West Ham vs Crystal Palace | PL | 18.1.25 | Predictions and Match Thread

[stubbo-admin]

Match Centre:

Odds:
West Ham: 9/5
Draw: 5/2
Crystal Palace: 17/10

Pre-Match Press Conference:
Official Press Conference

Tactical Preview: 
Babbling Irons

Watch-along:
Hammers Chat Watchalong

Streams:

SportHD 

(With all live streams be mindful they can carry viruses etc.  Don't click on any ads and use a VPN).
  

[onsideman]

You only get unwanted players or second string players you have to pay over the odds for in January.  Just how it is.

Largely true, yet Bowen...?

[BRANDED]

If you want to know how shit the squad is minus every striker, there you have it. 

[Mex Martillo]

Potter confirmed after the match to the in house Reporter who presumed Paqueta went off injured actually wasn't when he took him off soon after the restart for Ings. What's the point in doing that when Paqueta was 1 of the very few in the Team tasked to create and he takes him off for a genuine Striker. Bizarre decision. 

Bizzarre from the very start if you ask me. Who picks a team with 8 defensive players and two attacking players and expects to have an attack. Surprise surprise it was shit.
Potter's credibility for me has plummeted. If this is how he approaches games with teams close to us in the table, I do not see much hope.

 

You think it's bad now, wait until he starts getting the hump with Fans calling for the Team to shoot..

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/20 ... t-putting/

[Massive Attack]

Potter confirmed after the match to the in house Reporter who presumed Paqueta went off injured actually wasn't when he took him off soon after the restart for Ings. What's the point in doing that when Paqueta was 1 of the very few in the Team tasked to create and he takes him off for a genuine Striker. Bizarre decision. 

Bizzarre from the very start if you ask me. Who picks a team with 8 defensive players and two attacking players and expects to have an attack. Surprise surprise it was shit.
Potter's credibility for me has plummeted. If this is how he approaches games with teams close to us in the table, I do not see much hope.

 

 

You think it's bad now, wait until he starts getting the hump with Fans calling for the Team to shoot..

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/20 ... t-putting/

[Mex Martillo]

Potter confirmed after the match to the in house Reporter who presumed Paqueta went off injured actually wasn't when he took him off soon after the restart for Ings. What's the point in doing that when Paqueta was 1 of the very few in the Team tasked to create and he takes him off for a genuine Striker. Bizarre decision. 

Bizzarre from the very start if you ask me. Who picks a team with 8 defensive players and two attacking players and expects to have an attack. Surprise surprise it was shit.
Potter's credibility for me has plummeted. If this is how he approaches games with teams close to us in the table, I do not see much hope.

[Fauxstralian]

Potter is dealing with the squads of Moyes & Loppy & am sure he realises how thin & unsuitable it is 
Too slow , no energy & abysmal passing 
Will judge him when he can make his changes 
Could see what he thinks of some when he brought Scarles & Orford on
Made it clear in his post match that there is a lot of work to do 
He has a MASSIVE job on his hands

For those using injuries as an excuse I saw on LiveScore that Bournemouth had 9 players unavailable for their trip to Newcastle 

[Texas Iron]

This ranked. Among the worst of Moyes and Lopetegui displays…

Lack of ambition…slow…recycling the ball…shit attitude and only Kudus fighting up front…

And after 560 .million spent…

Club is a sad joke in todays arena…

I doubt Potter is the solution…he’s a poor man’s Southgate…

[Manuel]

The fact that for stretches of all 3 games so far we've played a different way and been much better shows that it's not all just about the quality of the squad, it's about the team mentality, and that's something that Potter can do something about regardless of the players at his disposal. 

 

 

That is why most were still optimistic about yesterday, instead we got served up probably worse than anything we had seen under the previous two managers. It's hard to explain how bad that was yesterday. Now we have Villa, Chelsea, so can't see it getting any better soon.

[Massive Attack]

Potter confirmed after the match to the in house Reporter who presumed Paqueta went off injured actually wasn't when he took him off soon after the restart for Ings. What's the point in doing that when Paqueta was 1 of the very few in the Team tasked to create and he takes him off for a genuine Striker. Bizarre decision. 

[Jean-Luc Paul Goddard]

---

Cresswell did ok? Apart from passing backwards every time he had the ball, as he has been doing for the past five years.

Bit unfair to dig Cresswell out for passing backwards all the time. EVERYONE in the team was doing that, same as they did in the first half vs Fulham. Clearly they've been instructed to pass back or pass sideways unless they're sure that a forward pass is on, and seeing that the only midfielders we have who can spot a pass were either on the bench ( Soler) or further upfield (Paqueta) there was never going to be much forward movement.

This ultra cautious recycling the ball to keep possession is Potter's M.O. sadly. Hopefully he will wise up to the fact that a) we don't have the players for it and b) it's fucking boring to watch and will have the fans on his back if he doesn't get the team playing with a bit more guts.

The fact that for stretches of all 3 games so far we've played a different way and been much better shows that it's not all just about the quality of the squad, it's about the team mentality, and that's something that Potter can do something about regardless of the players at his disposal. 

[nychammer]

As mentioned January is difficult for player availability 
More likely loans or players who are out of contract in the summer so clubs want to get some sort of fee for them.
What has to happen is that the deadwood we have finally gets shifted & we are planning NOW for summer signings 
Potter has 16 games to evaluate players especially the young ones.
Maybe we can finally get a couple of strikers , a midfield that can move & a centre half not called Mavropanos 

 

Based on today, we are VERY fortunate not to be in a relegation scrap. The longer term strategy would be to sound out players for the summer, however we need a couple this window given our dire predicament. Most of our squad is dead wood, in fact we excel in paying top dollar for dead wood. We need a VERY good window in the summer to turn our fortunes around and we really cant judge Potter until next season IMO. Today he at least threw some youth on to see what they got, and indeed they some pace and exuberance, so for me that's positive

[Manuel]

I thought Rob Green had it spot on we were shit. 




 

I thought the same as the first poster. Yes we were shit, but he started laying into us after about 5 minutes, right? It got my attention and was surprised. For a co-comm he was def going OTT, they don't usually speak that bluntly, if ever. He also kept saying how shit/lucky we were against Fulham, even though we won (a wins a win right?) How often do you hear a co-comm keep referring back to the last game, it was odd. He was coming across like he was in the pub watching it with his mates. 100% has an agenda against us, the carrot crunching wanker. 

[Fauxstralian]

As mentioned January is difficult for player availability 
More likely loans or players who are out of contract in the summer so clubs want to get some sort of fee for them.
What has to happen is that the deadwood we have finally gets shifted & we are planning NOW for summer signings 
Potter has 16 games to evaluate players especially the young ones.
Maybe we can finally get a couple of strikers , a midfield that can move & a centre half not called Mavropanos 
 

[zico]

You know it's got to be bad when you hear calls for Danny Ings to start! 

[El Scorchio]

Seems that Soler had a tight hamstring so was not risked to play 90 mins. Paqueta was not 100% either. Emerson at 30 looking like he is not the fittest and playing 2 games in one week too much as he looked “leggy”. He often gets removed on 60-70 min mark so another consequence of having an aging squad. 

In hindsight, 8 defensive players may have been dictated to some extent by who was available and who was 100% fit. It obviously didnt work aside from keeping it at 0-0 and reminiscent of a Moyes “Alamo” set up.  

We had Ings and Guilherme as 2 attacking options he could have used along with risking Soler. Not convinced that would have changed the game tbh? But after a loss the hindsight suggests “we should have done that”

Bowen cannot come back quick enough and we need a central striker still after gawd knows how many years. We had no outlet up top at all with 2 or 3 on Kudus and no natural wide forwards. The central midfield problem remains one of the biggest problems though and has been there for as many seasons as I can remember. One paced, static players cannot make space and play thru teams in the Premiership and without proper target man a long outball is not possible either.  But that centre mid, you just cannot have 3 like that in Soucek, Alvarez and Rodruiguez. But Paqueta in there hardly provides athleticism and pace. And while its obvious Orford is technically gifted he is more like Soler not going to solve the “lack of legs” problem in tha engine room of the team.  There simply is no solution internally that I can see?

So can we get anyone of the requisite quality in the Jan window?  Its not easy. Teams are so reluctant to release their better players in winter even if those players are fringe members of their squad.

We have to hope loans are possible as a stop gap. Chelsea seems the first place to look ( their huge squad ) and Potter will hopefully know a few of their squad players he thinks can solve some of our obvious deficiencies. A CB and central midfielder with athleticism and a central striker are desperately needed asap. 

You only get unwanted players or second string players you have to pay over the odds for in January.  Just how it is.

Sadly that’s been our general strategy in summers as well. 

[stubbo]

Seems that Soler had a tight hamstring so was not risked to play 90 mins. Paqueta was not 100% either. Emerson at 30 looking like he is not the fittest and playing 2 games in one week too much as he looked “leggy”. He often gets removed on 60-70 min mark so another consequence of having an aging squad. 

In hindsight, 8 defensive players may have been dictated to some extent by who was available and who was 100% fit. It obviously didnt work aside from keeping it at 0-0 and reminiscent of a Moyes “Alamo” set up.  

We had Ings and Guilherme as 2 attacking options he could have used along with risking Soler. Not convinced that would have changed the game tbh? But after a loss the hindsight suggests “we should have done that”

Bowen cannot come back quick enough and we need a central striker still after gawd knows how many years. We had no outlet up top at all with 2 or 3 on Kudus and no natural wide forwards. The central midfield problem remains one of the biggest problems though and has been there for as many seasons as I can remember. One paced, static players cannot make space and play thru teams in the Premiership and without proper target man a long outball is not possible either.  But that centre mid, you just cannot have 3 like that in Soucek, Alvarez and Rodruiguez. But Paqueta in there hardly provides athleticism and pace. And while its obvious Orford is technically gifted he is more like Soler not going to solve the “lack of legs” problem in tha engine room of the team.  There simply is no solution internally that I can see?

So can we get anyone of the requisite quality in the Jan window?  Its not easy. Teams are so reluctant to release their better players in winter even if those players are fringe members of their squad.

We have to hope loans are possible as a stop gap. Chelsea seems the first place to look ( their huge squad ) and Potter will hopefully know a few of their squad players he thinks can solve some of our obvious deficiencies. A CB and central midfielder with athleticism and a central striker are desperately needed asap. 

You only get unwanted players or second string players you have to pay over the odds for in January.  Just how it is.

[Sir Alf]

Seems that Soler had a tight hamstring so was not risked to play 90 mins. Paqueta was not 100% either. Emerson at 30 looking like he is not the fittest and playing 2 games in one week too much as he looked “leggy”. He often gets removed on 60-70 min mark so another consequence of having an aging squad. 

In hindsight, 8 defensive players may have been dictated to some extent by who was available and who was 100% fit. It obviously didnt work aside from keeping it at 0-0 and reminiscent of a Moyes “Alamo” set up.  

We had Ings and Guilherme as 2 attacking options he could have used along with risking Soler. Not convinced that would have changed the game tbh? But after a loss the hindsight suggests “we should have done that”

Bowen cannot come back quick enough and we need a central striker still after gawd knows how many years. We had no outlet up top at all with 2 or 3 on Kudus and no natural wide forwards. The central midfield problem remains one of the biggest problems though and has been there for as many seasons as I can remember. One paced, static players cannot make space and play thru teams in the Premiership and without proper target man a long outball is not possible either.  But that centre mid, you just cannot have 3 like that in Soucek, Alvarez and Rodruiguez. But Paqueta in there hardly provides athleticism and pace. And while its obvious Orford is technically gifted he is more like Soler not going to solve the “lack of legs” problem in tha engine room of the team.  There simply is no solution internally that I can see?

So can we get anyone of the requisite quality in the Jan window?  Its not easy. Teams are so reluctant to release their better players in winter even if those players are fringe members of their squad.

We have to hope loans are possible as a stop gap. Chelsea seems the first place to look ( their huge squad ) and Potter will hopefully know a few of their squad players he thinks can solve some of our obvious deficiencies. A CB and central midfielder with athleticism and a central striker are desperately needed asap. 

[El Scorchio]

 

Fulham did that to him as well. But you know what, if they double up on one player that means they are leaving space for us elsewhere. Who was exploiting that? 
No one.
Thats the point.

There aren’t really any other fit attack minded players TO exploit anything. Literally the only other thing he could have done was start Ings instead of guido. There was simply no one else available. 

 

Paq could have played no.9. Soler play as left sided attack instead of Emerson, Emerson play as left back. Kudus on right. Orford instead of Rodriguez.

Thats enough attackers on to take advantage of any doubling up on Kudus.

Instead, we just play Kudus and 90 defenders...

Paqueta was playing 9, or at least our most advanced player. Emerson was playing LWB. I’ll agree soler probably could have started but it wouldn’t have made much of a difference. Nothing changed when he came on. In fact we went behind almost straight away. 

When Bowen and Summerville return we will be so much better going forward. The oppo will have a lot more to worry about. 

[Helmut Shown]

---

Cresswell did ok? Apart from passing backwards every time he had the ball, as he has been doing for the past five years.

[twoleftfeet]

Sutton has predicted a 0-1 absolute scum bag the fella.

Not such a bad prediction, was it?

[goose]

We’ve spent fuck knows how much to buy modern day versions of:
Roger Johnson (Kilman)
Gary Breen (mavrapanos)
Adrian (Areola)
Kovac (Alvarez)
Nigel Quashie (Guido)
Andy Carroll (Fullkrug)

[Tomshardware]

Haven't seen the game but thought we would struggle when I saw the lineups.  Potter has a massive job on his hands and it will take time.  

[Mad Ferret]

Sutton has predicted a 0-1 absolute scum bag the fella.

Not such a bad prediction, was it?

[Massive Attack]

Look on the bright side …. Mavropanos can’t play next week
Potter at least has 16 games to work out who to shift & look at some of the young lads
A lot of our players aren’t up to it which must be obvious to him
After the Fulham game he said we have a lot to work on & must be even more aware of that now.
The likes of Cresswell, Coufal, Ings, Antonio etc should have gone ages ago
Add Mavropanos Fullkrug Rodriguez & Soucek to that

Plus Emery just picked up a booking so it means he'll be banished to the Stands. 

[Come On You Irons]

Awful performance. And zero shots on target against an opposition below us in the table is a disgrace, even with Bowen, Summerville, Antonio and FulCROCK out injured.

Potter reverted to his mean today getting his win ratio down to 33%. His Premier League career win ratio is only 28%. Hardly inspiring, is it.