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Alan 5:13 Wed Aug 2
West Ham v Man City (TV details)

City Watch

Manchester City will play their final pre-season game against West Ham on Friday in the unfamiliar setting of Iceland, specifically at the Laugardalsvöllur Stadium in the nation’s capital, Reykjavík.

The match will be shown live on Eurosport 1 and the Eurosport Player, with kick-off scheduled for 15:00 BST.

Blues may get to see several familiar faces with Joe Hart and Pablo Zabaleta having joined the Hammers this summer. Hart will be ineligible for Premier League games against his parent club, but there is no reason why he can’t line up on Friday.

For City, it’s possible that we could see Bernardo Silva play his first minutes after he began training this week following an extended break.

JayeMPee 11:14 Mon Aug 7
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

Created nothing without Lanzini and Antonio, defence sloppy and the team were very sluggish.

Ok it was a friendly but fans expected better than this, we still need to buy and heaven help us if the board cave in to Liverpool over Lanzini!!

Private Dancer 5:37 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

There truly are some fucking morons on here.

Do some posters really not understand the difference between it being okay to losing against a superior side, as opposed to not making the game even competitive and looking like a complete and utter shambles?

Utter fools, stay on the pointless political threads.

LeroysBoots 4:54 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

theaxeman has nailed it

Bilic barley a few weeks ago was spouting off about how we need pace, what have we done about that ?.....fuck all.

We look an extremely pedestrian outfit....it;s fucking worrying when all other clubs seem to have at least some fast attacking instinct.

We look light years off

costahammer 4:44 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

Well we play far too deep and stand off the opposition ....
We all know they can do it as they did against Spurs ...closed down & pressed all over the park!

I think there's no excuse why they can't put that effort in every week...i'm guessing that can only come from the manager not instilling that work ethic into the players!

Mex Martillo 4:39 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

I agree with Lily Hammer 1:33 Sat Aug 5

Come guys it was a friendly that not surprisingly was not a win, look at the individual peformances there were some good ones that is good for next weekend.

theaxeman 4:32 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

Leroy

I like slav, think he gets us as a club but im starting have my doubts. I think our signings have been hopeless and if he is selecting these players he has a lot to answer for. I personally dont rate any of our signings this season bar Hart and thats only a loan, im ready to be proved wrong with Hernandez but we are buying ageing players when everyone else is investing in youth, energy and pace. We were pedestrian last season and have done nothing to address that. Maybe our owners havent given him enough money and he has to work within a budget? I worry for our season tbh unless by some miracle Sakho stays fit, Antonio and Lanzini perform at a higher level than last season.

Our last 6 signings have been so short term and i have no idea what our policy is, Bilic specifically said he wanted pace and energy and we've got the opposite! Very odd.

cup of tea 4:32 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

I don't think there is any knicker wetting. Just a mix of optimism (because of new signings that will probably be shit and injured most of the season) and also negativity based on us being, well, a bit shit really.

Standard season ahead, out of both cups early, flirt with relegation places, pick up a bit, call the manager and players cunts as well as the owners, finish around 8th-14th but it's all OK as we may get a results against a big side or 2 .... repeat every season as we cannot compete at the top and SHOULD be better that a relegation fight.

Nothing to see here.

Mart O 4:23 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

Again, they're only friendlies and teams may be at different stages in terms of their physical preparation, but it was telling to watch Altona and their gegenpressing. We could't cope at all until they brought their subs on. Alarming, friendly or not.

1964 4:20 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

LeroysBoots wrote...
"If we don't beat Huddersfield first home game then I;d sack Bilic on the spot..............I'm not enduring another sorry season watching bilge if the manager isn't up to the task"

I would hope to be looking to have a couple of points in the bag before then, but ....

Sir Alf 4:09 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

Intensity is not there and that is down to the tactics and management. In a friendly I can understand there may not be "bodies on the line" type defending but its the inability to press that is our biggest weakness.

In contrast look at the way the Citeh players had 2 or 3 closing on us as soon as we got possession. Ok we do not have the pace they have but the whole team does not work as a unit. Guardiola is using the Barcelona thing where he demands that the opposition can only have possession for so many minutes but us we do not have the work ethic or fitness or pace or all three to match them in any way.

Part of it is that we do not have the same quality of player but a larger part is the fitness and demands of the manager.

Sorry Slav is on borrowed time. He cannot or does not demand enough from the players. We need a different type of manager but unfortunately one that the 2Bobs would not sanction since it is likely he would make demands on them they would not be prepared to meet.

In short, I suspect there is no real solution other than a change of ownership but even that has inherent risks.:-(

LeroysBoots 3:12 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

I don't get the totally blind supporting of Bilic and the throw away remarks.."it was just a friendly"

Fuck me I don't give a toss if we lose to the best teams...I do give a toss if we look like a fucking pub team.

It's like rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic as it goes down...no matter what fucking new players we we still operate a system that seem totally alien to the players.

I mean wtf do we do in training ?

I bet the likes of Hart, Zabbaleta and Chicharito privately already have concerns with the total lack of professionalism we appear to be portraying.

If we don't beat Huddersfield first home game then I;d sack Bilic on the spot..............I'm not enduring another sorry season watching bilge if the manager isn't up to the task

Mart O 3:01 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

Oh, and worse btw is that on the rare occasions that we did break the defence still sits deep. Any notion of them pushing up to stay compact and stop the oppo running through us will is alien to us.

Again, it's nothing to do with Citeh or friendlies. We ALWAYS do this, and it's shite. Amateur shite at that.

Fifth Column 2:57 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

Mart O 2:38 Sat Aug 5

Mart O 2:38 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

I don't give a fuck about the result but the manner in which we set up does bother me. The biggest problem for me is that we sit so deep, defending 10 metres off our area and looking to stay compact.

That actually looked well enough organised to start with but we just don't have the players, or they're not well drilled enough, to keep it up. Bilic ain't Tony fucking Pulis.

Worse for me is that if you're going to play like that you have to have an 'out', or pose a threat on the counter. Otherwise you're giving them nothing to worry about beyond how many goals they'll score. If Arnautovic, Lanzini, Antonio and Chicharito were on the pitch that might be OK. But with Ayew and Martinez it was just never going to be anything other than a walloping.

Let's hope it's more a reflection of fitness and the personnel available to him on the day. But I'm not so sure. That looks to me to be Slaven's default set up and only the presence of Payet, and Lanzini to a degree, make us look exceptional on the counter for part of SB's first season. Never mind Citeh, we always play this way.

I've only ever wanted one West Ham manager out - that fat, fish eating crook. That won't change but I've said it before, I can't see myself warming to him.

Far Cough 2:35 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

We should go after Bob Stokoe as manager




He might be a bit stiff though

RM10 2:33 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

yes sven but whats the point in playing them, sack the lot, manager, organiser of trip the whole management team,fitness coach, so poor. we are going backwards in terms of organisation.

Iron2010 2:26 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

I think a major problem for most people is the recent revelation that incomings are being held up because we can't move Fonte and Snodgrass on because the terms we signed them on just six months ago was way above their market value.

Just one example of how poor our management team is.

Sven Roeder 2:18 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

Man City have lots of very fabulous and very expensive players.
They started with Aguero and Jesus up front & we had Toni Martinez.
They SHOULD beat us every time but I think most people just get a bit bemused that we don't seem to learn anything from playing them and do anything to disrupt them.
We showed in the two games the season before last that we can play against them but these last 3 were a walk in the park and 7 or 8 nil in each wouldn't have flattered them.

Alex V 2:14 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

>>> Loads of knicker wetting over a pre-season friendly defeat

Weak argument. I don't see anyone claiming the defeat is unexpected against the clear favourites for the league this season. What is being criticised is the setup of the team and the preparation for the season. It has nothing to do with the score.

You're guilty of knicker wetting over what seems to me valid criticism.

1964 2:01 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

Wasn't the term "knicker wetting" banned last year?

Red Card!

13 Brentford Rd 1:54 Sat Aug 5
Re: West Ham v Man City (TV details)

Seen enough already thanks.

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