Sunderland 2 West Ham Utd 2 (31/10/09)

[Matt of iron]

Holy ****, there was a sniper at the SOL today, the ****er clipped Ilunga.

[Chuck D]

You could see that foul from Kovac coming when he got rinsed.

I'm astonished that the bloke has a million caps for the Czech republic.

[Ariksan]

From the start - even when we scored, and especially in the second half - our main problem is that our midfield and our defence except maybe for Behrami does not close down enough. Noble should be commanding his area - he doesn't. We're opening up vast space for our opponents. You just can't do this in the Premiership. Full stop.

[giblet]

I'm watching football first, so I dont know how long has actually passed, but Tomkins has given the ball away under no pressure twice, and Kovac four times.

Was going to say this, but have been busy drinking tea and eating cake.

I only saw the match on that crappy streaming thing, but I saw both Tomkins and Kovac pass very badly in the first half. Also, Spector isn't as good as he was before the injury, just makes short side passes all the time. This all puts more pressure on onto both Behrami, on that side of the pitch, and Upson.

But, as I say, crappy streaming, who knows.

Awful sub with Diamanti, the new formation completely took Franco out of the game, even though he was swapped for Hines shortly afterwards. Diamanti at that stage, against that team, was really wishful thinking, not good tactics. Just a mess at the end.

[Chuck D]

From the start - even when we scored, and especially in the second half - our main problem is that our midfield and our defence except maybe for Behrami does not close down enough. Noble should be commanding his area - he doesn't. We're opening up vast space for our opponents. You just can't do this in the Premiership. Full stop.

Given that Kovac is supposed to be the one winning the ball, and breaking up attacks, I've yet to see him win a tackle, or direct a header properly in this game.

[wayneo1974]

From the start - even when we scored, and especially in the second half - our main problem is that our midfield and our defence except maybe for Behrami does not close down enough. Noble should be commanding his area - he doesn't. We're opening up vast space for our opponents. You just can't do this in the Premiership. Full stop.

I agree with this. Even the shitty teams like stoke and burnley do this better than us. We only seemed to do this against le arse

[QuintonNimoy]

Given that Kovac is supposed to be the one winning the ball, and breaking up attacks, I've yet to see him win a tackle, or direct a header properly in this game.

We start to play a bit better when he gets sent off...

[Chuck D]

you know how being West Ham is about seeing players do things against us that they dont do against anyone else?

I just saw Andy Reid beat a man for pace. Take a bow Mark Noble.

[m-h]

A point gained is not a point lost.....oh f***, stop now and going to be a long night.

[wayneo1974]

you know how being West Ham is about seeing players do things against us that they dont do against anyone else?

I just saw Andy Reid beat a man for pace. Take a bow Mark Noble.

Why does Andy Reid always look a world beater against us but **** against everyone else?

[JonG86]

To be fair to Andy Reid, he has lost a ton of weight now and is far fitter than the fat b*stard we are all used to.

[wayneo1974]

To be fair to Andy Reid, he has lost a ton of weight now and is far fitter than the fat b*stard we are all used to.

admittedly i watched a crap stream, but spector never seemed to bother marking him

[Chuck D]

To be fair to Andy Reid, he has lost a ton of weight now and is far fitter than the fat b*stard we are all used to.

When was the last time you see him beat anyone for pace? Ever?

[QuintonNimoy]

To be fair to Andy Reid, he has lost a ton of weight now and is far fitter than the fat b*stard we are all used to.

And Mark Noble?

[Ariksan]

Given that Kovac is supposed to be the one winning the ball, and breaking up attacks, I've yet to see him win a tackle, or direct a header properly in this game.

Yes, but it's not a one man job - the whole team has to be up for it - especially midfield - and if you need to tackle somebody it's actually a sign that we did too little too late. It's not about beeing destructive, it's about winning back the ball to be productive. It's about harassing and closing down your opponents and not giving them the space to pass the ball - narrowing down their options of play. Its such a basic thing it's embarrising having to mention it. Perhaps the entire first team needs a couple lessons from Tony Carr. Seriously.

[Chuck D]

Yes, but it's not a one man job - the whole team has to be up for it - especially midfield - and if you need to tackle somebody it's actually a sign that we did too little too late. It's not about beeing destructive, it's about winning back the ball to be productive. It's about harassing and closing down your opponents and not giving them the space to pass the ball - narrowing down their options of play. Its such a basic thing it's embarrising having to mention it. Perhaps the entire first team needs a couple lessons from Tony Carr. Seriously.

I dont disagree, tackling should be a last resort. It should be a resort though. As opposed to just watching the bloke run past you because you dont have the pace to go with him.

What makes you think - given that two of those midfielders came from his academy - that Tony Carr is the answer?

You mention winning the ball back. Its much, much, much easier to not surrender it cheaply by picking the wrong pass in the first place.

[-DL-]

To be fair to Andy Reid, he has lost a ton of weight now and is far fitter than the fat b*stard we are all used to

And Mark Noble?

Is far un-fitter and a fatter b*stard than we are all used to.

[Tel The Hammer]

Pretty decent first half. Absolutely gash second half.

Franco and Cole looked the b*llocks first half, as did Collison. Franco's got all the movement of a top class striker.

If Cole keeps playing like that he won't be here come the end of the January window.

The defence is ****ing laughable.

Noble was pretty gash yet again.

Behrami and Kovac both pulled their weight.

Two points down the drain.

[Chuck D]

How much more did Richardson want that ball?

Kovac touch let him down, and he wiped out the player.

I see that Zamora and Etherington had good games today as well.

And Zola said "sometimes the way we play", yadda yadda yadda.....

[prophet:marginal]

Franco's goal was very good play. Cole's was a goal from a striker in form.

Their first to me was a questionable free-kick; Kovac was half asleep, but did he bring down the player?
The second was just a fluke, but Bent realistically could have had 3.

So, a point... again