An Honest Season Appraisal

[Clayton]

Trying to be positive here ( well I try most of the time when doing the old predictions ) Really do not want to put a downer on the players , they almost made a European final and finished seventh in the league , but in all honesty they didn't perform as well as they did last season in my book , but I suppose they did the best they could do with what they had at hand . At the end of the day they had the Bug - Eyed Jock at the helm with his dithering in the transfer market after last season's exploits he had the opportunity to build on the progress made and if anything I feel we have actually gone backwards . Let's not forget his lack of any sort of a B-Plan and his non tactical subs in the majority of cases with young hungry energetic youth warming the bench ( don't think any of them got minutes in the league , could be wrong ) .
Not enough goals and far to many let in at the other end , Fabianski was a great keeper but think Areola should have got the gloves this season . Can't wait for Ashby to get his chance at RB because neither Coufal or Johnson looked comfortable starting , and Cresswell showed we need a replacement at LB . Still not happy with the quality of our Center Halves and that's after Moyes supposedly improved them by bringing in Dawson and Zouma .
Our Midfield looked lost at times with Rice running around like a very fit headless chicken trying to play the DM and the box to box role which he did fantastically at times , but this left Soucek in the wilderness , really not sure what he should be doing because he just hasn't got the same talent as Rice . All I can say about Benahma is sell him , why we ever got him I really do not know , just not premier quality for a full 90 minutes , not even 45 minutes . Vlasic needs for Moyes to play him centrally and to start games if we are to get the best from him , none of this playing him out wide . Fornals another who should be playing centrally not our wide .
Not much I can say about Bowen , just keep him happy please , as for Antonio never been a fan of his lack of ability ( used to love his attitude but well past that now ) he needs to get crutches if he is going to continue to fall backwards into defenders .

Well that's my appraisal , Moyes let the fans and players down especially when we had so much to look forward to at the end of last season .

[hd1]

Bloody loved this season, especially the European tour.

Yes we could have got more players in etc. but there is no guarantee they would have made a difference, yet many are assuming they would have.

Beating Citeh, Liverpool and Chelsea shows we can go toe to toe with the best, losing to Arsenal shows we still have a lot to learn

[Newmarket]

Trying to be positive here ( well I try most of the time when doing the old predictions ) Really do not want to put a downer on the players , they almost made a European final and finished seventh in the league , but in all honesty they didn't perform as well as they did last season in my book , but I suppose they did the best they could do with what they had at hand . At the end of the day they had the Bug - Eyed Jock at the helm with his dithering in the transfer market after last season's exploits he had the opportunity to build on the progress made and if anything I feel we have actually gone backwards . Let's not forget his lack of any sort of a B-Plan and his non tactical subs in the majority of cases with young hungry energetic youth warming the bench ( don't think any of them got minutes in the league , could be wrong ) .
Not enough goals and far to many let in at the other end , Fabianski was a great keeper but think Areola should have got the gloves this season . Can't wait for Ashby to get his chance at RB because neither Coufal or Johnson looked comfortable starting , and Cresswell showed we need a replacement at LB . Still not happy with the quality of our Center Halves and that's after Moyes supposedly improved them by bringing in Dawson and Zouma .
Our Midfield looked lost at times with Rice running around like a very fit headless chicken trying to play the DM and the box to box role which he did fantastically at times , but this left Soucek in the wilderness , really not sure what he should be doing because he just hasn't got the same talent as Rice . All I can say about Benahma is sell him , why we ever got him I really do not know , just not premier quality for a full 90 minutes , not even 45 minutes . Vlasic needs for Moyes to play him centrally and to start games if we are to get the best from him , none of this playing him out wide . Fornals another who should be playing centrally not our wide .
Not much I can say about Bowen , just keep him happy please , as for Antonio never been a fan of his lack of ability ( used to love his attitude but well past that now ) he needs to get crutches if he is going to continue to fall backwards into defenders .

Well that's my appraisal , Moyes let the fans and players down especially when we had so much to look forward to at the end of last season .

If I had written this

Seriously though , agree with every word .
Loved last season (20/21) ‘‘twas like a breath of fresh air compared to what we are used to .
Apart from the European games this season just finished I just felt frustrated all the time .

Even last November time I knew , like we all knew , what was going to happen and why but obviously powerless to change things .
It could have been so much more though .
Whisky’s correct though . We have regressed and this summer and the early part of next season is the real test now.
Does Moyes learn from his mistakes ?

Regrets ? He must have a few .

[eskimo joe]

Trying to be positive here ( well I try most of the time when doing the old predictions ) Really do not want to put a downer on the players , they almost made a European final and finished seventh in the league , but in all honesty they didn't perform as well as they did last season in my book , but I suppose they did the best they could do with what they had at hand . At the end of the day they had the Bug - Eyed Jock at the helm with his dithering in the transfer market after last season's exploits he had the opportunity to build on the progress made and if anything I feel we have actually gone backwards . Let's not forget his lack of any sort of a B-Plan and his non tactical subs in the majority of cases with young hungry energetic youth warming the bench ( don't think any of them got minutes in the league , could be wrong ) .
Not enough goals and far to many let in at the other end , Fabianski was a great keeper but think Areola should have got the gloves this season . Can't wait for Ashby to get his chance at RB because neither Coufal or Johnson looked comfortable starting , and Cresswell showed we need a replacement at LB . Still not happy with the quality of our Center Halves and that's after Moyes supposedly improved them by bringing in Dawson and Zouma .
Our Midfield looked lost at times with Rice running around like a very fit headless chicken trying to play the DM and the box to box role which he did fantastically at times , but this left Soucek in the wilderness , really not sure what he should be doing because he just hasn't got the same talent as Rice . All I can say about Benahma is sell him , why we ever got him I really do not know , just not premier quality for a full 90 minutes , not even 45 minutes . Vlasic needs for Moyes to play him centrally and to start games if we are to get the best from him , none of this playing him out wide . Fornals another who should be playing centrally not our wide .
Not much I can say about Bowen , just keep him happy please , as for Antonio never been a fan of his lack of ability ( used to love his attitude but well past that now ) he needs to get crutches if he is going to continue to fall backwards into defenders .

Well that's my appraisal , Moyes let the fans and players down especially when we had so much to look forward to at the end of last season .

If I had written this

Seriously though , agree with every word .
Loved last season (20/21) ‘‘twas like a breath of fresh air compared to what we are used to .
Apart from the European games this season just finished I just felt frustrated all the time .

Even last November time I knew , like we all knew , what was going to happen and why but obviously powerless to change things .
It could have been so much more though .
Whisky’s correct though . We have regressed and this summer and the early part of next season is the real test now.
Does Moyes learn from his mistakes ?

Regrets ? He must have a few .

Let's hope it's not too few for him to mention....else he won't sort them before the turn of the century let alone this transfer window.

[JayK]

Coulda and shoulda been better. Had so much potential. Still was a good, fun, exciting season thanks to the Europa experience

[dorsetdano]

It's time for everyone to say their piece without fear of ridicule or nastiness, we won't all agree but we all have the right to comment.
Unfortunately I won't be starting as I am currently sitting at a pool bar in Santorini, sadly only 30°.

Bloody hell. I'd ask for my money back. I'd expect it to be at least 75°. It's not a ski resort is it?

[dorsetdano]

On a more serious subject. Review of the season, bit of a bubbles season; our dreams soared from the start of the season where we beat Citeh and Manure in the League Cup, the Scum and the Bindippers in the League and Moyes took all of the competitions really seriously. Against the top teams we really competed. As the season progressed I hoped that January would bring in some new signings to boost the side in the way that Lingard had the previous year; and the Bowen and Soucek signings had a few years back. Annoyingly no one came in and we dropped points against the middle teams in the Prem every time we looked like we were going to break into the top four. This was something that hadn't happened during the last season where we hardly dropped a point against anyone below us, apart from Newcastle if I remember.

I've been constantly enthused by the spirit of the team, the Lyon games were tremendous. I've been delighted by Rice who continues to improve as both a player and captain (its also brilliant that he only ever seems to appear on the back pages of newspapers, unlike so many of his young England colleagues). Bowen has grown and really delivered where it matters. Antonio has flattered to deceive and I think has proved that he is far more dangerous played wide rather that through the middle. Benrahma has flattered to deceive and Soucek has fallen back. Johnson has proved to be incredibly adaptable playing anywhere across the back. Dawson and Zouma seem to work well as a CB partnership and we have two top class goalkeepers.

Moyes has done well overall, but he needs to be more reactive, he substitutes too late and they are nearly always predictable and not game changing.

Biggest disappointment was not making a final of some sort and not quite managing to pip United to the Europa League place.

[garnett]

It's time for everyone to say their piece without fear of ridicule or nastiness, we won't all agree but we all have the right to comment.
Unfortunately I won't be starting as I am currently sitting at a pool bar in Santorini, sadly only 30°.

Bloody hell. I'd ask for my money back. I'd expect it to be at least 75°. It's not a ski resort is it?

Apologies, I should have put 30°C, at 08.48am it's pretty decent weather.

[jameskel]

Its a tough one. The lack of activity in January has totally clouded the season for me, the players struggled in the last 8 weeks, even a cunt like numbers could have seen that on the horizon. That alone, turned what could have been an exeptional season, into a flat ending. We were better than EF, we were just fucked. We are better than MAN U, Arsenal as well, but the players were fucked

We played an entire season, without a forward.

The board and Moyes, can go fuck themselves

[andyginbrasil]

A season where we finished 7th in the league, being a West Ham fan for well over half a century would normally be considered an achievement,but last year we had one of the best seasons ever, finished 6th, qualified for Europe and scored a hatful of goals, this season for one reason or another seems to me frustrating.
We had the chance to cement a top 6th place, we were well ahead of Arsenal, The Spuds and Manu, but let it slip drastically.
Frustrating that we have failed miserably in bringing in players we desperately needed, not just this season's windows but last season as well. We had the second oldest squad in the PL, one of the smallest squads in the PL to play 38 league games along with 3 other competitions frustrating that we all knew players would burnout but those who are considered experts didn't. Frustrated that we were so predictable with team selection and tactics. Frustrated that substitutions were always made too late to effect a match. Frustrated that youngsters were rarely on the bench and when they were there were never going to have the chance that they could show what they had to offer. Frustrated that we had to continually use a makeshift striker who had 2 barren spells of 12 games where he couldn't score. Frustrated that we have just let 2 players leave for nothing who couldn't get a starting place for free when they should of been sold last summer.
Frustrated with the transfers brought in and not used... doesn't bode well.

So all in all a successful but frustrating season.