If we're relying on Fred's finishing to win the game we're doing it wrong. He hit the target which is something I think only he and Rashford could say!
Plus remember the way the Fred chance started, he stumbled in a defender an the ball luckily went back to him. Not wanting to take something away from Fred, but that wasn't a chance we worked for really well.
Maybe. We certainly had more control.
With all that stale possession though, it just highlights how few players we have in the squad who have good attacking movement (Rashford in behind, Lingard more in midfield) and how few players we have with an eye for and an ability to make a pass (Bruno, Pogba and Lindelöf). West Ham aren’t anything special defensively. We were so poor in attacking transition.
We really missed Lindelöf today with all that possession and Pogba will be really important for us to salvage something from the season.
Question will be what is the price. I am totally with you on Lindelof, he might have helped today. Even though he might also have struggled against Antonie and a fairly physical Westham Side. With Pogba, who do you get rid of to have him in the team?
I just think saying 0-0 was a fair result implies an evenly matched game. Nothing between the two teams. Which would be a misleading way to describe what happened.
Put it another way. Do you think the 1-0 win flattered us? I don’t.
We had 3 or 4 shots on goal, the goal we scored came just after almost conceding after a Westham corner. We broke fast, we broke well, but this match to me was a draw. Two good teams mostly neutralizing each other. One being a bit more lucky in the end. Nothing wrong with being lucky of course.
As someone who is usually a big fan of xG I don’t understand why you’re ignoring it tonight. The Fred shot, the Ronaldo and Varane headers, the fluffed left foot efforts from Martial and Bruno. West Ham literally created nothing.
I shared your frustration to an extent but I was also really enjoying the way we strangled the life out of West Ham. Which has been a rare sight these last few years and is completely dismissed by the “0-0 a fair result” narrative.
Anyhoo. You were at the game. I often get a wildly distorted impression of events from inside the stadium, where just one punter sitting nearby on a negative one can make me think we played much worse than we did. Be interested to hear your opinion after watching on telly (even if only highlights)
The Fred shot came after the ball bouncing back to him, the Ronaldo header was after a typical "hoping for it" pass from Bruno, the Varane header was a set piece. We had some chances, but it isn't like we played particularly well to get them. Nothing wrong with that, Westham is a good team, but I find it potentially dangerous to take anything more from this game than being happy with a solid defensive performance and being well in control for almost an hour (after that we resorted too much to long ball stuff for my liking).