Another frustrating afternoon for me, sitting beside a 'pool friend. Liverpool, to be fair, dominated the first half, but it was Bobby Z that gave the hammers the lead when a slightly mishit near post cross was helped into the net by the hapless keeper. West Ham were defending well and the crosses that Liverpool were continuously firing in were generally no big danger. Some long range efforts were all that Liverpool had to offer. Then, in typical West Ham fashion, it happened. Agger, the Dane carried the ball from his own half. No one closed him down until it was too late. He unleashed a cracker from 20 metres or so. 1-1. OK, I thought we start level for the second half, but Oh no. The Hapless Hammers weren't finished yet. They let Liverpool walk through them. This time Crouch did the finishing and we were 2-1 down. Sh1t. Never mind, I'll have another beer. It's worth mentioning that only seconds before the equaliser, Harewood was wrongly judged to have fouled a 'pool defender and his goal was disallowed. The second half was, in fact, much better for us. We dominated for long periods and really should have got a second. Yossi was unlucky and Bowyer missed a chance that even Stomper would have put away. No more goals and we lost. On play they maybe just deserved it, but on chances we should have got at least a draw. Players. Carroll. Did OK, not at fault with the goals. Pants. Got better as the game went on. I will get to like him I think. Gabbinon. Very good game. The odd error, but we all make them. Anton. Up and down I thought. Some of his passing was terrible, some very good. Konch. I thought he had a very good day. He seems faster than last year. Bowyer. Not a bad game from Lee. He combines well sometimes with Yossi. NRC. Did a lot of running, but no more than average from him. Often did the work and then blew it away with a bad final pass. Mullins? Never noticed him. Did he play? Probably a good sign. He never did anything stupid, but he should have closed down Agger, and not given him a free shot. Yossi. I thought he was outstanding. Creative, dangerous and tackled back well. Our best player. Harewood. He cause the Liverpool defence some problems, but he seemed a bit off the pace sometimes. Bad luck to lose, what was in my opinion, a well taken goal Bobby Z. What can we say? He scored his fourth goal of the season. Bit of a fluke, but they all count Bobby. Yep he earned his wages. Subs. Apart from a shot by Cole that was cleared off the line, they never really influenced the game. Overall we look a fit and talented side. We seemed to expect to loose today, when we could well have won this. We bucked our ideas up in the second half. Hard luck? Maybe, but we have to be more confident in making our own luck. Tony. Last thought. Not many teams get anything at Anfield, but it's about time we did.
No we only score when I'm either a: sitting on the loo, or b: having a ****** in the garden, or c: getting a beer out of the fridge. I think I am more suited to my present role as incontinent, heavy smoking drunk. Mind you, if they installed a portaloo complete withfags, ashtray and minibar at the side of the pitch, I could be a useful squad player.
I think you've identified the teams achilles. They both put in the work but as you say it's often wasted possession. The team would be better served if we could get a natural right winger with similar pace and skill of Etherington, freeing up both Yossi and Bowyer to play central positions. We can appreciate what Pardew sees in NRC and Mullins, as they are both full of energy and totally committed to the cause, but I'm not sure the quality is there to push us to the next level.
I thought the same about Mullins - I never noticed him either, but that suggests in a defensive midfielder that he had good game. In my opinion Reo-Coker has got what it takes for the next level. I guess we'll see if he moves to a big club. And let's bring on the incontinent, heavy smoking drunks.
I was A. very surprised and B. content when Pards took Konch away and replaced him with Mears - who as far as I know - should be right back. Konch was a dissapointment to me last season after playing against Argentine. Could it be he found his limits there and that might´ve been causing some lack of concentration and effort during the second half of the season? Anyways, he was again too poor on his passing and concentration yesterday too. I took Pards´s manouver being a reminder to him that even his place isn´t sure if he keeps on going like he has.
Quote. And let's bring on the incontinent, heavy smoking drunks OK. I'm in. Right back if no one objects.