[jackal&hyde]

We are already joint 3rd if we win our game in hand.

Yes but we need to do that first.

 

[Cathy Ferguson]

Been really impressed with the way Shaw has fought his way back into the team and is playing well.
Good news for England as well. Thought he was very good today.

Shaw and Dalot were outstanding today. Very happy for them. De Gea and Martinez as well.

 

[wolvored]

Lucky win in the end. What happened 2nd half? Thought we had gone back 12 months how we played. De Geas saves kept the unbeaten streak going.

 

[BorisManUtd]

Lucky win in the end. What happened 2nd half? Thought we had gone back 12 months how we played. De Geas saves kept the unbeaten streak going.

Felt like that to me, too. Hopefully it's tiredness and we won't be seeing that too many times over the season.

 

[Fts 74]

Very average performance today, we still have a long way to go but defensively we are so much better.

Dalot Martinez Maguire and of course DeGea were excellent.

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

I disagree with anybody saying we didn't deserve to win it. That was a game we should have killed off, and the fact West Ham stayed in it until the end was down to our own poor passing and finishing. It would have been so frustrating to let that one go, and we very nearly did through being poor in possession in the second half.

Saying that, it was absolutely fantastic defending and spirit from the lads. We've come a fecking long way since the Brentford game, a very pleasing day overall.

 

[Superunknown]

When you consider we don’t have a strong squad just yet, and were missing Varane, Antony, Martial and Lindelof, you often have to just find a way to win.

If you don’t score your chances in the PL any team will put you under periods of pressure.

Our attack and midfield didn’t fire today so we left ourselves open but the back five were sensational and earned us the win.

I feel this exact same way.

Took the piss a bit in the second half and could have conceded a few. But - feck it - we won, so neerrrrrrr to you, West Ham.

 

[Luffy]

I thought that any pretense of 'pressing' left the team in the 2nd half. The latter was terrible. Our bad football was not only on a tactical level, but also on an aesthetic one. Martinez, Dalot and De Gea saved us from conceding. I wonder why Casemiro had such an alarmingly quiet game when his presence was needed on the deck.

 

[Red_Aaron]

That was very much a 'fckin get in' type of result

Hard fought, not pretty but defended with everything we had and got our rewards

Big 3 pts today

 

[glasgow 21]

There are people who think we should replace DDG - I am not one of them

Correct, stick him in Chelsea side yesterday and he saves a few of those goals. He is playing his role win the team very well and there is an increased confidence and grit with him and the back 4 since ETH arrived. Right now we can invest in other areas. We need the right striker and a right back as AWB looks on his way out under ETH.

 

[Darkhorsez]

I disagree with anybody saying we didn't deserve to win it. That was a game we should have killed off, and the fact West Ham stayed in it until the end was down to our own poor passing and finishing. It would have been so frustrating to let that one go, and we very nearly did through being poor in possession in the second half.

Saying that, it was absolutely fantastic defending and spirit from the lads. We've come a fecking long way since the Brentford game, a very pleasing day overall.

Spot on - exactly how I feel specially as we were missing a few first team players for the game

 

[matherto]

Quite happy with that tbh, we often haven't won that type of game over the last few years but there's that serious sense of achievement in the defence when they don't concede or save each other.

Titles are built on defence. We won't win it this year but the foundations are being built to challenge for things in the future.

 

[wolvored]

I disagree with anybody saying we didn't deserve to win it. That was a game we should have killed off, and the fact West Ham stayed in it until the end was down to our own poor passing and finishing. It would have been so frustrating to let that one go, and we very nearly did through being poor in possession in the second half.

Saying that, it was absolutely fantastic defending and spirit from the lads. We've come a fecking long way since the Brentford game, a very pleasing day overall.

Or was it West Hams poor finishing? Could have gone either way. We was never in control of the game, especially 2nd half.

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Back when we used to be good West Ham were quite an annoying bogey team. Always seemed to find it hard against them. Paradoxically, in the post-Fergie era, the shitter we got the easier we seemed to find it to beat them.

So I’m taking the extremely hard fought win today as proof positive that we’re back, baby!

Also. Their recent form has been good. Was a tricky fixture, well negotiated.

 

[TheReligion]

I disagree with anybody saying we didn't deserve to win it. That was a game we should have killed off, and the fact West Ham stayed in it until the end was down to our own poor passing and finishing. It would have been so frustrating to let that one go, and we very nearly did through being poor in possession in the second half.

Saying that, it was absolutely fantastic defending and spirit from the lads. We've come a fecking long way since the Brentford game, a very pleasing day overall.

Good post

 

[hellhunter]

Or was it West Hams poor finishing? Could have gone either way. We was never in control of the game, especially 2nd half.

We were in complete control until the final 20ish minutes

 

[Luffy]

The missing players were missed, but the regulars like Fernandes, Ronaldo, and Shaw failed to ease off the pressure that we ultimately invited from West Ham.

 

[wolvored]

We were in complete control until the final 20ish minutes

No we wasnt

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Or was it West Hams poor finishing? Could have gone either way. We was never in control of the game, especially 2nd half.

Seriously? Can’t think of a single decent chance they missed. Maybe the Maguire Block from Bowen? They certainly created very few good chances. Our xG was a lot better than theirs, that’s for sure.

 

[Isotope]

THose men hugs at the end gave me a bit of goosebumps. Love that others acknowledge DDG and how pumped up he was.

Just lacking of DDG beating his chest in gorilla style.

 

[Baneofthegame]

The missing players were missed, but the regulars like Fernandes, Ronaldo, and Shaw failed to ease off the pressure that we ultimately invited from West Ham.

Not sure Shaw deserves to be in there.

 

[pogbasformerbarber]

Ugly wins that include a tad bit of luck are part of every team’s season. We’ve been playing well so there’s no reason to take anything from this other than the positive result IMHO. Coming off a mid-week game…some key injuries…decent opponent.

Ironically way less entertaining than the Fulham/Everton nil-nil draw…but we got the points so who gives a @@@@.

 

[wolvored]

Seriously? Can’t think of a single decent chance they missed. Maybe the Maguire Block from Bowen? They certainly created very few good chances. Our xG was a lot better than theirs, that’s for sure.

Didnt De Gea pull off 2 WC saves?

 

[Luffy]

Not sure Shaw deserves to be in there.

He didn't run into space and didn't offer an outlet for the midfielders to target. But I respect your opinion.

 

[Litch]

Poor game, great result...

 

[Pogue Mahone]

Didnt De Gea pull off 2 WC saves?

From a header from 10 yards out and a shot from 20 yards. They certainly never missed a goal because of “poor finishing”. Which was my point.

 

[wolvored]

From a header from 10 yards out and a shot from 20 yards.

There you are then

 

[12OunceEpilogue]

Or was it West Hams poor finishing? Could have gone either way. We was never in control of the game, especially 2nd half.

I think we'd have killed them with a second goal, it just didn't come and they hung in and caused us some problems. We didn't have it all our own way and you're right to say we didn't control the second half at all, but we'd done enough to be deservedly in the lead and had the game at our mercy at half time.

When we dominate a game for a prolonged period we need to fill our boots. We've dropped points already this season having been the better team, and we'll drop more if we don't get ruthless in front of goal. The defensive improvement is enormous though, all credit to the group for this fantastic turnaround.

 

[flameinthesun]

Greag defensively, think we are seeing a combination of fatigue and the limitations of our squad. Elanga, fred, mct, ronaldo and maguire just drop us down a level in terms of quality and dynamics.

 

[TheReligion]

The missing players were missed, but the regulars like Fernandes, Ronaldo, and Shaw failed to ease off the pressure that we ultimately invited from West Ham.

Shaw was good

 

[Pogue Mahone]

There you are then

No. There you are. You’re the one arguing West Ham missed chances due to poor finishing. Are you really arguing those were two poor finishes?

 

[hellhunter]

No. There you are. You’re the one arguing West Ham missed chances due to poor finishing. Are you really arguing those were two poor finishes?

Yeah that Rice 30 yard tap in he aimed directly at De Gea

 

[ScholesyTheWise]

I don't ever understand why teams are willingly pulling back to try and "seal the game out".
When has it not invited tons of pressure on the defense?

Seeing as professional managers do it time and again I'm sure that there's something that the armchair fan just doesn't get, but it all seems so stupid and mostly annoying as a fan of the team that does this...

 

[bosnian_red]

Didnt De Gea pull off 2 WC saves?

Not from good chances. A shot from 35 yards out is what teams love to concede. Sometimes they go in. But they're 1% shots. The only real chance they had was that cut back in the dying minutes that we cleared off the line. Other than that, they created nothing.

 

[Luffy]

Shaw was good

He not only could not attack on his side of the pitch, but also could not stop the movement from West Ham's right side, and basically shut down.

 

[bosnian_red]

Or was it West Hams poor finishing? Could have gone either way. We was never in control of the game, especially 2nd half.

We controlled the game for 75 minutes. Only the last 15 we shut up shop while they pumped balls into the box. Dealt with it surprisingly well IMO.

 

[TheReligion]

I don't ever understand why teams are willingly pulling back to try and "seal the game out".
When has it not invited tons of pressure on the defense?

Seeing as professional managers do it time and again I'm sure that there's something that the armchair fan just doesn't get, but it all seems so stupid and mostly annoying as a fan of the team that does this...

I don’t think It’s deliberately done nor does the manager want it to be.

The issue was we didn’t take care of the ball well enough so kept losing possession in dangerous areas which in turn left us open on the counter.

 

[TheReligion]

He not only could not attack on his side of the pitch, but also could not stop the movement from West Ham's right side, and basically shut down.

Not how I saw it. Shaw linked up well with Rashford over the 90 minutes, provided regular overlaps and played some decent balls inside and into the box.

He had a good game.

 

[Leonzo1]

625 minutes since we last conceded an open play goal. Our improvement in the defense has been outstanding the last couple of months.

 

[Luffy]

Not how I saw it. Shaw linked up well with Rashford over the 90 minutes, provided regular overlaps and played some decent balls inside and into the box.

He had a good game.

Well, I can admit to being mistaken, but both Shaw and Dalot could not create chances that were dangerous. It was only when Eriksen overloaded the opponents' wingback, did we score.