’s book. With Edson Alvarez and Paqueta now suspended for the visit to Brentford, the Oracle Cloud Computer will struggle to calculate a positive West Ham win probability for that one. It is becoming more apparent that the early season wins were a quirk, and that the trajectory is downwards – and at speed. It can now safely be seen as a poor start to the season.