EL: Rapid Wien 0-2 West Ham Utd (25/11/21)

Relive every moment of every first team game since the beginning of the 2005/06 season. Our archive of matchday threads originally posted in the General Discussion Forum.

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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Aceface »

Diop was good again. Probably a bit like Areola in that it’s hard to get credit for these sort of games. But he was invisible in the way Ogbonna is when he’s playing well.
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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Nick_ »

I think we’re developing some good competition for starting places in the Premier League. And that’s the good thing about playing on all these fronts: it should be a chance for players to play their way into contention, and be rewarded for performing in midweek with a start at the weekend.

For me there are probably only two positions that have a real urgent sense of competition. Right-back and No 10. I personally prefer Coufal (right now) to Johnson. I just think he has more of an attacking edge, his understanding of the overlap is superb and his final ball is much better. But there’s not much in it and they’ve so firmly squeezed Fredericks out of that conversation that he’s more likely to be considered a left back!

At No 10 I favour Lanzini over Benrahma right now. I just like the way Lanzini uses the ball - very clever, very comfortable but not, unlike Benny, over complicated. Not sure if I’d throw him in against City though. We’re gonna have little position and Benrahma is more dangerous on the break. But I think recent performances have re-opened that discussion.

I think Kral could play his way into a conversation about that role alongside Rice. Soucek, whom I love, is out of sorts. Maybe he’ll get his groove back, maybe he needs a rest. There’s such fixture congestion over the next few weeks that some rotation is gonna be necessary.

And I thought Diop staked a good claim to that left sided berth at the back. Neither Dawson nor Zouma are particularly convincing facing that way and I could see Diop being the beneficiary.

Good performance, very professional.
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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Ironing Board »

MK-Hammer wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 8:28 pm Agree with a lot of this ….but for me the central attacking midfield role is Fornals ….for his work rate & football brain
So Benrahma or Vlasic have to be moved out wide to get into the starting 11.

If we play Vlasic in the centre then Fornals would have to be moved out wide ….which for me we would miss his work rate in the middle of the park
I actually prefer Fornals wide left. He provides fantastic cover for Cresswell when we go into that false back five.
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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by MK-Hammer »

Ironing Board wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 9:02 pm I actually prefer Fornals wide left. He provides fantastic cover for Cresswell when we go into that false back five.
Fair point …he certainly works well with Cresswell….but his work rate & attacking combinations in the middle with Antonio & Bowen just slightly edge it for me
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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Shabu »

Highlights

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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by hammer1975 »

Ironing Board wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 9:02 pm I actually prefer Fornals wide left. He provides fantastic cover for Cresswell when we go into that false back five.
I felt at the start of the season it almost felt that Fornals and Benrahma frequently switched back and forth during the game between the central and left roles behind Antonio. They seem to play quite fluid between them when things are going well and we see a lot of the ball. Bowen stayed fairly fixed to the right which felt noticeably different to the other two. Cresswell definitely prefers Fornals left though I’d guess!
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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by r99c »

Lanzini shades of 15/16. Brilliant on the ball.

Yarmolenko's pass to put Soucek through on goal was something else, eyes in the back of his head. Him and Vlasic continuing to work hard to get a look in, great to see.

Extremely remeniscent of the Zagreb away game. Seems simple watching it but remember what we were like in years gone by. Shows you what a transformation it's been.


Chuffed tonight. :beers: :scarfer: :hammb:
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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by prophet:marginal »

Such a proud fan of this club tonight.

4/5 clean sheets and both Yarmo and the club captain on the scoresheet, with qualification sorted, a match to play.
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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Chicken Run Supreme »

There’s one word that continues to pop up on match thread posts and that is professional
It really is a sea change and long may it continue. I’m loving this team, the manager and I just don’t know how it’s all going to pan out but, as it ever was, oh what fun it is to see when West Ham win away.
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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by steveyrockstar »

Bubbles Fortuna wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 7:39 pm Tottenham need to better Vitesse's result against Mura when they play Rennes or they get knocked out their third rate competition :lol:
Spurs are somehow still second in their group so I think they just need to match Vitesse's result rather than better it. Unfortunately.
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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by -DL- »

Professional performance again, with what is really our second string.

As nice as it is for our kids, I would rather Moyes stuck to our main 2nd XI than a team of youngsters. It may be a dead rubber for us, but it isn't for the others in the group, so for the sake of the competition, we should put a team out that our manager thinks would win the game and maintain our unbeaten record.

We'd be spitting feathers if we needed a team to get a result so we qualified and they fielded a weakened team, so give the kids cameos at the end like we have been doing once the game is sewn up.
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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Roby »

Lovely header from Yarmo for the opening goal.

Vienna were bang average but we played well again, their keeper kept the score down.
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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by upton o'good »

Perhaps I am the only one who thought it, but Yarmelenko played some great football today. Not just the goal and winning the penalty but some fantastic passing. Not suited to the prem, but you do wonder what he would have been like beofre the injuries took their toll.
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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by upton o'good »

-DL- wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 9:54 pm Professional performance again, with what is really our second string.

As nice as it is for our kids, I would rather Moyes stuck to our main 2nd XI than a team of youngsters. It may be a dead rubber for us, but it isn't for the others in the group, so for the sake of the competition, we should put a team out that our manager thinks would win the game and maintain our unbeaten record.

We'd be spitting feathers if we needed a team to get a result so we qualified and they fielded a weakened team, so give the kids cameos at the end like we have been doing once the game is sewn up.
Using mostly the players that dont start in the prem is working really well for us - and maintaining match fitness. HArd to see why we would change the strategy. Maybe rest Bowen, and give Zouma and Dawson 45 mins each.
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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by -DL- »

upton o'good wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 10:02 pm Using mostly the players that dont start in the prem is working really well for us - and maintaining match fitness. HArd to see why we would change the strategy. Maybe rest Bowen, and give Zouma and Dawson 45 mins each.
Quite. It's not broken, so it doesn't need fixing, and chucking a load of kids in at the deep end as very Allardycian. One or two in the second half perhaps, or for half hour - because rest assured, those that have got us this far won't be happy to see an unbeaten run broken just for the sake of us playing some kids for sentimentality reasons - and people have paid out hard earned good money for this game too. If it's going to be an U23 game, then price it accordingly, and don't sell out the many supporters that have weighed out for a ticket to the tie.
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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Bubbles Fortuna »

steveyrockstar wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 9:53 pm Spurs are somehow still second in their group so I think they just need to match Vitesse's result rather than better it. Unfortunately.
2nd on goal difference, even a win against Rennes could be risky as Vitesse can surely rack up a few against Mura?
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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Ironing Board »

hammer1975 wrote: Thu Nov 25, 2021 9:21 pm I felt at the start of the season it almost felt that Fornals and Benrahma frequently switched back and forth during the game between the central and left roles behind Antonio. They seem to play quite fluid between them when things are going well and we see a lot of the ball. Bowen stayed fairly fixed to the right which felt noticeably different to the other two. Cresswell definitely prefers Fornals left though I’d guess!
I guess having Lingard will help, as he seemed comfortable in both positions. He is a bit more athletic than Benny too.

But I think long-term Vlasic will be top class.
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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by the pink palermo »

An easy win against a very ordinary Vienna side, who may struggle to be top half of the Championship. My main concern about the way we have waltzed through this group is the low calibre of opposition we have faced.It's fine saying we can only beat what is in front of us, but chuffing Nora, Vienna were poor.

We bossed the game all night without breaking sweat, but I can't help wonder had we actually run around a bit more that our 2- 0 win could have been closer to 5 or 6. It's not that anyone was particualy bad, it's more a case of nobody was especially good. Yarmo, despite his goal, and penalty "win" wasn't good for my money.

To be fair he was scarcely alone in not playing to anywhere near the standard that might get him close to a starting berth on Sunday, and that is a growing problem for the club : the 2nd string know who they are and where they sit in the pecking order.

It may be worth reminding them that the second string requires application as well, by introducing younger, hungrier players.

Par tonight would have been 4-0.The teams we will face in the latter stages of this competition will do us if take the same approach with them as we did tonight.
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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Absolutely Hammered! »

This west ham team we have... playing B teams and still putting in a pro performance. Will still take time to sink in. COYI
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Re: ⚽ Rapid Wien vs West Ham Utd: match thread

Post by Peaches »

It was a very comfortable if not spectacular win. There were quite a few positives. I thought Diop looked a far more natural left sided defender than Zouma, for me he has to start there going forward. Lanzini and Spucek looked much more like themselves. I thought Vlasic had a very good game. He had a good assist for Yarmolenko’s goal. He ran the left channel very well and two or three times won retained possession when he had no right to, a perfect example was in the build up to the penalty. Sonny Perkins did well in his cameo, it would have been fantastic if he scored that header, but he certainly wasn’t overawed, and didn’t look out of place at all. He looks very advanced for a 17 year old. The biggest positive is that we’ve already qualified for the final 16 so we can rotate the squad for the final match .
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