Author: Geoff Hopkins

Gareth Southgate has been featured in the media this week bemoaning the shortage of English players represented in the Premier League, a situation which hit a record low at the weekend with less than 25% of all starters eligible to wear the three lions.  West Ham were slightly above average with three of the starting eleven (27%) as potential qualifyers.  It is a similar story at managerment level where only five clubs (if you include Chris Hughton at Brighton) can boast that dying breed that is an English gaffer. Today’s visitors are one of that select group and today we can welcome our old Sheffield United friend, and the most famous anagram in football, Colin Wanker. Now in his thirteenth managerial position at a league club, Warnock has been at the helm at Cardiff for the past two, largely successful, years.

Games against Cardiff are the closest that we get these days to exotic European competition and with a little imagination it might be possible to recreate those special sepia tinted nights under the floodlights on a chilly winter’s evening.  Take you own Bovril and Percy Dalton peanuts to complete the illusion.

West Ham will be aiming for their seventh consecutive win against the Bluebirds having beaten them three times in the 2013/14 Premier League season (including a 3^rd round League Cup tie) and three times in 2011/12 Championship season (including the two legged Playoff semi-final).

Cardiff have picked up just one of their eleven points on the road this season (a “dreadful scoreless draw” according to the Telegraph against the ten-men of Huddersfield) and although there have been heavy defeats, at Chelsea and Liverpool, they managed to keep both Tottenham and Everton down to a single goal margin.  The Hammers may well go into the match as favourites, buoyed by victory at Newcastle, but this will be no walkover.  Cardiff will look to defend deep and will be well organised.  The experience in recent years is that it is just the type of game that West Ham struggle to impose themselves on.  Still there can be no better time for Manuel Pellegrini to achieve his first back to back wins as West Ham manager.

Team selection speculation for the game is centred around defensive availability.  In normal circumstances, I would have expected there to be no discretionary changes made to the team that started at Newcastle.  However, there has been much talk about a well-earned rest for Pablo Zabaleta’s ageing legs as well as fitness doubts over Fabian Balbuena and Aaron Cresswell.  Three changes to a relatively stable back four could prove disastrous and the idea of twin scapegoats-in-chief Michail Antonio and Arthur Masuaku as full back partners sounds unthinkable.

In the absence of inside knowledge on the extent of the injuries, my anticipated lineup relies even more heavily on guesswork than usual.  I am certain Pellegrini will continue with the twin spearhead of Marko Arnautovic and Chicharito during the upcoming set of benign fixtures.  I would also expect Andy Carroll and Jack Wilshere to play some part tonight.

Cardiff have no new reported injury concerns and are likely to keep the same side that did so well to come from behind last Friday to win and nudge Wolves further in their slow slide down the table.

Tonight’s referee is occasional Premier League whistle-blower Graham Scott from Oxfordshire.  This is only his fourth top flight match of the season, although that did include the Arsenal – West Ham clash in August, the game which launched the Gunners on their long unbeaten run.  I don’t recall any particular refereeing bloopers arising in that game.

Top pundits Lawro and Merson are both going for home wins at 2-0 and 3-0 respectively.  It is the sort of game where if West Ham score once then they might go on and get a hat-full. But it will be no easy task to break down a deep=lying, disciplined and determined defence.   The Hammers attacking strength is through swift counter attacking and there has been little evidence of getting behind defensive lines of teams with minimal attacking intent.  Even so, I have to remain optimistic and will align with Merson at 3-0.

Thumbing through the fixture list a few weeks ago and it seemed reasonable to chalk up this weekend’s fixture at Newcastle as one of those eminently winnable games that would see the Hammers rise up towards the top half of Premier League table.  With the Geordies floundering at the bottom of the table surely we would be going into the game with Rafa Beneath-us!  As it turns out West Ham have now slipped below Newcastle on goal difference.

Such optimism, however, would also have needed to disregard the woeful record that West Ham have on their travels to St James’ Park.  The only win this century came when Kevin Nolan scored the only goal of a tight encounter in November 2012.  Prior to that, it is necessary to travel as far back in time as October 1998, when two Ian Wright goals helped the Hammers secure a convincing 3-0 success.  Even though Newcastle have frequently struggled in the intervening years they have routinely found West Ham to be one of the more generous visitors to the north-east.  

My impression is that, in recent seasons, Newcastle have collected their points from sudden spurts of inspired form – lengthy droughts followed by unexpected winning runs.  They come into today’s game off the back of three straight league wins against Bournemouth, Watford and Burnley that has lifted them out of the relegation places .  It is West Ham’s challenge to determine whether this is now the middle or the end of the current spurt.  History does not offer much encouragement.

Anxious supporters are yet again faced with the cliff-hanging, soap opera story-line of whether Marko Arnautovic will be fit enough to start the game.  Has there ever been a game where he hasn’t started to hobble around at some point in proceedings?  The team rely heavily on Arnie and there are few options consistent or suitable to the way West Ham play in his absence.  There is, of course, the possibility of Big Andy facing his boyhood club and it would be an opportune moment for him to open his West Ham account against them, at the seventh time of asking.  If Arnie is ruled out then it could well be a Chicharito – Michail Antonio combo to provide the semblance of an attacking threat.  I hope there is no room on the bench for Lucas Perez with his space more usefully warmed by Xande Silva – at least there would be potential there!

The only change at the back will be the cyclical rotation of Aaron Creswell for Arthur Masuaku, while the defence will continue to be exposed by our weakness in defending as a team down the flanks.  It could be an early Christmas present for Matt Ritchie who terrorised West Ham in the equivalent game last season.

In midfield the certain starters are Declan Rice and Felipe Anderson.  Then it would be a case of pick your favourite three out of Mark Noble, Pedro Obiang, Robert Snodgrass, Grady Diangana and Michail Antonio – ten possible combinations (or is it permutations) but with minimal difference in effectiveness.  The other name to throw into the mix is Jack Wilshere, back after injury, but it is likely too soon for a start.  I believe that Wilshere will become a good signing for the Hammers in providing creative options from central midfield once there is a better balance around him (and provided he steers clear of injury).  As I have mentioned before, I would also like to see Nathan Holland involved in the first team set-up – apart from Rice he has looked the most accomplished of our academy players; admittedly only from what I have seen online.

My anticipated Pellegrini line-up is predicated on a sense that he will plump for experience in what will be a difficult encounter. 

Newcastle’s recent successful run has come in the absence of Shelvey and Lascelles.  With both players now recovered from injury it would be nice to think that Rafa will disrupt a winning side but this seems unlikely.

The matchday referee is Paul Tierney from Lancashire.  This is his first Hammers outing of the season but he has some previous with the Toon having awarded a controversial penalty against them in their home defeat by Chelsea – will he think that he owes them something?  Tierney is free and easy with the yellow cards but has yet to show red so far this season.

On the pundit front, Lawro is predicting a 2-0 home win which in Lawro land constitutes a pasting, given his usual conservative approach to punditry.  Paul Merson also fancies the home side to extend their winning run with a 2-1 success.  My own glass is half empty on this one because I fear another traditionally slow start would be severely punished by a confident and rampant home side.  Newcastle may not have the most fearsome attacking force but they have the ability to exploit the Hammer’s weaknesses.  Ki Sung-yueng likes to get on the score-sheet against us and Mo Diame may have a point to prove.  It will be a tough afternoon and we will do well to come away with a share of the spoils – 2-2!

Although England’s relative success has put an unexpected positive slant on the UEFA Nations Carabao Cup, it is a welcome return to Premier League action this weekend when Manchester City are the visitors to the London Stadium.  However, the almost certain defeat to the almost inevitable 2018/19 Champions is a slightly less appealing prospect.

I find myself ambivalent towards Manchester City.  On one hand, they play an outstanding style of football under the leadership of probably the finest manager in the game today.  On the other hand, their success epitomises everything that is wrong in modern football – as the game moves ever further away from the ordinary spectator, under the spell of the TV mega-money-masters and their global armchair audience.  In a week where there have been announcements on increased capacity at the London Stadium it is ironic that it would only make an incremental difference to the club’s finances.  It is only the lucrative media and commercial deals that come with regular worldwide TV exposure that can make any meaningful difference.

Not that I selectively begrudge City their good fortune.  The football authorities are unconcerned about the source of the money flooding into the game and, had it not been City, then someone else would be reaping the benefit of the tainted Arab millions.  Had it been West Ham, I doubt I would be complaining too loudly, although I like to think I would be grounded enough to know that success had been bought.

Although, there are still two other unbeaten clubs in the Premier League it would be a huge surprise to me if the title was not wrapped up and Etihad bound before the daffodils are out.  City could probably field two sides and have both finish in the top four.  To be honest, it really wouldn’t bother me if the ‘big clubs’ did eventually break away to form their European Super League – provided that they had to resign from the Premier League to do so.  Any league without the jeopardy of relegation would be a bonkers, like a Harlem Globetrotter themed circus.  If it had the benefit of returning domestic competition to a degree of competitiveness, rather than the money-driven procession that it has become, then I would be happy to trade that for missing out on seeing the best players.

This is City’s fourth visit to the London Stadium and the aggregate of their four wins currently stands at scored thirteen, conceded one.  Any chance of Manuel Pellegrini stemming that run against his old club would seem slim.  Perhaps a more respectable score-line should be his main focus.  After all, City had a bit of wobble last time out, only scoring a half of their normal six goal tally and doing no better against Manchester United than the Hammers had done.  Any expectation that West Ham will get anything out of the game, though, requires the most super strength claret and blue prescription spectacles available.

There were some interesting stats published in the week that showed that only Cardiff had run less distance than the Hammers during the course of the season to date.  Each of the leading teams had covered far more ground.  Not only that but West Ham had two players in the top six of those covering the least distant – Marko Arnautovic (2^nd) and Arthur Masuaku (4^th).  It is difficult to draw any precise conclusions as to whether this demonstrates a lack of fitness among the players or merely reflects the manager’s preferred tactics.  Either way there does appear to be a relationship between ground covered and league position which does not augur well.

With Mark Noble returning from suspension at least Pellegrini will have one of his key runners back in the side.  Noble’s influence on the side is something of an enigma.  He looks off the pace, rarely offers much creatively and yet the side is generally worse in his absence.  He will replace the suspended Robert Snodgrass this weekend and the only other potential change that I see Pellegrini making is a start for Michail Antonio in place of Grady Diangana.

In other news there are rumours of a return to action for both Jack Wilshere and Andy Carroll.  The best that either can hope for is a place on the bench but it is good to have options and competition.

As for the match itself, it is going to need to be a monumental backs-to-the-wall performance, denying space to prevent Silva and De Bruyne slicing through the middle and stopping Sterling and Sane exploiting the full-back vulnerability.  City don’t have the greatest defence but then they don’t need to.  If anyone can rely on a ‘we’re gonna score (at least) one more than you’ philosophy then Guardiola can.  Whether West Ham have the wit, pace and cunning to snatch a goal remains to be seen.  Perhaps Arnie will have an inspired afternoon to further what he sees as the next step in his career.

Another stat that I picked up on during the International break is that City have yet to concede in the final 30 minutes of any league game.  I haven’t bothered to fact check this but it seems plausible enough.  So, if we are behind after an hour you can think about calling it a day.

The referee will be Andre Marriner from the West Midlands, making it his first gig with the Hammers this season.  Marriner has only showed two red cards in twelve matches but I have a horrible sinking feeling that we will not finish the game with the full complement of players.

Unsurprisingly, the pundits are predicting a routine away win for the Manchester side: Merson at 1–3 and Lawro at 0-2.  It would be nice to think that the Hammers can make a game of it but experience suggest that this isn’t very probable.  While it may be possible to record a best ever effort against City at the London Stadium (by keeping the goals against below four) coming away with any points would be a very long shot indeed. If only my own shocking lack of belief could lull them into a false sense of security.

Although we may not dare say it out loud, many of us will be looking at today’s fixture as the footballing equivalent of a ‘gimme’.  A mere formality; a case of going through the necessary motions to pick up the three points – just as when Manchester City visit the London Stadium the weekend after the international break.

Looking at the stats only serves to justify this confidence to ourselves.  Huddersfield have only scored five goals so far this season, of which just the one has been scored in a home game; and even that was an own goal despite it being enough to beat rock bottom Fulham – their first win in fourteen league matches.  Further, the Terriers have not scored more than once in any of their last twenty-one Premier League games.

West Ham, on the other hand, come into the match full of verve and confidence off the back of that barnstorming performance against Burnley.  That win may have been the first in five attempts but there’s no doubt we tell ourselves, that the team have finally turned the corner; the only way is up and all eyes can be firmly focused on seventh place.  That’s right, isn’t it?

There is another voice in our head, however. “Hold on” it is saying “this is West Ham.  Anything can happen.”  We are a team, for sure, with lots of previous in providing charitable handouts to struggling sides and allowing them to end their unwelcome sequences of defeats or goal droughts.  Complacency has always come easy in claret and blue and today’s game could easily be lost in the minds of the players before a ball is kicked.

Whatever Huddersfield may lack in technical ability, they will not be short of effort, passion and energy.  Despite having picked up only four points from six home games this season they have only conceded seven goals in the process.  It has the makings of a very tight game with goals at a premium – although statistically if we score then we shouldn’t lose!

It is going to long, tough season at the John Smith’s Stadium and the Terriers look like they will remain front runners for relegation. Having pulled off a miraculous escape last season, David Wagner will have his work cut out to repeat the trick.  Although Bournemouth are defying the odds with survival on a limited budget, Eddies Howe’s team and style was created over a longer period of time.  Wagner found instant success when he came into his job and it could well be taken away again just as quickly.

As both teams look for rare back to back wins, the West Ham optimism roller coaster has entered a steep climb.  Even suspended skipper, Mark Noble, was reported in the week to be dreaming of a best-of-the-rest seventh place finish.  I sense there are several more twists and turns, ups and downs before the season is over even though I believe the trajectory under Manuel Pellegrini is in a positive direction.  I don’t know what the various super-computers have to say about final league standings but my low tech equivalent (pin and piece of paper) suggests a finish somewhere between ninth and twelfth.

There seems little point discussing the afternoon’s starting line-up as it will be 100% guaranteed the same as last week – assuming no last minute flu epidemics or shower based accidents.  Allegedly, the post international break will witness unheard of selection option overload at the club with the recovery from injury of (big) Andy Carroll and (little) Jack Wilshere – plus the return of Noble, who serves the last of his three match suspension today.

Chris Kavanagh from Lancashire makes the short journey over the Snake Pass as today’s match-day referee.  It is weird that so many of the elite referees are from the north of the country but, then again, if the other southern based refs are as bad as Wiltshire’s Roger East then perhaps that is a good thing.  Kavanagh was previously in charge of the Hammer’s defeat by Wolves.

Paul Merson has again tipped a West Ham win (this time by 2-1) while Lawro is back on his fence at 1-1.  I will be looking for early signs that the team are fired up and are not strolling into the match with an air of apparent superiority.  The fear is a repeat of the Brighton performance where they only start to play in the second half when the damage has already been done.  Intensity and energy levels need to be up from the first whistle.  If Pellegrini can ensure his team are raring to go from the off then I can see a second on-the-road win of the season.  It is Hammers to win 2-0 for me.

Burnley were the surprise team of 2017/18, achieving a seventh placed finish and attracting plenty of praise for gravelly voiced manager Sean Dyche.  Having scaled such heights, however,  and only scoring thirty six in the process (only the three relegated clubs and Huddersfield scored fewer), it was always unlikely that a threat to the Premier League status quo was being built at Turf Moor.  The Dyche philosophy is not a style of play that is going to prosper in the long term; although it might be adequate for pragmatic survival in the footsteps of Allardyce, Pulis and co.

The Clarets still managed to record three goals in two of their thirty eight league matches last season: the first in the season opener away at Chelsea; the second in the infamous day of protests at the London Stadium – a game in which West Ham had controlled the first half but self-destructed in the final half hour.

This season with the added burden of a Europa Cup campaign, where they were eliminated at the Play Off stage, it has been a disappointing start for the visitors who are one of two teams sitting below the Hammers by virtue of goal difference.  Apart from a shock 4-0 win against high riding Bournemouth their performances have been underwhelming and they come into today’s game having conceded nine goals in their last two outings.

West Ham are now without a win in their last four games in all competitions – evidently still basking in the glory (and resting on the laurels) of victory against Manchester United.  With today’s game heralding the start of a winnable streak, Manuel Pellegrini will be desperate to see some added points on the board.  The dilemma is whether his team have enough guile and penetration to break down what will surely be a massed Burnley defence.  If past performance is in any way indicative of future results the omens are not good.

The West Ham lineup for today pretty much picks itself.  Not that the players have performed brilliantly just that there are so few options available due to either quality, injuries or suspensions.  The goalkeeper and the core of the defence are givens and the return of The General, missing in midweek, will be welcome – I am convinced he would have prevented at least two of the Tottenham goals.  The defensive problem area is left back where neither Arthur Masuaku nor Aaron Cresswell are comfortable as a traditional full-back – particular when midfield backup is so flaky.  As Cresswell remains a doubt I would expect Masuaku to get the nod again.  Declan Rice is a certainty to continue his impressive protection of the back four.

In Mark Noble’s absence, Pedro Obiang and Robert Snodgrass will be expected to put in the midfield yards but, while their energy is to be commended, it is a combination that doesn’t shout creativity.

In the advanced roles Marko Arnautovic will be back leading the charge with attacking support provided by Grady Diangana and Felipe Anderson.  Diangana continued to look promising in midweek, in complete contrast to Anderson who looks to be shrouded in a cloak of lethargy.  It is, perhaps, the best we have but has a worryingly one dimensional feel to it.

Javier Hernandez and Michail Antonio will feature at some point but both have been mightily disappointing.  Hernandez is an impact player at best and Antonio has completely lost his mojo over the past couple of seasons – what happened to the player who one minute was tackling Liverpool’s Moreno just outside his own penalty box and then heading home at the other end a moment later?

Last season it was Barnes and Wood who did the damage but neither are expected to start this afternoon.  You would like to think that Pellegrini and the players are aware of the Burnley threat particularly from crosses and set pieces – cutting off supply will be key to keeping a rare clean sheet.

The match-day referee is Roger East from Wiltshire who is taking charge of only his second Premier League game of the season.  He was in the middle for the home win over Swansea last term as well as away defeat at Brighton.

Both Lawro and Paul Merson have predicted a 2-0 Hammer’s success which would be very welcome indeed.  It is a game that we should and need to win to give the season a lift and to prove that this is a team that are not only motivated for the bigger games.  Not picking up all three points would be extremely disappointing.  The worry is that West Ham will be too predictable allowing Burnley to frustrate and dampen the mood in the stadium- much like last season’s game, in fact.  Hopefully, an early goal will lighten that mood and set things up for a comfortable win.

West Ham will be seeking their third consecutive League Cup victory against Tottenham when they take on the homeless North Londoners in a fourth round tie at the London Stadium this evening.

This round represents the pivotal moment in the competition after which the bigger clubs, who initially treat it as a second class contractual obligation, suddenly realise it could be a way to keep the trophy cabinet topped up after all.  Like it or not, the cup (n its many incarnations) is more often than not hoisted aloft by the skipper of a top six side (apart from Arsenal who haven’t bothered to win it since 1993).  The best hope for the rest of us is a combination of mutual elimination (assuming the draw really is random) or by catching the big boys when they are focused on something more important.

Tottenham currently find themselves in the type of turmoil that is normally associated with West Ham.  With all the cash tied up in Levy’s vanity stadium rebuild project, currently massively over budget and over schedule, they are having to play their second game in three days due to weekend fixture congestion at their threadbare Wembley squat.  Yet, even at this stage of the season (all but eliminated from the Champion’s League and well off the pace in the Premier League), Pochettino may see the EFL cup as his best chance to finally nab a piece of consolation silverware.

While the Tottenham manager must decide which of his weary troops to hold back for the tough trip to Wolverhampton at the weekend, his West Ham counterpart has an equally difficult choice.  How to put together a competent enough side to demonstrate the claim of taking the competition seriously while at the same time avoiding any further damaging injuries that might impact a stuttering league campaign as it enter a period of apparently winnable games?

Once again, West Ham are top of the Premier League injury standings and, of the nine reported invalids, only Pedro Obiang has a chance of making it onto the pitch tonight.  The remainder: Marko Arnautovic, Andriy Yarmolenko, Andy Carroll, Lucas Perez, Manuel Lanzini, Jack Willshere, Carlos Sanchez and Winston Reid are joined by newly suspended skipper Mark Noble in sitting this one out.

The replacement of Noble by Obiang could be the most significant change from those involved at Leicester on Saturday.  Probably there will be starts for Adrian, Angelo Ogbonna, Ryan Fredericks and Aaron Cresswell; maybe Michail Antonio will get the nod over Javier Hernandez; or could there even be a rare sighting of, the now, lukewarm prospect, Reece Oxford?.  Elsewhere during the game expect some degree involvement for Joe Payne and Connor Coventry – you know you are getting old when professional football players look like they should still in school uniform!  Good luck to them anyway as it is always pleasing to see academy players getting an opportunity.

One League Cup tie that really sticks in my memory was when the Hammers beat Tottenham 1-0 at Upton Park in December 1980.  It was one of those electric nights under the lights of the Boleyn cauldron (quite appropriate for Halloween).   It may not have needed much to raise the roof off from those rickety old stands but it almost happened when David Cross scored the night’s only goal with just ten minutes to spare.  Rather than speculate of today’s lineup, here is a nostalgic look back to the team from 1980 that would eventually secure West Ham’s last visit to a league cup final.

The match referee will be Stuart Atwell from Warwickshire who was previously in Startford for the Hammers defeat to Bournemouth in August.  One way or another there has to be a result tonight and it would be no surprise to me if it all came down to the lottery of penalties.