West Ham Online

"Posted the same last year. Nothing has changed, except win don't win matches anymore. I'm fed up, we can do much better"

Oh and Juve lose again tonight to Maccabi Haifa. Another big job looking close to being open for Poch and the like.

"Alf We have gone from 44.5% league possesion in 2020/2021 to 47.5% last year and then dropped to 41.5% so far this year. It reflects a number of other problems and shows why the manager was under fire. Our passing has been with 1 a percentage point of 80% the last three years. We can't tell the future but as you say there seem to still be some weak links in the team. I have been banging on about a Plan B for a while as well, teams are not required to attack us so we can counter attack them. Especially when we are at home. The players we have bought are generally coming along nicely and they can plan a different way but there are still some buys we need to make. (A possesion based player on the right?) Look at us not happy with 150mil+. Unfortunately only time will tell with the manager."

"As always, 50 words when 1 will do from me :-) Don't want to get into a polarised argument about possession versus the ""sit deep and counter attacking"" approach we use but lets perhaps agree we need to improve our possession stats which are about 40% and in so doing have the much talked about Plan B""? :-) The reason I think we are talking about it - in context of the thread title - is to discuss / have a dialogue ( as opposed to win an argument ) about whether Moyes will ever move us towards playing a system that relies on better possession. I simply don't know because I don't recall him ever having a team that could play that way? On the other hand, he ( Moyes ) has whined a few times about us needing to keep the ball and pass better for the last 6 - 8 months after losses/draws or even games we have won. Does not mean you always play that way and especially against some of the rich 5 or so teams as they will punish you since they are better at it and you tend to leave yourself open when pushing forward in numbers trying to pass through the press etc. But currently we do not attempt to really play that way against anyone and are dominated for possession by most teams. It could be that the players are not following instructions to play more out from the back? I suspect not as so many times we see our keeper, Zouma, Dawson, Cresswell and others launching it to Antonio ( even when Scamacca is there )when teams have us pressed high in our own half or as we defend their crosses etc. Watch Brighton, Wolves, Barcodes, Chelsea and many other teams as they all attempt to pass their way out. You have to be very good at it and not every team is but against teams that sit deep like we do and press high and fast you need it in ""the locker"" IMHO. We don't try it and if we do we seem to waste it so often and turn the ball over? So I tend to agree with WillTell that we are, manager philosophy etc. aside, 2 or so quality technical players short of being able to play this way or at least play this way effectively. Aguerd could help in the CB area and Downes for Soucek ""should"" ( based on Conference games so not proven ) improve the midfield in terms of having the ""ability"" to pass / play through the press and keep the ball better. But at left back Cresswell is not quite up to it IMO and obviously getting on anyway. Emerson might be the answer? Just worry about his defensive positioning and discipline etc. Johnson has the defensive qualities but his passing needs to improve so not sure he is the answer but he can possibly play that way?. Benrahma needs to improve his use of the ball and even Bowen and Paqueta give it away cheaply at times. Coufal like his compatriot Soucek lacks both the technique and pace IMO as of course does Antonio. Cornet we have not seen enough of to know if he gives it up too much via stray passes or poor decision making. Fornals has the ability but is definitely guilty of poor decisions etc. but maybe with some better technical players and pace in the first 11 he will have better options and improve? Moyes, as mentioned, has purchased a few players this summer who look more suited to playing this more possession based game where we also see more movement btw, better pressing too. We need a couple more additions though -as mentioned but the question is then about whether he ( Moyes ) will actually implement the ""Plan B"" ( pick the players and tactic) system? Think we should know by Xmas. If the likes of Downes, Emerson, Areola ( even he is part of a possession game as playing from the back now requires a goalkeeper that can do it and Fab bless him cant ) and Cornet start to become the first 11 choices as Scamacca and Paqueta have? Btw, Antonio, Soucek, Coufal may never be able to play the accurate passing game necessary to fit the ""plan B"" but that's fine as in a squad game they are part of our plan A which has its place."

"ED Cheers. My mom is much better now than she has been, so we are grateful for that. If you do get out to the West coast, try to take the ferry to the Island and Victoria. A bunch of my family are there and provide good recommendations."

I was watching one of the episodes of that Simon Reeve series of him going around the Americas and this one was him flying into Vancouver on a small plane that lands on water.....it looked the fucking nuts.....so I don't know if you can fly into some other Canadian city to then get this smaller plane....but it looked well worth looking into.

"Don't want to pry into your business but hope it's all going well. Might be heading out there myself next year, Vancouver and the surrounds. Few things dependent but fingers crossed."

"ED Southern Alberta, pretty close to the US border, not my choice but we came back to help my mom. Not seen a moose yet, wrong area. Been hunting for deer for the first time in forever. But mixed feelings, things I really enjoy and seen my family a lot more but still missed a whole lot about England."

"Apologies, ioc. I was assuming it was the Cornet video that the club put out after the weekend that you were talking about."

"You enjoying being back in the land of the MOOSE, Canada son? What part you in?"

"Lee Trundle 6:25 Tue Oct 11 Issa Diop - who plays for Fulham - who we played at the weekend. Aguerd talked to him for a while in the tunnel. You're welcome for answering your question, by the way."

dildoofcanada

ironsofcanada = David Gold

Aguerd was in good spirits and walking fine - talking to Diop in one of the videos the club put out from the weekend. Moyes said he was on grass the end of last month. He is targetting play for Morocco at the World Cup. I'd rather he didn't.

did Pochettino actually speak to Nice or was that made up? i'm sure he'll have one eye on juventus.

"He'll be a good player for us Trunds, I'm very confident of that. If the West Ham Injury Curse doesn't fuck him up long term."

What's the latest on Aguerd? It would be great to see him back playing for the World Cup. I thought he looked the nuts in the game and a half he had in preseason.

We don't know how good Aguerd is going to be when he comes back tbh ED. And those players alone won't get us into the CL where Pochettino wants to compete....he'll want to go head to head with Spurs for starters and we are well off that....he'd want guarantees of massive investment from our owners.......he's not the Pocchetino at Southampton anymore.....

"Aguerd, Rice, Paqueta, Bowen, Scamacca, I reckon he'd be alright. There's enough for him to work with and build on at West Ham. The football would improve drastically. Saying that, I reckon Steve Bruce would have a fair chance of improving current performances."

"He had....Kane, Son, Dele Alli & Eriksen all playing the bollocks at Spurs.....asked for more better players.....Levy said no.....the results went bad.....he got the sack.....West Ham won't look to him as good a prospect as you think ED.....he'd go in with less talent to get playing....he'd need to majorly spend......"

"Here's a question Do you think Moyes tries to stifle creativity over pragmatism ? For example, would he be castigating Paquetta for the way he brought that ball down the other day that elicited that response from our bench ? I think we see Moyes as this dinosaur that only likes players keeping it simple"

What a load of bollocks.

To get Pochettino in and be a success the owners would need to invest 180million in the next two windows.....that would be to get in at least SIX players who are comfortable holding onto the ball and a few of them need to be pacey. A couple of them will likely be flops or get injured longterm......so.......THIS IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. Moyes's project is at the speed the owners can handle.

"It would be the easiest convince job to get him right now. Massive stadium, just weighed out £180mil, Brazil's current number 10 & Italy's current number 9, England's future captain, all based down the road from his gaff. I personally think we'd have a good chance of Rice staying if he was our manager. Not gonna happen though. Moyes probably deserves to stay. Luckily I've kept hold of my neck brace from the Allardyce era..."

"Do you think Pochettino is a realistic target? I read somewhere his family might still be in England. We are better prospect than Leicester currently, which I have seen him linked with. But also with big foreign clubs and there are all the changes that will happen after the World Cup."

"I'm not so much Moyes out, more Pochettino IN."