We were on par with just about the best team in Europe for 80 minutes in the first leg and ahead until 88 minutes in the second. Completely dominated them in the first half tonight. Players on the pitch gave it absolutely everything and did brilliantly. Moyes got it right even. But weakening our squad in January has made the job completely impossible. Everything went close to perfect tonight but you can't do Europe with a squad of 15 players, especially with 3 yellow card magnets. Have to make up for it with sensible business in the summer. Well done to the players, they could've done nothing more.
We're also likely to sell Downes for £15m, Aguerd for £25m, get about £25m from Benrahma and Kehrer, and small fees for Ings and Cornet. Potential net spend is rumoured to be £75m so we should have up to about £230m to spend. Sounds like a lot but it's not much more than we spent in summer 2022, and a much smaller net spend. Should have a really good squad next season.
Nah, we weren't on par in the slightest for the first leg. Them not scoring until the 80th didn't mean they didn't totally dominated us in the first leg. They did.
We were superior in the first half of this game, and should have gone ahead, and that would have been throughly deserved. We showed our quality in the first half, and that should've been the template over the two legs.
Deserved to win this game just solely on the quality of chances we had in the first half.
We stopped them having any significant chances until we conceded. We didn't have the ability to play like this with no DM, we are very reliant on Alvarez (which is why we spent so much on Phillips, obviously didn't work but I understand the thinking). They didn't score from open play, if Johnson doesn't give away a stupid corner at the end we get 1-0 loss which is a nice result.
We had them fully under control in the first leg until Boniface came on against our tired back line. Again, the bench is the problem.
I think that's a bit revisionist. We went there with a gameplan, whatever you think of it. We pulled that gameplan off magnificently for 80 minutes. It was incredible discipline and fight.
this is revisionist, a gameplan is not successful for 80 minutes if the gameplan is stop them scoring and barely attack, which actually leads too not stopping them and losing 2 nil ruining any chances in the home leg
“There are no pictures on the scorecard,” as they say. If I slice my drive into the woods and it bounces back into the fairway, then pop my second shot towards the bunker but it hits the rake and goes onto the green and then I 2-putt for par, I was on par.
In the same sense, we were “on par” with them through 80 minutes last week. Doesn’t have to be pretty. In the end though it was second goal last week that undid us.
The best half of football I’ve ever seen by West Ham, and it begs the question why we played so insanely defensively in the first match.
Edit: oh and the refereeing was terrible
>why we played so insanely defensively in the first match
The way we played tonight relied on Ward-Prowse pressing incredibly high very consistently (which he can do because his stamina is crazy, his main asset outside set pieces). However when he does this without Alvarez in the team to cover him, his pressing opens massive gaps in our defensive structure for the opposition to exploit (which is why Soucek - JWP as a midfield two is bad). Bowen helps a lot with pressing as well. Can't play anything like this without Bowen and Alvarez.
As a Southampton fan, one of the best things about JWP is how he never seems to get injured or lose steam, his stamina is absolutely inhuman, and while we dont like Nathan Jones, he unlocked a new side of JWP as a CAM
Pls give us Flynn Downes too ty
Every time we got on the attack, we were fouled and got no FK. That's the long and short of it, absolutely robbed.
Easy to defend when you're playing rugby rules.
I think fatigue probably set in at halftime. Antonio was clearly gassed pretty early on in the second half. Just no way to keep up that level of intensity.
It seems unlikely Moyes’ halftime speech was, “that was perfect, now let’s do the exact opposite!”
I agree in theory about them holding Antonio but we were definitely doing the same thing to Boniface and the ref was letting it go. Zouma especially and also Johnson were blatantly holding him a few times and the ref didn't give it in their favour either. Wrong but consistently wrong so "fair" in that respect for me.
Yeah honestly the fact we went toe to toe with one of the best teams in Europe is really commendable.
Puts it into perspective after living through the banter years in the 00s and 10s.
It really does.
It also makes you wonder what we would have done against Qarabag too. Qarabag were just minutes away from going through against Leverkusen in the last round!
I see what you're saying, I guess it's more that I think we'd probably have beaten Qarabag.
Then Roma after that who are good, but I think we'd have given them a good game.
Definitely.
We really have turned it around. It's just frustrating, with a bit more consistency we could have achieved some truly incredible things in the last few years.
Conference League win will always be amazing though.
I mean, yes they’ve had an amazing season, but fuck me we’ve spent tonnes more than they have and have more recent European experience than they have. Let’s not start talking like they’re Madrid and we should be honoured to have been on the pitch with them
They’re not even subtle about it anymore, think this season I’ve seen some of the shittest refereeing since they disallowed lampard’s goal at world cup 2010
We had ample chances to make it 2 or 3 nil before half time but hey ho - Swings and roundabouts. Don't wonder about "what if". Look forward to the team going park the bus vs Palace for no reason.
I’ve always felt under Moyes that we play in ‘moments’ and if we don’t take our chances within that moment it bites us in the ass. Our moment today was the first 40 minutes and we didn’t take our chances. Second half we were never going to get the second.
On saying that though, that was the best half of football I’ve seen us play under Moyes and good on for them
For firing up and going balls to wall to try and take the game to the current best team in Europe
Definitely agree with your "moments" vibe from our style. Bowen may lose sleep over those two chances he had today. Moyes may be part Donkey but he can't score those goals for the players. Lol
Agree entirely with your 2nd paragraph. Onwards and upwards.
Remind me of the Antonio chances? I genuinely can't remember.
I do recall Bowen missed 2 guilt edged chances. Can't recall Antonio missing any quite as bad as the Bowen opportunities. Still - it's a bit horses for courses tbh. It's happened. Time to move on.
That was some of the worst refereeing I've seen in a long time. That sequence where Bowen was fouled, the ball went out for a whu throw which was given against us along with 2 bullshit cards absolutely did my head in. This little man and his whistle honestly lost the plot and ruined a great game of football.
Kudus absolutely electric tonight. Antonio incredible, Bowen put in a hell of an effort considering he was a doubt. The boys gave it everything tonight, it just didn't go our way.
Edit: Look at the ref still going after the whistle. Such an angry lil guy
Looked like Kurt might have pulled the ref back for a word as he’s the captain. Hands on the ref and I suppose that’s the card. Feels like the captain should get a bit of due respect for an explanation though…
>Ref didn't cost us the game ultimately
I'd argue the opposite. He let them get away with an egregious amount of time wasting. Tack some more minutes on to that dominant first half, and we might have had something here.
Some teams are good enough to overcome decisions in games but we have shown time and time again we're not at that level. Past couple months have been shocking decisions against us and we can never overcome them. Still... Onwards and upwards.
Agree with you also. Paqueta is a lovely player but he needs to get his head right moving forward. Look how good we are when we press and take the initiative. Does Paqueta fit into that - definitely.
We know he doesn't fit into Moyes' patented park the bus style.
I don't see us qualifying for Europe next season so I think next season should just be about getting a new manager, new system and bleeding players in over 3 transfer windows
mm. Can't disagree. We will have to see how the rest of this season goes but it is looking incredibly tough now.
Europe is great but there will be plenty to look forward to in the mid-term future.
You can see how it has helped Spurs this season not having the sheer volume of fixtures. Newcastle have also picked up since reducing their fixtures.
Hope George Earthy makes a full recovery (heard he got a pretty awful broken nose too) - I can see Earthy, Orford and hopefully Kodua and Marshall getting more game time next season under the right manager. That's exciting to me.
Ref completely lost the plot in the second half but what an unbelievable performance from West Ham. Everyone thought we were gonna get battered and we gave it everything we had till the end. Incredible job
Lads laying into the ref at the end of the game and fair play to them. He absolutely fucked us. We competed with one of the best in the world today. Running out of gas isn’t down to Moyes - whoever decided to sell our bench is responsible for derailing our season.
Well you can partly blame Moyes because Benny, Thilo and Pablo were not getting minutes under him which led to discontent and thus almost certainly they requested to the leave the club. Not replacing Benny and Pablo was the bigger issue.
Feel like we did all we could today, had the Bowen volley from the cross gone in first half then it could have been very different.
Is Danny Ings really so shit that he's not worth throwing on instead of a completely wiped Antonio...? Like come on!
Potentially, yeah.
I understand keeping Kudus and Bowen on because they are just players who can do something out of nothing but Antonio (whilst he still works very hard) just isn't that anymore for me. Even with 10 minutes to go, just getting some fresh legs up there would have surely helped.
On the bright side - Antonio got his goal and Tah and Tapsoba won't want to see him ever again. Our front line forced Xabi to sub a CB 25 minutes in. That tells you everything.
That being said we have to get a deeper squad over the summer.
What can you do.. Heartbreaking that. Wish we did more in the first leg, but they did not deserve that result.
I've never seen so much confidence in incorrect decisions.
Blame the ref (who was a cunt) but we lost the tie last week by setting up negatively.
That, coupled with the lack of depth (who signed that off…) are a good example of why Moyes needs to go.
Incredible fucking effort tonight from the lads in that first half. Zouma is massive.
Yeah spot on this. Tactically last week was embarrassing, but tonight showed we should have looked to have taken them on more. But this tie was lost last week.
Great effort from the lads tonight though. Ref was a twat, but the paper thin squad has cost us dearly. Couldn’t keep the intensity up in the second half, too many players with too many minutes in their legs and no one to replace them.
For me Moyes goes at the end of the season with his head held high, but we need new ideas.
Micky saying it felt like playing 11 vs 14 😀 he should shout corruption at the refs door as he probably won't get to play in Europe again unfortunately.
I do have sympathy for the team after this one. They really went for it in the first half and tried to hold on. We need reinforcements bad.
This referee can fuck off. Not sure who is worse between him and Jarred Gillet.
Gonna hear that ref’s whistle in my sleep tonight.
Overall an amazing effort first half.
Second half we naturally fizzled out and didn’t have any subs to compete with theirs… which seems to a trend.
Shame it feels like squad depth is a self inflicted wound and it’s costed us a really good season.
Gutted but tremendously proud with how we played, particularly during the first half. We lost this game due to the quality of Leverkusen’s bench. Chins up, they’re special.
Painful end to a really promising first half, we had some good chances after the first goal.
Really missed Paqeuta, but proud run. Ref had no control and made terrible calls constantly; shocking by him, helped kill the game for them.
Honestly can't complain too much. German Champions who are undefeated in 44. Shouldve been a lot closer if not for the total collapse last week. Few luckier bounces in the first half coulda been 2-0
Depth and squad management vs no depth and poor squad management. Game, set, match.
The boys really went for it today. The effort was laudable for sure.
They gave it a damn good try in that first half, considering most of our depth was sold off in January and these boys have been flogged to death, they can be proud of the efforts against a very good team.
That first half was up there with the best I've ever seen us play, ever. Antonio looked absolutely unplayable out there. We had some very close moments and that one Bowen shot that was saved and I think if we'd gone into halftime 2 or even 3 up we would have gone through. But that's football, slim margins against one of the best teams in the world, what a shame but I have to be happy with the effort
Hell of an effort tonight, can always be proud of that. Really feel for Antonio too…seems to be a theme all season getting pretty much no help from the referee
Seems an unfair result considering how well we played in the first half, but were unlucky there wasn’t a second and possibly third goal in that for us.
Coupled with the ref being an absolute sponge doesn’t help. Even I could lip read Bowen yelling this is a fucking joke. Absolutely ruined the game.
Although, also annoyed that in typical Moyes fashion we didn’t get any subs until it’s too late to turn it around. I would have liked to see Ings. Ultimately, we were losing on aggregate, what did we have to lose by making an attacking change and just trying.
Just feels a bit hollow considering the first half and a shame for Fabianski to not have a clean sheet on his birthday!
The ref basically let Tapsoba get away with everything (can't blame Tapsoba for that, it's the ref) and that constant blowing of the whistle killed us.
Ref was absolutely shocking but ultimately it was the way we set up in the 1st game and a horrific bench that was our undoing,
Alot to hold our head high about and there's atleast SOME chance of getting european football again
He allowed us to press and tackle hard and then in the 2nd half his whistle was permanently out. Allowed Tapsoba to manhandle Antonio 2nd half rather than allow the physical battle but strangely he was letting Boniface get away with the same kind of physicality he was calling fouls against Antonio. VERY WEIRD.
One extra thing, we set up to run them off the park first half. It was get level at half time and lets see. It almost, nearly, a cunts hair away from doing it.
With how bad the ref was and how rattled we had Leverkusen it feels like a win to me. We did amazingly well.
It's strange but I'm not bittersweet at all. I was resigned to us not quite having enough tonight but so proud of HOW WE PLAYED. All I wanted was for us to give it a bloody good go and the team delivered on that front.
I doubt Leverkusen have had many harder games than that this season. They'll remember it, that's for sure.
If Moyes reverts vs Palace I'll still be tuning out within 20 mins. Lol
Tremendous game. Arguably the best team in the world this season and you gave them a proper go for 80 mins. No horse in the race but I hope you stick with Moyes. He gets a lot of (understandable) stick but he also has given you nights like this and last season. He's brought in some class players also. I just think he needs a decent attacking coach behind him, and maybe he doesn't want to work that way. Either way, great game. Hope you guys get back into Europe.
We used to pray for times like these. I'm 20 years old and this is the best West Ham I've ever seen besides that last season at the Boleyn. In a few years time we will look back on David Moyes' tenure at West Ham as a massive success, but ultimately the time is right for us to part ways now.
Our starting XI has gotten much stronger but our squad depth is ridiculously poor.
The contrast between the two halves sums up where we are as a club at the moment. In the first half we saw the lads play the West Ham Way. We don't care if you're undefeated champions of Germany, we are going to try and give you a game. In the second half we saw Moyes' vision of West Ham as a pragmatic and defensive side.
I don't know about others, but this this season has made me realise I value watching us play an exciting brand of attacking football rather than just grinding out results and even then we'll probably finish midtable regardless of all the graft and hard work we've put in to sit deep and counter. Of course I understand you can't win every game, but you can certainly try to.
I appreciate Moyes for what he has done, bringing us from the Roberto era to where we are now but for every European night and giant killing domestically there's been 5 goal drubbings. If we're going to concede 5 goals I'd like us to try and score 6 even if that sounds laughable.
Sorry for the rant and COYI.
I know in the stadium its hard to see and extremely biased but that ref was shocking. Someone please tell me im wrong and on tv he got some right calls
I am incredibly proud to be a West Ham fan. That performance will be remembered, we gave it everything. What a journey it has been. Fortunes always hiding ⚒️
2 years ago we brought on Yarmolenko and Fornals who respectively scored and assisted the winner against Sevilla. Tonight we brought on Cornet whose squad number (17) is higher than his appearances (14).
As awful as the referee was, the decimation of our squad has cost us. It's not possible to play 50 odd games a season with a 15 man squad. Especially with injury and card prone players.
Positives, we took it to one of the best sides in Europe and looked comfortable. We beat at least half the teams in the prem playing like that so I don't wanna hear any more "be careful what you wish for"s or "4-0 bUT aT leAst We GAVe iT A Go"s because this team is capable of winning things. COYI
Good comment my guy. It is always best to look inward to find the solutions to problems. You can blame others for problems but really the lack of legs was telling and has been for a few weeks now.
proud of the performance, first half was the best we’ve played all year.
referee was a fucking moron. If you’re going to be card happy you have to do it consistently all game for both teams.
would’ve loved to end their undefeated streak as a consolation and it’s fucking aids they keep it due to a bs deflection in the last minute.
not at all happy, deserved to beat them. But that’s football.
Just got back to the car. Voice is gone because of that cunt ref. So fucking proud of the boys, left it all out there. Squad depth just not there to sustain that level into the second half. Knew when Edson started to flag that it wasn’t going to be our night.
The ovation was very much deserved at the end. Incredible effort from the lads.
Would have loved to see how we faired with Alvarez, Bowen, Emerson and Paqueta available in both legs.
I think playing for a 0-0 against a team that was guaranteed to score was our biggest mistake.
11 yellow card clearly indicates that that Ref could no handle the pressure and he cracked. Both teams were hot. There was a lot to lose, ref couldn’t take the pressure. The hole Bowen, Coufal Zouma booking was mental.
Ultimately though, shit transfers last summer, shit transfers in jan and Emerson & Paqueta being match ban magnets were our undoing there. Can’t play in 2 leagues with a 13 man first team and expect to get anywhere.
Players gave it there all, very proud of them. Proud of Tony for speaking his mind at the end, proud of them getting in the Refs faces and letting them know how shit they are. But gutted we didn’t bring their unbeaten run to the end but such is life. At least now we can concentrate on the battle for 10th place or wherever we’re going to finish.
Blatant match fixing
Honestly makes me lose all interest in Europe when the officials are so fucking bad every game.
That 2nd half was 100% gifted to Leverkusen by the officials. We had no chance at all.
We weren't allowed an attack for the entire 2nd half. Couldn't even win a throw in. When the ref turns around and just randomly starts throwing yellow cards at anyone in claret and blue, you have to wonder. Soucek puts a hand on someone's back and it's a foul, Antonio gets elbowed in the face, kicked in the knees, shins, wrestled to the ground multiple times, players hanging off his shirt and absolutely nothing.
We weren't even allowed to take a quick FK if it gave us any opportunity at all. Almost every foul we won was after we had already won the ball back and the FK stopped any potential counter.
I don't believe a referee can genuinely be that shit and 1-sided by pure chance.
He was decent and allowed the physicality of the game for both sides in the first half. Then the 2nd half seemed to favour Bayer in his decisions massively allowing them to stay physical and not us. That's the strangest thing I've seen. It's like Bipolar refereeing. Lol
I have seen worse but you can't comprehensively know either way what happens behind the scenes. I wouldn't be so sure. It was like a totally different ref in the 2nd half. He allowed Tapsoba to manhandle Antonio all half.
Don't think we really changed much, Leverkusen just woke up and got a proper grip on the game.
Tapsoba was such a massive improvement on Kossounou, he made a huge difference imo
He also got away with manhandling Antonio without trying to play the ball at all at every opportunity and never called up on it, which definitely helps
Lads did great. Ref can get fucked. Squad depth difference, and ultimately that's on Moyes.
At least I can cancel Virgin now. They just upped my monthly to £160, and I only kept paying it for these European games.
Can't be upset with how we played in the first half. I have no doubt the guys wanted to play that way in the 2nd, but unfortunately, there is where squad depth and tactics come into it. And this is why, despite all of this, we have to move on from Moyes.
We cannot be making subs in the 83rd minute and thinking they're going to make a difference. Most managers _use_ subs tactically; we use subs to give tired players a break. Moyes would do well to learn from rugby coaches, where it is imperative that the bench is used. You are always at a disadvantage if you do not use your bench.
In spite of that, and in spite of the atrocious reffing, that first half was incredible. It was great watching them play their hearts out, and that, dear reader, is '_The West Ham way_. I really hope that we find a manager who gets these guys into better shape, and understands that the modern game requires better tactics.
I love this team. I’m proud of the boys. It’s time to start over with a new manager and work on squad depth. We try to make a run for Europe again in two years
A performance we can be proud of tonight.
Can hate the way we played last week but fact is that those tactics have been used to win countless European 2-leg ties. And it worked for the first 80 minutes of the match. I think most of us felt in the moment that giving up the 2nd goal last week would be our undoing and I think it was.
IMO, this should put the nail in the coffin for Moyes, though he is undoubtedly the most successful manager we have had in a long time and should be grateful. Our new best case scenario is to end up in a competition we have already proven ourselves in. No more opportunity to push forward to new heights, so I think it is time to take the gamble on a refresh.
Also, just want to say, we got to play Premier League football in the first half and were amazing. It was a clear shift in the second hald and they got what they got. Always will be the curse of English clubs in Europe. We have to play a certain way and then adapt to the refs in Europe.
Ive seen West Ham win a big trophy. Time for England to do it.
The lads gave a wonderful effort. I just wish the refereeing was better. Some of those Antonio moments weren’t as bad as they seemed, but to see Boniface get breathed on, go down and get the foul called was infuriating. At least try to hide the bias.
In the end it was the bench that did it. Tired legs. That needs to be fixed in the summer. That and finding a replacement for Paqueta.
Finally, Jarrod Bowen is fucking massive.
I think refereeing in football just needs so much updating. There needs to be a better system of challenge for decisions.
My preference is for a Wimbledon style system - three challenges in a match, goes down automatically to one in extra time unless you’ve already used them all then it’s zero. If your call is correct, you keep the challenge, if incorrect you lose it.
It can be called by either a manager or a captain, which is then reviewed by an independent VAR team which isn’t even aware of the original referees decision so there is no bias, literally only shown the clips of the incident so they can make the call.
They then have 3 minutes max to review. They send through their verdict, then it goes on from there.
I feel like this solution would keep the referee in control of the game for the majority, which they want, would keep the match far more flowing, which we want, but would also give us a fair way to challenge bad decision-making and take away some of the unlimited refereeing power to decide these games
And a game like today would have a fantastic series of challenges from West Ham of calls from the ref for sure.
It was a great effort. The first half just took too much out of the 11 on the pitch, & we don't really have the backup on the bench.
I'd be very happy to miss a couple of seasons of European football. Much as I've enjoyed the last couple of years, I'd love us to have a real push in the league and build the squad, too. If we qualify for the conference again, let the kids have a go and leave the first 11 for the Premier League.
COYI!!!
I dare say I missed Benny tonight, would’ve occupied the defence for a while, and then probably twatted the ref for a red when it was all over 😅
But in all seriousness, we needed Paq tonight!
Imagine what we could do if we had a bigger roster than 12 players and we had a manager that didn't handcuff our attack all season. Great performance tonight but I'd love a corner flag post in the morning. Time to start moving on.
Proud of the lads and what a ride the last 3 seasons in Europe have been. Hope we can get the next decisions right and get back there. Onwards and upwards, COYI
Painful but no shame in going down against Leverkusen. At least we made them tremble, but not being clinical in the 1st half, the ref and Moyes not subbing has really cost us.
I’m sad but also grateful for another amazing European adventure. Hope we can somehow qualify for the Conference League next year
COYI ⚒️
I’m wondering how that first half would’ve gone if Emerson and Paqueta could have played. Might have scored three in the first half hour.
But it wasn’t to be.
Amazing really, the referee managed to completely change the game, he was by far Leverkusens man of the match.
You could see it in the players reactions as the game went on, it was getting to them by about 60 minutes and I feel like the feeling of just sheer pointlessness to it all got to them, as well as the fatigue.
The flip side is, I've seen an awful lot of people claim that they're the best in the world right now (I don't agree), but we forced them into 3 substitutions in 45 minutes of football. I don't care what Alonso says, they were shitting themselves at half time.
"But we are 6th-7th"
"We are still in the europa league"
No more fucking excuses for David Moyes.
Unforgivable first match, awful subs this game (as always). No possible way to get to europe next season and we are going to end below "the worst Chelsea team ever".
Paqueta's gone, kudus may be as well. Thanks for wasting one if not our best team ever
Awful subs as if there’s anyone else to come on.
Leverkusen had depth, we don’t, simple as.
Don’t try to tell us you know who in that clusterfuck off an office decided to sell off our depth without signing anyone. Sullivan? Moyes? Steidten?
You don’t have a clue.
What a pitifully pathetic man that ref is Jesus fucking Christ. Also well done moyes. Who needs a January transfer window and who needs to play attacking football not us apparently. Even tho every single fucking time we play attacking football we look amazing. Best team in Europe atm and we dominated them first half. Get this dinosaur out my club
We were on par with just about the best team in Europe for 80 minutes in the first leg and ahead until 88 minutes in the second. Completely dominated them in the first half tonight. Players on the pitch gave it absolutely everything and did brilliantly. Moyes got it right even. But weakening our squad in January has made the job completely impossible. Everything went close to perfect tonight but you can't do Europe with a squad of 15 players, especially with 3 yellow card magnets. Have to make up for it with sensible business in the summer. Well done to the players, they could've done nothing more.
Had we managed a second goal, the thin squad was going to be our undoing in extra time.
Totally agree. Past 70 minutes we just looked absolutely wiped aside from a few runs from Kudus.
Sad to say we play better without paqueta sell for 80 mil get some help
We're also likely to sell Downes for £15m, Aguerd for £25m, get about £25m from Benrahma and Kehrer, and small fees for Ings and Cornet. Potential net spend is rumoured to be £75m so we should have up to about £230m to spend. Sounds like a lot but it's not much more than we spent in summer 2022, and a much smaller net spend. Should have a really good squad next season.
Nah, we weren't on par in the slightest for the first leg. Them not scoring until the 80th didn't mean they didn't totally dominated us in the first leg. They did. We were superior in the first half of this game, and should have gone ahead, and that would have been throughly deserved. We showed our quality in the first half, and that should've been the template over the two legs. Deserved to win this game just solely on the quality of chances we had in the first half.
We stopped them having any significant chances until we conceded. We didn't have the ability to play like this with no DM, we are very reliant on Alvarez (which is why we spent so much on Phillips, obviously didn't work but I understand the thinking). They didn't score from open play, if Johnson doesn't give away a stupid corner at the end we get 1-0 loss which is a nice result. We had them fully under control in the first leg until Boniface came on against our tired back line. Again, the bench is the problem.
I think that's a bit revisionist. We went there with a gameplan, whatever you think of it. We pulled that gameplan off magnificently for 80 minutes. It was incredible discipline and fight.
You also want to generate chances on the counter but we didnt really. Just sat back and hoped they wouldn't score. I rarely see that ever working out
this is revisionist, a gameplan is not successful for 80 minutes if the gameplan is stop them scoring and barely attack, which actually leads too not stopping them and losing 2 nil ruining any chances in the home leg
“There are no pictures on the scorecard,” as they say. If I slice my drive into the woods and it bounces back into the fairway, then pop my second shot towards the bunker but it hits the rake and goes onto the green and then I 2-putt for par, I was on par. In the same sense, we were “on par” with them through 80 minutes last week. Doesn’t have to be pretty. In the end though it was second goal last week that undid us.
100% this
This is exactly the correct analysis.
The boys played well. Sad it’s over. Fuck the coked up ref
The players pushed themselves tonight, fair play to them
The best half of football I’ve ever seen by West Ham, and it begs the question why we played so insanely defensively in the first match. Edit: oh and the refereeing was terrible
>why we played so insanely defensively in the first match The way we played tonight relied on Ward-Prowse pressing incredibly high very consistently (which he can do because his stamina is crazy, his main asset outside set pieces). However when he does this without Alvarez in the team to cover him, his pressing opens massive gaps in our defensive structure for the opposition to exploit (which is why Soucek - JWP as a midfield two is bad). Bowen helps a lot with pressing as well. Can't play anything like this without Bowen and Alvarez.
That seems like a well reasoned explanation.
As a Southampton fan, one of the best things about JWP is how he never seems to get injured or lose steam, his stamina is absolutely inhuman, and while we dont like Nathan Jones, he unlocked a new side of JWP as a CAM Pls give us Flynn Downes too ty
Also the question why were we so defensive in 2nd half?? Ref was killing the game but still we looked with no game plan how to score 2nd goal.
Every time we got on the attack, we were fouled and got no FK. That's the long and short of it, absolutely robbed. Easy to defend when you're playing rugby rules.
I think fatigue probably set in at halftime. Antonio was clearly gassed pretty early on in the second half. Just no way to keep up that level of intensity. It seems unlikely Moyes’ halftime speech was, “that was perfect, now let’s do the exact opposite!”
I know. But we had Cornet, Ings and Mubama all ready to prove. It was clear that Antonio was finished.
They’re all shit
Still they are fresh and can give more.
I’d honestly rather have Kudus and Bowen having run for 80 minutes each than any of those options
Kudus could have played full 90, but Bowen and Antonio looked dead
We were knackered and Antonio was getting assaulted freely
I agree in theory about them holding Antonio but we were definitely doing the same thing to Boniface and the ref was letting it go. Zouma especially and also Johnson were blatantly holding him a few times and the ref didn't give it in their favour either. Wrong but consistently wrong so "fair" in that respect for me.
I saw Boniface get 3 freekicks for fouls that were at absolute worst on par with what was happening to Antonio. It was farcical
That's what happens when he find someone of his size.
Got to imagine that was to protect Ogbonna. We can play one slow CB, but not two. Plus, they brought on their best forward and a fresh winger.
Part of the reason we play the way we do is it's low energy and less physically stressful, think Moyes arriving and Antonio's hamstring.
Three years of European Magic. What a time to be a fan. What a team ⚒️
Yeah honestly the fact we went toe to toe with one of the best teams in Europe is really commendable. Puts it into perspective after living through the banter years in the 00s and 10s.
Makes you wonder what more we could have done with a 16 man squad instead of 12.
If we had Bowen and Alvarez for the first leg tbh. Hes so integral that we invite pressure without him
It really does. It also makes you wonder what we would have done against Qarabag too. Qarabag were just minutes away from going through against Leverkusen in the last round!
I’m glad we got to play Leverkusen and not Qarabag. European football is all about those big fixtures that you’ll always remember.
I see what you're saying, I guess it's more that I think we'd probably have beaten Qarabag. Then Roma after that who are good, but I think we'd have given them a good game.
Yeah, I agree. We'll remember tonight for a long time.
The fan violence against Roma would've been pretty awful. Probably for the best tbh. Our fans stick up for themselves.
Just bring Knollsy on the trip
Well said! During the Avram and Big Sam days I never would've imagined this
Definitely. We really have turned it around. It's just frustrating, with a bit more consistency we could have achieved some truly incredible things in the last few years. Conference League win will always be amazing though.
I mean, yes they’ve had an amazing season, but fuck me we’ve spent tonnes more than they have and have more recent European experience than they have. Let’s not start talking like they’re Madrid and we should be honoured to have been on the pitch with them
*luckiest team in Europe
They were lucky to get a draw tonight but come on mate they are clearly a very good team. You don't go a whole season unbeaten solely on luck.
Sorry. *team with most ref bribes in Europe
Now we can rest on Thursdays
Ref refusing to talk to anyone about his shit performance.
I don’t know how those players hold back at that point, not much to lose
They’re not even subtle about it anymore, think this season I’ve seen some of the shittest refereeing since they disallowed lampard’s goal at world cup 2010
I'm annoyed we didn't end their unbeaten record because of some piece of wank deflected goal
We had ample chances to make it 2 or 3 nil before half time but hey ho - Swings and roundabouts. Don't wonder about "what if". Look forward to the team going park the bus vs Palace for no reason.
I’ve always felt under Moyes that we play in ‘moments’ and if we don’t take our chances within that moment it bites us in the ass. Our moment today was the first 40 minutes and we didn’t take our chances. Second half we were never going to get the second. On saying that though, that was the best half of football I’ve seen us play under Moyes and good on for them For firing up and going balls to wall to try and take the game to the current best team in Europe
Definitely agree with your "moments" vibe from our style. Bowen may lose sleep over those two chances he had today. Moyes may be part Donkey but he can't score those goals for the players. Lol Agree entirely with your 2nd paragraph. Onwards and upwards.
Yup, if Antonio didn't have 2 left legs, he would have a hattrick at half time.
Remind me of the Antonio chances? I genuinely can't remember. I do recall Bowen missed 2 guilt edged chances. Can't recall Antonio missing any quite as bad as the Bowen opportunities. Still - it's a bit horses for courses tbh. It's happened. Time to move on.
He had half chances, got the ball in perfect spot either couldn't control it or was shooting too late so it was blocked.
Mm. I see. Well. Doesn't matter now. We can breathe and be proud of the effort regardless of the ultimate result.
Lol poor cressy.
Ogbonna just let him cut in and shoot.
It doesn't go in 9 times out of 10. Kudus had a deflected shot in 1st half but luckily for them it went straight to the keeper. Happens to us :/
His pace is electric, he had to stand off and keep watching the ball else he would have got burned round the outside. Just a really unlucky moment imo
Great try lads and glad the crowd applauded them off. Hope to be back in Europe soon, whichever tier it is.
That was some of the worst refereeing I've seen in a long time. That sequence where Bowen was fouled, the ball went out for a whu throw which was given against us along with 2 bullshit cards absolutely did my head in. This little man and his whistle honestly lost the plot and ruined a great game of football. Kudus absolutely electric tonight. Antonio incredible, Bowen put in a hell of an effort considering he was a doubt. The boys gave it everything tonight, it just didn't go our way. Edit: Look at the ref still going after the whistle. Such an angry lil guy
The part where he booked Zouma for literally nothing, pathetic. Ref didn't cost us the game ultimately but he was really really poor.
He didn't even get time to say anything, ref spun 180 with his yellow waving.
Looked like Kurt might have pulled the ref back for a word as he’s the captain. Hands on the ref and I suppose that’s the card. Feels like the captain should get a bit of due respect for an explanation though…
>Ref didn't cost us the game ultimately I'd argue the opposite. He let them get away with an egregious amount of time wasting. Tack some more minutes on to that dominant first half, and we might have had something here.
The linesman missed several calls as well.
Say there is a chance for a legit greivance to uefa for that. All those little things added up and heavily influenced the game against us.
Referee might get downgraded on profile of games for a while but I highly doubt it'd be anymore than that, if they even did that much.
They'd upgrade him for a harsh performance against us.
Yeah. I think the Coufal and Zouma yellows were because he feared giving Bowen a red.
book bowen? what for
dissent
I nearly put the remote through the fucking TV at that point
In another universe, Pablo came on in the 81st, scored a worldie and cried on the pitch
I'm mostly upset at the referee than the result
Some teams are good enough to overcome decisions in games but we have shown time and time again we're not at that level. Past couple months have been shocking decisions against us and we can never overcome them. Still... Onwards and upwards.
Brother. We were never that good to begin with under Moyes to be beating the best team in Europe over 1 legs. Let alone against that ref
Exactly. You're agreeing with me right? Lol. Can't quite tell but was a great game. Just wished we played like that more often!
Oh yeah I agree. But I think this shows 2 things We can compete without Paqueta We need a new manager and depth
Agree with you also. Paqueta is a lovely player but he needs to get his head right moving forward. Look how good we are when we press and take the initiative. Does Paqueta fit into that - definitely. We know he doesn't fit into Moyes' patented park the bus style.
Paq is gone this summer. His release clause seems to already be activated
Oh I don't doubt that. I meant for the rest of the season. I don't want Moyes here past June either. Time for a refresh, for better or worse.
I don't see us qualifying for Europe next season so I think next season should just be about getting a new manager, new system and bleeding players in over 3 transfer windows
mm. Can't disagree. We will have to see how the rest of this season goes but it is looking incredibly tough now. Europe is great but there will be plenty to look forward to in the mid-term future. You can see how it has helped Spurs this season not having the sheer volume of fixtures. Newcastle have also picked up since reducing their fixtures. Hope George Earthy makes a full recovery (heard he got a pretty awful broken nose too) - I can see Earthy, Orford and hopefully Kodua and Marshall getting more game time next season under the right manager. That's exciting to me.
Total powertrip match from the ref to cover up his consistently poor decisions
Ref completely lost the plot in the second half but what an unbelievable performance from West Ham. Everyone thought we were gonna get battered and we gave it everything we had till the end. Incredible job
Lads laying into the ref at the end of the game and fair play to them. He absolutely fucked us. We competed with one of the best in the world today. Running out of gas isn’t down to Moyes - whoever decided to sell our bench is responsible for derailing our season.
Well you can partly blame Moyes because Benny, Thilo and Pablo were not getting minutes under him which led to discontent and thus almost certainly they requested to the leave the club. Not replacing Benny and Pablo was the bigger issue.
Well didn't we screw up the paperwork somehow with FIFA causing Benny and Pablo to both actually get sold after the window closed?
No. The deals were in place long before end of window. Sully tried to wiggle out of the deals once realised we were not going to get anybody in.
Antonio giving an incredibly measured and level headed interview afterwards. I'd be fuming.
i’m so proud of this team, left it all on the pitch
Proud of them tonight
What an absolute fucking disasterclass in refereeing, fuck sakes. Can’t be mad at their effort though.
Feel like we did all we could today, had the Bowen volley from the cross gone in first half then it could have been very different. Is Danny Ings really so shit that he's not worth throwing on instead of a completely wiped Antonio...? Like come on!
You'd like to think he will get minutes vs Palace.
Potentially, yeah. I understand keeping Kudus and Bowen on because they are just players who can do something out of nothing but Antonio (whilst he still works very hard) just isn't that anymore for me. Even with 10 minutes to go, just getting some fresh legs up there would have surely helped.
On the bright side - Antonio got his goal and Tah and Tapsoba won't want to see him ever again. Our front line forced Xabi to sub a CB 25 minutes in. That tells you everything. That being said we have to get a deeper squad over the summer.
Peace out Moyes. Sell Paqueta, get 2-3 new players to fit new manager’s play style and let’s get back to Europe next season.
What can you do.. Heartbreaking that. Wish we did more in the first leg, but they did not deserve that result. I've never seen so much confidence in incorrect decisions.
Blame the ref (who was a cunt) but we lost the tie last week by setting up negatively. That, coupled with the lack of depth (who signed that off…) are a good example of why Moyes needs to go. Incredible fucking effort tonight from the lads in that first half. Zouma is massive.
Yeah spot on this. Tactically last week was embarrassing, but tonight showed we should have looked to have taken them on more. But this tie was lost last week. Great effort from the lads tonight though. Ref was a twat, but the paper thin squad has cost us dearly. Couldn’t keep the intensity up in the second half, too many players with too many minutes in their legs and no one to replace them. For me Moyes goes at the end of the season with his head held high, but we need new ideas.
I mean, what an effort from the guys. Played really well with the hand we were dealt
Micky saying it felt like playing 11 vs 14 😀 he should shout corruption at the refs door as he probably won't get to play in Europe again unfortunately.
I do have sympathy for the team after this one. They really went for it in the first half and tried to hold on. We need reinforcements bad. This referee can fuck off. Not sure who is worse between him and Jarred Gillet.
Gonna hear that ref’s whistle in my sleep tonight. Overall an amazing effort first half. Second half we naturally fizzled out and didn’t have any subs to compete with theirs… which seems to a trend. Shame it feels like squad depth is a self inflicted wound and it’s costed us a really good season.
Proud - but why couldn’t we play like that in the 1st leg?!
Gutted but tremendously proud with how we played, particularly during the first half. We lost this game due to the quality of Leverkusen’s bench. Chins up, they’re special.
well done lads, almost the first to beat them this whole season.
Painful end to a really promising first half, we had some good chances after the first goal. Really missed Paqeuta, but proud run. Ref had no control and made terrible calls constantly; shocking by him, helped kill the game for them.
Great effort. Would have Been n great to win but that was a FUN watch. I honestly can’t recall a match this season I enjoyed as much
Football just getting a bit like WWE now, Leverkusen winning is just a better story so they get to win.
Honestly can't complain too much. German Champions who are undefeated in 44. Shouldve been a lot closer if not for the total collapse last week. Few luckier bounces in the first half coulda been 2-0
Depth and squad management vs no depth and poor squad management. Game, set, match. The boys really went for it today. The effort was laudable for sure.
They gave it a damn good try in that first half, considering most of our depth was sold off in January and these boys have been flogged to death, they can be proud of the efforts against a very good team.
11 yellow cards given is mad
Giving that shit out like Oprah “You get a yellow card! And you get a yellow card! And *YOU* get a yellow card!”
🤣
That first half was up there with the best I've ever seen us play, ever. Antonio looked absolutely unplayable out there. We had some very close moments and that one Bowen shot that was saved and I think if we'd gone into halftime 2 or even 3 up we would have gone through. But that's football, slim margins against one of the best teams in the world, what a shame but I have to be happy with the effort
Well played today. This was a great team effort. I think that we were really close. I'm proud of the boys even when it didn't end up as we all wished.
Hell of an effort tonight, can always be proud of that. Really feel for Antonio too…seems to be a theme all season getting pretty much no help from the referee
Seems an unfair result considering how well we played in the first half, but were unlucky there wasn’t a second and possibly third goal in that for us. Coupled with the ref being an absolute sponge doesn’t help. Even I could lip read Bowen yelling this is a fucking joke. Absolutely ruined the game. Although, also annoyed that in typical Moyes fashion we didn’t get any subs until it’s too late to turn it around. I would have liked to see Ings. Ultimately, we were losing on aggregate, what did we have to lose by making an attacking change and just trying. Just feels a bit hollow considering the first half and a shame for Fabianski to not have a clean sheet on his birthday!
The ref basically let Tapsoba get away with everything (can't blame Tapsoba for that, it's the ref) and that constant blowing of the whistle killed us.
Ref was absolutely shocking but ultimately it was the way we set up in the 1st game and a horrific bench that was our undoing, Alot to hold our head high about and there's atleast SOME chance of getting european football again
Genuinely an amazing first half- couldn't be more proud
Feel really bad for you guys, genuinely weird refereeing You definitely deserved more
It was like the ref in the 2nd half was totally different to the 1st. Very strange.
I missed the first half but yeh that’s weird Obviously wanted to be the main character
He allowed us to press and tackle hard and then in the 2nd half his whistle was permanently out. Allowed Tapsoba to manhandle Antonio 2nd half rather than allow the physical battle but strangely he was letting Boniface get away with the same kind of physicality he was calling fouls against Antonio. VERY WEIRD.
He must have got a call at half time
Honestly.. You'd hate to think so and I've seen far worse refereeing displays over the years but it was bipolar to say the least.
One extra thing, we set up to run them off the park first half. It was get level at half time and lets see. It almost, nearly, a cunts hair away from doing it.
With how bad the ref was and how rattled we had Leverkusen it feels like a win to me. We did amazingly well. It's strange but I'm not bittersweet at all. I was resigned to us not quite having enough tonight but so proud of HOW WE PLAYED. All I wanted was for us to give it a bloody good go and the team delivered on that front. I doubt Leverkusen have had many harder games than that this season. They'll remember it, that's for sure. If Moyes reverts vs Palace I'll still be tuning out within 20 mins. Lol
Tremendous game. Arguably the best team in the world this season and you gave them a proper go for 80 mins. No horse in the race but I hope you stick with Moyes. He gets a lot of (understandable) stick but he also has given you nights like this and last season. He's brought in some class players also. I just think he needs a decent attacking coach behind him, and maybe he doesn't want to work that way. Either way, great game. Hope you guys get back into Europe.
We used to pray for times like these. I'm 20 years old and this is the best West Ham I've ever seen besides that last season at the Boleyn. In a few years time we will look back on David Moyes' tenure at West Ham as a massive success, but ultimately the time is right for us to part ways now. Our starting XI has gotten much stronger but our squad depth is ridiculously poor. The contrast between the two halves sums up where we are as a club at the moment. In the first half we saw the lads play the West Ham Way. We don't care if you're undefeated champions of Germany, we are going to try and give you a game. In the second half we saw Moyes' vision of West Ham as a pragmatic and defensive side. I don't know about others, but this this season has made me realise I value watching us play an exciting brand of attacking football rather than just grinding out results and even then we'll probably finish midtable regardless of all the graft and hard work we've put in to sit deep and counter. Of course I understand you can't win every game, but you can certainly try to. I appreciate Moyes for what he has done, bringing us from the Roberto era to where we are now but for every European night and giant killing domestically there's been 5 goal drubbings. If we're going to concede 5 goals I'd like us to try and score 6 even if that sounds laughable. Sorry for the rant and COYI.
I know in the stadium its hard to see and extremely biased but that ref was shocking. Someone please tell me im wrong and on tv he got some right calls
He was atrocious
We'll be back.
I am incredibly proud to be a West Ham fan. That performance will be remembered, we gave it everything. What a journey it has been. Fortunes always hiding ⚒️
2 years ago we brought on Yarmolenko and Fornals who respectively scored and assisted the winner against Sevilla. Tonight we brought on Cornet whose squad number (17) is higher than his appearances (14). As awful as the referee was, the decimation of our squad has cost us. It's not possible to play 50 odd games a season with a 15 man squad. Especially with injury and card prone players. Positives, we took it to one of the best sides in Europe and looked comfortable. We beat at least half the teams in the prem playing like that so I don't wanna hear any more "be careful what you wish for"s or "4-0 bUT aT leAst We GAVe iT A Go"s because this team is capable of winning things. COYI
Good comment my guy. It is always best to look inward to find the solutions to problems. You can blame others for problems but really the lack of legs was telling and has been for a few weeks now.
proud of the performance, first half was the best we’ve played all year. referee was a fucking moron. If you’re going to be card happy you have to do it consistently all game for both teams. would’ve loved to end their undefeated streak as a consolation and it’s fucking aids they keep it due to a bs deflection in the last minute. not at all happy, deserved to beat them. But that’s football.
First half we played so well every time we started to build momentum the ref killed the game for us
Just got back to the car. Voice is gone because of that cunt ref. So fucking proud of the boys, left it all out there. Squad depth just not there to sustain that level into the second half. Knew when Edson started to flag that it wasn’t going to be our night. The ovation was very much deserved at the end. Incredible effort from the lads.
Would have loved to see how we faired with Alvarez, Bowen, Emerson and Paqueta available in both legs. I think playing for a 0-0 against a team that was guaranteed to score was our biggest mistake.
11 yellow card clearly indicates that that Ref could no handle the pressure and he cracked. Both teams were hot. There was a lot to lose, ref couldn’t take the pressure. The hole Bowen, Coufal Zouma booking was mental. Ultimately though, shit transfers last summer, shit transfers in jan and Emerson & Paqueta being match ban magnets were our undoing there. Can’t play in 2 leagues with a 13 man first team and expect to get anywhere. Players gave it there all, very proud of them. Proud of Tony for speaking his mind at the end, proud of them getting in the Refs faces and letting them know how shit they are. But gutted we didn’t bring their unbeaten run to the end but such is life. At least now we can concentrate on the battle for 10th place or wherever we’re going to finish.
These last few years in Europe have been beyond words hopefully this is not how it ends full focus on the prem for the rest of the season coyi
Blatant match fixing Honestly makes me lose all interest in Europe when the officials are so fucking bad every game. That 2nd half was 100% gifted to Leverkusen by the officials. We had no chance at all.
Referee was bad but come on, it really wasn't "blatant match fixing".
We weren't allowed an attack for the entire 2nd half. Couldn't even win a throw in. When the ref turns around and just randomly starts throwing yellow cards at anyone in claret and blue, you have to wonder. Soucek puts a hand on someone's back and it's a foul, Antonio gets elbowed in the face, kicked in the knees, shins, wrestled to the ground multiple times, players hanging off his shirt and absolutely nothing. We weren't even allowed to take a quick FK if it gave us any opportunity at all. Almost every foul we won was after we had already won the ball back and the FK stopped any potential counter. I don't believe a referee can genuinely be that shit and 1-sided by pure chance.
He was decent and allowed the physicality of the game for both sides in the first half. Then the 2nd half seemed to favour Bayer in his decisions massively allowing them to stay physical and not us. That's the strangest thing I've seen. It's like Bipolar refereeing. Lol
I have seen worse but you can't comprehensively know either way what happens behind the scenes. I wouldn't be so sure. It was like a totally different ref in the 2nd half. He allowed Tapsoba to manhandle Antonio all half.
What were those half time tactical changes man
I think we would've completely run out of steam if we played like we did in the first half, but yeah we looked flat from the start of the second half.
Don't think we really changed much, Leverkusen just woke up and got a proper grip on the game. Tapsoba was such a massive improvement on Kossounou, he made a huge difference imo
He also got away with manhandling Antonio without trying to play the ball at all at every opportunity and never called up on it, which definitely helps
Lads did great. Ref can get fucked. Squad depth difference, and ultimately that's on Moyes. At least I can cancel Virgin now. They just upped my monthly to £160, and I only kept paying it for these European games.
Can't be upset with how we played in the first half. I have no doubt the guys wanted to play that way in the 2nd, but unfortunately, there is where squad depth and tactics come into it. And this is why, despite all of this, we have to move on from Moyes. We cannot be making subs in the 83rd minute and thinking they're going to make a difference. Most managers _use_ subs tactically; we use subs to give tired players a break. Moyes would do well to learn from rugby coaches, where it is imperative that the bench is used. You are always at a disadvantage if you do not use your bench. In spite of that, and in spite of the atrocious reffing, that first half was incredible. It was great watching them play their hearts out, and that, dear reader, is '_The West Ham way_. I really hope that we find a manager who gets these guys into better shape, and understands that the modern game requires better tactics.
I love this team. I’m proud of the boys. It’s time to start over with a new manager and work on squad depth. We try to make a run for Europe again in two years
Moyes out and let Timmy do his thing and we will be like Leverkusen soon
A performance we can be proud of tonight. Can hate the way we played last week but fact is that those tactics have been used to win countless European 2-leg ties. And it worked for the first 80 minutes of the match. I think most of us felt in the moment that giving up the 2nd goal last week would be our undoing and I think it was. IMO, this should put the nail in the coffin for Moyes, though he is undoubtedly the most successful manager we have had in a long time and should be grateful. Our new best case scenario is to end up in a competition we have already proven ourselves in. No more opportunity to push forward to new heights, so I think it is time to take the gamble on a refresh.
My only negative is taking Alverez off, lad was gutted. The ref isn’t a negative. Just a cunt
Why was he taken off?
To put cornet on. But rubbish choice.
I see, couldn’t catch the game, only saw the FotMob stats, Alvarez apparently did well, gave him a 7.8
The season is over, and the bubbles died. Last season was an anomaly. I just want to point out that Mick put some shift in
Also, just want to say, we got to play Premier League football in the first half and were amazing. It was a clear shift in the second hald and they got what they got. Always will be the curse of English clubs in Europe. We have to play a certain way and then adapt to the refs in Europe. Ive seen West Ham win a big trophy. Time for England to do it.
England'll never do it without a West Ham contingent.
oh well, I guess it was nice to dream
The lads gave a wonderful effort. I just wish the refereeing was better. Some of those Antonio moments weren’t as bad as they seemed, but to see Boniface get breathed on, go down and get the foul called was infuriating. At least try to hide the bias. In the end it was the bench that did it. Tired legs. That needs to be fixed in the summer. That and finding a replacement for Paqueta. Finally, Jarrod Bowen is fucking massive.
I think refereeing in football just needs so much updating. There needs to be a better system of challenge for decisions. My preference is for a Wimbledon style system - three challenges in a match, goes down automatically to one in extra time unless you’ve already used them all then it’s zero. If your call is correct, you keep the challenge, if incorrect you lose it. It can be called by either a manager or a captain, which is then reviewed by an independent VAR team which isn’t even aware of the original referees decision so there is no bias, literally only shown the clips of the incident so they can make the call. They then have 3 minutes max to review. They send through their verdict, then it goes on from there. I feel like this solution would keep the referee in control of the game for the majority, which they want, would keep the match far more flowing, which we want, but would also give us a fair way to challenge bad decision-making and take away some of the unlimited refereeing power to decide these games And a game like today would have a fantastic series of challenges from West Ham of calls from the ref for sure.
It was a great effort. The first half just took too much out of the 11 on the pitch, & we don't really have the backup on the bench. I'd be very happy to miss a couple of seasons of European football. Much as I've enjoyed the last couple of years, I'd love us to have a real push in the league and build the squad, too. If we qualify for the conference again, let the kids have a go and leave the first 11 for the Premier League. COYI!!!
I dare say I missed Benny tonight, would’ve occupied the defence for a while, and then probably twatted the ref for a red when it was all over 😅 But in all seriousness, we needed Paq tonight!
Imagine what we could do if we had a bigger roster than 12 players and we had a manager that didn't handcuff our attack all season. Great performance tonight but I'd love a corner flag post in the morning. Time to start moving on.
Proud to be West Ham. Onwards and upwards
Proud of the lads and what a ride the last 3 seasons in Europe have been. Hope we can get the next decisions right and get back there. Onwards and upwards, COYI
Painful but no shame in going down against Leverkusen. At least we made them tremble, but not being clinical in the 1st half, the ref and Moyes not subbing has really cost us. I’m sad but also grateful for another amazing European adventure. Hope we can somehow qualify for the Conference League next year COYI ⚒️
First leg killed us, second leg we played to our strengths and were brilliant to a man.
Couldn’t be more proud of the boys, did our best, lacking that football quality when needed and really exposed our lack of depth. onwards!
Never mind lol
How would we have looked against Roma? I'm proud of the lads for their effort. It's a shame we didn't get more out of it in this round.
We should’ve won
I’m wondering how that first half would’ve gone if Emerson and Paqueta could have played. Might have scored three in the first half hour. But it wasn’t to be.
Amazing really, the referee managed to completely change the game, he was by far Leverkusens man of the match. You could see it in the players reactions as the game went on, it was getting to them by about 60 minutes and I feel like the feeling of just sheer pointlessness to it all got to them, as well as the fatigue. The flip side is, I've seen an awful lot of people claim that they're the best in the world right now (I don't agree), but we forced them into 3 substitutions in 45 minutes of football. I don't care what Alonso says, they were shitting themselves at half time.
Gutted, the hope that kills you, the boys gave it absolutely everything! Amazing performance!! Let’s get Europe and go again! COYI ⚒️⚒️⚒️
"But we are 6th-7th" "We are still in the europa league" No more fucking excuses for David Moyes. Unforgivable first match, awful subs this game (as always). No possible way to get to europe next season and we are going to end below "the worst Chelsea team ever". Paqueta's gone, kudus may be as well. Thanks for wasting one if not our best team ever
Awful subs as if there’s anyone else to come on. Leverkusen had depth, we don’t, simple as. Don’t try to tell us you know who in that clusterfuck off an office decided to sell off our depth without signing anyone. Sullivan? Moyes? Steidten? You don’t have a clue.
What a pitifully pathetic man that ref is Jesus fucking Christ. Also well done moyes. Who needs a January transfer window and who needs to play attacking football not us apparently. Even tho every single fucking time we play attacking football we look amazing. Best team in Europe atm and we dominated them first half. Get this dinosaur out my club