Whiskyman wrote: ↑Fri Oct 22, 2021 12:15 am
Ibbyham wrote: ↑Thu Oct 21, 2021 11:05 pm
Areola - Excellent GK and will be big asset as he is a very good GK and kept clean sheets.
Johnson - Another superb perfornance and kept Genk quiet in attack.
Dawson - good goal and did very well in defence.
Diop - Much improved player and will be a regular starter soon.
Cresswell - Clearly man of the match and the best corner taker and assist in PL.
Soucek - Did very well and at least not a heavy game.
Rice - another excellent display and clearly the best midfielder in the world.
Vlasic - Getting better and once he is more settled, he will be a superb player. Exciting to watch.
Lanzini - Did very well today and his passing was excellent plus good trickery skills.
Bowen - Another top drawer perfornance, young and hunger player and he will be England squad next month for sure.
Yarmolenko - Did very well and getting better than last season.
Noble - Did very well when he came on and kept our game running smoothly.
Fredericks - Did very well and kept Genk quiet.
Chester - what a performance eventhough he was only on for couple of minutes, managed to get the ball from Genk and clearly the next Declan Rice in the making.
What a superb lovely jubbly performance tonight and I am in dreamland of West Ham progressing on.
H & G Sir!
Johnson's performance was very decent tonight once he settled down after a dodgy first few minutes but what impressed me most about him was his post match interview. There were none of the usual illiterate "you know's" and grunts that often are associated with young players after a game.
Diop ? Not much improved imo. Just that a lot of people have started to realise he is a very decent central defender in the Rio Ferdinand mode. Top player in my book. No longer playing in a poorly organised defence and looks a better player because of it.
Areola ? One piece of class, when he stopped an almost certain goal, but one piece of Sunday league standard keeping when he totally misjudged a cross and was lucky not to concede.
Have to disagree with you about Lanzini though. Wasn't impressed at all. And Vlasic ? As I've said on another thread I didn't know much about him before he turned up and I'm not really sure what his best position is. Looked fairly tidy tonight but not a lot of imagination.
Couldn't see why young Chesters wasn't brought on earlier. Why risk Fornals and Benrahma when the game was already in the bag ffs. For the life of me I couldn't see any logic in that. But on the plus side the two things Chesters did in the short time he was on the pitch were good things.
I thought Areola was just Ok. Those calling for him to instantly replace Fabianski are in for a shock as I don't think he is a huge upgrade.....age is with him though and he will likely be a long term replacement but there is no need to rush him into the team based on some of the flapping he was doing last night.
I thought Diop was ok but it was telling that he struggled a bit with Onuacho and ended up getting tangled up with him and giving away a free kick or two. When Dawson was on him at one point, Onuacho didnt get a touch.
Thought Lanzini did very little, a few square balls but I have to agree that he was poor. I have to say that I think he is the most overrated player we have had at West Ham and only really was consistently decent when Payet was in the side. Last night proved why he is nowhere near the first team. Fans always seem to see him as better than he is because he is Argentinian and plays a lot of passes. Bowen for sure and probably Benrahma are streets ahead of him.
Vlasic reminds me of Bowen when he first came to the club, he works hard and has moments but will need a while to bed in. I think he will be a good player but Moyes needs some time to work with him.
I thought Johnson was excellent but the one thing he needs to work on is his final ball. His first two crosses were poor and after that he kept cutting inside to play the ball square. Some crossing training would be great.
Declan was almost playing quarterback tonight and other than being caught out at the beginning, Cresswell had a good game. My MoM was Dawson for what it is worth. I forget just how dominant he can be against a team that is fairly average.
Oh and Genk were as brainless as we used to be under Bilic. They had a 6ft 6 monster in the middle and the only time one of their crosses landed in the box, he had already gone off.
Onwards and upwards, another good team performance. The team has a great momentum and to be honest, I can see why UEFA hate the English clubs and the money here as we have so much more of a strong squad against a lot of these teams from the 'lesser' leagues.
3 games played, 9 points, 7 goals scored and none against. Happy days !!