Match week 32 gamethread

Kliq

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West Ham might have something. Chelsea are the much more talented team but not being able to defend set pieces against a team with a good height might be their kryptonite.
 

Cellar-Door

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West Ham might have something. Chelsea are the much more talented team but not being able to defend set pieces against a team with a good height might be their kryptonite.
If Haller were fit I'd be thrilled. He and Soucek were two of the best in the air in Europe last year, as a pair they should be great, not many defenses have two excellent players in the air with that kind of size
 

Kliq

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If Haller were fit I'd be thrilled. He and Soucek were two of the best in the air in Europe last year, as a pair they should be great, not many defenses have two excellent players in the air with that kind of size
You can even see it with Antonio doing these long-ass throws, trying to maximize the amount of set pieces. If Moyes is only going to play one real attacking player and 10 guys behind the ball, this is how you are going to score.
 

Cellar-Door

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2-1 Moyes finally realizing that he has a ton of attacking talent at his disposal, and maybe shouldn't put 10 behind the ball.
 

fletcherpost

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West Ham sitting far too deep. Chelsea strolling to the half way line as the hammers run backwards...recipe for disaster.
 

Kliq

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There is something so satisfying in seeing a perfectly placed shot that bangs in off the inside of the post. That satisfying "clink" is like Bellhorn striking the foul pole.

Pulisic has been Chelsea's best player since the return.
 

67YAZ

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Antonio needs to anticipate better, expect the ball to come back and pounce on that ball.
 

Kliq

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Antonio needs to anticipate better, expect the ball to come back and pounce on that ball.
Antonio is putting out a herculean effort; he is basically being tasked with leading a one man counter and is being fed solely on 50 yard balls over the top.
 

67YAZ

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Antonio is putting out a herculean effort; he is basically being tasked with leading a one man counter and is being fed solely on 50 yard balls over the top.
Fair. I'm always quick to criticize when I see a player react like I would out on the pitch. Antonio has put in a shift today.

Edit: And Antonio erases all that with a great ball to release Yarmalenko! He made that play by getting to clearance first.
 

Cellar-Door

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Not a coincidence BTW that the first time Noble doesn't start West Ham look far better in midifeld than they have in months
 

Cellar-Door

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Huge win.

Hopefully Moyes recognizes how much better this side looks without Noble and benches him accordingly when he's healthy. Love the guy but he's just done at this level.

Haller back soon as well.
 

fletcherpost

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Huge win.

Hopefully Moyes recognizes how much better this side looks without Noble and benches him accordingly when he's healthy. Love the guy but he's just done at this level.

Haller back soon as well.
I haven't seen the Hammers fight back like that against a good side for a good minute. I doubt anyone gave them a shot at the three points once Chelsea restored parity. One wonders why they languish in such a lowly position. My old boy says thanks.
 

Cellar-Door

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Antonio and Yarmolenko are better players than they’ve shown.
Antonio is what he is, honestly, runs hard, tries hard, has bad feet for a player at this level, also a tweener, he's not a striker, but as a winger he's all running with no end product.

Yarmolenko is just constantly injured he has 6 goals and 2 assists in 1200 minutes across 2 seasons, with a torn achillies and a torn abductor in the middle.

West Ham is loaded with talent that never quite fit together, partially because half of it is injured at any time, and partly because Noble gets undeserved starts.
1 striker in Haller.
However the wing depth is actually crazy..... Anderson, Yarmolenko, Bowen, Antonio, Lanzini, even Snodgrass.
And then there is CM, Soucek is the big addition, as he and Rice with Fornals (or Lanzini) work so much better than Noble or Wilshere (like 5 games in 3 years).
 

OCST

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Antonio is what he is, honestly, runs hard, tries hard, has bad feet for a player at this level, also a tweener, he's not a striker, but as a winger he's all running with no end product.

Yarmolenko is just constantly injured he has 6 goals and 2 assists in 1200 minutes across 2 seasons, with a torn achillies and a torn abductor in the middle.

West Ham is loaded with talent that never quite fit together, partially because half of it is injured at any time, and partly because Noble gets undeserved starts.
1 striker in Haller.
However the wing depth is actually crazy..... Anderson, Yarmolenko, Bowen, Antonio, Lanzini, even Snodgrass.
And then there is CM, Soucek is the big addition, as he and Rice with Fornals (or Lanzini) work so much better than Noble or Wilshere (like 5 games in 3 years).
This is a better way of saying what I was getting at.
 

Kliq

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We have a new winner for the dumbest VAR overturn. Unreal.
 

DennyDoyle'sBoil

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The referee had called a foul on Sheffield United. You could see in one of the replays that he signaled play on for advantage with the classic two arm signal.

Can you really call back a goal on a handling that is caused by a player going to ground as the result of a foul that the ref called on the field? That seems like bad communication with VAR.
 

coremiller

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Spurs benefitted from that rule when Man City's winner was ruled out earlier this season, now they get screwed by it.
 

swiftaw

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The new rules say that if an attacking player's hand touched the ball for any reason then the goal is to be disallowed. However, since Spurs didn't gain an advantage from the foul the play should've been brought back for the free kick.
 

Kliq

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The referee had called a foul on Sheffield United. You could see in one of the replays that he signaled play on for advantage with the classic two arm signal.

Can you really call back a goal on a handling that is caused by a player going to ground as the result of a foul that the ref called on the field? That seems like bad communication with VAR.
It also is just illogical. Moura is fouled and sticks his arm out to protect his fall, with a part of his arm grazing the ball as he hits the turf, barely even altering the ball's projection. A Sheffield defender then tries to clear the ball, but it bounces off the fallen Moura's back, right to Kane who finished it. I suppose that it is possible for the referee to believe that Moura kind of punched the ball over to Kane while falling, but he barely touched the ball and it had no impact on the play.
 

swiftaw

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It also is just illogical. Moura is fouled and sticks his arm out to protect his fall, with a part of his arm grazing the ball as he hits the turf, barely even altering the ball's projection. A Sheffield defender then tries to clear the ball, but it bounces off the fallen Moura's back, right to Kane who finished it. I suppose that it is possible for the referee to believe that Moura kind of punched the ball over to Kane while falling, but he barely touched the ball and it had no impact on the play.
Doesn't matter. The rule as written is that if the ball touches the arm of an attacking player for any reason intentional or not in the build up to a goal then the goal won't count.
 

Kliq

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Doesn't matter. The rule as written is that if the ball touches the arm of an attacking player for any reason intentional or not in the build up to a goal then the goal won't count.
Yeah, the rule doesn't make any sense.
 

coremiller

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Doesn't matter. The rule as written is that if the ball touches the arm of an attacking player for any reason intentional or not in the build up to a goal then the goal won't count.
Yup. it's an incredibly dumb rule, and this is about the most extreme possible example of it reaching the wrong result.
 

DJnVa

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Doesn't matter. The rule as written is that if the ball touches the arm of an attacking player for any reason intentional or not in the build up to a goal then the goal won't count.
We all know that rule. It's dumb. And they can make it like that because now they have VAR to see if it brushed his arm hair.
 

Kliq

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Just a complete dumpster fire of a second half. Atrocious defending from the whole team, and just uninspired offensive attack, mainly centered around players like Aurier getting into acres of space and then providing shit service that hits the first defender. The team's inability to piece together a pass longer than 15 yards is a big problem and it isn't just one player's fault, it was a team wide issue today. Terrible attacking in the final third.
 

Kliq

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And then a beautiful bit of football at the end to tease fans that the club is actually capable of more.
 

coremiller

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Just a complete dumpster fire of a second half. Atrocious defending from the whole team, and just uninspired offensive attack, mainly centered around players like Aurier getting into acres of space and then providing shit service that hits the first defender. The team's inability to piece together a pass longer than 15 yards is a big problem and it isn't just one player's fault, it was a team wide issue today. Terrible attacking in the final third.
I get the defensive problems since the defenders Spurs are playing aren't very good. But a squad with Kane, Son, Lucas, Dele, Lo Celso, Bergwijn, Ndombele, Lamela, etc. should be able to construct a more dangerous attack.
 

Kliq

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I get the defensive problems since the defenders Spurs are playing aren't very good. But a squad with Kane, Son, Lucas, Dele, Lo Celso, Bergwijn, Ndombele, Lamela, etc. should be able to construct a more dangerous attack.
To me this has been a problem for Spurs playing against teams with a conservative approach; early on in the game Sheffield moved a lot of players forward and Spurs created some chances and looked dangerous on the break. However, after the first Sheffield goal they became more defensive and then Spurs had a real problem. The strategy of funneling balls to Aurier on the wing is a lost cause. His service is terrible, especially if he needs to get the ball in the air and over a defender or two. Most of the time his attempts to find Kane or another attacker don't even come close, but it is still the default against teams that are packing the box and giving space on the wings.

He didn't really play a good game, but this is why I like Lucas on the team. He has the ability to take on defenders and aggressively tries to make things happen without deferring to lost balls coming in from the wing. Even the VAR goal, he just went at defenders and made something happen, getting fortunate that the ball bounced right to Kane for the goal, but that doesn't happen if you aren't aggressive.