West Ham Utd 1-2 Leicester City (28/12/19)

[Crossd_Hammrs]

My initial reaction to the penalty incident was that Ịheanachọ should have been penalised for a high boot.
I'm convinced that,if it was a WHU forward against a top 6 goalie,that would have been the verdict.

Yeah, I thought the penalty was a tad unlucky. There was a high boot and studs which he lowered in time, but he didn't seem to be going to chase the ball - he'd shot and the shot missed, so the collision was pretty much irrelevent but Iheanacho went down and rolled around (there didn't appear to be much contact imho) and the striker went into the keeper as much as the other way around.
The commentators I heard were discussing whether Fabianski should have been sent off as the last man! Of course not, since the rule change, but I wonder if that was Iheanacho's thinking at the time.

We got a bit of luck with the VAR review for encroachment though, Fab had clearly stepped off his line before the ball was kicked.

[Vic_Watson]

We got a bit of luck with the VAR review for encroachment though, Fab had clearly stepped off his line before the ball was kicked.

They stopped checking that after the Women's World Cup farce.

[waynepin]

how bad was Rice yesterday looked totally lost without Noble, you can see they get on and Noble talking to him helps him a lot more than we realise, I know Sanchez is awful but yesterday so was Rice, Choudhury looked a lot better than Rice, more aggression more movement better with the ball, being captain was too much for someone, while an England player, still learning the game, we really lack leaders on the pitch, the only person capable yesterday was Balbuena who is a captain of his country,

[fjthegrey]

I was really impressed with Mendy yesterday.

If he isn't getting in their team, looks the kind of player we should be on

[Concerned of Canvey]

I've yet to watch the game back but I must admit on the night I thought Sanchez wasnt the worst player on the pitch yesterday.

Ok he wasnt great but at least he put a few challenges in and won his fair share of headers, I thought Masuaku was terrible and Lanzini had no effect on the game at all.

One thing that struck me yesterday was how Leicester left 3 players up whenever we had a corner which took 4 of our players out of their penalty box. I must admit i really dont like us putting 11 players in our box whever we are defending a corner, no out ball at all.

Like most the decision to replace Haller with Antonio was ubelievable, Ajeti looked lively when he came on but not really a goal threat.

[smuts]

My initial reaction to the penalty incident was that Ịheanachọ should have been penalised for a high boot.
I'm convinced that,if it was a WHU forward against a top 6 goalie,that would have been the verdict.

The only positive,for me was to see what it meant to Fornals to get his first goal for the club.

Mine too. Anywhere else on the pitch we get a free kick . His boot was head height!

Watched the highlights again this morning...why can't Anderson get the bit between his teeth and drive at players more often like he did for the goal?

Sanchez for their winner...christ on a bike. Just let him through mate and watch him. Was he getting a percentage off Pellegrini's severance pay or something?

Diop was next to useless for the goal as well with his half arsed attempt to win the ball.

[Coops]

I thought Sanchez played well, we were far too easy to go through after he came off.
Had Pellegrini been bold enough to replace Lanzini with Antonio and get him closer to Haller, he may still be in a job this morning. He took Haller off, the foxes scored about a minute later and the chance to go 2 up top was already lost.
But then making baffling substitutions was Pellegrini's signature move.

[Samba]

Great win yesterday. Really enjoyed it and we played some pretty good stuff. The winning goal by Fornals was excellent and Fabs penalty save kept us in it at a crucial moment.

On to the next victims!

the above post has ignored all of the goals scored by Leicester yesterday

fj has discovered the secret to supporting West Ham.
It's certainly less painful, this way..

[Samba]

Watched the highlights again this morning...why can't Anderson get the bit between his teeth and drive at players more often like he did for the goal?

It's GOT to be a confidence thing, if he can do it sometimes.
Hopefully, whoever the next manager is will get him ticking. Moyes did it with Arnie.
Sanchez I don't think has ever been right for this league. You can see that. Put him in a warm country with a slower pace of game & he'd probably thrive.
He's just not suited to the 100mph Premier League.
He's also getting on a bit now.
That's the trouble, Sully not only has to now get a new manager, he's STILL got to have a massive clear-out of players that are not good enough or are not good enough, anymore.

[Mr McGauley]

On the stream I watched (I know, not a real supporter, blah blah), Tim Sherwood just before the second half said he'd take Sanchez off as "he isn't really a footballer"....

[Crouchend_Hammer]

Sanchez getting far too much blame for the winning goal.
What on earth is happneing elsewhwre if he is being left one on one with Demarai Gray?
Where is Fredericks or the rest of the midfield? What on earth was Diop doing with Perez

It is very difficult to back pedal to keep an eye on the passer whilst the player you are markig is running forward into all that space. The right thing to do in that situation is try and push up at the right time and leave the attacker offside. You can see sanchez is considering that but Balbuena keeps dropping deeper and deeper into no man's land.

It is abysmal team defensive shape and organisation that goal rather than any individual (except maybe a Diop for being powder puff and not taking Perez out)

[GreenIron]

It is abysmal team defensive shape and organisation that goal rather than any individual (except maybe a Diop for being powder puff and not taking Perez out)

Exactly. Everybody on that pitch is a talented footballer or they would never have reached even this far. If whoever comes in to manage them isn’t clueless at their job, we should see an improvement pretty soon.

[Samba]

Sanchez getting far too much blame for the winning goal.
It is abysmal team defensive shape and organisation that goal rather than any individual (except maybe a Diop for being powder puff and not taking Perez out)

No, you're not wrong Crouchy, of course their second goal wasn't just down to Sanchez fault.
He has got the blame because he was kinda the last man near the goalscorer, but it wasn't all on him.

[ChzMff]

As much as I like Rice and think he’s a top player it tells you everything that he was captain yesterday. We simply have no leaders. We’ve got a selection of players who can all play some nice football when the sun is shining, teams stand off and they’ve got a bit of confidence but when there’s an inkling of pressure there is no b*llocks whatsoever.

I thought we were ***** yesterday. It’s the first time this season I thought we could go down. No tackles, no movement, no will, no clue. The ease at which teams play through us is embarrassing. As a result, there’s no hope in the stands either. With 10 minutes to go, there was no geeing up of the players because quite frankly, we never looked like getting back into it.

[Crouchend_Hammer]

No, you're not wrong Crouchy, of course their second goal wasn't just down to Sanchez fault.
He has got the blame because he was kinda the last man near the goalscorer, but it wasn't all on him.

Selective qouting there.
I would be interested to here what you would realistically expect him to do when backpedalling and left one on one with someone much faster than him
He can't push up and squeeze (which is the right thing to do) because Balbuena is dropping deeper aand deeper