West Ham United captain Mark Noble, ridiculously overlooked by England manager Roy Hodgson, put in a stellar performance as his team finally managed to put Aston Villa to the sword in the 2-0 victory at the Boleyn, Vila started on the front foot and made the home side look particularly lethargic, the great messiah that is Dimitri Payet had a very off day at the office initially and Villa proved very stubborn opponents, as you would expect from a team that were fighting for their Barclays Premiership survival. The first half did indeed resemble a West Ham United of old, unable to break down ten men following the Ayew sending off for a ridiculous elbow on Cresswell. Thankfully Slaven Billic was able to put a rocket under their collective proverbial and sent his team out with more endeavour in the second half. Eventually the pace and power of West Ham managed to grind down their stoic opponents who are now surely desitned for at least one season in the Championship. Quite what they put in the tea at half time nobody knows, but Mark Noble emerged like a footballing gladiator on pills, such was the daring and range of his passing skills,he out Dimied the main man with his vision and style!
Long may it all continue, and fair praise to the Villa fans who stick by the club they love through thick and thin, they must be experiencing a salutary lesson in despair.
One set of players in Claret & Blue and their long suffering supporters can look forward to exciting times and great hopes for the future, the others, sadly do not look like the future will be one that they would like. - Ed
PS: By the way Roy, is James Tomkins invisible?
Comments
Burnley ?they went tits up
Burnley ?they went tits up years ago
Widiculously overlooked
Widiculously overlooked indeed nev,Woy england are Cwying out for mighty hammers :)
If I've got a bottle of baby
If I've got a bottle of baby oil on my head Shelvey, gets the nod again over Noble. I will positivwy weak havoc on Woys zimmerfwame and wack it stwaight up his arse..........
I can't see noble fitting in
I can't see noble fitting in with England he is not the type they need. Having said that Cresswells defending and positioning has improved this season so he should be good for a call up for left back, as for Tonka he has done well but would Roy pick him as a full back, centre half or utility man? Might be good squad player in a championship as he can cover a few positions but as far as getting a call on merit is concerned being a utility will probably count against him I'm afraid.
I disagree
I was at the game and watched it closely, paying particular attention to Noble and Payet. Both were off the pace in the first half. Indeed Tomkins was our best attacking outlet which said much of the game.....
Second half words had obviously been had as we started with 40% more aggression and pace in our tempo. However the catalyst for me was Song. He won everything in the middle (admittedly his passing left a lot to be desired) but he chased and harried and drove the team on with a platform.
Noble performs better when this foundation is laid and with some time on the ball. When you consider the likes of Dele Ali, Ross Berkley and Jack Wilshire, I don't think he gets near the international side.
His pace also leads him to lunge (hence yellow card) and he'll be exposed for that on the international scene.
He's a good player, not a great one.
Payet came to life in the 2nd too, switched wings with gay abandon, but the options for him were very limited. Enner struggles as the front man, and Antonio was finding it hard to make an option.
Lanzini and Sakho (plus Carroll, but we can never be sure) and maybe Eminike should provide some more incisive attacking prowess from us.
For me the defence is looking wonderful. Quietly but surely, we've built a backline that is a true bedrock, and is allowing us to compete in every game.
A lot has been talked about
A lot has been talked about the second half performance of Westham,it was certainly up a gear or two,and they deserve the plaudits, but that first half ,especially up to the sending off of Ayew in the 17th minute, Villa dominated and looked totally in control.Admittedly, they didn't create much, but that isn't the point,the point is Westham were quite poor.Once again, slow out the blocks ,allowing the opposition to dictate the play,but most annoying of all was the lack of closing down and pressing the ball.Cannot understand why Westham often start games like that(Southampton at home stands out ),better teams would have punished us for sure.This squad of players have a lot of ability ,probably the best squad ever assembled in claret and blue,but when you watch periods of play like in that first half against Villa ,you know there are still obvious weaknesses that need sorting out,to be able to compete with the big boys at a consistent level.
Essexhammer ..
Good post .. I agree .. Well said !
Sorry
But the day Tomkins gets an England call up, England would have to be in dire straits. He's a squad Premier player at best or a reasonable Championship player. Same goes for Noble. Premier player for middle of the road clubs certainly, but lets get real here, he wouldn't get a look in at any of the top teams, never mind the International set up. I think the delusional bit is getting to you Nev :)
Yesterday
Yesterday Tomkins played another excellent performance in role that usually is not his. Noble in the second half was great, has contributed much for the victory, a true captain These two guys deserve a call from Hodgson
Gutted Liverpool fa cup tickets
Couldnt believe how fast the tickets went for this game they were all gone 3 pm the reason I was so gutted is that I wanted to sing a new chant for Slavin based on the beatles song. AND IT GOES. All you need is Slav -All you need is Slav-All you need is Slav-SLAVis all you need-Slav is all you need SLAV is all ya need SLAV is all you need We luv you yeh yeh SLAV is all ya need we luv u yeh yeh Slav is all ya need sing ya hearts out I would have loved to go you lucky gits
Gutted Liverpool fa cup tickets
Hopefully this this chant will lift us up and piss the Scouses off. Still have not given up trying to get a ticket wont be many spare for this match, recon u might see Andy Carrol back for this one, still its on bt but nothing like being there
Cresswell - Man of the Match
Cresswell in my humble opinion was definitely the Man of the Match. He took one for the team. West Ham were in sixes and sevens in the first quarter until Cresswell turned it round with that great tactic by getting under Ayew's skin. That's when Ayew was suckered into elbowing Cresswell in the face. So once we all sang Ayew's praise and waved goodbye to him, it was game, set and match to the Hammers. Come on Cresswell, more of the same tomorrow, okay?