Tuesday 12 February 2013

"The Bubble has finally Burst"- Neil Chatterton's take on Sunday's disaster

"The worst 45 minutes of football, I have seen this season".
 
"Give Villa some credit, they tried to move the ball. On the other hand West Ham were just plain awful".
 
"20 diagonal balls bypassing the midfield. There's no purpose. This is not football".

Quotes made yesterday on the Fox Soccer channel, by the match analyst and the studio analyst,
both of whom played in the EPL and the old 1st Division.

Personally, I thought they were both being kind.

Now, I understand that survival in the EPL is of the utmost importance, and that most away teams usually employ the counter attack philosophy. But did anyone tell Big Sam, that we were playing Aston Villa and not Barcelona? The ball must have looked like a hand-grenade at the feet of the West Ham players, as they did nothing but kick it around haplessly for a full 45 minutes. I wondered during the pre-game chat, whether Sam or any of his staff mentioned - controlling the game; short passing; finding space; set the pace of the game; patience? Obviously, a rhetorical question.
The only tactic discussed before this game was the "hoof and chase". Neither pretty nor effective. As I watched, I started to count the number of consecutive passes that West Ham made going forward. I don't think that I counted more than 3 touches, while Villa were playing effective triangles, finding both space and width, and it was them who looked like they were in 11th place with 30 points. West Ham looked pitiful. Joe Cole must be hoping that he wakes up from this nightmare, and finds himself back at Anfield. The first half also helped me understand why we signed Pogatetz, his lack of pace and over committing to tackles,fits in perfectly with the current ineptness shown in general by our defensive corps this season. The half-time whistle was a relief.

On Saturday I had watched Tottenham v Newcastle, Chelsea v Wigan and Southampton v Manchester City. It is very obvious that we are in need of a complete philosophy change. The fundamental teachings and principals that Allardyce preaches and teaches, worked well to get us promotion, but cannot
win consistently in the EPL.

The start of the second half provided more purpose from both teams. Villa proved to be the more dangerous, and another moment of insanity inside the box from Noble, provided the breakthrough that Villa was looking for. Penalty! Goal! Villa's second goal came from a free kick that was NOT taken by Bale or Ronaldo, yet Jaaskelainen was rooted to the spot. I believe that defensive confidence begins with the goalie, and unfortunately Jaaskelainen is less than average in all areas of the game. How many times does a defender look at Jaaskelainen, as the ball is running back to him, yet he doesn't move and all of a sudden there's complete and utter panic. As long as he is between the posts, the club will never improve defensively.
 
Down 2-0, West Ham became desperate and started to apply more pressure on Villa, who don't forget are worse than awful, their recent Cup loss to Bradford being the low-light of their season. There is no doubt that we can play with pace, move the ball on the floor and make passes that open up the space needed to attack the flanks, BUT why don't we play that way consistently? Nothing wrong with the long ball if it's used as one option, however when it's used as the ONLY option, play becomes very predictable. yet who would care if it guaranteed goals, but it doesn't. It really doesn't.
There is no excuse for losing to Villa and not being able to beat QPR at home. Four points dropped, by playing a brand of football that is alien to most West Ham fans, and was definitely not the philosophy of an academy that has consistently produced world class players over several decades.
 
Here is our upcoming schedule - Tottenham (h); Stoke (a); Manchester United (h); Chelsea (a); West Brom (h)
 
Judging by the performance on Sunday, anyone out there "banking" more than 4 points from the possible 15?

I just read an article about how Sir Alex and Manchester United recently invited 24 MLS managers and staff, to a seminar, where he discussed philosophy, methods and coaching, and what has made United such a successful club.

I'm thinking one other manager should have gone too.

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