west ham (home)predictions

[Despair]

Basically PL's massively gambled Dan, he gave the impression he would go for it, and at some point has 'drawn his horns in' (discretion better part of valour? who's to say).
For all those hurting out there, as said in the bar in Pulp Fiction 'That's pride f*****g with you'. Learn to manage it.
He's getting a right pillorying now, just like after the match before last (as I fully expected). But yet again I say (in opinion) that lets see what the next four or so games bring. And, from there the close season ins and outs. He has learnt a fair bit about his fringe players today and am sure this will be reflected come June/July.
Its all about 2015/16.

[robinrover]

Indeed he has Despair indeed he has.

[Bobcrompton1896]

Dead right,Dan. For all that Brown is a serious non-scoring striker,he still gave us an option to hold the shape of the team together which disappeared completely when he was subbed. Apart from Marshall who again showed his true Premier league quality,and some nice touches from Lenihan we were toothless yet again.

I dont really blame the defence completely,no protection at all and West Ham had done their homework,targetting our woeful left-back position. Even a static Spurr would defend better than Henley,but no protection from Akpan,so with about 7 players that went missing again and unhelpful refereeing decisions it could have been even worse than 5-1. Dont forget Man.City were also thrashed 5-1 today and they didnt get a player sent off.

[DanRrr]

Basically PL's massively gambled Dan, he gave the impression he would go for it,

You're right there Despair - he should have kept his trap shut if he intended to play the reserve minus, Marshall, Steele and Duffy, (and maybe Brown).

from there the close season ins and outs. He has learnt a fair bit about his fringe players today and am sure this will be reflected come June/July.
Its all about 2015/16.

This is the real issue. We're in a very long pre-season for what I hope is for a few players. Lambert has the luxury of building a squad between now and September. August. I expect a lot more from that point on. A hell of a lot more. But we'd have lost that game no matter who we put out. West Ham are no duffers right now. I wanted Liverpool and would have expected a stronger starting 11 if they had been there today.

Did I mention that Akpan was dire? Is dire and has the att

[Howie5o]

Oh dear I wonder how many they will get, 5,6?

I'm with Lambert, who cares? Ironic that a player that's guarenteed a regular starter, Steele, has been culpable on arguably both west ham goals so far.[/quote]

Really ?..So youre with Lambert who plays a keeper whos culpable.

Look again how we got ripped apart ..

[jordan12rhodes]

Oh dear I wonder how many they will get, 5,6?

I'm with Lambert, who cares? Ironic that a player that's guarenteed a regular starter, Steele, has been culpable on arguably both west ham goals so far.[/quote]

Really ?..So youre with Lambert who plays a keeper whos culpable.

Look again how we got ripped apart ..[/quote]

If you have so little respect for my opinions, why always reply to them..?

The quoted comment was made at half time if you bother to look.

[AucklandRover]

When I saw the line-up, I said to myself, "How are we going to keep the ball?" After 15 minutes, I said to my wife, "Well, I was wrong. We're playing skilful, one-touch football, with accurate passing."
Then West Ham woke up. After that we were dire.
Taylor's sending off made things much worse, of course. Not just because we were down to ten, but also because he was the one man who was having some success in breaking up the West Ham attacks early. The rest of our players were constantly backing off. Look at the equaliser as a classic example. Taylor also gave good protection to Marshall down the right. Where was the same thing on the left? There were about six occasions when Henley was left completely exposed. Twice, there wasn't another Rovers player on the screen.
Lenihan started well, but then disappeared. Akpan was poor but at least he tried. Conway and Bennett were totally anonymous.
It is all very well talking about concentration on the league, but can anyone explain why our

[jordan12rhodes]

Expect the same line up as the Fulham game v derby. This game will have no bearing at all.

[AucklandRover]

Expect the same line up as the Fulham game v derby. This game will have no bearing at all.

That's a big call, Saxo! "No bearing at all"? What about the impact on morale and confidence?
Anyway, as the Fulham line-up did so well, why change it so drastically? At least we would have seen how our best team measures up.
I don't really buy this "exhaustion" argument. Are ultra-fit professionals really not capable of playing a game every three or four days? Sure, tweak the line-up where essential, but why would you not play Gomez against a team full of quality like West Ham? Who else have we got - apart from Marshall - who is likely to produce a moment of excellence?

[AucklandRover]

Basically PL's massively gambled Dan, he gave the impression he would go for it, and at some point has 'drawn his horns in' (discretion better part of valour? who's to say).
For all those hurting out there, as said in the bar in Pulp Fiction 'That's pride f*****g with you'. Learn to manage it.
He's getting a right pillorying now, just like after the match before last (as I fully expected). But yet again I say (in opinion) that lets see what the next four or so games bring. And, from there the close season ins and outs. He has learnt a fair bit about his fringe players today and am sure this will be reflected come June/July.
Its all about 2015/16.

Despair - you are being surprisingly upbeat.
What worries me is that we have seen two major errors of judgement from PL. First, when he persistently went for a formation and style that was blatantly unsuited to the players we had. Secondly, today's line-up.
Fair enough, it's early