West Ham Utd 3-0 Southampton (04/05/19)

[e17]

A good day over there today - but my gawd a cold one at times

Sad to say goodbye to Adrian, but hope he goes off to play football.

We were better for 80% of that, versus a club I detest

[e17]

Well played, well deserved win, we were pretty sh*t.
Have a good summer chaps.

your lot looked like there’s had already started from kick off!

[Samba]

Well played, well deserved win, we were pretty sh*t.
Have a good summer chaps.

You too, Dorset.
Hope we both do better, next season

[S-H]

Wash your mouth out Sambo.

I hope they go down!

[Samba]

Wash your mouth out Sambo.

I hope they go down!

:lol:

[Burnley Hammer]

My ratings for today:

Fabianski 7 - got away with his error in the first half and apart from that, his usual dependable self
Fredericks 9 - Another outstanding game and barely put a foot wrong
Balbuena 7 - His usual consistent self. Calmly gets on with the job
Diop 7 - Looks a lot more assured since Balbuenas return
Masuaku 8 - Along with Noble, he really played his part in making us tick today.
Noble 8 - Dictated the tempo in midfield and a beautiful assist for the first goal.
Obiang 8 - One of his better games for us. Worked hard breaking up play and tracked runners well
Antonio 6 - Less effective than recent games. I much prefer him on the right
Lanzini 7 - Was always involved and passed the ball well but needs to work on his end product
Diangara 6 - Worked hard but knocked off the ball too easily and needs to work on his end product
Arnautovic 8 - That's more like it... more please.

Wilshere 7 - Made a difference, and lovely flick to create Fredericks goal.

[Puff Daddy]

That was a good win, but its gonna seem like a very long week until our next and last game if the season

[My_Sobriquet]

Wilshere is the most talented footballer in our squad.

If we can keep him, Anderson, Lanzini and rice fit we will be one player short of an imperious midfield

[costa75]

Wilshere is the most talented footballer in our squad.

If we can keep him, Anderson, Lanzini and rice fit we will be one player short of an imperious midfield

That is a massive if........

[DasNutNock]

one player short of an imperious midfield

Mark Noble's going to be that man next term, "mark" my words.

[costa75]

Enjoyed the day.....

Thought we played some good stuff, although apart from a spell straight after the break, Southampton were very poor.

I like what Pellegrini is trying to do, I was entertained again, and if we make a few decent signings, and don't get unlucky with injuries again (Unlikely) we could do well next season. I'm looking forward to it...........

[prophet:marginal]

Was it definite that Adrian is leaving, out of interest?

[richneal]

Saints did very well when Redmond came on. Wonder why they didn't start him - caused us all sorts of problems. And amazed Saints didn't get a penalty when Long got floored, looked like a dead cert to me.

Strange 'cos it was a 3-nil win but to my way of thinking both of the first two goals almost came against the run of play.

To my eyes Balbuena appears to be the catalyst that makes the whole back four play better but despite watching the whole match 3 times over I'm not exactly sure how he does it or what he actually does with the other three. Thoughts?

Fredericks my MoTM - other than the dead-cert penalty, it's the best he's played for us. Now I see why we signed him. And just like last week Noble did a very good job. Diangana looked weak - out-muscled a few times, out-paced a few times and showed a poor first touch on others. Finally, shout out to Obiang, did very well - consistently winning the ball in the areas that mattered.

[fmgod]

Fabián Balbuena is the captain of the backline to me, like Lucas Neil was years ago. Like sort of Reid does too

[Paolopaul]

I've been to the bowl to see us against Man City, Spurs and Southampton this season, and I think we played equally well in all three, it's just the quality of the opposition that's different. We look dodgy at the back but with good individuals, tidy in midfield, creative but inconsistent on the wings and slightly lacking a focal point up front (an on form arnie makes a big difference though!)

Today Southampton gave it a go second half but their defence is even more dodgy than ours. No idea why they didn't start redmond, he made a difference for them when he came on and has been one of their best players this year.

Fredericks and masuaku were very good again today, if they can maintain recent form then maybe full back isn't the problem we thought it was.

[Rio]

We look a better side with Balbuena in it. Fredericks is growing in stature just 6 months too late. Great to see Arnie on the score sheet. Great to see one of my fellow mods today, great to see the supporters club very busy for the ladies final. Great to see the new bridge in operation and helpful.

All in all, a pleasant day out.

But. Is the stadium only the 2nd place in England to have its own microclimate. I had sunburn, frostbite, froze, sweated, got rained on, needed shades all in the space of 30 minutes.

[Heysel76]

anyone got a link to the goals?

[Georgee Paris]

Wiltshire and Carrol - there is a joke in there somewhere

[Universidad-de-Chile]

anyone got a link to the goals?

https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/201 ... outhampton


Mirror: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x77eh7g

[Gsbgsb]

Fredericks is looking a premier league defender. Think he has taken time to settle and had a few injury issues but fullback is such a tough position and it has taken top players at other clubs time to settle. For me makes even more sense to the Zaba signing, good back up while we see if Johnson will develop.

Thought Obiang had a really good game today but you also have to take account of the opposition, Southampton were as poor first half as they were last year. They were a lot better second half and were looking the more likely side when we got our second which pretty much killed the game. Up until then our midfield had lost any control of the game.

Balbuena was a rock again, he just seems to have a gift for being in the right place to get a tackle or block in. Not big yet seems to win important headers. Nothing fancy but a no nonsense defender. “The General” seems such an appropriate nickname. For me he has been one of the bargains of the season if he did cost around £7m.

If the was Arnie’s farewell then we saw what we have been missing for a lot of this season, pace, good hold up and link play and a goal threat. When motivated he is a top striker and whoever replaces him will have a tough time matching a motivated Arnie.

With Yarmolenko to return (hopefully) and if we could keep Wilshere fit our attacking options behind the striker will be a match for anyone outside the top 6 so getting a reliable striker in is so important but, like many, if the choice is left to MP/MH I have confidence they will get it right.