Ratings and reactions: West Ham 1-0 Villa

[legov]

Oh football depression, how I have missed you.

Some more incisiveness in the final third, please! And our poor defending at set pieces still doesn't seem to have been addressed. Clark, Lowton etc please cut out the giving away of free kicks, it's going to cost us more than one match.

[Amo69]

I think one thing that is evident is that the problems of last season did not just lie with the manager. We were all under the impression he set his teams out to defend but it's more a case of our attacking player not being good enough. I know it's early days but I'm not too sure what Lambert can do with the current players we have. West ham will not have an easier game all season.

[hants-villa72]

I have faith in Lambert but not so much with the squad, he has his work cut out because I cant see us getting in the quality and numbers in we require, most depressing bit was alack of urgency didn't look like we would score if we played all night!

[knoppy1987]

For me, Ron Vlaar was MOTM.

It was a positive start to the game and we looked very neat and tidy for much of it but we just couldn't seem to manufacture anything - all game. I was impressed with some of Delphs forward through balls but at times, players seemed far to close to each other playing crab passes from side to side. When we did go forward, besides Delph on a few occasions, balls were wayward and there was little out wide for any sort of cross field/diagnonal balls. We definitely need to come into a game like that in future with a broader game plan as todays just didn't work.

First Impressions:

I thought Ron Vlaar was very good, looked like he wanted to have a go even everything didn't go his way during the game. I also think on a few occasions he was a bit unlucky with decisions for Carlton Cole. KEA, looked neat and tidy but I think he might have played a little within himself. Still, I was impressed and think nerves are always going to feature. I'd also say the same Lowton. I was less impressed with Holman, thought he was very sloppy in possession at times and he also seems to rush everything. It's the first game so obviously very early to judge. I expect there is better to come and possibly a couple more faces to aid that.

[villianusa]

Gerard Houiller got very similar performances out of similar players and he got slaughtered for it. Certainly more passing that last season but doesn't really matter if all the passing is in your own half or the center circle.

I heard before the game we would be attacking; well didn't really see a great deal of that. We can all say it's his first game but doesn't matter same problems are there. We have weak minded players who don't know or haven't been told what to try and do when things go wrong.

Trevor Francis may be a nob and a blue nose but he summed us up right "We played the second half as if we were winning 3-0 away from home."

Poor, very poor.

[KHV]

Horrendous.

Paul Lamberts teams have never ever played tippy tappy football, they have always been direct and used wide players to get balls in the box so I have no idea what the **** that display was all about.

No width all but thats hardly suprising when Baker is at full back. Shocking decision tostart him there.

Lowton seems to have been taking crossing practise from Alan Hutton.

Thought Vlaar and Clark were vulnerable, both foul a lot and Clark looks a total liability.

Delph didnt look to bad and KEA and Ireland were tidy at times but again like last season everybody is about 30 yards behind Darren Bent who may as well have stayed at home.

Nzogbia looks exactly like last seasons Nzogbia, crap.

The substitutions were never going to change the game, Gardner looked terrible. Next Steven Gerrard :?

Best player on the pitch, James Collins.

We need another 4 players in at least before the window. Houllier tried to play that way but Houllier had Young and Downing as a supply line. Looking at that game just, Darren Bent could be scratching his arse for most of the season.

[LoughboroughLion]

Bad start to the season, but it could have been a lot worse. We passed reasonably, just lacked in the final third. The squad needs a bit of time to settle in and it defiantly needs investment. Player that played well for me were Vlaar, Baker and KEA. Delph, Lowton and Ireland did alright for me and should be happy to build on their performances. Clark needs to improve, but it was far from a disaster. I thought Holmann was a tad anonymous today. Felt sorry for Bent because I think if he had got the service, as ever, he would have dominated WHU defence. N'Zogbia is tough one, had a few good touches, but far too inconsistant to gain positive recognition.

Need to build on what happened today, theres no point complaining. I felt we deserved a draw, but it is evident we still need a defender and winger in desperately.

[AvfcTheObsession]

Hopeless. Need 3-4 players THIS WINDOW, no waiting around until we are hovering just above the relegation zone in January. First XI lacks quality, and the subs bench is appalling, just a load of youngsters who cannot be relied upon to change a game.

[irreverentad]

Thought Diame was excellent for West Ham. We need someone like that in our midfield

[Richard]

For me, Ron Vlaar was MOTM.

It was a positive start to the game and we looked very neat and tidy for much of it but we just couldn't seem to manufacture anything - all game. I was impressed with some of Delphs forward through balls but at times, players seemed far to close to each other playing crab passes from side to side. When we did go forward, besides Delph on a few occasions, balls were wayward and there was little out wide for any sort of cross field/diagnonal balls. We definitely need to come into a game like that in future with a broader game plan as todays just didn't work.

First Impressions:

I thought Ron Vlaar was very good, looked like he wanted to have a go even everything didn't go his way during the game. I also think on a few occasions he was a bit unlucky with decisions for Carlton Cole. KEA, looked neat and tidy but I think he might have played a little within himself. Still, I was impressed and think nerves are always going to feature. I'd also say the same Lowton. I was less impressed with Holman, thought he was very sloppy in possession at times and he also seems to rush everything. It's the first game so obviously very early to judge. I expect there is better to come and possibly a couple more faces to aid that.

First reasonable post of the thread.

Not the end of the world. He wasnt going to make us world beaters in his first competitive match. The play was better, he needs new players and he will get new players

[R.I.C.O.]

Only catched the game on a crappy lagging stream so can't really offer much of an objective viewpoint, but for what I caught, it certainly was'nt very pretty!

In the first half of the first half there were glimpses of what Lambert had tried to knock into them over the summer, but at times it was a little like Houllier's pass-pass-pass with no end product approach. Ireland, Holman and N'Zogbia offer very little going forward and Bent is once again, completely isolated. Then Vlaar, Lowton and Clark (I'll come on to him later) decide to give away stupid fouls, we play right into Big Fat Hoofer Sam's game plan, give away too many free kicks, our defense falls asleep watching the lineman and West Ham score.

In the second half, West Ham show exactly what they will do to countless other times this season and put ten men behind the ball. The End.

Now to be fair we always lose to a newly promoted team if we play them early on in the season, same thing happened at Portsmouth & Stoke a few years back. But the game shows that Lambert has a huge job ahead of him and if Lerner does not dust off that chequebook to back him with the players we need to freshen things up and offer new options, we will struggle and the "feel good factor" around the club would have turned into a damp squib. The side still has the worrying look of McLeish about it and only fresh faces can change that.

Oh yes, Clark. Not yet good enough for a regular first team place in my opinion, he needs to sort his head out. He's far too raw to be throwing in at the deep end, he reminds me a lot of Liam Ridgewell.

Vlaar was the only one to come out of this with much credit, and I'm sure he will be a solid defender for us, but even he had his faults today. Not a good day at the office.

So by my reckoning we need 5 new players by 31st August; a new Left Defender, a new Centre Back, a new Midfielder to boss the midfield (El Ahmadi or Delph is not that player), a new Winger to create chances out of nothing, and a new Striker to play from deep and act as cover for Bent, who was once again out on his own.

Over to you Lerner - otherwise we will struggle! However things could have been worse.

[Zhan_Zhuang]

Okay in possession but all to no avail.

Ron Vlaar looks a great signing and the partnership with Clark could be promising.

KEA was very assured.

Apart from that we lack quality!

[andym]

i liked how we kept the ball and kept it zipping around for the first half an hour or so, movement off the ball etc was good. but we didnt make the most of it and after that were pretty poor. i thought all of lambert's guys looked good, vlaar looked solid and is good on the ball which i like, KEA looks to have energy but is also decent on the ball. i thought lowton was alright for his first game at this level.

clark was decent aside from his stupid tackle and delph showed some good glimpses. nzogbia started good but quickly faded. bent spent all game marked by 4 defenders because no one would get up in support.

i just dont get what people see in ireland. he was meant to be playing in behind bent yet spent most of the game as deep as delph and KEA. tried a few through balls, all of which failed and that was it. for our so called creative guy on 80k a week or whatever he is on, i expect more. holman ran around a lot but doesn't look that good on the ball.

disappointing because i dont think west ham really threatened us much, we looked ok at the back and in the middle of the park. its just we never looked like scoring. our play in the final third was poor and our final ball horrendous.

[KHV]

Hopeless. Need 3-4 players THIS WINDOW, no waiting around until we are hovering just above the relegation zone in January. First XI lacks quality, and the subs bench is appalling, just a load of youngsters who cannot be relied upon to change a game.

I think we would have been better off with Hutton and Warnock at full back today.

There I said it. Im going to put my tin hat on

[KjParton]

I couldn't give a shit how we play, as long as we score bloody goals. That was dire, and we're still not using Bent properly...

[Spoony]

I think there are more positives to take out of this game then negatives. Just think back to last season. We're not going to be great this season but we played better football and the signings looked good, so it is a step in the right direction

[KHV]

Okay in possession but all to no avail.

Ron Vlaar looks a great signing and the partnership with Clark could be promising.

KEA was very assured.

Apart from that we lack quality!

Really :shock:

I think Vlaar needs a better patrner

[samjp26]

Vlaar was our best player by far and Clark wasn't too bad either, N'Zogbia tried to hard whenever he got the ball, Bent had no role on the pitch apart from standing around doing **** all, Lowton shouldn't (and I hope hasn't been signed to be) our first choice RB. KEA looked decent, Holman doesn't seem up to scratch, Delph is quick but just seems to run and then not know what else to do with the ball, didn't know Baker was even playing for the majority of the game.

We have the right to moan, our team is shit and if we don't bring anybody else in we're going to be **** if that is how we play against arguably the weakest side to be promoted from the Championship.

Cracking first 10 minutes though like.

[diehardvillan]

Ok, assessment of today.

Start with the positives.

Vlaar looks very composed on the ball, has great positional sense, & looks a decent solid centre half. Him and Clark in time could develop a decent partnership.

El Ahmadi likes to pull the strings and have the ball at every opportunity. He is always looking for the ball which is great to see, & always finds space to distribute quickly and effectively.

Our passing game at times looked promising, but lacked any penetration going forward in the final third. We lacked ideas, creativity, width & it was a very flat insipid performance. We never looked like scoring the whole match. I am pleased with our two new boys from Feyenoord, but the rest were pretty mediocre. Ireland really was poor. Not too sure whether it was the system, but his contribution was very limited.

Bent hardly touched the ball. He was making run after run. His movement is fantastic. The only problem is, the supply line are just short of any ideas once they get into the final third of the pitch. Neat intricate football is what we all want to see, but there has to be an end product, & one or two players who offer that little bit of inventiveness and guile in the middle of the park.

We are short of a lot of players to be honest. Our bench is woeful. Lambert has a lot of work on his hands, and I hope he is backed to bring in at least 4 new players. We need a winger, a creative midfielder, a striker and a left back minimum.

[Dr_Pangloss]

It will take time given this system.

My view is that to play this system you'll need better and more consistent attacking players than Ireland and N'Zogbia. N'Zogbia is just poor, Ireland is too inconsistent and frankly a luxury player that we cannot afford.