Holmesy

Emery is one of the very best at game management. You’d have to put Benitez in there in terms of game management specifically - not saying I would want him back btw. Mourinho, Klopp, Tuchel. Proven winners for a reason, because they’re tactically astute and excellent at game management. Unfortunately, Eddie just isn’t in their league.

It’s not even league one game management. It’s pathetic for someone operating at the elite end of the game.

We’ve been absolutely woeful at it this season though, and we’ve been shite away from home. What he can control is what we do on the training pitch to prepare for this game.

You don’t think it’s possible he could coach some game management into the team should we take the lead at a ground we traditionally struggle at? I’m not talking about sit back and defend for the rest of the half, but maybe don’t go gung-ho and leave ourselves wide open. Nope, just pile forward lads. We’ll get some credit for having a go but ultimately losing AGAIN, and that’ll be nice to hear.

It’s fucking infuriating! Yes, the best form of defence is attack, but we’ve also shown we’re vulnerable as fuck when we’ve just scored and we’ve struggled to hang onto leads all season. And we consistently struggle at this ground. Calm them the fuck down for a few minutes and consolidate. They’re like excited kids ffs!

Our game management is non-existent. Sunday league stuff

So shit! Soft as fuck

Been trying to figure out why I just can’t get enthused about us at the moment, and I think it’s because I’m genuinely bored of Eddie ball. As a fan, I enjoy it when we win obviously but even at our best, we’re predictable but efficient. At our worst, we’re fucking turgid and at our median, we’re dull but get results. We stick to a rigid system, sign players who fit into that system and never try anything different. We don’t really have anyone in the squad who gets you off your seat or does something out of nothing, and I just find it all a bit boring. I know that’s the way football has gone to an extent and Eddie’s job is to get results, not entertain but fuck me, would it be too much to ask. The Leeds game was an anomaly and a throw back to when football was more enjoyable but I doubt we’ll see anything like that again for a long time. Unless he has a radical change of identity, what we have to look forward to is more of the same but with different players, and at the moment I can take it or leave it. Not even that bothered about the result. I watched the whole thing and I never got above a 🤷🏻‍♂️

Trying to figure out if they’re pressing Bruno so hard because he’s a danger man or because they know he can hold onto the ball too long. Either way, it’s been effective

Maybe you start strong and fatigue shortly after when you come back from an injury? It would make sense - stamina is something you build over time whereas natural freshness would be a normal result of an imposed rest. It’s such fine margins anyway - if he had put away those 2-3 good chances in recent games (the kind he regularly put away for Brentford), we’d all be waxing lyrical. Tough crowd (and I include myself in that).

As fans, I think we underestimate the time it takes to get back up to full speed, confidence and effectiveness after a long-term injury like he suffered. He's has a couple of months playing with his new teammates whilst trying to regain full match sharpness. I reckon he'll come good if he keeps getting into goalscoring positions. It's not like the whole team is playing well and he's sticking out.

I was just coming on to post something similar. We really need to sign a new keeper - he was all over the place.

Nope, he was finished here towards the end - looked a shadow of his former self. West Ham have obviously realised the same.

I hope you're right and I wish I had your confidence. If anyone can turn him into a player, it's Eddie but he has his work cut-out. How do you teach a £50m experienced international winger how to control a football?

He's saved us about £50m, if not more when you count his ability to slot in at right back.

Joe Willock doing what Joe Willock does! Not in the least bit surprised

Anyone got a clue what we’re trying to do/be? It’s like watching a Steve Bruce team ffs! Where is our identity and what is our gameplan?

They might have to be for the January market. That, or looking to far flung markets where there are still relative bargains

I know you say it’s not true but that seems like it’s out of necessity rather than preference. This summer, our primary striker targets appeared to be Pedro and Delap. We couldn’t get them so went abroad. Last summer our primary CB target was Guehi. We couldn’t get him so went abroad. Elanga appeared to be our only RW target. We do sign players from abroad but there’s no doubt our preference is PL-proven players.

I don't know, there seem to be a lot of good players coming out of The Netherlands at the moment. That run that Ajax went on created an inflated prices bubble that thankfully seems to have died down now.

It’s not really the same - Southgate was a prolific bottle job. One of the most cowardly managers I’ve seen in my lifetime. He went from saviour to scapegoat due to his track record of bottling. Eddie has the courage to go for the jugular in big games but he is a victim of his own success in that he is seemingly unable to manager his way when we’re fighting on two fronts. Get into Europe, our PL form suffers. That does signal a fundamental issue with his style of management when managing a club that wants to be in Europe consistently. If it continues and he can’t/doesn’t figure out a different way to manage that suits a dual campaign, it doesn’t mean he’s a shit manager, it just means his management style has a ceiling. Eddie is paid extremely well to get results, and right now he is underperforming. It’s only right that he’s given some loyalty by the club but it can’t be endless because of what he’s done in the past.

That’s the hierarchy though isn’t it, and as much as we’d love to be playing at the top, we’re just not. When we can pick up underrated gems and take the best players from clubs below us, it’s a sound policy. But the cartel hoovered up the best ones and we were left shopping in the next tier down, where it would probably have been more sensible to look overseas. Semenyo is a perfect example - top player playing for a club we have a good relationship with and are above in the hierarchy but we’d have no chance of getting him because of City, ManUre and Chelsea’s interest. So our only PL-proven option would be the next tier down. If we’re looking to compete for honours with the cartel, which we are, we need to be more creative and imaginative in the transfer market than we have been. Our policy got us to where we are but it won’t get us to where we want to go next.

When they cost £40m plus, they are always going to be afforded less time to adjust than players like Osula for example. I think there’s been a collective concern about the obsession with PL-proven players for a while, and this is the first time it has come back to bite us, but it has bitten us hard. They might come good in time but the one benefit of buying players like Elanga and Ramsey is they should need less time to bed in, and can hit the ground running.

I think the more concerning thing is we’ve never been linked with that kind of player under Eddie or showed any interest in having one. It’s 4-3-3 only and on the rare occasion, 5 at the back. We are absolutely toothless against a low block and we’re vulnerable on the counter attack. Having a disciplined deeper lying midfielder, with a crafty #10 who can pick locks further ahead would give us so many more options, and more than the one dimension we have now.

His best performance for us so far but I’m still not sure what he is. Hopefully that becomes clearer with time. Far more confident about him developing into a decent signing than Elanga