Selection Headaches for Moyes as Season finally Takes Off

Suddenly it's all positivity at West ham. It seems that whatever was said or done after the embarrassing implosion at Everton three weeks ago, the message has hit home.

Yesterday's dismantling of Stoke City was reminiscent of the early days of Bilic. With a solid defensive foundation, the Hammers were able to pick an increasingly desperate Stoke off. At the end of the first half Stoke still hadn't managed a shot on target!

Up front we look hungry and organised. Somewhere along the way with SuperSlav we lost our way and stopped working with each other. The Link up play that created the goals, as well as a host of missed chances, was superb.

With Reid back from suspension one wonders whether he will walk straight back into the side! Both Collins and Ogbonna were excellent while Aaron Cresswell looks like his old self. Meanwhile Arthur Masuaku looks well worth his place and deserves the amusing "he's better than Lukaku" chant.

In midfield young Declan Rice is loving his chance to shine and may well be Pedro Obiang's starting partner over the next few games. Kouyate's expected return still seems uncertain and Noble will undergo a scan tomorrow one expects.

As such, Arsenal on Tuesday is not ideal but Wenger likes to play an experimental side in the Caribou Cup. Just what Moyes should do is debatable - with our new found form perhaps we can indulge the cup competition with a strong starting eleven. Conversely, Moyes is usually conservative and may prefer to focus on Premiership points.

Either way, it's great to have choices again.

BTW anybody seen Andy Carroll around?

Electric Arnie Pushes Sparky Closer to the Sack

Marko Arnautovic's return to Stoke was always going to be a charged affair. Add in that both sides are fighting for their lives at the bottom end of the Premiership and that Stoke gaffer Mark Hughes is favourite to be the next Premiership sacking, and the atmosphere became electric - so much so that there was a power failure and kick off had to be postponed for an hour to allow a restoration of power!

Poor Stoke are on a dreadful run, with 4 defeats in their last five games, while Moyes' men are suddenly playing with conviction having rediscovered how to defend. All of which meant that despite our terrible record there, Hammers fans travelled to the Brittania stadium with more than a little hope of getting a result and maybe even a rare away win! 

And so it was - the hammers started well and although the penalty awarded in the 18th minute was a bit 'soft', their lead was fully deserved. Thereafter, Arnautovic spurned two excellent chances to silence the Stoke fans and a less confident player might have let their head drop. Not Arnie - call him resilient or call him arrogant, but the Austrian kept going and was finally rewarded for his determination and courage in the 75th minute with the goal that killed off his ex-employers. 

As he departed he received further abuse from Stoke fans, one of whom threw a scarf at him, while a visibly irritated Mark Hughes appeared to get involved in an unpleasant exchange with the Austrian. But the torture was not yet over, as Sakho added a third and in reality the Hammers could have had 5 or 6.  

Lanzini and Arnautovic were the standout players for West Ham, but James Collins made a massive contribution in a defence that kept a third consecutive clean sheet (Sorry Slav - that was unthinkable before Moyes arrived!) and thus formed the platform from which the Hammers built this crucial win.

Moyes' men are out of the bottom three and looking at a Tuesday night's League cup clash with the Gooners with relish. That is followed by games against Newcastle (H), Bournemouth (A) and the Baggies (H) in which Moyes will be looking to push towards mid table safety and then strengthen his squad in the January window. In all honesty, things look very good just now for the club. With Spuds (A), Huddersfield (A), Bournemouth (H) and Palace (H) to come in January there is a great chance to turn the season around.

In other matters, Noble notched his 300th appearance for the club before limping off in the 35th minute allowing Declan Rice to get some more valuable game time - something he visibly relished!  Andy Carroll was mysteriously absent from the bench, leading to speculation about a January departure, while Manny Lanzini is reckoned to be heading for a ban for simulation that led to yesterday's penalty.  

A cloud has lifted.


 

Never Mind The Pundits, This One will be a Pre-Christmas Cracker!

So this is Christmas...Moyes-style. Even after a series of season-changing performances, and picking up an unexpected 4 points in the series of games against Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal, the Hammers are still in the relegation zone. As a consequence, their Christmas campaign represents a crucial period for the club with lofty ambitions and an underperforming squad. In response, David Moyes has postponed the Christmas party until the club have achieved Premiership safety - something that is quite likely to run until the end of the season in a congested bottom half of the league!

Today's visit to Stoke will be a real test as the Hammers will be expected to do better than the 30% possession they have averaged in their past three games. Stoke are another side who are happy to let their opponents have the ball and try to catch them on the counter, so it'll be interesting to see who gets the lion's share of possession. While against the odds wins over the likes of Chelsea are very pleasing, it's games against fellow strugglers like Stoke and Newcastle that will decide the club's fate.

The Hammers have an awful record at the Brittania stadium but Stoke are on a dreadful run having lost 4 of their last five games. The absence of Winston Reid is a major concern for Moyes, but with the usually super-reliant James Collins ready to fill in, the Hammers will be hoping to continue their recent run of clean sheets. 

It is widely rumoured that Michail Antonio will be rested thus allowing Chicharito to return to lead the line but Moyes may prefer the physicality of Sakho or Carroll, especially at set pieces. Although the 'new' Stoke have a reputation for more positive and attacking football, they have the highest percentage of goals from set pieces in the Premiership accounting for 7 of their 19 strikes so far this season.

Marko Arnautovic will need to keep a cool head as he will undoubtedly receive a 'warm' welcome from his ex-club, but is on top form and may well silence the boo boys with a game-defining contribution. After letting the side down earlier in the season with a foolish red card, one would expect that he should have learned his lesson - but he isn't nicknamed 'Mad Marko' for nothing!

Mystic Mark Lawrenson predicts a 1-1 draw, Paul Merson reckons  it'll be 1-0 to the Potters, while Michael Owen fancies a 0-1 Hammers smash n grab raid. However, with the two leakiest defences in the league on show (Stoke 36 goals, West Ham 32 goals) we reckon a high scoring game is much more likely!

Rory Nostradamus is opting for a 2-3 scoreline, with the Hammers coming out on top.

Arnie to net the winner, of course!

COYI!!!

How Bizarre, How Bizarre!

It's a laugh a minute at West Ham right now - with the arrival of a host of top signings, fans are now finding amusement in some of the sad efforts of our Premiership rivals to steal some of our Jewels on the cheap!

First up - The Jewel- is reportedly wanted by Liverpool as a replacement for Philippe Coutinho. While that would make for a good deal for Mr Klopp and Co., it's hard to see why the Hammers would undo all the good work of the transfer window by selling their principal playmaker. In short - No, No, No...go away Liverfools!

Staying in Merseyside, it has also emerged that Everton are looking to sign James Collins as a replacement for the injured Ramires Funes Mori. Happily, in a recent interview Ginge made it clear that at 33 years old he expects to see out his career at West Ham and, as last season demonstrated, he still has plenty to offer when called upon. Moreover, although the Reece's and Declan Rice are all top prospects, they are not quite ready to step up to first team football on a regular basis.

And then the most amusing of them all - Palace want Adrian for a mere £3million!!! NO, apparently that's not a season long loan fee but a full transfer bid. With Darren Randolph departed it would make NO sense to let Adrian go, especially for a comedy fee!

As the Otaro Millionaires Club remarked in their 1995 hit - 'How Bizarre'!

Hammers Star Breaking Bad in Hat Trick Heroics!

In shock developments it has emerged that the West Ham squad are finding their mid-term break at a £500 a night luxury resort in Dubai both energising and a valuable boost to team morale! Michail Antonio has released pictures of the trip that capture the relaxed atmosphere within the group - so relaxed that some of the players have taken to trying out a variety of costumes and other fun paraphernalia!

Robert Snodgrass appeared for the evening meal adorned in a semi-frilled shirt that would fit perfectly on any Shakespearean thespian, while our main striker looks to have recovered from his groin strain and has turned out in perfect Andy-Cap pose. Meanwhile, chief netminder Dazza Randolph looks like he is ready to head out for  a game of polo with a piece that looks like a horseriding helmet!

 

However, undoubtedly the star of the show is breaking bad wannabe James 'Heisenberg' Collins with a superb wide-brimmed number. Ginge is taking no risks in the hot desert climate as he does not want to ruin the trip by needing to visit the local burns unit. Meanwhile, Sam Byram is doing a pretty decent Jesse Pinkman impersonation.

Happy days - let's hope the break brings a solid push up the table starting with a win against Watford.

Here Comes Trouble...

SuperSlav has done his best to paper over the cracks for today's crunch clash with Crystal Palace by reverting to a (probable) three at the back, buts whatever way you look at it, one gets the sense that Big Sam will smell blood!

James Collins gets a rare start with many of the view that he might find himself at Palace by the end of January! Nobes returns instead of Fernandes to partner Pedro Obiang in midfield. The ability of this pair to cope without the AFCON-busy Kouyate will be a key determining factor in today's outcome.

Up top, Feghouli and Lanzini will be trying to link with big Andy to show what we can do without L'Etranger Dimitri Payet. Maybe the freedom of playing without trying to constantly get the ball out to Dimitri will help their form improve?

Sam will be loving his visit to the Olympic Stadium and will undoubtedly try to use a jittery home support to his side's advantage. Hmmm. A point might be a good result but all three would send out a much needed message to everyone that we are more than a one man team!

Hammer Time for Saggy Baggies

It's back to the grind today for Slaven Bilic's troops who will be looking to bounce back from last week's embarrassing implosion against Watford where they were rampant for the first 30 minutes before squandering a two-goal lead.

Perhaps the biggest question is how Bilic will try to turn things around. There have been calls for wholesale changes to the starting XI as fans look to kick start the stuttering season that sees the previously buoyant Irons lurking on the edge of the bottom three after four games.

Bilic has been applauded for his ability to manage his players expectations and even though Adrian had a howler against Watford, one suspects that SuperSlav will avoid the temptation to over-react and will persist with the usually excellent netminder.

In contrast, the Collins vs Ogbonna conundrum raises a variety of issues. Collins was a major culprit for the first two Watford goals and may well be benched to allow for the return of Angelo Ogbonna who has been strangely overlooked since returning from Euro 2016.

However, Ogbonna engaged in some foolishly ambiguous social media activity after the Watford game that may have annoyed Bilic who demands discipline and loyalty from his players. On balance, it seems likely that Bilic will feel obliged to make at least one change to his leaky back four and with Alvaro Arbeloa (probably) still short of match fitness, Ogbonna seems the obvious choice.

Elsewhere, West Ham will be hoping to emerge with a similar silkiness in attack that graced the first half hour last weekend. Having Lanzini and Payet together again is a big boost creatively, while Michail Antonio is simply on fire and will relish the chance to add to his haul of four goals in as many games this season. Newby Simone Zaza impressed in spurts last weekend and will hopefully have found his Premiership gear for today.

If Bilic wants to shake it up he can bolster the defensive side of the midfield with Havard Nordtveit, while up front Sofiane Feghouli is ready to return and many fans are predicting that he can form a brilliant partnership with Mr Payet.  These options seem more likely to be used from the bench according to how the game sits after an hour or so.

Meanwhile. the Baggies are not in a good place right now with manager Tony Pulis unpopular with many fans. Having amassed four points to date, they haven't won at the Hawthorns for almost six months and will hope that West Ham's visit might provide suitable fodder for a much needed victory. Soloman Rondon will be vying for a starting place with Saido Berahino. The Baggies will be hoping to exploit West Ham's disorganisation out wide with recent arrivals Nasser Chadli and Matt Philips served with trying to open up the Hammers defence.

West Ham will need to be patient as Pulis sides rarely panic in response to crowd tension and even as the home side will be only too happy to absorb some pressure if it creates space for counterattack.

Probable West Ham Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Adrian; Byram, Reid, Ogbonna, Masuaku,  Kouyate, Noble, Antonio, Lanzini, Payet, Zaza.

What's gone wrong with our defence?

So far this season West ham have been struggling defensively, culminating a an embarrasing implosion yesterday where in truth Watford could have easily scored five or six goals.

The preseason campaign was unimpressive with a concession rate of over two games per game even though many of the games were against modest North American and Austrian opposition.

Further warning signs went out after the dusappointing defeat to Astra which, rather like yesterday, occured from a winning position after the Hammers were gifted an away goal in Romania.

So what has gone wrong - the success of last year was undoubtedly built upon our ability to suffocate opposition sides which allowed for a series of famous victories over all the traditional top six sides.

Undoubtedly the right back situation has been problematic as SuperSlav showed the less positive side to his stubborn determination by prolonging a visibly failing experiment using Michail Antonio at right back.

All the while, our defence has become unbalanced and nervous looking. Watford's openibg goal testerday was typical of the poor defensive positioning at right back as Sam Byram 'did an Antonio' by allowing himself to drift 5 yards off his man and then mysteriously allowed Odion Ighalo to turn inside with disastrous consequenxes as his shot deflected off James Collins for a mighty soft goal that allowed a Watford side who had been totally outplayed until that point back into the game.

Watford's equaliser was truly embarrassing as Adrian and Ginge messed up yheir shouts and gifted Troy Deeney the chance to equalise. Undoubtedly, the opportunity was deftly executed with a delightful lob that the retreating Masuaku couldn't quite keep out, but the ball should gave been easily dealt with without any such danger.

The response after the break was really disappointing. West ham lost yheir way and conceded another sift goal as Sam Byram failed to cut out a cross to the right side of the box leaving Capoue on his own yo rifle a shot high onyo the net. On another day Adrian would have pushed it over the bar but Watford were on a roll.

Cue another embarrassing goal as Ighalo was allowed to dance around the right side of the penalty area (again with Byran in hapless oursuit) before teeing the ball up for a low strike that again Adrain could have kept out on another day.

It's a real pity that a day that should have been remembered for Antonio's brilliant brace that emphasised his resurgenge since returning to his natural attacking position as well as the fabulous rabona cross from Payet for the second goal, in fact was more notable for a series of comically inept defensive cock ups.

Even worse, Angelo Ogbonna posted an unhelpful post match tweet that is likely to impede his return to the starting XI.

There certainly is lots of work to be done on the training ground by Mr Dicks and Co who are mighty quiet just now having been hailed as rock solid this time last year. The right side of our defence needs serious working on as Collins and Byram are not managing the space between RB and right CB properly. However, perhaps the biggest single issue is that we have lost confidence and need a few decent defensive showings to get the boys talking again. With Arbeloa still short of match fitness, Sam Byram will surely get another chance or two, but things need to improve rapidly.

Wonderful Welsh Wizards Weave Widiculous Win

Wales truly set the Euros alight last night with a scintillating performance against a hapless Belgium. In the latest victory for team over individual, the Welsh simply out fought and outplayed Lukaku, Hazard, De Bruyne et al, scoring three sensational goals in a 3-1 drubbing.

Even better, James 'Ginger Pele' Collins came on to grab a piece of the action and highlighting the considerable depth to this Welsh squad. Chris Coleman does not share Wicked Woy's WestHamoPhobia and was more than happy to bring on the experienced centre half to shore up the defence for the final few minutes.

Wales have stolen a march on England in terms of Hammers selection with a one-nil victory caused by Hodgson's refusal to include any of Noble, Antonio, Cresswell or Carroll - any and all of whom would have been a useful addition during the desperate second half scenes as a gutless England surrendered to a determined Icelandic side.

For Wales, the one down point was the booking of Aaron Ramsay who will miss the semi final against Portugal. With Bale in better form than Ronaldo, it's nip and tuck between the teams across the rest of the park and wales will go into the encounter with every right to expect a result.

Dragons, Dragons, Dragons...

Good Tidings We Bring...at last!

At last we have some good news on the injury front with word that the Hammers squad for the St Stephen's day clash with Aston Villa will be graced by the presence of Andy Carroll, a ninety-minute ready Enner Valencia, and most importantly, Manny Lanzini.

Good news indeed as we have had to resort to Allardycian tactics over the past few games where goalless encounters have been hailed as success given the lack of attacking resources. Nonetheless, accumulating just 27% of the possession against third from bottom Swansea is hardly a champagne-opening event! Moreover, it points to more than just offensive deficiencies as Noble and Company in the midfield can surely do better?

On the plus side, we have demonstrated how strong our defence can be, with the Ginger Pele reminding us all why he must stay at West ham for another two year contract. Up front, however, it's frustrating to watch Jelavic occupying a spot which young Elliot Lee has patiently waited for over the past few seasons but finds himself on loan at Blackpool just when his big chance arrives.

Villa really is a must win fame as they are struggling big time. Reports suggest that they are even desperate enough to take on the dubious talent that is Morgan Amalfitano.

The return of Lanzini can bring that spark that has been lacking. The Argentinian has been a revelation since arriving in the Summer and has especially demonstrated his worth during the Payet absence where he has been our most creative force.

In other good news, Goldie has revealed that superhero Dimitri Payet is recovering ahead of schedule and should return mid January.

Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la

La la

La la.