Cunn'Ings' Plan Failed Badly!
Was it complacency or sheer blindness that led David Moyes to select Danny Ings as a starter against Olympiacos? Whatever the reasoning for the 'cunning' plan was, it failed miserably! Why on earth Moyes didn't hook the out of sorts Ings at half time is beyond most fans comprehension.
Having missed two clear cut chances and being ridiculously off the pace it is a wonder Moyes waited until near the bitter end to replace Ings with someone who could actually run! Villa must be laughing their heads off that Hammers actually PAID good money for Ings, instead of them paying West Ham to take him off their hands.
Possibly the worst signing the club has ever made, at least in recent years. Mind you, the rest of the starting line up hardly covered themselves in glory, as the wholesale changes made by Moyes were exposed cruelly by the home side. Angelo Ogbonna virtually guaranteed that he will NOT be offered another contract with the Irons because he was dreadful, an own goal to compound the awful error he made in the last round against Freiburg has surely sealed his fate, time and again we was left for dust by the Greek forwards who appeared to have the complete run of the pitch in the 1st half and most of the 2nd half.
Only when Moyes brought on the 'heavy guns' did Hammers look like getting anything at, but it was too late for Paqueta, Antonio and Bowen to really influence the game with the home side being 2-0 up and the crowd urging them on. A superb Pacman strike, a glorious volley gave Hammers a sniff, but the home side were well schooled in the dark arts of time wasting and saw the game out with a series of feigned injuries and other 'stuff'.
On the balance of it, Olympiacos fully deserved their victory and West Ham did too little too late, was it over confidence? Was Moyes trying to put 'Uncle Ingy' into the shop window to see if anyone is stupid enough to sign him? We will probably never know, but tonight was a shambles and the whole team knows it, so do the Management and staff.
It was a poor way to end a record breaking run in Europe, this Sunday's game will be key to showing how much 'get go' Hammers really have, 'Moysie' needs to take a deep breath and blame himself as much as his players because of his dreadfully cock eyed team selection for what could have been a confidence restoring performance, instead it bodes badly for the weekend when the visitors will be 'cranked up' to put on a real display in honour of Bill Kenwright. - Ed
