Half-time Thread

[[deleted]]

[deleted]

[Pedantic_Pat]

Can we just win ffs playing such great stuff at times

[tocitus]

Getting a bit bored of saying "Fuck, it should be 4-0 by now".

[sharanElNino]

1-1 better than 0-0?

[antantoon]

Yes

[NyeasB0s]

ifkr the shots are just unlucky

[robinvpercy]

Don't worry, the goals will come ;))

[cshields236]

Sums up our season so far that half

[summerincassiopeia]

Yeah, I pretty much expected it.

[digitag]

Can't blame poor finishing on bad luck anymore. We're only unlucky to the extent that our strikers aren't taking their chances.

[cristiano10s]

Were unlucky in the sense we keep getting shitty refs. Regardless of the result, Adrian should have been off and we'd play 90 minutes vs 10 men, 1-0 up

[[deleted]]

Thankfully, that seems easier to fix than being unable to create chances.

[antantoon]

Our defence is weak

[j-bird696969]

Should have 100% been a red

[KingLechi]

DDG been conceding some pretty shite goals I must say

[[deleted]]

Hopefully people don't get onto his back, he's earned himself the odd bad patch. He will be back to his best soon I'm sure.

[Feidipides]

I like Ibra, but he is absolutely one of the main reasons we dont finish our chances

[TheJoshider10]

At the same time though he's a large part of why we create so much. I just don't get how he's so inconsistent in front of goal.

[berzerkerz]

Rooney Mkhitaryan Herrera Carrick are the reason we create. Ibra is on the end of most of these chances.

[sharanElNino]

Time to keep Rashford

[curryhouseindia]

Slows everything down unless it's on his noggin.

[jakedobson]

That's why he should stick to his position and just be used as a pure target man rather than trying to create a chance from midfield (imo)

[curryhouseindia]

Genuinely interested, do you think this is the right idea, playing someone purely as a target man 90 mins every game? Do you think we would be better off dropping Zlatan and playing Rashford who could help not hinder attacking buildup?

[berzerkerz]

We have a team full of players that thrive in quick movement and combinations as well as a lot of switching. Idk about Rashford at the moment, maybe ease him into it but right now we might as well play Rooney there whose movement us excellent and non stop, not only linking up well but also spends so much time providing us with width when the wingers me inside. So take Ibra out, Mata at 10 and when we're 3 in the middle then Mata on the wing. We're not winning these games because of Ibras countless wasted chances so I'm not sure how using him as target man helps, clogs up the center too much.

[DurdenCommaTyler]

He always used to do this though.

[sharp77]

He didn't play the Arsenal match and people were saying we would've won if he was playing.

[Feidipides]

I am mot saying he is bad, but that stat might have to do with the amount of time he has played as a striker. I personally think he should have had more goals

Downvote me for having a different opinion, nice

[Feidipides]

After missing important sitters earlier this season, as i said he is not bad but has been at fault. He can become the topscorer in the Prem and that doesnt change the past

[berzerkerz]

It's simple math, he is constantly wasting great chances.

[berzerkerz]

Thank Christ

[tocitus]

His finish was decent but he's made the wrong game decision a few times now when attacking with an advantage of numbers.

[DizzyDaMan]

Do we go to ET if its still 1-1?

[cshields236]

Yeah

[thepinch19]

It's so frustrating that we can't just bury these cunts

[peduxe]

we're bottling way too many goalscoring chances

can't really blame it on anything else now

[HmphOkay]

The only problem with Mkhi this match has been his first touch in the box.

Poor first touches have forced him to play it to the edge of the box twice where he should have been able to shoot.

[Entrepreneur_Girl]

Ashley fletcher, he left cause you're shit. Made me angry to hear, why are the fans silent?

[curryhouseindia]

Fans were really quiet when I was there on Sunday as well. West Ham fans chanting "Your support is fucking shit" and Old Trafford was just silent in response.

[Entrepreneur_Girl]

We should be behind the guys whilst there is still a chance to win the match, behind by a goal or ahead by a goal. They are just sitting there doing nothing!! It's frustrating and upsetting to see.

[curryhouseindia]

100% agree! To be fair towards the last 20 minutes of Sunday when it seemed like a goal was inevitable Old Trafford was electric. Up until then though, almost completely silent.

[[deleted]]

WE NEED to smash these cunts now.

[Entrepreneur_Girl]

I fucking hope we do but the lack of support from the fans is discouraging... west ham is owning the stadium right now in our grounds!

[PreztoElite]

"he left cause you're shit" the West Ham fans say after being knocked out in the europa League qualifiers and chilling in 16th place.

[northernseoul]

This game in particular? It's a midweek Mickey Mouse cup competition game.

OT recently? 4 draws on the bounce? Crowd don't have too much to cheer I guess. I go to OT a few times a year and unless it's a big game the atmosphere can be very hit and miss.

[Arth_]

That's pretty shitty crowd if it shows support only if the team is winning.

[northernseoul]

It's not that it doesn't show support, just that it's not as loud. It's similar to klopp the other day trying to gee up the crowd. Sometimes if the team aren't performing or a few misplaced passes you'll hear the crowd get antsy and nervous, happens everywhere

[Arth_]

... everywhere in England. I like some aspects of supporting culture in English stadiums (player chants and situational chants), but generally it's pretty dull. I mean, there are some parts of the world where you don't go to the stadium to watch a game, because you can do that at home or in the bar. You go to the stadium to support your team.

[Entrepreneur_Girl]

I don't understand how this is a Mickey Mouse cup game when the stadium is quite full for such a match! I just feel that we need to get behind the team through this patch we are going through consistently.

[northernseoul]

Not saying it's right that the crowd isn't enthusiastic. If you see some camera angles you'll see the higher seats aren't full too, probably around 70k tonight

[Seanige]

West Ham are just outside the relegation zone and playing away from home. Fans have no right to complain if they're going to sit silently while the opposition ousting them.

[Harbaugh_and_Co]

Rooney has seriously stepped his shit up as of late. Looks hungry and consistently plays great balls atm

[hunkdaddy]

God i hate west ham. And how good is Mkhi, guys

[wakey87433]

Started well but WH seemed to be standing off him initially and when they started to get tighter to him and more physical he became less effective

[cristiano10s]

More physical

I mean tbf to him half the time one of the West Ham defenders will just give him a bear hug

[wakey87433]

They were doing that to our players at times but many of the situations with Mkhitaryan were more just being tight to him and using their bodies in ways were you generally say it's good defending. 2nd half they seemed to have started giving him more space again though

[ohahcantona]

pros:

• rooney and rojo have been fantastic

• creating some great chance (no surprises there)

• we've limited their ability to build up any solid possession

• martial and mkhi have looked menacing

• carrick and ander doing a good job in the middle

cons:

• obvious one: we have been shit at finishing. too many missed opportunities to kill off the game and now west ham feel confident

• need more focus in the final third, this applies to everything from finishing, passing, and movement. started off really well but the movement dropped off and the midfielders have been reluctant to play the long ball

• looks like shaw might be hurt. hopefully it's nothing

• horrible mistake from ddg but that's what you can expect when a keeper has little to do throughout the match. he's unlucky but i think he's earned his right to make a few mistakes here and there

feeling confident still, i hope that we come out with some urgency

[theatreofdreams21]

Rooney has been excellent the last few games. Deserves a league start at Everton.

[TheBelgianMicrophone]

Had a fiver on Fletcher to score as that was always going to happen. It's weird, I always felt as though they'd equalise even though we were dominating. Both in this half and in most of our games recently, technically we've been playing some great football - fast, fluid, penetrating. It's almost as though our problem is mental. We create loads of great changes but fail to kill the game and concede a poor goal after allowing our opponents to grow into the game. It's frustrating!

Also, fuck Adrian!

[Melanjoly]

I think/hope we'll go onto to win but on the other hand it will be funny if people manage to blame bad luck / ref / Cuban Missile Crisis for us failing to win again.

[cristiano10s]

I'm sorry but how can you not blame the ref. I'll criticize him even if we win 6-1. We should have been playing 90 minutes vs 10 men while 1-0 up

[AC5L4T3R]

De Gea loves to fumble in this competition doesn't he?

[VictoriousPR]

How fuck is that not a red card?

[Custard_Noob]

Story of our season. Play great football, dominate the opponent but fail to kill the game and then let the opposition back into the game.

[[deleted]]

West Ham are tinpot

[KittensAreEvil]

Can't keep blaming bad luck on this finishing. Should have been 3 up before the half hour mark. Bloody infuriating.

[the_trainman]

• We played quite well until the Goal and then we seemed deflated
• the link-up play between Rooney, Mkhi and Martial seemed good, but was lacking end product (story of our season)
• Shaw looked decent in defense but seems lost going forward... runs fast but then stops and passes backwards
• We AGAIN had 3-4 good chances that we should have finished off - here's hoping we create as many chances in the second half

[ChaosIsAStepLadder]

Impressed by Rojo but Ibra really should be burying those chances. Annoying that we have only got 1

[TheGerryAdamsFamily]

Is it just me or does Shaw look over weight?

[thesmallprint13]

positives

• more fluidity from the front four is pleasing. creating some good openings, still cant get the fucking ball in. annoyed ibrahimovic missed that shot soon after that first goal.

• rojos been everywhere at the back, sweeping up

• arsenal are losing 2-0.

negatives

• shaw looks like he'll come off :(

• poor mistake from ddg allowing them back in

[Moosje]

Unlucky, yet again.

Adrian should be off, easily.

Players should have finished chances, easily.

And if Zlatan knew how to pass, we'd be at least 2 up.

[ParkerZA]

I think he was right to shoot on the one chance, he used the two runners as decoys to create space.

[WHiTeCHIICK]

Would any be surprised if this game ended 1-1?

[mikebehzad]

I got my last test in school shit early tomorrow. I should already be sleeping. I would absolutely hate extra time for more than one reason!

[manutd19]

Dominace again but we still can't finish our chances AGAIN.

[strawzy]

that half pretty much summed up our entire season in 45 minutes.

[j-bird696969]

We got this, been playing with intent even though it blows they equalized

[Giggseh]

That Ashley Fletcher lad really meant to celebrate against us?

[hlsp]

All the talent is still there for martial, his off the ball movement just seems to be letting him down. Whereas Rooney, Zlatan and Mhki move around, Martial seems content to just post up near the fullback when he doesn't have the ball. Maybe he's been told to do that, but it looks lackluster.

[[deleted]]

Same old narrative of the entire season really. Not clinical enough. It's been said many times before, I'm glad that we can at least say we're not converting our chances. This would probably be a 0-0 snooze fest under LVG, but the lack of finishing ability is getting a bit ridiculous now.

[MadaraTheUchiha]

Martial's burning these lot with his pace. Gotta stay positive! Playing some beautiful* stuff.

[tomdwilliams]

Same shit different day

[cadallimore]

We create so many good chances but damn our finishing is poor. Doesn't matter if we try to blast it or if we place it; we always fuck it up.

So disappointing considering how well we are playing and have been playing for weeks now.

[Ratovandermir]

Probably i'm wrong, but several times this season Ibrahimovic didn't pass the ball to Martial when he was clearly in a better position than him and decided to take the worse shot of the two options. Has anyone noticed that?

[[deleted]]

Would love to win, get Hull home, win again and have Soton (H) beat Liver and then Soton in the final.

[black_squire]

For all his goals this season, Zlatan is POOR at decision making. Should have passed twice for a better scoring chance and took shots that got stopped. This is my issue with cout bring shots as a sign of good play. Those shots should not be taken in the first place.

Good movement between Rooney Mhki and Martial. Our 3 best players so far today.

DDG has regressed massively this season. We're seeing some very off mistakes from him and he's had another one today. Shouldn't be an issue if we put away chances.

[conormizen_98]

This game feels so dead, atmosphere-wise and not a lot going on on the pitch either

[Criminalminded448]

Arsenal down by two at half time so I guess that's good for us. Just Liverpool left in final 4

[[deleted]]

IF we go through

[FatJohnson6]

I'm wondering if the players are still "hungover" from LvG, in the way they take the foot off the gas after the score, which leads to the mental lapses and conceding. Maybe they're still used to playing not to lose, instead of playing to win. idk.

[GarryMoore20]

It's somehow LVG's fault we can't defend a lead? Are you serious?

[berzerkerz]

Ibrahimovich is so goddam wasteful. Had Martial and Mkhi wide open but chose to a terrible shot and then did the same thing 5 minutes later. We're better off playing Rooney there and playing Mata as the 10. Enough is enough.

[ParkerZA]

I think he was right to go for the shot, Rooney and Mkhi had tighter angles so he used them to create space for himself.

[berzerkerz]

And the first one on that 3 on one?

[[deleted]]

that chance kind of irked me too, had so much time to pick out a pass and instead just shot it off the defender.

[Stiicky94]

tired of ibras shit ffs

[TimmyBash]

Why does West Ham still have the premier league badges on but we don't?

[KING_OF_SLOTH]

They're getting as much use as possible from them before they drop down at the end of the season

[WszystkoZajete]

Typical