02 Nov 2020 10:35:13
I think it is VERY unfair to judge Haller on the appearance vs Liverpool. We have all said many times that he is NOT a lone striker, and this is especially evident against teams like Liverpool where the isolated lone big/ slow striker is USELESS no matter how good they are. Playimg him in this role in this fixture and then judging him on it is like playing Fabianski as a striker and then concluding he is terrible. Masuaku is also a clear example of how a player in the CORRECT role can be extemely good. Despite this, Haller did incredibly well to set up a chance that would have put us 2-1 up but for a rushed shot from Fornals when sliding it to Bowen would have been better.
Fact is Haller needs a runner like Antonio playing beyond him. Not long ago we all wowed at how good Antonio and Haller played TOGETHER up front, and destoyed what was a good Soton team playing well (look where they are now) . We don't even have to adapt massively to make it work. Bowen and Fornals have had a LOT of defending to do in recent games due to the calibre of the opposition. Vs Fulham our back 5 with Rice AND Soucek infront of them should not need this much extra support from our wingers (if they do then we have a defensive problem) and we can therefore get one them close to Haller and the other beyond Haller.
Lots of people are also saying we have a system that works so we should not change, well yes it has worked against the better teams, will it work against the weaker ones and/ or without Antonio. We do not have 2 Antonio's, so logic would dictate that we HAVE to change something until he is back or we have a back up who can play the same style. Personally, I would have played a striker (Bowen/ Lanzini) beyond Haller to stretch play vs Liverpool, but I completely accept Moyes's more conservative/ defensive approach given the calibre of Liverpool and given recent results (and it nearly worked) . But it left us playing Allardyce ball which I cannot stand, and will not accept vs teams around us. I would like him to show some balls and get someone playing the no.9 role with Haller (or Yarmo) until Antonio is back.


1.) 02 Nov 2020
02 Nov 2020 10:49:56
I couldn’t have said it better.


2.) 02 Nov 2020
02 Nov 2020 18:34:31
You can defend the fact he was terrible because he doesn't have some one alongside him to make him look good, but nobody can defend the complete lack of effort and interest he shows . we cannot change our whole system for a player that has such a poor attitude.


3.) 03 Nov 2020
03 Nov 2020 00:07:06
Fans will suffer anything, yet one thing they won’t suffer is lack of effort. Haller offers us NOTHING. A £45 million player should not be bullied by a player making his debut.


4.) 03 Nov 2020
03 Nov 2020 10:12:49
Every player has their weaknesses, and Haller's is his pace. Therefore he is NOT going to be making lung busting runs like Antonio, and therefore can easily be falsely construed as lazy. He is asked to play a role that he simply does not have the physical attributes to do. Its like me asking 5ft tall person to fetch a jar from a shelf that is 10ft high without offering him a step ladder, and saying he is useless because a 6ft4 person could do it without the help. I'd think that would be fairly demoralising, and Haller clearly looked de-moralized vs Liverpool as he was given an impossible task given his attributes. Moyes prioritized defensive solidarity over getting more out of Haller, and he had every right to do so vs a team like Liverpool.
Antonio's weakness, in contrast, is his finishing, final ball and decision making, often he does something incredible followed by a ball flying into the stands or runs it too far. How many people criticised him for this in the past, but now a change in his role and suddenly his strengths are more effective and we all say he is brilliant. He has not changed, his ROLE has, Arnie was similar.
I accept the point that teams should not change a whole system for one player, but my point is that we only need to make SMALL tweaks now to make it work with Haller. Moving to 3 at the back with wing backs has changed the system already, and i have many times said that this is our best BASE fomation given the players we have, and we can keep this in place. You cannot tell me though that we should play the same tactics that we played against Liverpol when we play Fulham, WBA, Burnley, Brighton etc. I won't accept Allardyce ball againts these teams when we CAN adjust and free up Bowen and Fornals and afford to go 2 up top and take the game to them more. Adaptability is also VERY good, otherwise teams work out our one way of playing and soon it becomes ineffective.
Against Liverpool you get a free pass to go ultra defensive. Against other teams though Moyes needs to tweak his front 3 to get the best out of what he has, at LEAST until he can change the peronell available to him in a transfer window.


5.) 03 Nov 2020
03 Nov 2020 15:14:40
Iain dowse had no pace but you could tell he was trying, everything about haller body language screams he doesn't care, nothing to do with lack of pace if he loses the ball which he does all the time he just stands there no effort to win it back, he's about as mobile as a traffic cone, part of that is pace but most is attitude.


6.) 03 Nov 2020
03 Nov 2020 20:47:55
If you ever watched him in the Bundesliga, and I’m assuming most still in the UK don’t watch Bundesliga?, he has exceptional touch and skill but played with players running on and past him. He scored spectacular goals but also played lots of players in with sublime touches as the ran past him. For West Gam there are few times players get tight and run past him. The attack is spread wide and the balls into the forward are normally 30-40 yard passes. I understand Moyes playing the defensive way he has but against the sides around us we need to play with a number 10 and have more of the ball, the wingers get tighter or midfielders run on, and then Halley should flourish.


7.) 04 Nov 2020
04 Nov 2020 07:25:38
Why do so many fans over complicate the game of Football, when I look at some of the suggested “tactics” I am quite bemused! It’s a bloody simple game, keep it simple!
If you can’t adapt to teamwork, you don’t show determination of some sort, you have a bad attitude, you affect the whole team and you will lose respect of all your team mates and those around you, especially your Manager and fans, it simply makes you a non team player! Then you can no longer expect to have a place in the team?

You make your own luck, you work for it, the PL is to fast to stop and think a lot of the time, you play on your instincts, .
Haller has no attributes shown so far for PL football, time to stop making excuses, let him impress us, not keep going back to how good he should be, or how he was with his last club, most fans surely are not interested in that?
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8.) 04 Nov 2020
04 Nov 2020 10:04:16
And that is why countries like Germany win because England still think it’s a simple game. Sorry but it isn’t a simple game and getting tactics right is complicated. Sorry but I disagree, to each their own. It’s okay I think we both want West ham to prosper so not divided on that, just different views on how to get there.


9.) 04 Nov 2020
04 Nov 2020 13:10:56
Sdl, agree mate👍Each to their own, don’t want to get in a civil war of words with Haller fans🤣😂I will try really hard to refrain from to any favourable Haller quote😲but can’t guarantee it🤭I’m sure somebody will tempt me🤣😂⚒⚒⚒⚒.


10.) 07 Nov 2020
07 Nov 2020 10:00:18
There are many supporters of Haller on here, I’m not one of them.
Question, and this is for the Haller fan club? If we were offered £35 million for him now, would you take it?


11.) 07 Nov 2020
07 Nov 2020 13:10:06
If we can get haller up to the level he was at for frankfurt from now up until January then no I wouldn't take that.

If we can't then yes providing we would actually get a suitable replacement that will fit the style of play.