Saturday 21 September 2019

Beware of that Icarus Effect!


There's a hugely positive vibe around the London Stadium right now. Quietly, Hammers fans feel confident that we can overcome Manchester United tomorrow and genuinely demonstrate our top six credentials. With a spine of Fabianski, Diop, Rice and Haller, complemented by the creativity of Lanzini, Anderson and Yarmolenko, the current West ham team can cause most teams major problems. Add to that the assured and astute leadership of Mark Noble on the field and Manuel Pellegrini as manager, the club is in good shape.

When the Hammers first moved to the expanses of the London Stadium the space proved to be a disadvantage as the team had been used to pummeling visitors in the tight confines of the cauldronous Upton Park. Pellegrini has adapted our style, added pace and an ability to use the space to torment the opposition and accordingly our home form has soared. Pellegrini insists on going toe to toe with all comers and on occasion that can backfire - like the 5-0 drubbing by Champions Man City on opening day.

However, top six sides take the game to their opponents and the modern West Ham have no qualms about using attack as their best winning strategy. Our possession and completed pass percentages have gone up dramatically and, let's be honest, our games are much more entertaining to watch - even if we do concede more goals than we would sometimes like to.

Monday night could be seen as a missed opportunity to go level 2nd in the Premiership but for now it may be better to lurk around the margins of the top six and hopefully visiting teams won't adopt too cagey an approach because open free flowing games suit this side. With our deficit of attacking replacements we do not want visiting sides arriving with the intention of kicking out a draw and hoping to catch us on the break. Let's avoid flying too close to the sun for now and keep a steady momentum.

Tomorrow's encounter looks to be a mouth watering prospect as Man United will come looking to play and that will likely suit Mr Pellegrini's musketeers. Expect a high scoring game!

Rory Nostradamus is predicting a 3-2 win.

COYI!!!

3 comments:

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    ReplyDelete
  2. It's time we gave him a proper run out...

    ReplyDelete
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