David Moyes' Claret and Blue Army!

[funky chicken]

The real stinker of a result so far this season in the League was the defeat at Forest. Not only were they absolute rank but they are the sort of team you really should be looking to pick up some points against.

Had we beat Forest we’d be on 10 points now and sitting in at least 11th spot. All of a sudden things don’t look so bad. For a team going through a period of transition that’s pretty respectable.

Man City and Brighton can beat anyone on their day and teams a lot better than us. As can Chelsea, when they bother to show up. And if it wasn’t for the ref we would’ve had an extra point from that game.

Some would probably argue the Everton defeat was a frustrating result too. But they have a lot more about them this season. They picked up a 0-0 at home the Liverpool before us. Those results can happen for any team in the League. Even Man City.

The Spuds draw was a good point and on another day we would’ve beat them. And we throughly deserved our wins against Villa and Wolves.

We’ll be fine this season. Moyes has got it spot on in the Europa so far, and he’s slowly merging the new players into the starting 11.

We’ve got a pool of fixtures now all the way up until the World Cup break that can leave us in a pretty good position for when we resume the season.

[westlondonhammer]

We have never played 'risky' football under Moyes, or possession based football under Moyes (even when we were on form)
That isn't going to change moving forward. It just isn't how Moyes sets his teams up

I never said we would

But we will need to be better with the ball when we do have possession over time... which I fully expect with the players we have been buying.

We'll never be fully expansive but we don't need to be. We can play a bit more expansive without being the completely different end of the spectrum

It'll all take time though

[Diogenes]

I think even his biggest critics accept the need to go back to basics and steady the ship, but even in that style there was big room for improvement last night. We were second best for a lot of last night; It never looked comfortable. We basically were happy to play as the away side against an abject Wolves team.

The clean sheet was testament to how poor they were in attack rather than how good we were in defence.

Really? It is quite easy to rubbish the other team to make your point, but I disagree. Wolves are not a poor side. They are struggling to score goals (just like us) but poor side? Nah, I'm not having that.

[sutts07]

The real stinker of a result so far this season in the League was the defeat at Forest. Not only were they absolute rank but they are the sort of team you really should be looking to pick up some points against.

Even in that game we had a questionable goal ruled out by VAR, missed a pen and hit the woodwork twice (bouncing down onto the goal line but not sneaking in). At the other end it somehow hit's their guy on the dick and bounces in. We had enough about us to win that game by two or three. First home game back in the Prem for them, it really just wasn't our day.

VAR robbed us of a point at Chelsea. We did enough to beat Spurs at home, Antonio rattled the post early on, Bowen came close twice (the one late on just needed a touch from Antonio), Fornals has to hit the target with his chance too.

Take a point at Chelsea with wins over both Forest and Tottenham and we are sitting 5th right now playing exactly the same way, but just having the rub of the green. Fine margins as sadly we didn't get the luck (can argue quality and composure comes into it) and only got one point from those three games.

It has been poor at times (Everton and Brighton) but things look far worse than they actually are for us right now. Non descript 2-0 home wins over Fulham and Bournemouth with a couple of draws or a win in the two away games in between (Southampton and Liverpool - neither are setting the world alight) and we are well on our way to getting our season back on track.

[MB]

Really? It is quite easy to rubbish the other team to make your point, but I disagree. Wolves are not a poor side. They are struggling to score goals (just like us) but poor side? Nah, I'm not having that.

Isn't struggling to score goals the definition of a poor side? They've been goal shy for months and sacked their manager for good reason.

A half decent side would have put three past us last night.

Maybe Moyes was playing 3D chess and knew he could offer them all that space and time. Let's see what the Fulham game brings.

[Bubbles Fortuna]

A half decent side would have put three past us last night.

This is just unfounded nonsense though isn't it? How often do we concede three goals?

It was a routine 2-0 win against a side that very rarely lose by more than one goal.

Simple as that.

[MB]

Why does every conversation have to come back to stats and past performances by teams rather than an evaluation of the match we have just played against them?

It is like no one has any confidence to state an opinion anymore.

I honestly couldn't care less what Wolves have done in games not against us. They looked poor, missed good chances and we won 2-0 while looking for long spells well below our best. That, IMO, makes them a poor side because we currently aren't a good one.

They still created chances that a better team would have scored. Three is maybe hyperbole I accept, but a better side scores the Costa header and the Traore shot.

A better side also creates more if we give them that much ball in those areas.

Honestly, I think we should start putting the XG below the score so people can cheer everytime it goes up by .1!

[goa127]

The reason wolves don't score goals is lack of a striker. Traore routinely misses decent chances, Costa is an out of contract 36 year old signing., their full back has hardly ever scored since he's been there. So no, we weren't fortunate, wolves bossing possession and failing to score is their M.O. It used to be Brighton as well until wellbeick avoided injury and trossard found his shooting boots.

[D C]

We were better than we have been but I hope that 3 points hasn’t glossed over the fact we’re still well below where we should hope to be

[Georgee Paris]

After 88 minutes we (my mates) were confident of the draw.

[goa127]

After 88 minutes we (my mates) were confident of the draw.

Two minutes before me!

[Ironing Board]

Shout out for the boss after a big shuffle of the pack and an important victory. Especially given the stick he was getting for weeks!

[Bond Holder 59]

Shout out for the boss after a big shuffle of the pack and an important victory. Especially given the stick he was getting for weeks!

And his substitution decisions….for a change.

Well done DM and his coaching team.

[Colours never run]

Shout out for the boss after a big shuffle of the pack and an important victory. Especially given the stick he was getting for weeks!

Of which he deserved.

Like I touched on in another thread, he got it spot on tonight, got every call right and in style which proves both the result and performance can go hand in hand when the will is there to be brave enough to do so. Which was a just criticism of his previously.

I fancied he'd eventually turn it around against Wolves and start a resurgence and it looks like it's beginning to go that way with positive signs finally coming through.

[Pete647580]

Last night reminded me that our new signings are The Right Stuff.

Moyes, Newman etc have done a great job over the summer in identifying and recruiting players who want to work hard for the team.

[Crouchend_Hammer]

Anderlecht are 10th in the Belgian League
They are about the same standard as a reasonable Championship team

We got the win which is all that matters in a cup competition like this, but we should be expecting to beat teams of that standard with our squad of players

[Colours never run]

Anderlecht are 10th in the Belgian League
They are about the same standard as a reasonable Championship team

We got the win which is all that matters in a cup competition like this, but we should be expecting to beat teams of that standard with our squad of players

I'd say they're a bit better than Championship level, but it's a fair comment. I do want to see if we can transfer that kind of game in to the League too. Keeping an open mind and the benefit of doubt to see if it's possible.

[Bond Holder 59]

Anderlecht are 10th in the Belgian League
They are about the same standard as a reasonable Championship team

We got the win which is all that matters in a cup competition like this, but we should be expecting to beat teams of that standard with our squad of players

It’s a fair point, although I suspect they will finish higher than 10th, and of course our current league position doesn’t make good reading, but it’s also worth noting…that was our second eleven (well nine). Things have improved considerably so some reason to be cheerful…plus I woke up!

[MB]

The key for me is we tried to play a bit more yesterday (appreciate the level of opposition makes that easier). They are known to be a tough side to break down and we created stuff from open play.

More importantly, I clearly heard an angry Scottish voice in the first half telling our midfield to pass and move. Nice that the gaffer also wants a bit more zing to our game.

Early days and I'm sure he'll frustrate me again at some point but I could see progress yesterday.

[S-H]

The key for me is we tried to play a bit more yesterday

I wonder how much of an influence Downes had on that.

He recycles the ball so efficiently.