Why have we started so well?

[scott_d]

No-one expected it, not event the most optimistic hammers. I expected our form to continue as it did from last season in the League as there wasn't much to suggest Moyes was going to do anything different. But somehow we have managed to pick up 3 big results after a lukewarm start at Bournemouth. Is it the signings, the tactics, the sale or Rice? Probably a combination but why are things working for Moyes right now where they failed miserably last season?

[violator]

grasshopper 3:13 Mon Sep 4 From one of your SAUCES no doubt

[likemydreams]

swindon 3 04

[grasshopper]

I was told last year that many of the players were unhappy that Rice got the captaincy when he was angling for a move. I think the team spirit has improved since he has left and it reflects in the results.

[swindon hammer]

“We haven’t fully deserved to win any game” Disagree with that. The Brighton result for one was throughly deserved. Against this particular opposition the game plan was executed almost perfectly. You say they had 25 shots but only 10 were on target. We had 7 on target so not a huge amount of difference. We scored 3 and could easily have had 5 or 6 goals. How many teams go to Brighton and have 5 or 6 clear cut chances? Of course there is a valid argument that Moyes sets us up too cautiously in a lot of games and we need to be on the front foot more especially during home games but on this occasion due to the opposition it was justified and the win was deserved.

[Iron Duke]

Small margins. We got a bit lucky against Chelsea. That result gave us confidence to play really well against Brighton. We’ve also taken our chances. Saying that, we nearly threw it away at Luton. Last season, we should have beaten Forest and were robbed of a point against Chelsea. That put us under pressure and our confidence ebbed away. Then we went into survival mode and did just about enough to stay up.

[SUM A DING WONG]

We never played possession football. We was expecting Scamacca to play up front by himself and run the channels like Antonio. It was never going to work - a blind man could see that.

[Hammer and Pickle]

I’m sorry but I must have missed the exact moment last season when Moyes tried to play possession football. I watch pretty much all the games and I must have had a dodgy stream for that particular one or something. Anyway now we have the players, there’s pretty much no excuse for the “balls-up and the knock-downs” anymore

[fraser]

Moyes tried to play with more possession last year and it didn't suit us, he has reverted to his normal tactics. He did, but there was a reason for it, because our form was awful from January the season before, it had stopped working because teams became wise to it. What happens when it stops working again?

[daveyg]

I agree with Fraser and Miike We haven't fully deserved to win any game. Brighton fully deserved to beat Newcastle. They had 25 shots against us. We took our chances. Bowen is scoring and Paqueta is playing well. We haven't had one free kick yet in the JWP zone. That's because we're not attacking enough. Arsenal made a big mistake not buying him,instead went for a attacker In Havertz to play in a role JWP would thrive in. We've been Moyes lucky.He showed against Luton he didn't know when or where to play Kudus. Injury time sub, pathetic .we could all see Benrhama was having no impact. Give our new signing 20 plus minutes, he'd just scored a frigging hat trick against similar opposition.

[Alex G]

Come On You Irons 12:53 Mon Sep 4 Come on, you're smarter than that. It was clear I was listing hypothetical things that could lead to players not playing at the level they currently are.

[twoleftfeet]

Moyes tried to play with more possession last year and it didn't suit us, he has reverted to his normal tactics. Antonio seems lighter than last year and we have a stronger spine. We will get beaten on occasions but I think we will finish in the top 8 and, hopefully, have a decent run in the cups.

[Kaiser Zoso]

Part of the problem we had last season was Moyes inability to integrate the new arrivals into the team and instead he insisted on selecting the same players who’d ended the previous season so badly.

[Manuel]

When you start a new season it's a fresh start and a new chapter, so it appears that the manager and the players have ''had a word with themselves'' and basically said let's forget about that shit from last season (league wise, naturally) and let's get back to the form and tactics that we had in the previous two years, and that is basically, broadly speaking, what has happened. And of course other things that have been mentioned, Rice leaving has being well and good recruitment, and you always need a bit of luck, which we have had in a couple of games.

[Manuel]

When you start a new season it's a fresh start and a new chapter, so it appears that the manager and the players have ''had a word with themselves'' and basically said let's forget about that shit from last season (league wise, naturally) and let's get back to the form and tactics that we had in the previous two years, and that is basically, broadly speaking, what has happened. And of course other things that have been mentioned, Rice leaving has being well and good recruitment, and you always need a bit of luck, which we have had in a couple of games.

[SUM A DING WONG]

“A few of the players commented that during the first half of last season we tried to play differently to what we had done in the previous 2 years and it wasn’t working so Moyes has reverted back to what works for him. “ I think It was Antonio who was most vocal about that, as he mentioned in his podcast. He was of course, talking bollocks. We hadn’t changed our style, the problem was, Moyes was asking the newer players to play Moyesball and they wasn’t suited to it. Lots of people were moaning on here that we wished that we did change the style, to suit the more skilful players. The European campaign masked this, as we were up against inferior opposition, picking up the results, allowing us to look better than we actually were. Once Rice(and a couple of others) decided not to go through the motions, anymore ( in defence of him, he was still performing better all through the season than most others) we were galvanised. If anything, I’d say they actually ignored Moyesball to a slight degree, and played a little bit more freely. Our form picked up and we gained the necessary amount of points, to stay up. This meant we could focus on the Semi & the Final - the rest as they say, is history. To be fair, we played Moyesball in both those ties As others have said, confidence, astute summer signings and all of the more skilful players buying into Moyesball, has meant we’ve started well this season, (2nd half v Chelsea, and onwards). Fingers crossed, it continues.

[GreenStreetPlayer]

Because we are massive. Nearly all the players are playing well with some stand out performances, clinical finishing, and a little luck which doesn’t hurt either. Early days yet, and let’s see where we are after the next two.

[Come on you Irons]

"Alvarez's wife hasn't settled and she's giving him grief to move away" What a bizarre comment. Moving to London from Amsterdam is hardly a massive change and culture shock for a millionaire and his wife.

[Yorkammer]

Confidence carried over from last season. Shrew recruitment improving the squad. Real competition for places. The 4 incoming players (with Lingard to come) all have a starting claim. Declan was the only departing player who regularly started. Squad buying into the style of play with excellent execution. A bit of luck here and there that went the other way last season.

[Alex G]

Confidence, players playing without injuries, the right tactics for the players, the players buying into the team philosophy and system, positive morale and a bit of luck at the right point. Six months time if you pick the same eleven they'll play like a bunch of strangers.... Alvarez's wife hasn't settled and she's giving him grief to move away, Zouma's knee flares up again and he's lost half a yard of pace, Fornals isn't happy about being in the team and is disrupting the harmony, etc. Sometimes teams come together and the manager looks like an absolute genius. Sometimes things go wrong for reasons that can't be controlled or understood.

[bill green]

Settled back 5 Midfielders stepping up after Rice taking more on themselves Front 3 converting the few chances we get JWP corners landing on our CH heads. Great team spirit with great fans letting them know

[stewie griffin]

4 obvious things for me: 1) Transfers - we've bought well, and brought in players who can hit the ground running. JWP has, what, 3 assists and a goal already? Superb stuff really. 2) Getting more bodies forward - last season, front man was incredibly isolated. Now, when we do counter attack, there's 4 or 5 getting into the box/final third. 3) Confidence - its obvious, but its hugely undervalued. When you get on a bad run, its tough to stop. Similarly in reverse, we've bounced into the new season on the back of winning a european trophy. 4) Finishing - whether we're getting more bodies forward or not, the way we play requires us to be lethal with the chances we get. Up to now, we have been All of that said, after one & a half games, it looked much the same as last season, and really quite poor. But you look at turning points, and that penalty save before HT against Chelsea could be huge. If that goes in and we are 1 point from 2 games, current mood might be very different. The Brighton result is the standout (Chelsea are fucking awful), and we should be beating Luton & Bournemouth given our resources and the level of investment in the playing squad over multiple years. A proper test of where we are in the next couple, but given the confidence we now have, we should have a proper go at them.

[Billy Blagg]

Well, I was expecting it! I couldn't understand why everyone was so pessimistic just because no new players came through the doors early on - it's a long transfer window! There would always be a boost from winning a trophy last season; you often see really good players having their game raised, becoming top players as soon as they have made that first hurdle. Bowen scored the winner in a final, of course he's flying this season! The loss of Rice has been overshadowed by the extra strength gained by the new signings - which should reflect well on the club, both in terms of attracting players of this calibre and then actually getting them in. Too many fans were sniffy about winning the ECL. It's a European trophy and not many clubs win them, and it's raised our profile around the world. For what it's worth, I think we'll be back in Europe next season too - competition is probably too tough for the CL - but 5th or 6th looks good. I'm also confident of a cup win. There, said it.

[swindon hammer]

A lot of times if you finish the season well it tends to overlap into the following season. Same if you finish the season poorly as we found to our cost at the end of 21/22 - start of 22/23. Although we all wanted younger upgrades on Antonio & Cresswell, the minimal changes to the squad (4 in and 4 out) might also help. Bringing in 8 or 9 new players during a summer can sometimes be a detriment to a settled squad. It took a few of the new players a while to find their feet last season, while many still haven’t found them. Finally and probably the main reason is that we have gone back to playing the way that Moyes likes to play/set up for. A few of the players commented that during the first half of last season we tried to play differently to what we had done in the previous 2 years and it wasn’t working so Moyes has reverted back to what works for him. The signing of JWP is huge for the way we play. It’s obviously not pretty at times but it works for Moyes and gets us results.

[,]

We don’t seem to be defending any better this time around but we have upped our scoring rate ( no clean sheets to date ). Seeing as we have not played yet, in an attacking way, with any real change up front it’s good to see a chance conversion rate better than last season’s.

[Kaiser Zoso]

The goals have come along with excellent timing. We haven’t gone behind yet. A counter attacking team will benefit from going ahead, for obvious reasons. Also, Antonio has scored two beauties and looked sharp whereas last season he didn’t. Same with Bowen, maybe. And Areola has performed in goal.