Written by kirsikka
Away to Brentford is a tricky game so it shows you how mephitic our opening fixtures are that this is probably the second easiest match in the first two months of the season. Thanks for that fixture computer. With one point on the board, another would be much needed and perhaps take the pressure off until October.
Cook was fit to start which meant this would be the first game where we could actually start a team of square pegs in square holes and get to see AI’s tactical approach in action without a glaring problem at the base of the midfield.
Then the game started… what don’t you want to do against a team that has lost their striking focal point? Gift them a goal.
Neto misjudged a cross and then kicked the Brentford player to give away a free kick and then was poorly positioned for the set piece and wasn’t able to claw out the goal. His start to the season hasn’t been all that impressive and this goal is completely on him, from start to finish. Far from helpful so early in the game. The ref’s goal line tech didn’t work, but VAR intervened to give it. No comment needed on Aston Villa.
Note on the ref. Brentford were going down anytime someone looked at them and initially, he was giving them all, and getting me wound up with the words THE WEST HAM MATCH dribbling like blood down my eyeballs. However, he seemed to get fed up of it after a while and let some physical contact go, for both teams, which seemed to upset them. Finally, a ref that was treating the teams equally. Three cheers to that.
Goal aside, the first fifteen looked pretty disjointed from us whenever we got on the ball but the longer the half went on the better we looked, the more organised the high press seemed, and the more they were unsettled by it.
There was a moment of madness for the ages from us. Kluivert pinged a ball to Christie’s feet just inside the area and he ghosted past four players and looked set to slot in with only the keeper to beat. Only for Solanke to take it from his feet with a weak back heel effort whilst also standing in an offside position. Really poor from Dom!
Our equaliser came from a ball over the top from Senesi, excellent running between the two centre halves from Solanke coupled with good control and a tidy finish. More of that, please!
Second half wasn’t as good from us as, whilst we were still in it, Brentford were probably the better side until we scored with Tav’s pace unsettling Rico and then a cool as a cucumber finish from Brooks that left the keeper chewing grass and watching in vain.
The game swung again and we were all over them as their heads dropped. Until… AI went GON style and brought on an extra central defender, handed the initiative back to them and they became dominant. Kerkez made a poor, tired, interception attempt (if only we’d had a backup left back on the bench…) and their player ran through on goal to score.
Set-piece defending still looked to be a problem. More than once. No shock there. I hope AI isn’t going to repeat another mistake of his predecessor and leave this unaddressed. New ideas, new coach, new something much needed. Meanwhile, set piece taking seemed to rotate around as we desperately tried to find someone who can take one. Does anyone know if Sinisterra is any good at them? It’s a bit tragic at the moment.
I was surprised and disappointed at the lack of box runners from us. Several times Solanke peeled off and managed to get into good crossing positions only to find nobody to aim at. He can’t be in both places.
There was some harem scarem defending at times with massive gaps at the back and the woodwork coming to the rescue several times. Not sure Cook was quite the calming influence we would have hoped but was certainly better than Rothwell in the role. Plus, LC is still getting back to match fitness. It feels like there’s still a lot of defensive organisation to work on. If they’d had Toney out there, I think we would have lost today.
On the sidelines, Watchman continued to irritate whenever he came on screen, unrelentingly berating the fourth official. Especially when their every dramatic collapse wasn’t given as a free kick. Not to forget his usual watch pointing. A dislikeable presence, as always.
Still, a point away from home is very handy. That noxious smell I mentioned earlier from the fixture computer? Consider today a breath of fresh air.
Man of the Match against Brentford
Christie
Billing
Brooks
Solanke
Aarons
Someone else
Christie – Starting to look like a player reborn under AI. Even offered a goal threat a couple of times to go alongside his hard work. Would have scored the goal of his life if Solanke hadn’t got in the way. Should maybe spend some time away on international duty watching videos of Frank Lampard to start learning the art of breaking into the box to score from midfield. Still, a very good day from him.
Billing – His influence increased as the match went on. One of those games where you think he can play this role. Now needs to produce it more consistently.
Solanke – Never stopped and this time was a constant thorn in their side. Great goal and a perfect leading-the-line performance. Let’s just pretend the Christie moment never happened, ok?
—– Room For Improvement —–
Neto – This is the PL. You can’t make a mistake and follow that up with another mistake to hand the opposition the lead. Poor. He has some credit in the bank from last season but shouldn’t think he’s undroppable. Did make one good save in the second half.
Semenyo – Game passed him by completely when he was out wide. Did get on the ball when he drifted centrally but that isn’t where we played him… maybe we could try it sometime? Should also have scored from a header.
—– AI Watch —–
A quick word on refs. I’ve railed against them since the first game of the season due to the inconsistency in what was and wasn’t allowed. Today we finally saw a more balanced approach between the teams and also the much-publicised guidelines. Not surprisingly none of the Special Teams were involved but that’s for me to yowl about on another day. I’ve given them grief so credit when it’s due. Well done today ref.
Onto AI. We’re a work in progress and so what we want to see at this point is his approach starting to take hold and I think we did. Still a long way from the finished article but you can see the shapes and patterns starting to form. Definitely work to be done in places, for example getting more bodies in the box when Solanke peels wide. Christie, Billing and the wingers need to consider their positioning when that happens.
At times the high press was a joy to behold, leaving them jelly-legged and panicking at the back.
The switch to five at the back failed us once again. At least it wasn’t from sixty minutes but if AI wants to use it as a tactic to see out games then we need to work on it in training. A lot. We were terrible from that moment on, having been in command.
Into the international break and players are finally starting to get back to fitness. A good point away from home, some exciting signs, more options still to return from the treatment room and plenty of reasons to be cheerful.
In a word: decent.
KingKieffer wrote…
Amazed you haven’t put Zabarnyi in the room to improve category. He was dreadful, all over the place.
We can’t really complain about the result, they should have scored about five with the amount of clear-cut chances that they had. Our inexperienced back line was at sixes and sevens. We’ll concede even more than last year playing this way with that defence. Neto is massively overrated too. What the hell was he doing for the first goal? Could see that coming from a mile away. – To join the conversation, click here.
