⚽ Luton v West Ham - Official Match Thread

[charleyfarley]

. ........... V Keniworth Rd Fri 1st Sept 20:00 GMT VAR Steve Meredith Paul Tierney: (30) - 115 2 Kaminski, Bell, Burke, Andersen, Doughty, Giles, Nakamba, Barkley, Chong, Morris ©, Adebayo Subs: Krul, Ogbene, Berry, Woodrow, Kaboré, Mpanzu, Brown, Johnson, Francis-Clarke Areola, Coufal, Zouma ©, Aguerd, Emerson, Álvarez, Ward-Prowse, Bowen, Paquetá, Benrahma, Antonio Subs: Fabiański (GK), Cresswell, Kehrer, Ogbonna, Fornals, Cornet, Kudus, Ings, Mubama Luton 100/30: Draw 13/5 : West Ham 4/5 .

[BRANDED]

Luton came up last season based upon a rock solid defence that doesnt concede. Thats the kind of team we’ve found it hard to break down recently. So everything looks good. We can best the Chelseas and the Brightons and the Lutons. We’ve got all the tools in our locker. Man City will be a challenge.

[Willtell]

It was a good win against a shit side that are probably headed for a prompt Championship return. Anyone that has played the game knows that bad teams drag you down to their level. We will be much better against Man City but will probably lose which should make a lot of posters happy to have something genuine to moan about. One worry for me is how fragile Aguerd is. Ogbonna has obviously been told he is being kept as a back up player this season but he is definitely more solid than Aguerd is against poor teams playing a direct game.

[Keep dreaming]

*what a relief to not have to.... Damn phone

[Keep dreaming]

Oh, and have to add. What a rynot to have to watch the beanpole in this match. Alvarez is a massive player with great passing skills, and alongside Paqueta and JWP we have a very decent midfield.

[Keep dreaming]

We were the best team and deserved the win. In some parts of the game we passed the ball with very well and could easily have scored a couple of more goals if it was t for the wasteful headless chicken benrahma. Sadly we had to rely on a wrong ref decision to secure the win. We have to be honest, Luton is goring right down, they were pretty shit. They just haven't got the quality players most PL have. The way Luton played didn't give any room for Moyesball footbal,. We simply were give time to pass the ball more than the other three games. So bragging about our possession is ok, but you also have to look at why we had so much possession. So , since Luton were laying as low as we usually does agains other teams, we didn't get the courter strength out of Antonio. He was in my view the poorest choice of an attacking player we could have fielded. We showed a lot of good passing, and I hope we remember that we are very able to play good football in the future, but have to add that Coufal, Benroin particular, and Antonio were shockoto watch. I know we haven't got any better option than Coufal, but for the two latter... They should have been replaced far earlier. Anyway, great win in a not so great match

[SUM A DING WONG]

Furry muff, Manuel Another way I’d put it, is this. Id rather Paqueta keep getting the ball trying to do stuff without our it coming off (sometimes carelessly, as you say) knowing that eventually, he’ll click. As I said, hopefully the further on into the season he sharpens up more and we’ll see less ‘carelessness’ on the ball. I just don’t want exciting players to be stifled. I said the other week, too, Paqueta probably gets frustrated with the lack of movement generally in our side due to our rigid shape and tactics. I’d give him a bit of slack too, due to his work rate (even though that should be a given for all professional footballers).

[Hammer and Pickle]

Overall, this was exactly the assures and commanding performance I was hoping for with the right result. I thought the officials had a good game albeit the VARed offside against us and their penalty claim leaving more than a hint of evening-out about them. No sign of Aguerd being a walking disaster in the middle either despite that one moment of hesitation towards the end when under severe pressure; similar to Paqueta’s defence-splitter that led to Bowen’s goal, it was one of their best attacking moves.

[Nagel]

Paqueta sometimes seems to be trying too hard to look cool and nonchalant and it ends up with a sloppy pass when he could have just focused a bit more and got it right. Agree with SUM about passing stats though. Incredibly, for most of last season Kevin de Bruyne's passing stats were actually worse than Soucek's.

[Manuel]

SUM - Yep, get all that, and the majority of players give the ball away of course, but I think the thing with Paqueta is that he gives it away carelessly and completely needlessly a lot, that would be the frustration for me, the real top players don't do that, and if his manager has gone on the box and said this then it's obviously a 'thing' and no player is above criticism either, even if you are the current flavour of the month. But before anyone starts getting all offended, he had a good game and will be a real asset this season.

[SUM A DING WONG]

“Still, will respect the 3 points and can now enjoy the other games. Was good to see Moyes dig Paqueta out after about losing the ball so often, he really needs to cut that out, but at least they are onto him about it. I said, we are....“ I hear what you’re saying Manuel. But. Paqueta is an attacking player, attacking players will sometimes give the ball away, especially earlier on in games, trying to find their ‘range’. It’s frustrating at times, and you’d like to think the further on into the season as his form picks up, it happens less frequently. But I think we need to stop (that’s football fans in general) with obsessing with passing stats with players (more so attacking, at least). The only player for us who really needs digging out for passing is Soucek, and you can argue that he should just be in a team that plays percentage football with him getting on the end of crosses. I think we all watch far too much football nowadays (yes, I include myself in that) so we’re seeing players giving the ball away and it’s become an ‘obsession’ , because every little thing is seen and replayed over and over again. I’m not aiming this particularly at you, Manuel, as many people are guilty of it. To a degree, I do it too, but I just try to be aware of it. I watched an old game, the other week with Brooking and Bonds playing. Both of them gave the ball away, you could argue, needlessly. I bet if we’d been able to watch both of them players every game, on the TV, with the benefit of all the different angles and replays , you’d probably be more aware of the misplaced passes they would have made. And yes, they played on shitty pitches compared to the modern players - but, you can argue the modern players are playing at a much faster pace. This isn’t me trying to dig out Brooking and Bonds, or give a free pass to Paqueta before any of you ‘old timers’ start piping up. ;-) “Free pass to Paqueta “ see what I did there ?! ;-) I’m just trying to have a bit of perspective.

[Manuel]

61% possession and I still found us boring to watch in the main, actually enjoyed our countering at Brighton more. High tempo football is the way to go, something like what Liverpool and Newcastle play, not Man City. Will be back to low possession next game, so will have the same posters licking their lips at the ready no doubt.

[pedro]

Sort of match we have lost in the past. Proper cup tie atmosphere. Sky desperate for Luton win etc etc. we played well in most parts Missed a few chances Harsh offside call against Antonio. Looked level to me. No var lines which normally means they have guessed. Top of the league. Title decider against City next game.

[Nagel]

Good result for what was a definite potential banana skin and we all knew they would park the bus and stop us playing in our usual way. There's been a lot of complaints from certain people about how boring it is watching a team who barely see anything of the ball. Well, last night's game showed that we can be just as turgid and dreary when we have most of the possession. So there!

[Nagel]

Good result for what was a definite potential banana skin and we all knew they would park the bus and stop us playing in our usual way. There's been a lot of complaints from certain people about how boring it is watching a team who barely see anything of the ball. Well, last night's game showed that we can be just as turgid and dreary when we have most of the possession. So there!

[Northern Sold]

This site is a seething pot of waiting for us to have a shit spell... you know a draw and a couple of defeats... will be like Oppenheimer pt 2... BOOOOOOM... Anyway.... typical WHO ....

[Manuel]

Ooops, forgot we scored the second from a corner :-)

[Manuel]

We really got away with one at the end there, had this ended in a desmond it would have been absolute fucking carnage, and rightly so. Thought we did OK, but again found it hard to create much and final ball lacking, and we never once looked like scoring from any of our many corners. Thought the subs were horrific, what is this obsession about bringing Antonio off in every game? No, he wasn't great, but is it meant to be tactical or is he just not fit enough to last 90+? What exactly was Ings meant to be doing when he come on? I think he should be used as a sub when we need a goal, not seeing a game out, as aside from nicking a goal he isn't any good at anything else, the old timer. Still, will respect the 3 points and can now enjoy the other games. Was good to see Moyes dig Paqueta out after about losing the ball so often, he really needs to cut that out, but at least they are onto him about it. I said, we are....

[arsene york-hunt]

10 points eh? Another 27 - 30 and we should be safe.

[jfk]

Should have won more convincingly need to work on the final third,bennys wild shooting needs to stop. Well cheffed overall a fantastic start to the season.

[J.Riddle]

Without getting too ahead of ourselves but..... We're gonna win the league, We're gonna win the league, And now you're gonna believe us, And now you're gonna believe us, And now you're gonna believe us, We're gonna win the league...

[nerd]

Coyi

[yngwies Cat]

That will do. Well done Irons.

[Searlo1966]

Nice to see that now we are a top 6 side, we are getting the same decisions from VAR as the other 5.....

[Searlo1966]

Nice to see that now we are a top 6 side, we are getting the same decisions from VAR as the other 5.....

[bruuuno]

, you mong how is paq better than payet