Everton 1 West Ham Utd 1 (22/03/08)

[Up the Junction]

So you dont think we started to boss the game when we went 4-4-2?

No. We looked far more vulnerable for the first ten to fifteen minutes after Sears came on because we were playing four in the middle as opposed to five. As I said, when they began bombing forward in search of a winner we looked far more dangerous - as we often have under Curbishley away from home.

[davids cross]

I totally agree with that............starting with 451 actually contributed to the win imo.......If we had started 442 we could have been 3 down by half time....who knows. Switching to 442 later on in the game nearly always pays benifits as teams are beginning to tire anyway, something that isn't happening in the first half.

The bash on the nose cause this or you been on the sherry ?

Second half proved we have the players available now to go 442 effectively, so no excuse not to start attacking teams for the rest of the season , as nothing to lose and much more enjoyable to watch[/quote]
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No mate.........I stand by every word, the extra midfielder in the first half may well have kept it tighter than if we had started with the 442......We could have been more vunerable much earlier. You have to try and be tight early on away from home.

[smuts]

After an iffy start we got into the game and the second half performance was superb.

Everyone worked hard apart from LBM...who just seemed happy to recieve the ball and give it to someone else as long as he didn't have to run and perish the thought, take the full back on.

A good match topped off with a great performance.

[Cuenca 'ammer]

Bringing in Sears and going to a 4-4-2 made a huge difference. We were unlucky not to take all 3 points. I hope Curbs finally junks the 4-5-1 now and gives Freddie a run.

i think that it depends mate.

4-5-1 worked against manure and chel$ki...... it worked against the scallies. it doesn't always work against teams who come here and pay 10 men behind the ball.

it works sometimes against teams who come out and attack. it didn't work much last year. although we didn't always set our stall out in the formation that we do now, sometimes we were forced back into a 4-5-1 due to the pressure that we were facing.

when a team plays 4-4-2 we can over load the midfield but leave our forwards alone. if the midfield can't get forward to support it has a hard time being effective.

if the opponent plays 4-5-1 we would be foolish to play with only 4 in the middle a la citeh the first game of the season. they bossed the middle. we should have by passed the middle and gone route 1.

trouble is then the fans get on your back for playing long ball.

formations have to be flexible. it's all about players doing their job. mid field players getting forward and supporting the forward. trouble is then you have to have tireless midfield players or slow the play down to accommodate your lack of pace. then the crowd call you negative for playing short negative passes. you need a drogba type player who can do it all. trouble is they are few and far between. then you need a joe cole type to play off of him, oh wait we had one...

i think that ashton performs better if he plays with/off someone. someone who compliments his style of play. then it is all about service. you have a drogba but the service never comes off. you have 2 forwards but need pace on the outside and someone who can deliver a cross so that if you don't won the first ball you have someone who can win the second.

you could play a 4-3-2-1 with 3 holding and the 2 outside bombing on but that might expose you full backs. the midfield 3 could offer cover but it depends.

you could play a 4-2-3-1 like the scallies do. you lack width though a bit or play 2 of the middle 3 wide like they do with babbel and kuyt. allow stevie me to bomb on. viola now liverpool are winning and torres is scoring at will.

trouble is sometimes it takes experimenting which the crowd ain't happy with but most of all. personnel.

don't have it ~ it doesn't matter what system you play. then sometimes the players just don't perform.

doesn't matter then what system you employ.

[TrickyDicky]

fantastic performance!! Loving every min of the youngsters coming in and playing well!

Tomkins looks good, was unlucky to have such a tough debut against Yakubu, apart from the mistake he just got on with it and looks very comfortable on the ball and fairly quick.

All the players played their part today, but i thought Boa Morte was crap again, dont know whats happening to him??

Sears looks like he has bags of potential and scares the crap out of defenders with his football brain combined with his speed. He works really well with ashton!

Brilliant goal by ashton and neill was great today as was Ferdinand, Parker ,ljungberg kept the ball well.

Its all looking good under curbishley and we are learning the art of playing football on the floor.
We deserved the win, but i'd take a point away against everton anyday.

I thought sears deserved a goal, i think he can do the same job as tevez did last season, hold up the ball on the floor, stretch the defence and cause problems with his skill.
He will get better and better with this premiership experence and looks like he can handle it, he doesnt look nervous at all

[hhammerhead]

I totally agree with that............starting with 451 actually contributed to the win imo.......If we had started 442 we could have been 3 down by half time....who knows. Switching to 442 later on in the game nearly always pays benifits as teams are beginning to tire anyway, something that isn't happening in the first half.

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No mate.........I stand by every word, the extra midfielder in the first half may well have kept it tighter than if we had started with the 442......We could have been more vunerable much earlier. You have to try and be tight early on away from home.[/quote]

So you are still maintaining we won ? You rascal

[IG8Hammer]

I thought the following

Green - Looked solid, quick off his line on many occasions. However, the position of his hands for the goal is slightly (I say slightly) questionable.

Tompkins - Very promising. Albeit his fault for the goal he's 18 and up against someone as strong and quick as Yakubu. He made one or two errors later in the game, but recovered well each time and made some good tackles and interceptions. He also went for an identical header which lead to the goal later in the match, which he won. Unlucky not to score when he hit the bar.

Noble - Looked great, with some bursting runs, decent shots and good passing. Would like to see him in a more offensive position, getting behind the strikers. I'm sure Deano would love that.

Parker - Good game, but you could see he was getting tired later on. His passing and tackling was good.

Ashton - Seemed to play with his back to goal most of the game. I barely saw him give the ball away (Without winning a free kick that is). Would have liked to see him have a few more attempts on goal, but his header was superb. His confidence looked like it is returning, he was getting stuck in.

Sears - Looked fresh, fast, skillfull. Has a lot of confidence, to run with the ball and was always calling for it which is good, shows he doesn't shy away from the action. Very unlucky not to score, and was getting in some good positions (Although a little wide at times). Needs to bulk up though I feel as when he has a defender on his back you feel he has to hit it early or he's going to go down/lose the ball, but that will happen naturally with age. Should have scored when he hit the post.

Boa Morte - Did nothing of note from what I can recall. - Start Cole next time.

[Viva_marlon_harewood]

i thought we were great today, one of the best away performances this year...the error was a one-off but other than that i thought Tomkins (the basildon boy !!) and Anton looked decent along with the full backs and greeno.

overall ratings imo

Greeno - 9 Quality performance and made good saves to keep us in it at 1-0
Neill - 7 Looked a lot more solid at the back although gave the ball away a lot
Antwon blud - 7 Maybe could have done better for goal but other than that he looked strong
Tomko - 8 Considering first game i thought he was top notch (except first goal) looks a force forward too
Macca - 7 Solid as ever, no problem with him so far!
Ljungberg - 7 Think he was been a lot more influencial since the abuse at the emirates, good today.
Nobs - 8 - Had a great effect on the forwards and was dribbling a lot, kept possession.
Mullins - 6 - I thought he had one of his worst games today, gave the ball away a lot and his shooting
Parker - 7 - Didn't look fit but still looks impressive, good tracking back and passing
That kid they got out the crowd - 1 - Obviously an amateur.. didn't really add much
Ashton - 8 - Different player to Wigan away a few weeks ago... good effort levels!!!

Subs
Freddy Ledg!! - 8 - So quick and lively... gets in the right positions.. reminds me of Bellamy
Solano - 6 - A bit late to influence but has good ideas
Spector - 6 - Solid in midfield

[Clucking Bell]

Mmmmm ..... I dunno guys. I think we were a bit fortunate today.

In the first half we had a fair bit of possession but it didn't really look like we could buy a goal. Also, when Fred the Younger came on, we were getting overrun and Everton were more or less camped out in our half. Our goal was pretty much against the run of play at the time and, while it was a ****ing good goal, Ashton had missed a couple of easier chances earlier on.

This changes the whole character of the game, Everton got the wind knocked out of their sails and our forwards and midfield got their confidence back. Mullins and Noble in particular seemed to suddenly remember how to play football

I think UTJ is right in that the reason we looked great in the last twenty minutes was because Everton were coming at us looking for the winner and leaving big holes all over the place. Also, Noble and Mullins got their second wind and the Everton midfeld ran out of gas. In Nobby and Spector we had two fresh midfielders and we were winning most, if not all of the 50/50 balls in the middle of the park.

In the end, we looked a lot more likely to win than they did.

I thought Green was fantastic again today and Tomkins played better as the game went on. Curbs does need to get a grip on the left side of midfield though ... Linda pretty much sh*ts himself when LBM is in front of him. Other than Zamora, LBM and Ethers do we actually have any other left- footed players?

[devonshire flu]

Wasn't at the game today: I'm a long way from liverpool. All I know is what the BBC site updates told me.

"So close to a dream start for West Ham teenager James Tomkins as his looping header from a corner comes back off the bar."

So he's playing, and quite right too.

"Ah, now that's a a bit of a nightmare for James Tomkins. He misses his header, allowing Yakubu to run on and smash the ball past Rob Green. Brilliant finish."

Tomkins has done what Anton Ferdinand did at Preston - missed the first difficult ball and conceded a goal. But that is how you get experience.

"Mikel Arteta smashes his clearance against Everton team-mate Phil Jagielka's leg, leaving Dean Ashton with a golden chance to equalise but he shoots wide."

Lots of KUMB posts about Ashton not being being the same player as he was before his injury (but they hope they're wrong). Loads of posts about his inability to jump, since he put on 20 unwanted kilos. Maybe the glass-half-empty guys are right.

"Victor Anichebe powers through on goal from Yakubu but Hammers keeper Rob Green is out quickly to smother the striker's shot."

Green is a class keeper, despite the 12 goals in 3 games glitch.

"Phil Jagielka is adjudged to have fouled Scott Parker. Dean Ashton's powerful free-kick comes off Joleon Lescott but Tim Howard somehow saves it with his leg. Incredible save."

Maybe the Ashton slaggers are wrong after all. Maybe he's a really good striker that plays against really good keepers on a regular basis.

"Everton midfielder Lee Carsley sends a fierce shot over the bar from 35 yards. West Ham look a lot more dangerous with Freddie Sears on."

Curbs started with 4-5-1, then went 4-4-2 with a novice striker, and it looks like it's working. But Curbs is an idiot, according to multiple KUMB posts. How can this be?

"Lucas Neill swings over a hopeful cross from the right and Dean Ashton outjumps Phil Jagielka to head home. Tim Howard gets a hand to it but can't keep it out."

Hold on. Dean Ashton can't jump. So how can he outjump Jagielka (I know Jagielka is good in the air, cos he rose like a salmon to score an important own-goal at the end of last season). Maybe the Ashton haters are wrong.

"Well well. Everton looked on course for victory after Yakubu's early goal but West Ham will feel they should have won it after having much the better of the second half ater Dean Ashton's equaliser."

Everton are/were 5th. After 30 games. Therefore no mugs. Curbs played a youth defender who missed a cross and got punished by Yakubu, who is the real deal as a top level striker. So the 4-5-1 strategy of keeping it tight for 70 minutes then pressing for a winner isn't going to work. So Curbs brings on another novice. His fat, disinterested, non-jumping centre forward equalises with a leaping header. We get one point instead of three against a serious side with serious ambition.

Conclusions: Curbs is tactically astute. We lost two points, but the experience for Tomkins and Sears may well be worth it next season. Ashton can do everything that the blinkered, self-serving, know-nothing critics on this forum said he can't do. Certain West Ham supporters get more enjoyment from slagging off the Manager and his players than they do from West Ham doing really well in a murderously tough league.

[Scaloni Is The Messiah]

I thought Green was fantastic again today and Tomkins played better as the game went on. Curbs does need to get a grip on the left side of midfield though ... Linda pretty much sh*ts himself when LBM is in front of him. Other than Zamora, LBM and Ethers do we actually have any other left- footed players?

Reid? And Bellamy's played left-wing a bit. Solano can cross with his left. It is a problem area I think we need to invest in. Either that, or have our standard formation next season 433 with Bellamy, Zamora or Etherington (or LBM if necessary) playing on the left hand side of the attacking three.

But I'd rather we just signed another left midfielder and sold LBM.

[IIIronss]

If Kyel Reid aint getting a look in now theres no way hes making it.

[giblet]

Hmm, left wing is definitely a problem. One thing about Etherington is, whether he has a good or bad game, he is positionally disciplined, and that's what McCartney (and perhaps the rest of the midfield) is obviously more comfortable with.

I'd almost say stick anyone there, as long as they stay on the left wing. Ljungberg was ok there in one game; didn't get forward much, but tracked back well, and covered for McCartney.

[Scaloni Is The Messiah]

If Kyel Reid aint getting a look in now theres no way hes making it.

I thought he'd been more or less written off until he got that new contract at the end of last year. Why give a 20-year-old a new two-year contract unless he's in your plans. Especially given our injury problems, I really did feel he'd get a start today. Maybe his effort in training has trailed off in the early part of the year or he's not developing as they were hoping. Whatever's happening, I'd like to see him given a proper go before the end of the season. I can only remember him having two starts. One against West Brom two years ago, where I was impressed with him, and the other that Chesterfield game where we could have made Cristiano Ronaldo look awful the way we played. From what I've seen, I do think he's got something. As I say, I'd love to see at least one start for him between now and Villa. See where he is.

[Fionn]

Hmm, left wing is definitely a problem. One thing about Etherington is, whether he has a good or bad game, he is positionally disciplined, and that's what McCartney (and perhaps the rest of the midfield) is obviously more comfortable with.

I'd almost say stick anyone there, as long as they stay on the left wing. Ljungberg was ok there in one game; didn't get forward much, but tracked back well, and covered for McCartney.

I'd play Freddie on the left with Nobby on the right. It would make sense.

[IIIronss]

I thought he'd been more or less written off until he got that new contract at the end of last year. Why give a 20-year-old a new two-year contract unless he's in your plans. Especially given our injury problems, I really did feel he'd get a start today. Maybe his effort in training has trailed off in the early part of the year or he's not developing as they were hoping. Whatever's happening, I'd like to see him given a proper go before the end of the season. I can only remember him having two starts. One against West Brom two years ago, where I was impressed with him, and the other that Chesterfield game where we could have made Cristiano Ronaldo look awful the way we played. From what I've seen, I do think he's got something. As I say, I'd love to see at least one start for him between now and Villa. See where he is.

Spot on, i think hes good to have off the bench to inject a bit of life into the side, in the way Sears did today.

[DannyboyDJL]

Back from the game and a fair few beers deep but we were well worth a draw at least. Well done to Tomker and Sears and lets not forget Nobes who was superb. Better team second half by far IMO. Great support again

[richneal]

Just happy to have seen a few more of our own on the pitch. Don't know why, but it just doesn't seem like 'real' West Ham to me unless there's a contingent of home-grown players on the pitch . . .

[cockney farmer]

Thoroughly enjoyed the game and it was great to see us going for the win in the last 15mins (shame we did not carry the same conviction home to Bolton, I am scarred by this game!)

[dodger]

Spot on, i think hes good to have off the bench to inject a bit of life into the side, in the way Sears did today.

I don't see anything in Reid from his performances for us. Get rid in the summer for the sake of both parties IMO.