DubaiSpur
Ian Walker
Well, let me pick up on a few of your points. Firstly, I don't think I've ever seen seven men arrayed in one defensive line, with five of those men camped in the penalty area while the other two defend determinedly out wide. And, having seen that in this game, I could then scarcely believe that there were two more Spam players patrolling the area in front of the back seven, choking off all play in the middle and forcing us out wide. That was deliberate: Fat Sam basically forced us to cross it in or use our wig-backs to create a 2-on-1 overload.
Only, he knew that we had no wing-backs today, and that we would play one of Defoe or Soldado, neither of which are particularly good in the air. So by forcing our inside forwards to act like wingers pinging crosses into the box, he in effect made us give West Ham possession over and over, since no one in our side could win a header if their lives depended on it, Daws and Verts included judging by what just happened.
Those are not the actions of some random fly-by-night manager relying on luck and a clean sheet. Those are all tactical tweaks that, when combined, utterly destroyed us. It took them sixty minutes to get it completely right (we often overloaded them 3-on-2 in front of their wall of seven, which led to the profusion of long-range Paulinho and Townsend shots), but once they did they steamrollered any opposition AVB could muster.
Secondly, Walker's injury led to complacency in the rest of the team. Well, in that case, AVB bears even more of the responsibility, not less. He bought these players. He picked this side. But he couldn't tell them to ****ing focus in a London ****ing derby? Could he not communicate to them how important these things are to the fans, regardless of whatever delusions of ****ing grandeur these overpaid arses possessed? Could he not point out that our hubris had already seen us lose 1-0 to an Arsenal side that did much the same thing West Ham ended up doing?
He bought this side, and he picked this side. Any lapses in concentration, any flaws of character, any laziness, any complacency, any laid-back attitudes, can be traced back to him for buying these damn players in the first place, instead of more mentally steely ones. And the reason I'm more angry about this than I otherwise would be is because if these lads think a London derby is the time to become complacent, weak and unfocused, and subsequently, if these lads cannot rouse themselves from their slumber when facing a West Ham side who embarassed them in terms of work-rate, commitment and desire....then there are serious mental and motivational problems among them that run deeper than just this match alone. And though our squad may be the most technically proficient I've seen in my time supporting this club, if they truly grew complacent before a London derby at home, then that proficiency doesn't count for a single thing, because far greater problems lie beneath this surface of apparently boundless squad depth. Squad depth doesn't mean much if everyone is equally unmotivated, lazy or complacent. And though we are indeed a quality side, what will that count for if these lads end up bottling it again because they grow complacent too easily, or give up too easily, or become lazy too quickly? Not a damn thing.
I said at the end of last season that we would need to become mentally resilient, fearless, angry, and above all endlessly hungry for the win, hungry for three points, hungry for success. Only then would we get anywhere. And if it turns out that Walker's injury led to 'complacency', then we have done none of those things and are as weak as we were last season, relying on a Bale that now isn't there to see us through. And either way, that is AVB's fault. He bought these lads. He could not motivate them.
Allardyce bought his own lads too. But he motivated them. They fought like tigers, while we folded like kittens. What does that say about Allardyce versus AVB?
