West Ham vs Fulham [R]

West Ham worries

Hmmm ... Liam vs. Luis ... should be interesting. Who has the edge from all those practice sessions?

Curbishly is a good coach and sooner or later he will get West Ham on track. Let's hope it's later.

Also, watch out for the Argentines -- they are due to break out.

Prediction: 2-2

 

RE: West Ham worries

I just played the FIFA 07 Interactive League online where you can play your real life clubs fixture for the weekend. I played West Ham and beat them 4-2.

The 2 goals were defensive errors. Liam cleared the ball and it hit Niemi and went in. Then on another run they crossed the ball into the box, Niemi punched it away and they knocked it in.

Note: All my goals were scored by McBride.

My roommate and I used to play our college teams football fixtures as a predictor of luck for the game the next day. Lads, this looks good.

 

RE: West Ham worries

Well, now... here's a question... did they have a spurned snake playing for them?

Hard to figure in the emotional motivation...

I recall playing Crew & McBride v ManU some years ago.. definitely closer result than reality.

 

RE: West Ham worries

According to Cookie's comments on the Fulham FC website, Dempsey has to return to America to sign some forms, etc and isn't match fit yet. So, he won't be in for the West Ham match.

I hope we find some consistency this half of the season. A top ten finish is very reasonable.

 

RE: West Ham worries

which game was it where they nealy had a fight on the edge of our box?

I hope the Fulham fans give his a rousing chant and clap him. Not only should we show our appreciation for a former player who has been a good servant to the club, but also because you don't want to p*** him off!

On the plus side, West Ham have signed several players who don't know each other, if they play them all it will be disjointed. They will be at home and their fans will expect more than is reasonable from them, so they will be under pressuer. I think we are going to get 3 points. I go with 3-1 to us and Radzinski to play a blinder.

 

RE: West Ham worries

The trick may be getting Liam to take it personally. The young lad appears to be up for many a challenge.

I'm only a little concerned that Brown may respect the former captain too much.

Radz to score? Sure, why not.

 

RE: West Ham worries

The man in black today is Graham Poll. He has refereed us three time this season, twice at home (win to Sheff Utd and loss to Wigan) and once away (draw to Charlton).

In the Charlton game no bookings were made. Apart from that he has booked Knight, Diop, Hieder and Jimmy Bullard.

On the whole he is a good ref, which can be important against West Ham as they are a bit of a niggerly team. On th plus side, I see Anton Fedinand is still out, so that will weaken their back four. Hopefully Spector is playing as he looks woeful. COYW.

 

RE: West Ham worries

I'm a Spector fan, but from what I've heard of his play since at the black hole Wet Spam, sounds like he's not doing as well as last year. Which means, I also hope he is in today. I'll be quite happy with a McBride header over 'im.

 

RE: West Ham worries

Especially with Ferdinand out, we need to put lots of crosses in.

 

RE: West Ham worries

If we can pressure them early, we should be fine. Early pressure and an early strike would really deflate the crowd in Upton Park.

 

The game is being carried live by BBC London digital radio. I know that people have listened before, so it may not be blocked.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london

 

Where does it say Live Fulham? I see others.

 

Great, great draw and great effort from Fulham today!! I could not have been more proud of them!!

 

For those of us who could only see the minute by minute updates, could somebody break down the player performances.

 

Another gritty draw on the road for Fulham indeed. We pegged them back not once, not twice, but three times to earn a draw. I'm with ChiTom here, our effort and fighting qualities really impressed me today.

 

I didn't see the matchm but I know Jan Latsuvka has some problems in the goal. Can't we put in Warner? And what happened to Crossley?

 

I can't really say one player was outstanding or terrible today. It really was a collective team effort.

I will say I think Radz was great on the left wing today. Between him and Boa Morte today, I would give the edge to Radz although Boa played well at times for West Ham.

Liam did nice overlapping from his right back role.

My only problems today were Christanval, Bocanegra and Lastuvka. Their communication and movement as a defensive unit were not too good, hence the three West Ham goals.

Regardless, Fulham deserved the draw.

 

I want new CBs for Fulham. NOW. Any strong centerback or one who can be a leader on that back line would not have hesitated and West Ham doesn't score that third goal. Or possibly the second. The defense was leaky all game. I can't hate Cristanval too too much since he got the game tying goal, but outside of that; I want someone else at CB. It doesn't have to be Oneywu, it just needs to be someone better than Cristanval or Bocanegra.

Michael Brown certainly was vocal as captain, West Ham got a lot breaks on calls. Overall, there were a hell of a lot of fouls by Fulham. 6 yellow cards for Fulham. Can you guess that Graham Poll was the ref? Because he was. I wish I can get a total number on fouls, as well as fouls earned by Boa Morte. He was most definitely was all over the place against Fulham.

Still, Fulham didn't give up after going down early. McBride tied it up first before the Fulham CBs gave Yossi Benayoun the easiest goal EVER. Thankfully, Fulham pressed late and got a goal.

Vincenzo Montella came in the 67' minute replacing a mostly invisible Helguson. Montella was OK. McBride did well, Routledge was good, Radzinski was OK. A lot of just "OK" performances, no one really stood out on my mind on Fulham's end as being strong.

While I'm glad Fulham got a draw out of it, I'm not glad. Fulham has gotten 5 straight ties. Improved defense - and that does not mean ATTACKING defenders - would result in those ties being wins. Better defense against Charlton would have likely resulted in a win for Fulham. A better defense against West Ham today would have resulted in a win for Fulham. But the backline remains leaky in their own end, so Fulham is lucky to get another late equalizer. Let's win the next one, PLEASE, Fulham.