West Ham 2-0 Wolves: Verdict Thread

[Deutsch Wolf]

Neves, Moutinho, Campbell, Kilman and Podence.

Neto being on crutches kind of excused him from coming over and I'm wondering how Bruno will deal with this who followed his example and trudged down the tunnel without coming over?

Melted Springsteen was happy enough to milk it in front of the fans when we scraped past Southampton 1-0, thanks to them messing up an open goal from one yard out.

 

[Wolftone]

Melted Springsteen was happy enough to milk it in front of the fans when we scraped past Southampton 1-0, thanks to them messing up an open goal from one yard out.

Why 'melted Springsteen'? I don't get it.
Get what you mean though

 

[Dennisons Wrong Foot]

Seems I watched a different game. I thought we were unlucky to lose and would probably have got something if Costa's header had gone in.
We can criticise having Neves at the back but at least Bruno had the cojones to try it.
Surprised at how well Costa played and Adama could be great for him.
Neto and Guedes need to be more like Jarod Bowen.
Bruno was a dead man walking as soon as the final whistle went, but still surprised we didn't wait until Lopetegui became available.

 

[Jinky]

Thought I would torture myself and sat down to watch the full match last night as I was away all weekend and couldn't see it live. And I have to say, with the benefit of hindsight, and knowing that Lage has now gone; I didn't think we were that bad, and thought I'd offer some positive takes.

- I thought RAN played very well. Got his head down and ran forward with the ball a few times (I always think he has a tendancy to turn back or play backwards quite a lot and it didn't feel like he did this v West Ham).

- Costa looked great when he came on. Tidy touch/hold up play, decent effort with the header, linked well with Podence + others, ran in behind and gave their defence something to think about instead of the bog-standard, "safe" stuff we had played before. Clearly has the respect of his teammates. I reckon he got about the right amount of time, and I'd be starting him from here, giving him about an hour. Any more than that and he'll look like he's running in treacle; but if we instruct him to stand on the toes of the last man, to continue running in behind and to take up positions in/around the six yard box, he'll score goals here. I also thought his link up play with Adama showed promise, and if a new manager can come in and show Adama some love and make him feel important again, we might actually see that link-up produce something positive; much like we've had with Raul & Adama in the past.

- Guedes has a lovely delivery on him and I don't think we've seen anywhere near the best out of him yet. The free kick he put in should have been finished by someone. Jonny was the closest but no one really attacked it properly (quelle surprise). Again, hopefully the new manager can use him properly.

- Podence showed some fight and spirit and tried to take the game to West Ham.

Without Neves, Neto, Collins, Raul & co our next game is going to be a struggle v Chelsea. I'd have Costa up top with Guedes & Adama either side of him. Podence in behind Costa and told to link up play in/around the box. Moutinho/Nunes as the middle two and then the back 4 plus Sa (back 4 needs to be RAN-Toti-Kilman-Semedo until Collins is back).

 

[Dinowolf]

I agree with most of what you say Jinky, but I have a problem with RAN in the back four as I feel he can't tackle very well and he's hopeless at cutting out crosses. Good at going forward, but IMO not good defensively. A little naive I think.
I would play Jonny next to the inexperienced Toti.