Before the dust settles

[toptoon]

WTF happened there?
Out played. No reaction to going behind. Team felt the goals really badly (mental strength???). No pressure to score when 2-0 down at home. Midfield dominated. Out battled all night. Hope Isak doesnt get another wor flags display - he was awful tonight.

Not even that p*ssed off because we were so poor. No idea where our season goes now.

[Nufcian]

Kelly at fault for leaving Soucek unmarked and think he could have done more to make Wan Bissaka work hard for their second.

Pen, we never got but should have got, was a poor decision, but as it finished made no impact on final score.

Sloppy passing and shooting throughout the game,

So many attempts at through balls, and most of them lacking quality, so many crosses into space with no one around.

18 shots and 2 on target

We were complete Bo!!ocks

West Ham were clearly the better team and deserved the win.

[toptoon]

Kelly had a terrible game. Apart from the goals you mention he went missing in defense on several occasions. With BDB playing we don?t lose that match.

[Cannylad]

The only player I give any credit to is Hall, again.

[Nufcian]

We really need someone who can take a corner, and to be brutally honest the crosses coming in from both Hall and Tino really need some work.

Hall was probably the best player we had, but of he?s gonna start taking so many shots he really needs to work on his shooting.

Thought Isak was poor, and dunno if I am reading too much into it (or maybe missed it) but looked like he didn?t even look at the flag display for him and never saw him acknowledge it.

[Ragatino]

Before the dust settles - "Well that was SHYTE!"

Undefendable SHYTE. A team in such a poor state. A manager days from the sack. A team who have been turned over badly and shown they are a soft touch made us look clueless.

I think everyone knows my general pragmatic opinion to things and don't get too hysterical when we lose. However, what I saw last night doesn't make sense.

The non-international players went away to Riyadh for a camp and came back with the same sort of confidence and attitude they exhibited when we got beat by Chelsea at the Bridge in the league the game before the Cup win against them.

There was no intensity at all save for a few moments where we pressed and forced mistakes but that fizzled out. Isak, like Haaland this 'game week' (another nonsense term I hate) had possibly the worst game I've seen him have in a B&W shirt. Apart from the cute finish for the off-side goal he did seem to put any accuracy or care into his finishes.

Gordon - anonymous. Commentators lauding Wan Bissaka as though he was peak Maldini. The lad did nothing aside from score his goal. Gordon didn't turn up to night. There was nothing, no arrogance, no cunning, no guile. He got smashed early on, no foul or card give. No response from Joelinton as he was on the other wing and Willock isn't that kind of 'enforcer'. So Gordon just went into his shell.

He and most others lost their individual battles across the park. The team lost the match.

That said, aside from young Louis Hall (man of the match for us once again, pocketed Bowen who didn't have much of a say in the match), I can't name one player on the pitch that passed a ball into feet accurately more then twice all night.

The passing was garbage all night, always a yard short or long, too hard or under hit. Sloppy was a word used in the press.

The same press cooing of how good West Ham were... Really? This was two dross teams on the night who exhibited the attitude that neither wanted to be there on a Monday night. Creatures of habit? Quite remarkable, not in a good way.

The Commentators must have been watching a different dimension in time and space because they, like NUFC were awful. Only marginally less awful than us. They Parked the bus, no ambition to play the game at all. The 2 goals were literally the only times the put any pressure on and the 2nd I was amazed that he hit the target.

That's football. The team got what it deserved for the performance they put in.

Can we blame the manager?

Set pieces are a joke at this point. Clueless and useless. On that score yes.

Tactics?
Well we beat Forest a team in far better form away with almost identical tactics.

Perhaps that's the problem?
We should have been more aggressive to West Ham. The ref prefers to let the game flow, West Ham came for a fight not a football match. The won the physical battle and took their two chances in the match. Head of down the A1 with all the points.

They did to us what we did to Arsenal. So there is some responsibility leveled at EH however 80% or more is on the shoulders of those who cross that white line.

No one got angry and no one put the boot in when it was clear that playing the game was not working. There was no 2nd gear.

I get really angry when I see that people don't get angry. With 20 mins to go it felt like they were done. "Ah well we gave it a go, we'll try again next week, it's only 3 points and one match."

The crowd didn't sound very animated either. The crowing from Level 7 was piped through the live broadcast with passes being cheered as early as 70 gone.

Although not a one sided mauling, this is a humiliation and for a club who want to be in the Top 4 and 'Number 1 in the world' it is unacceptable.

Champions don't have 'Off days'

- Give us a team that tries...

One thing is for sure. We need something different, a creative spark that can break down a team who parks the bus. That right wing is still a massive issue. A Cherki or a player with that Maxi, Ben Arfa arrogance who will force something a chance, a shot or win a penalty.

Again there was a clear penalty on Wilson not given. That could have turned the game had it been given. However, I'm always reminded of Dana White's comments to fighter. "Never leave it in the hands of the Judges". We had very few shots, even few clear cut shots on target. I don't know if we had a single shot on target in the 2nd half.

No manner of coaching can improve that. The players, "OOOOOH They'll leave if the THE CLUB don't give them Champions League" showed tonight why they aren't Champions League regulars.

That was an almost completely fully fit first team in the midfield and forward line it was. So we should have controlled the game and scored goals.

We did neither. It wasn't due to constant pressure or being pinned back in our defensive 3rd. It was thought lack of attacking ingenuity and technique.

If someone says to you 'Isak'll be away', you should remind them that he had many shots and didn't score a single goal. That's his fault not the clubs fault. We pay him to score goals to win us matches.

Don't get it backwards, the players need to step up next match against Liverpool (hahaha great!) to prove they are worthy of being talked about for a Champions League place.

[Zippity]

Raga, if the players had put half as much effort into the game as you did into that post, we'd have won easily.

[Marat18]

I hate Monday night football, I dont know why, as Raga mentioned, there is no spark in them. As if the players have muscle memory that Monday is day off.

That was kind of performance that can get you result at home against mid-table or weaker teams - we push it from the start, shove one in, then sit it out and get the second. The point is we didnt score and it worked the other way.

Kelly disappointed me, he turned his back to the ball too soon. And then was the episode few minutes later when he did the same. I think next time he plays someone will try to get past him faking the shot.

And also - the part that worries me - we dont have playmaker type of player. Bruno gets fouled way too much. Looks like the opposition knows that they need just stop him with professional foul, no yellow, they regroup and then we just pass it around penalty area.
We used to have Trippier on the right who was dictating the tempo, Tino is great player, but he gets the ball forward with his runs

[Ragatino]

I hate Monday night football, I dont know why, as Raga mentioned, there is no spark in them. As if the players have muscle memory that Monday is day off.

That was kind of performance that can get you result at home against mid-table or weaker teams - we push it from the start, shove one in, then sit it out and get the second. The point is we didnt score and it worked the other way.

Kelly disappointed me, he turned his back to the ball too soon. And then was the episode few minutes later when he did the same. I think next time he plays someone will try to get past him faking the shot.

And also - the part that worries me - we dont have playmaker type of player. Bruno gets fouled way too much. Looks like the opposition knows that they need just stop him with professional foul, no yellow, they regroup and then we just pass it around penalty area.
We used to have Trippier on the right who was dictating the tempo, Tino is great player, but he gets the ball forward with his runs

Yeah Kellly was shyte absolutely unacceptable performance for a man on his salary.

Bruno either needs to be playing higher up the pitch as a 10/8 position Odergaard style rather than a 6/8 Pirlo role. Or we need to being in an Advanced Play Maker, Cherki or someone like that. A player who can unlock a defence either with a pass or a dribble. We need to force more penalties when teams are just going to turn up and park the bus.

Cowards need to be punished and we have to put clubs to the sword when they come to SJP

[Ragatino]

Raga, if the players had put half as much effort into the game as you did into that post, we'd have won easily.

I'm a winner, what can I say hahaha winners don't take days off.

Or, they're sat in an airport departure business lounges with over an hour of free time on their hands in a bad mood at the shyt match they've just witnessed.