Premier League — Week 15

West Hams 3rd goal... doesn't matter how they go in as long as they go in. I think that was meant to be a cross.

Well, I see the useless dinosaur Moyes has just beaten Chelsea. Largely it would seem by making an attacking substitution near the end when Chelsea were all over West Ham.

Sort of not like taking Townsend off and putting Delph on when 2 down...

Charles, don't give Moyes any sort of credit, the ceiling will come down on you.

His recruiting has been quite shrewd, Coufal, Soucek, Bowen, Zouma all strong, battling players, hard to play against, with some technical ability too. Also he has inherited an academy diamond in Declan Rice.

He's put together a no nonsense team that can scrap with the top 4/6. I didn't want him back, but at the same time I admit he has done very well at West Ham and probably would have had us more organised too. That ship has well and truly sailed and to be honest I still wouldn't want him here.

I can imagine Blue Bill giving Moshiri the old “I told you to sign up Davy Moyes !” “This current situation is nothing to do with me “.

No doubting Moyes's achievements with West Ham this season, but how many times did he beat Chelsea when he was with us for 11 years?

In fact, how many times did he try to beat Chelsea when he was with us? He was always happy with the point he started with.

Yes, David Moyes is doing well at West Ham, with some supporters saying we should have gone for him instead of Benitez, but this is his 3rd season with West Ham. Benitez has been with us for 6 months and we haven't given anyone more than 2 seasons.

Like the 3-4-2-1 Chelsea and West Ham both playing - but players need to be disciplined enough to stop it being a 5 all the time.. Would be good to see it tried on Monday.

Pickford
Godfrey Keane Branthwaite
Coleman Doucoure Allan Digne
Gordon Gray
Richarlison

I would settle for that 4-3-3 too, Ian, albeit I'd put Dobbin on the right, and Rondon behind the counter in the nearest chippy instead.

Yep agreed mate, not sure Dobbin is ready to start. But I'd certainly get him on with 20 minutes to go.

Fucking brilliant block on the line.

C'mon Wolves!

Gary,

Most of the game, West Ham were playing 5 at the back with 3 in front of them.

That's Moyes just sorted out Chelsea and the gengenpress, 3 points. 👍👍

West Ham sorted us out; they will be Top 4 and Champions League. Not bad for a crap manager.

We are so divided as 39,000, but that's years of crap. The last 6 years, we are all flipping dizzy.

Take control, Big Sam. At least we'll know where we are, mid table or better.

Toon winning 1-0 at the moment. Are there 3 teams worse than us at the moment, before May? I doubt it.

Crisis now, don't wait. Give big Dunc the team, get 10 points, we hope out of 15th before January. Only 15 or 17 more points to get before the end of May.

Dunc cannot do any worse than what Rafa will do. He will get players in to play away to keep us up for now.

Or it's Big Sam.
🙈

Sacking Benitez might provide a result bounce, but it's not the long-term answer to allow the players and the DoF to continue to get away with it.

That said, playing Mane vs Coleman, and a midfield two of Allan & Doucoure vs Tiago, Henderson & Fabinho was madness.

I was expecting Benitez to be tactically very clever. He turned it around in one game vs Southampton but, since then, he's been hugely naive in my opinion.

Poor at set-pieces, wide open leading to pressure which is driving a huge number of individual mistakes. Moyes against Watford, would've brought on a defender like a Heitinga or Weir – and taken the win, shutting up shop.

I am not advocating Moyes, but Benitez needs to lower his expectations on their defensive ability. Because they're awful.

they have to score don't they there could have only been less than a min

Bill (15), they even get something out of their crap players.!!

Watch Man City now lose to Watford.

Can't see Moyes coming back to Everton, ever. Why would he? He probably thinks it more amateurish now that when he came in 2002!

Ian Bennett, spot-on regarding Benitez's mistakes. I'll add picking Rondon and Iwobi to his crime sheet too.

For me, Rondon having a half-decent game against Liverpool just went to prove how lazy he has been in his previous games.

Brands, Kenwright and Moshiri are guilty as sin, but Benitez has been really poor.

The awful week just continues. That lot will win the league (again) the year there is a real possibility we will get relegated.

How Kenwright, Unsworth and Ferguson can even show their faces, after all these years of the demise they are part of.

Now only 5 points off the bottom, we are getting sucked into the black hole that is relegation with no way out. Games on 26 and 30 December looking crucial now, away to Burnley and at home to The Geordies – lose either of them and we could be bottom for the New Year.

Just seen the red shite score. 35+ years I've been watching those poxy bastards do that. Scored more penalties and 90+ minute goals than anyone else since the Premier League started. Never ever tell me they aren't lucky.

Well, City going top may be the highlight of the day. I'll take it

I can see them slaughtering Watford 0-1, Dale. Satan is on the prowl.

Nick Page @21,

When you watch it, year-in & year-out for 60+ years, like some of us, you get past caring.

Hang in there – every cloud...

I do not believe that Man City were ever thinking of letting Bernardo Silva go.

Tell you what: City are lovely to watch.

Yes, Nick and Bill,

Silva is sublime. I think it's Gundogan that makes that City thing work so well though.

And Barry, cynical and I like it. I'm in for the long haul.

I find watching Man City bores me to fuck.

Maybe it's a jealousy thing... but I turned off at 0-2.

What a beautiful 3rd goal from Silva. Sublime.

City scraping the barrel with subs – De Bruyne and Mahrez now on.

Mr Cathcart got a two for one in there.

"Rondon behind the counter in the nearest chippy instead."

The food would be cold by the time he served it.

I didn't catch a lot of the Premier League today. I saw West Ham come back to snatch the win. They all count, but he so meant to curl that in as a cross, but slightly sliced it, which caught the keeper out!! Fair credit to them for still trying to win it though.

Despite the result, still impressed with Chelsea. Rudiger. What I would give for a central defender with that type of drive, pushing his team higher up the pitch. His midfield has no option other than to get forward. At one point, there was a move where, other than Pulisic, he was the furthest Chelsea player forward and he'd carried the ball himself from his own 18-yard box.

I agree with the half-jealousy, half-praise call on Man City. When they play like that, as they did against us, you can't but help admire the finely tuned Bentley engine they are.

Probably the team I begrudgingly like watching the most apart from Everton right now.

City for the purists. They don't hoof it up the pitch and all leg it hoping for a mistake to capitalise on. I like them.

Barcodes win, Southampton avoid defeat and move above us, Liverpool last-minute winner.

Boss.

Derek @35,

You could look at it this way, Burnley lost, Southampton dropped two points in the latter stages of their match with Brighton, Wolves are still near enough to catch.

Agree Nick. As a purist, City are great to watch when in full flow. Not afraid to go backwards and sideways, but when they go forward, it's with real intent. It's like going through the gears.

Slightly disagree with the view on Liverpool in honesty. They do tend to go forward quickly and almost bypass midfield, but their intense forward pressing isn't hoping for a mistake. It intentionally forces them from the opposition, which they then capitalise on in my opinion.

Very different styles, but both very effective. And both very intended.

Watching the allegedly world famous EPL is to me becoming more and more like watching shooting fish in a barrel, six teams possessing the guns, the rest swimming around in frantic terrified circles trying to stay alive until or if one of the six dozily falls in to join them for once. It rarely happens.

City are flat track bullies comfy when not in a dogfight but get at them and they cave. No surprise Chels nailed them in the CL final and the neighbours across the park terrify them. For all their money they're still a gang of choking tarts.

Danny, unfortunately the lot across the Park (imo) are more or less unbeatable. The amount of goals they score is on another planet, and the finishers/goalscorers they have. Yes I hate them with a passion, and it's puts into perspective and unfortunately the pathetic outfit Everton are.

The way people are talking you would think we where in a relegation scrap. We are Not.

You're arguing semantics though Paul. It's six losses in seven and no league win since September mate. It's nowhere near good enough.

I agree Derek it isn't good enough. But Benitez has had less than 2 million in transfer funds. Lost his best 2 goalscorers, midfielder and CB. Let's give the guy time. Or what's the point?

Paul, I usually lambast the relegation naysayers but I'm not quite so confident right now. It's not so easy to look around and find 3 or so teams who are definitively worse than us currently. Newcastle and Norwich seem buoyed by new managers, Burnley look poor but Dyche has turned this around before, Leeds have been unlucky a few times, Brentford look decent, Watford look pretty rubbish but have injury issues even worse than ours currently.

I'd still bet on us to finish 10th-14th but the longer this current run continues the closer we get to a relegation scrap. Let's see what happens on Monday but lose that and there's a decent chance we're only a few points above the relegation zone.

Ayew Idiot. I needed that