I've just read that the reason Benrahma isn't getting much game time is because he needs to work on retaining the ball and making the right decisions with the ball, if that's the case why is Bowen playing so often, he consistently makes the wrong decision! I think Benrahma has more in his locker than Lanzini and needs a run in the team.
I guess after seeing this all you boys will have to lay down for a while lol
Southampton: McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Stephens, Bednarek, Redmond, Djenepo, Ward-Prowse (c), Romeu, Walcott, Ings, Adams Subs: Forster, Valery, Smallbone, Diallo, Vokins, Salisu, Armstrong, Long, Obafemi
West Ham: Fabianski, Fredericks, Dawson, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice (c), Soucek, Yarmolenko, Lanzini, Fornals, Haller Subs: Randolph, Coufal, Johnson, Diop, Noble, Snodgrass, Benrahma, Bowen, Antonio
No this is not some weird sponsored advertorial, rather an observation regarding the various media platforms Hammers fans are forced to use instead of being able to attend matches in person. Apart from the obvious loss of the camaraderie of being next to fellow fans and their families, many of whom you will have sat next to or near for years, there is the conundrum of how and where to watch in the most rewarding of ways.
Faced with the BT and Sky monopoly, many fans have just had to knuckle down and pay to see their team, although many savvy fans have now realised they can 'share' their log in details with a limited number of family and friends. This is of course NOT illegal, because depending on your provider you are entitled to access at least two devices per account, more if you pay an additional fee.
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Sometimes the 'fat cats' need a kick up the back side, and Amazon are the people to give Sky and BT that particular kicking! In their first foray in to broadcasting football, not soccer, Amazon came up with the unique idea of offering just crowd noise and no commentators, simple but a stroke of genius. Unfortunately and very sadly there are little or no crowds anymore due to the Covid pandemic, so that feature is no longer relevant, however one truly wonderful aspect of Amazon's coverage is that you are guaranteed NOT to hear Alan 'Miserable' Smith, Phil 'I love Man u' Neville, Glen 'I know everything' Hoddle or Jamie 'all other teams apart from Liverpool are crap' Carragher!
Not only does Amazon spare viewers from the travails of listening to Messrs Smith,Neville, Hoddle and Carragher, but they also broadcast/stream in 'super nova' HD/4K! Now how is it that Amazon can broadcast 'super HD' quality inclusive in their charges and BT and Sky charge extra? It is not as if there are any extra costs involved, ALL modern day Barclays Premier League games are recorded using the same high definition cameras, the material is then processed using HD/4K format, but SKY and BT then deliberately 'dumb down' the end product to SD format in order to then charge viewers extra just to see what was easily available in the first place!
Perhaps someone would like to get on to the monopolies commission to ask why consumers are being fleeced so blatantly, we have Amazon to thank for showing how it CAN be done, their coverage of football is as good as the others if not better, and of course you don't have to hear Alan Smith!- Ed
Southampton v West Ham is on Amazon Prime from 17:30 Hrs this evening
Make yourselves a cuppa put your feet up and enjoy true sporting excellence....ahhh i rmbr it well.
In the far fetched cult movie 'Kelly's Heroes' about a spectacular heist behind enemy lines, Donald Sutherland, who plays a 'hippy' maverick tank captain, questions why his co-conspirator Clint Eastwood doesn't "get with the program" and "why the negative vibes man?". Having overseen an impressive start to the season, guiding the club through some appallingly difficult , some say deliberately arranged early fixtures, Hammers manager David Moyes seems to have suffered a 'lack of conviction' in his team selection for recent games.
Mark Noble has been a Stirling servant and 'fixture' at West Ham for over 15 years, but even the player himself must have been baffled why David Moyes chose to start him in the last two games. Perhaps it is because 'Nobes' when playing before was able to 'shield' his lack of pace and guile, but not appearing for nine games and then playing perhaps exposed the chasm. As soon as he was replaced at half time the team showed more endeavour and looked far better, but it is unfair to just pick on Noble, it is really his manager's fault.
Why on earth go so negative with his team selection against Brighton? Many fans are not that fond of Gary Neville, but in his commentary for Sky's match day coverage he repeatedly questioned why Moyes had set his team up as if they were playing Barcelona or Real Madrid, and he was totally right to ask the question! Moyes did actually admit that he had got it wrong against Brighton, but he also got it wrong against Chelsea, his team selections for both matches were extremely negative to say the very least, it is as if he has suddenly stopped believing in his 'project'.
Gone is the enthusiasm of just a couple of weeks ago, so what has gone wrong with the 57 year old Scot? It is probably a culmination of losing two of his key players, having to try and play a striker he absolutely doesn't 'fancy' just to keep him in the shop window, and the prospect of little or no money to spend in January. All perfectly understandable and acceptable, but what has concerned many is Moyes' reluctance to utilise some of the 'assets' at his disposal, namely Said Benrahma.
Rumours abound that Benrahma wasn't a Moyes signing, and that he was far more interested in Bournemouth's Josh King, however when the opportunity of getting Benrahma on loan presented itself the club chose the 'cheaper' option of getting Benrahma rather than buying King at the £12 Million Bournemouth were asking for the player at the time. King will of course be available at a greatly reduced price in January as Bournemouth will look to recoup at least some money before the player is allowed to leave on a free transfer in the summer when his current contract runs out.
Whatever the circumstances, Moyes needs to offset all the negativity by being bold with his team selection even though in many ways his hands are tied, unfortunately the first port of call has to be the dropping of mark Noble, swiftly followed by the benching of the totally ineffectual Sebastien Haller, a player who has been given an awful lot of time and support in order to try and get him firing on all cylinders.
As we mentioned in a previous article, Moyes has to drop Haller and in the short term replace him with Andriy Yarmolenko ahead of the return of Michail Antonio, although obviously not a centre forward, 'Yarmo' did more in45 minutes than Haller had done in the previous three games! One particular aspect being Yarmolenko's willingness to tackle payers and track back or 'hassle and harry' the opposition when not in possession of the ball.
It is to be hoped that Moyse loses all his 'negative vibes' and takes comfort from the fact that despite his appalling team selection, one bright spark emerged, step forward Ben Johnson, the youngster topped off a superb performance with his first ever top flight goal, hopefully the first of many! - Ed
In all honesty, I had to put this thread up to give Haller a bit of defence. He is a a very good striker, but as happens quite a lot with Moyes, he is currently a round peg in a square hole. Moyes isn't the most astute of managers and praise given to him usually is on reference to his boring stint at Everton with his records at Man Utd, Sunderland and that foreign club whose name escapes me right now being overlooked. Expecting Haller to mimic the play of Antonio (incidentally another round peg in a square hole) is akin to using a screwdriver to do the job of a chisel. You would expect a half decent manager to utilise the tools at his disposal and if not satisfactory then to work a way around it. In this case, to change the formation to suit the only recognised striker we have in a tactic that suits him, and yes, we do have the players that could work around it. Playing nine defensive players against a poor team like Brighton certainly isn't the way to go about it. I would like to add that it was Moyes in his infinite wisdom that allowed players such as Chicarito and Hugill to leave the club. Here's a little link to remind you of the player we actually bought, not the player Moyes has totally destroyed of confidence. Expecting the usual Allardyce dinosaur comments in response.
Does anyone else have worries about him? i have noticed his distribution is getting worse and he seems to be hesitating when he can come and get the ball...is it down to the defensive changes or is his performance level slowly dropping off.....i am not asking for us to buy a new GK in January but going forward in the summer i do think it is another area we need to look at.
West Ham: Fabianski, Balbuena, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Coufal, Soucek, Rice, Johnson, Bowen, Noble (c), Haller Subs: Randolph, Fredericks, Dawson, Diop, Snodgrass, Fornals, Lanzini, Benrahma, Yarmolenko
Brighton: Sanchez, White, Webster, Dunk (c), March, Bissouma, Lallana, Burn, Trossard, Maupay, Welbeck Subs: Steele, Bernardo, Veltman, Mac Allister, Gross, Jahanbaksh, Alzate, Propper, Zeqiri
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