Written by kirsikka
Changes rung but not so many as to completely concede the match as a certain previous manager may have done. Meanwhile, on paper West Ham team looked packed with quality. Battle of the “whois that” youth team players it wasn’t.
Man of the match against West HamSenesi
Smith
Tavernier
Dango
Christie
Scott
Hill
Huijsen
Neto
Someone else
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Looks like we got an answer to the backup LB question, with Smith filling in with Hill at RB. Time is up for Aarons, it seems.
Even on TV, the atmosphere was horrendous, so I can only imagine how bad it sounded there. I’d say it was like an echoey morgue but at least that might have you feeling uneasy. The bear pit of Upton Park it is not. Something lost to the modern football Altar of More Revenue right there.
Last season, Sinisterra looked pacey, direct, and dangerous, if a little greedy at times. This season he hasn’t really got going yet. Doesn’t look to be taking people on and causing panic in the same way. Far more subdued. Sometimes I wish, in ‘old football’ parlance he’d spend more time getting chalk dust on his boots.
It was a cagey start with players from both teams not quite on the same wavelength. A slew of balls played to runs that aren’t being made was classic cup team stuff.
We did settle into things and started to put West Ham under pressure without creating too much that was clear-cut. With them pinned in their half, Scott was the instigator in chief, prodding and probing, with more angles than Kryten but never quite nailing the final ball.
Is this a breakthrough performance or simply a sign that when the blood and thunder of a PL game is replaced with a more tepid pace he suddenly starts to look better? Let’s hope it’s the former.
Throughout it felt like they were there for the taking but we didn’t quite have that final cutting edge. Jebbison was enthusiastic and energetic first half without making an impact and it didn’t quite happen in the end for Evanilson second.
The moment of the match came from that man Dango again, as the break loomed. Schoolyard stuff with his backheel volley effort that brought out a good save from the keeper. If ever there’s a man that deserves a goal this season after everything that’s gone, it’s him. Can we donate him the credit next time the opposition scores an own goal on our behalf?
Some further words on Dango. He’s someone that takes a lot of stick but I saw plenty out there tonight to please. He’s a winger, so we have to understand not everything he tried came off but enough did that he was a thorn in their side. Nearly scored, nearly had an assist, and was defensively disciplined. My AFCB MOTM.
AI’s desire to do well in the cups was made clear bringing on Evanilson and we immediately saw the difference in having a quality striker up front with hold-up play, snapshots, and runs in behind. He did drift in and out of the game after a strong start but he also has a bit of niggle about him. I suspect he’s going to end up as one opposition fans hate, but we love.
Our set piece-taking isn’t great, and that isn’t just today. It’s always hit and miss – mostly terrible deliveries but then occasional gold. Maybe someone should show Scott footage of Beckham staying behind after Man Utd training after all the other players had gone home. Every day. Ball after ball. Thousands of extra hours but it paid off. If he could master dead balls, it could help his case for more starts and solve a longstanding problem for us.
Ultimately, it was another game in which we were the better team for the majority of the match but weren’t able to score the goals our play deserved. If we keep playing like this we’ll smash someone soon enough, I just hope heads don’t drop and form fades before then.
The goal when it came was a sucker punch. Nothing more than a lucky deflection that also happened to be a blatant handball easily visible in real-time. And this, after Sunday…. sheesh. We’re done by VAR when it does intervene. We’re done by VAR when it doesn’t intervene. Now we’re done by VAR when it isn’t there.
The only consistent thing about VAR is that we lose out every time.
Let’s be honest, it’s far from the first time West Ham have been given an extremely generous handball decision against us in recent seasons.
I’m enjoying AI’s football and I love supporting AFCB, but the same teams getting decisions time and again against us season after season is starting to wear me down a touch. Newcastle at the weekend, West Ham today, and neither of them are even the big boys. Rather than highlight their fans think their match against them is for us, I’m dreading playing the Special Clubs for this very reason as if this is what it’s like against second-rung teams, we should be prepared for the shitshow that is to come.
Selected Player Watch
— Jebbison —
This was the chance to change the manager’s mind, but he struggled to make an impact. No shame in that, but I think that is his loan to Watford/A N Other Championship club confirmed.
— Tavernier —
The second time this season we’ve seen Tavs in the central role and I understand why it might feel like his energy would make a good echo of Kluivert’s game, but he somehow doesn’t look comfortable there.
— Dango —
Often maligned but the flashes are there and he did well. Could he be on the verge of becoming an important influence for us?
— Huijsen —
Just a note that he looked equally comfortable on the right as he did on the left in the centre-back pairing. Seems like a great find so far!
AI and Tactics Watch
The left-back question still looms large in my mind with the window closing soon, but it could be AI has decreed that Smith is his backup man. However, if Aarons is totally out of the picture we’re surely a defender light.
That aside, it felt like he didn’t make too many changes to completely disrupt team cohesion. The Unal injury is so disappointing on nights like this as he would surely have been in there from the start, and we could have taken a proper look at Plan B.
Still, AI showed his attitude to the cups by bringing on the big-money man at half-time. No cotton wool until ten minutes to go for our Brazilian. It didn’t work in the end thanks to some missed chances, bad luck, and (conveniently) blind refereeing but at least the intent was there.
Overall it was a good night where we went away, outplayed the opposition, and should have been going into the hat for the next round. Football just doesn’t work like that sometimes.
Onto Everton, where surely we’re due a win?
Your say…
DangerousDave said…
Agree that Jebbison isn’t ready for PL level yet, I’m not sure that he was ever really supposed to be though. He has the raw ingredients but needs regular football in the championship to develop his game.
Evanilson looks promising. I know that he missed two very presentable chances but his overall game was of a very high quality. Movement, positioning, strength and link-up play were all there. It’s early days but I was left pondering how we had managed to recruit such a well-rounded forward to replace Dom.
It’s time that as a fan base we all started to get behind Dango. He’s been good so far this season and was a constant threat today. AWB is one of the best one-versus-one defenders in the game and he couldn’t live with him at times.
I disagree slightly on Tavernier, I think he is playing well in that position and linked play nicely again today. Again it was the finishing touch that let him down. Another benefit of having him central is that it opens up more opportunities for him to unleash that bullet of a long-range strike that he has.
Agree on Sinisterra, aside from a couple of flashes his performance felt a little bit underwhelming. You really saw a difference when Kluivert came on in terms of pace and directness.
Hill was surprisingly good and Huijsen just looks the dog’s testicles basically! His reading of the game coupled with his ability to win personal duels is going to give Iraola a selection headache for sure! I can’t help but feel that he just has to be in the team, he just oozes class.
Smith deserves a mention too, he absolutely did not disgrace himself by any means today. Iraola seemingly likes his full-backs to play pretty narrowly anyway so that the widemen can hug the touchline, so perhaps the problems he’s had in the past overlapping while playing on that side won’t be so prevalent if he’s called upon to play there again.
I felt that Scott and Christie was a combo that seemed to work. I really like Cook but I personally feel that the way for us to reach that fabled ‘next level’ in our game is to integrate more of a technically gifted midfielder into the side. Christie absolutely has to play so maybe this is the way to do it? I’m not sure that Cook and Scott works as a combo but playing with Christie seems to get the best out of Alex Scott. – To join the conversation, click here.
