[Archived] West Ham United V Brfc 3 - 1 Wham

[1864roverite]

simply woeful

comfortable start

1-0 up

comfortable

second half

we threw it all way

dickov/emerton = very very disappointing

[frosty]

Oh dear, oh dear. We sounded in control in the first half but just fell asleep in the second. Todd's goal was amazing!

[greggyk]

Well, Im home now from the match, so I'll give a little review for what its worth.

In the first half, i thought overall we were quite good actually especially for the first 30mins. Our passing was slick and our attacking looked very dangerous and our wide men got in some good positions, only for MGP who was WOEFUL all game to put ###### crosses in the box.

But what was our defence playing at!!! Mokoena was one of the worst centre backs Ive ever seen playing for Rovers today, and i'd rather have Darren Peakcock than him.

I though Savage and Reid in the first half were okay too! But Shefki Kuqi-just imagine a mix of Lorenzo Amoruso,Ashley Ward and Dwight Yorke in one man-well thats our Kuqi. He was a funckin joke! He didnt win one header in the whole game nor did he hold the ball up once for the classy looking Bellamy (who actually won a few flick ons for a little guy)

And for the second half, well to be fair, whatever Hughes said at half time was thrown out the window when Sheringham scored about 20 seconds after kick-off,(thank god i missed the goal as i was getting a beer n burger)

But after that, we were shocking and looked a relagation team for sure. Todd,Mokoena,Savage,Emerton,Pedersen,Matteo and Kuqi deserved to be shot for that performance and unless we improve i aint gunna spend good money to go see that ######.

My ratings:

Friedel 6

Neill 8 -had a very good game IMO

Todd-5

Moko-2

Matteo-4

MGP-3

Savage-5

Reid-7

Emerton-5

Bellamy-7

Kuqi-0.5

[USABlue]

One game in and the "R" word is already being used. Dingles hammered Coventry today so after their doom and gloom I'm sure they are now playoff contenders. Watched a bit of Fulham today, did not see the result or the whole match but they looked to have some very good movement. Don't see us beating them or Spurs.

If we have to rely on Nelsen to be a solid defensive unit we are in trouble. Today was always going to be a difficult game.

[Blackpool_Rover]

just got back...what a fun drive that was...quite possibly my most miserable day since last november. il read posts tommorow...a cheerfull friends 21st bday party beckons...god

[greggyk]

One game in and the "R" word is already being used.  Dingles hammered Coventry today so after their doom and gloom I'm sure they are now playoff contenders.  Watched a bit of Fulham today, did not see the result or the whole match but they looked to have some very good movement.  Don't see us beating them or Spurs.

If we have to rely on Nelsen to be a solid defensive unit we are in trouble.  Today was always going to be a difficult game.

338834[/snapback]

are you not contradicting yourself there. Slating us for being negative yet you cant see us beating Fulham nor Spurs.Your hardly being positive are ya

[Rovers_4_life]

I've just watched the game on football first and i was pleased with the performance first half. Second haf they were better ut as soon as we went 2-1 down the boys gave up and to me that's un-acceptable. Savage and Reid were overrun in midfield and when we went 4-5-1 Bellamy couldn't hold the ball up and it kept coming back and back at our defence. Very disappointed.

I'm not even gonna comment on what Emerton was trying to do for that third goal

[KimberleyBRFC]

Its only our first game and it's best to be positive but right now i'm feeling slightly suicidle. And now i'm home after plucking up the courage to risk my life by travelling on the tube, checking out every person that entered the train. I didn't even bother torturing myself into watching the game on football first. It's typical we get picked for game of the day when we get beat.

First half i was impressed, our passing of the ball was good and i had good visions of the season to come, i thought we'd win by 3-0 easy as i'd predicted.. BUT.. wtf happened in the second half is just completed unacceptable.. brett emerton is one of the most frustrating players ive ever come across and mokoena was absolutely SHOCKING.. i would swear but it would get removed. I have been very impressed with Kuqi in pre season and been very excited to see him play in the premiership but today he was dreadful. I'd like to add Grabbi to that collation of players the person before my posted (greg).

In all fairness West ham played some good football and deserved to win.. I just hope it was a blip and we learn from this in our next game against foolham

[Timmy]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......bad day all round

[KimberleyBRFC]

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh......bad day all round

338846[/snapback]

I became a sister again today.. should be one of the happiest days of my life .. maybe i could get baby Luke to play for us he'd do a better job than some of our players today ffs

[LeChuck]

Savage was completely to blame for that first goal, I honestly don't know what he's thinking sometimes. Emerton was taking the throw-in, Reid was forward as you would expect, same with Pedersen, Savage is sitting back. Everything seems good. Then, just as Emerton throws it, Savage decides he's going to make a break into the box...the ball is cleared, Benayoun is free to carry the ball and do what he wants with it. What an utter tool, do we have to appoint a babystitter in midfield because he can't think?

Mokoena was to blame for the second, completely sold himself for no reason...all he had to do was stay goal-side of Reo-coker and he can't shoot. Hughes pulled off a masterstroke by bringing Nelsen in, but we have to accept Mokoena is a failure. At £300,000 for an International captain it was certainly worth the risk, but we now know why no-one else did it before us. He's not good enough.

The tactical switch wasn't a good move, asking Bellamy to be a lone striker when he's not fit wasn't smart. If West Ham can play 4-4-2 including an attacking midfielder like Benayoun then we shouldn't have to resort to something like that at the first sign of trouble, it seems very simplistic and naive to me. He should have been looking at a way of keeping the ball more in the attacking third, not the defensive third.

I really can't understand why everyone is so down on Emerton, he wasn't good, but he was certainly no worse than anyone else (dodgy pass aside). Dickov's tackle was shocking, I've never seen anyone try to block a clearance like that. 5th choice behind Bellamy, Kuqi, Jansen and Gallagher should suit him nicely.

It wasn't ALL bad, not as bad as people are making out. Three mistakes cost us, and I think even the most pessimistic of us would have to concede they were uncharacteristic. Go 4-4-2 in the next game, push Matteo to centre back with Gresko coming in at left back...and tell Savage not to go into the final third. No knee-jerk reactions Mr Hughes...I still believe we're on the right track.

Oh, as a final (and maybe irrelevant) point, Liverpool played 4-5-1 against Middlesbrough and were pants until Ehiogu got sent off. I wouldn't expect them to make an impression on the championship race with an attitude like that.

MGP-3

Is that a joke? He's the only player who looked technically competent today.

Edited August 13, 2005 by LeChuck

[emerton]

one of the worst games ive seen the club play.

no one seemed to be able to pass the ball to the forwards, i could see bellamy getting frustrated....

reid was poor, we need someone who can give that killer ball from midfield

[OscarRaven]

The first game of the season is rarely the greatest indicator of how the season will go (thats why no-one bothers with the table for a few weeks. No-one predicted we would go all season unbeaten - perhaps West Ham will be a surprise package.

One thing is for sure we will lose when we shouldn't and win when we shouldn't thats just Rovers.

As for the players who let us down today - we dont have consistant performers, thats for sure - Which Rovers will turn up? Thats a big fix.

The game was lost in midfield today, they were all useless.

In Mark Hughes however there will be a gutted man - but I bet he knows where the mistakes were and who did not do there job.

As for relegation dont be silly - we can revert to the 4-5-1 formation and bore draw our way to survival!!

With the games thick and fast - get over this quickly!

[Neil Weaver]

Ah, the season starts and we're back to knee jerk reactions. This place just isn't the same without them. So at the risk of sounding like Jim, the silver lining from today is a note of realism - to all those predicting a finish in about 6th for us, can I have a pint of what you're drinking please. It ain't going to happen. We've made two signings over the summer, both an improvement on what we had before. So keep the good performances/players from last season, add Kuqi and Bellamy and we'll finish 3 or 4 places higher. Lose a few key players/performances and we'll finish a bit lower. A relegation fight isn't out of the picture.

Chances are we'll finish mid table. That means winning a few games most folk think beforehand we won't, and losing a few against supposedly worse teams. It happens, accept it.

And on that optimistic note I'm off for some kip. Chin chin.

EDIT Great minds and all that, Mr Raven. Well said, and mine wasn't plagiarism honest, I was typing whilst you were posting!

Edited August 13, 2005 by Neil Weaver

[SAS]

i wasnt too impressed by anyone today

[DP]

What a strange match. Eating my pie at half time I was feeling reasonably comforable, and so were the fans around me... so just how bad were we then?? Obviously not that bad in the first half. Savage ran around a lot and made his impression on the game, Reid was working hard, Bellamy looked lively, and both of our full backs looked like they could handle any wing play from the Hammers.

Fair enough, Emerton looked lacking in confidence.... again, and Pederson doesn't appear to have the strength or pace in open play to get too involved. But we'll forgive him because of his set pieces and his clinical timing!!

But a half later and we're the worst team in the league.... is that really the case?

Kuqi has no first touch, but we knew that anyway. Bellamy clearly wasn't fit. Mokeana, to me, isn't good enough to play in any position but then I didn't see his good games (were there about 2?) last season. Bit harsh on Todd, he made loads of great interceptions and last ditch tackles... but unfortunately was left exposed by his defensive partner and midfield on occasions.

End of the day we know the squad of players we have. We've got good discipline, and without the careless football we'll still beat teams on a bad day. We just need to make the most out of Bellamy when he's fit... .. oh and not play Mokeana again!

[Florida Rover]

worst opening day loss since 1990-91 season where we were canned 4-2 by

Bristol City away.Had to be painful to watch the second half,given the optimism that had been the first half.No,one can't judge a whole season by the opening game but ths sure does leave a bitter taste in everyone's mouth.

florida rover

[evukovic]

Well that just capped off an utterly terrible weekend. Came down with a rather nasty bout of tonsilitis on Friday morning. Couldn't make it to the Melbourne Victory game due to illness and then discovered they were pumped at home 3-1. (At least that was pre-season). Shocking day on Saturday, computer packs it in and needs a reformat, spent all day re-organising that (lucky the uni homework was backed up). In a good mood again as every team I had predicted to win in the AFL had and I was cruising to get some cash only to realise that I didn't go to work on Friday and thus didn't fill in my footy tips. Coverage over here started at 11:00pm and upon turning the telly on see Man Utd 2 up over Everton. Missed both goals of course. Two minutes later the telly starts fizzling and making fantastic crackling noises. Turned it off quickly and bugger me if the tube hasn't burnt out. (Thoroughly p***ed off at this point as tv is only 15 months old, but is still out of warranty). Hooked up my old piece of crap tv with shoddy picture in time for the Rovers game and was in a good mood again, especially when Todd scored. However as has been expressed by other posters, this all turned to a steaming pile of dog poo, leaving me in a very unhappy mood. And to cap it all off, couldn't get to sleep as the wife was snoring like a freight train.

Anyhow, my rather blinkered analysis of the match. Whilst Rovers had control of the first 30 mins or so, I could see a few problems. Savage cannot pass, each ball he hit was too strong or way off target. Reid and Pedersen were suffering from the same thing, often looking for Bellamy but not getting it anywhere near him. Reid should be banned from taking free kicks.

Kuqi was lively, but lacked the touch and quality that was needed. Didn't actually see him win a header until the shot on goal from the corner which he clearly should have slotted. Commentators were remarking on how Mokoena and Todd should have swapped, as their respective markers were clearly out-foxing them. Mokoena on the whole was dire and was even struggling with winning in the air (something he did well last year). Todd too looked out of sorts, possibly due to his partner or simply that he couldn't handle Harewood's pace.

Emerton was invisible most of the first half, but to be fair, the ball was coming up the left flank for the majority of it, only for Pedersen to punch it out of touch with a poor pass. Second half though, just as poor and indecisive as usual, though he did get some good crosses in, but no one was there for Rovers.

Second half and we all saw what happened. Essentially Rovers disintergrated. Not going to comment on Mokoena as I thought he was the worst player on the park. Savage too was poor and doesn't look like he links up well with the other players. Reid was lively and willing, but couldn't find a quality ball for the forwards. Matteo was lumbering about for the most part, looked decidedly more comfortable at centre half but still doesn't cut the mustard. Couldn't guage Gresko's performance on his limited playing time, though did notice he was more willing to come forward than Matteo.

Bellamy was clearly frustrated with the service he was getting. Best player in my opinion was Neill. He positioned himself well, tackled well and hard, worked hard all day and managed to come forward a lot of times also, yes his balls forward weren't always the best, but that's not really his department. The less said about Dickov the better.

Overall, a turgid performance. The team lacked that creative spark required to lift them, (possibly bringing Tugay on could have helped) and were for the most part outpaced and outmuscled. Here's hoping for a better performance next match (and a new tv for me).

[pg]

For those of us who became optimistic over the summer, welcome back to reality-losing at West Ham. Ho hum, theres plenty more heart ache to come me thinks...

338726[/snapback]

Just as well I never felt optimistic then eh?

Worried about Moko playing as a centre-back. He never impressed me there last season. To me, he looks far more effective in midfield.

How many players at the club can actually play a decent game at centre-back?

Nelsen?

Todd?

..erm... who else?!?

Edited August 14, 2005 by pg

[saosin]

Just as well I never felt optimistic then eh?

Worried about Moko playing as a centre-back.  He never impressed me there last season.    To me, he looks far more effective in midfield.

How many players at the club can actually play a decent game at centre-back?

Nelsen?

Todd?

..erm... who else?!?

338869[/snapback]

I know he's injured, but amoruso is not as bad as people make him out to be. I would pick him ahead of mokoena.

how serious is nelsen's injury anyway?

[Bobby G]

Amoruso is not as bad as people say but he tends to make one or two huge howlers every game and if the opposition is good enough they will capitalize on it.

Mokoena is a rubbish center back though.

Todd is alright.

Nelson is the best of the lot by far.

Come on Hughes, sort it out! I hope he gave them a good rollicking.

[philipl]

Mark Hughes' after match comments on the official board are one of the few grounds for optimism following yesterday's defeat. Certainly, it is very unlikely that West Ham will have another 45 minutes in the Premiership where everything will fall for them just so right as it did in the second half yesterday. We made their good breaks for them.

As for Dickov- he had gone up to Emerton to give him a piece of his mind immediately after the third goal so was obviously wound up and passionate. Another interpretation is that he was an idiot.

I would imagine that the Rovers appearance before the FA because of our disciplinary record will be coming up this week. All the arguments from Hughes and William of new season, new approach etc. can be chucked in the bin now. Guess the fine went up another £25K or so when Dickov lunged in.

[kevinyip]

Luckily that it is the first game of the season. It may let us down to earth. And I think that our player will play more carefully in future game. But just like my premiership table prediction, Only Position 13 for blackburn is right. Be realistic, we can't get into top six...

[tsnuf]

Gabbidon looked good.

Wish we signed him.

[Paul]

Like the majority of posters I've seen nothing of the game, myself I was listening as I half-dozed in front of the cricket before going out on my bike before the full-time whistle went. The impression I gained and was going to post last night but didn't was:

Emerton will hopefully get the plane home with his cricket playing countrymen. He's always been awful and proved it again today. Qantas are doing cheap deals at the moment - so said the advertising at OT on Friday, which made me smile!

Dickov is a total liability to the team and club. Last season we had to tolerate it, this season we should not, sack him.

The rest - nothing has changed and why should it have done? The team has a poor no - unpredictable - attitude which leaves the support wondering what will happen next.

I didn't post yesterday to avoid a knee-jerk response to my disappointment, sadly I feel the same this morning. Bitterly disappointed the side appear to have let the fans down, again. For me the worrying aspect of this result is many fans will react by thinking the Fulham game means nothing more than a repeat of last season. Rovers will be very fortunate to get 16000 next Saturday.

All summer I've had no buzz about the new season, only studied the fixtures yesterday. Came within a gnat's whisker of not renewing the STs but instead bought four, that's one extra on last year. The main reason to renew was for the kids - I wish I hadn't bothered. We really needed a win yesterday just to get the fans buzzing but you can't expect a professional footballer to understand that.