Geoff Hopkins

Five Takeaways: West Ham Unable To Resist Rampant Reds

West Ham’s Dad’s Army put up plucky resistance but eventually succumb to Klopp’s superior firepower. What did we learn?

An Expected Result

In the scheme of things the outcome of this match doesn’t really change anything as far as West Ham’s battle for survival is concerned. I doubt that anyone working out their predictions and permutations for the remainder of the system, from the team of analysts with a supercomputer to man with a pencil and the back of a fag packet, expected West Ham to take anything out of yesterday’s game. If there was disappointment it was the size of the defeat and it’s resultant hit on goal difference, which at -15 is now worse that two of the teams below us. Mark Noble claimed that the scoreline was harsh on West Ham but it could easily have been worse if Liverpool had been more clinical. At what point a routine defeat turns into a thumping is debatable but the Hammers were well and truly beaten by a talented and in-form Liverpool side. The Merseysiders were allowed to dictate the game and took full advantage and although the West Ham players put in a decent amount of effort the impression was that there little belief to go alongside it.

The Strangest Selection

The team selection surprised me. I had doubted that we would see Joao Mario and Manuel Lanzini on the pitch at the same time and yet David Moyes was happy to give the combination a try. The result was a narrow formation that lacked width without solving the usual inability to provide an outlet for besieged defenders or to keep the ball once in possession. I thought Mario was poor throughout and although he was not alone in that it was his most ineffective game since coming to England. Starting with one of Mario and Lanzini along with Michail Antonio would have made more sense and, for a brief period after his introduction, the presence of Antonio appeared to unsettle Liverpool’s defence. This wasn’t a game where West Ham lacked effort but effort alone is not enough at this level. Players giving 100% should be a given and what West Ham need are skillful players giving everything; not players who make up for lack of techniques with effort. An honourable exception to the lack of quality on show in claret and blue yesterday was Marko Arnaoutovic who once again demonstrated what an exceptional player he can be.

Dad’s Army Defenders

When the referee called Mark Noble over following the yellow card shown to James Collins I imagined the conversation going: Referee – “what’s his name?”; Nobes – “don’t tell him Ginge”. With the introduction of Patrice Evra into the Hammers rearguard we now have a defence worthy of the veterans league. Looking at all of the outfield players with mainly defensive responsibilities (i.e. everyone except Mario, Lanzini and Arnie) they are characterised by an overall lack of pace throughout. Once again the central midfield pairing of Noble and Cheikhou Kouyate failed to get even close to impressing and allowed Liverpool to attack the backline with impunity. Evra and Pablo Zabaleta might have shown admirable commitment but with the best will in the world they are never going to be able to bomb forward to provide width in support of their forwards. What a contrast to Alexander-Arnold and Robertson for the Reds.

Assists For The Opposition Goals

Despite Liverpool’s dominance the Hammers once again contributed to their own downfall in the goals conceded. The opener by Can was just the type of goal I had not expected to concede; a simple header from a corner. It did appear to me that Adrian was badly impeded but this seems one of those rules that is now considered optional by referees. The second goal was the killer coming so soon after half-time and some blame must go first to Kouyate for a series of powder puff challenges and then to Aaron Cresswell for not getting close enough to Salah. The third was a result of Mario giving possession away cheaply and compounded by Adrian’s poorly judged rush from the area (but please no recall for Joe Hart) and by the fourth the players were just hoping for the game to end as quickly as possible. Giving a team like Liverpool so much of the ball was always going to be a huge risk. The weakness in central midfield, a lack of belief in being able to keep the ball and players bunching rather than spreading play all served to surrender the initiative to the opposition. Conceding was only a matter of time.

The Table Doesn’t Lie

West Ham slip to 13^th position just three points (four if you count goal difference) out of the relegation places. Assuming that Palace do not beat Tottenham today by two goals or more the standings will be unchanged before the crunch game next weekend away at Swansea. At least Swansea also experienced their own thumping yesterday meaning that both teams will need to demonstrate ‘bouncebackability’. With the bottom of the table so compressed and so many teams in relegation danger there are few yet in a position to start thinking about the summer holidays. Leicester had the look of going through the motions about them yesterday and maybe Burnley and Everton do as well. Some consolation in that these are three teams we have yet to play.

Where is the best place to park the West Ham bus at Anfield?

Can the Hammers bring back anything better from Merseyside than a respectable narrow defeat to maintain their relatively superior goal difference advantage over the relegation rivals?

Apparently a grand total of 29 players have played for both West Ham and Liverpool over the years but there is one other thing that connects these two clubs – that their best days were back in the distant past. While most West Ham fans have their tongues firmly planted in the their cheek when claiming that the Hammers won the World Cup it is still many years since the scent of glory was detected anywhere near the east-end of London; in fact, the closest in living memory for the majority of supporters would be the infamous ‘drawn’ 2006 cup final against today’s opponents.

Liverpool, on the other hand, were the undoubted superstars of the English First Division for a good part of the 1970’s and 1980’s. Yet they now only sit above West Ham in the list of Premier League titles won by virtue of alphabetical order – much to the frustration of their entitled supporters. Perhaps a more fitting anthem for the Merseysiders than the maudlin ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ is the refrain from the song Sit Down which desribes their predicament most succinctly: “Now I’ve swung back down again, and it’s worse than it was before. If I hadn’t seen such riches, I could live with being poor!”

In truth, Liverpool under Klopp are one of the most exciting sides to watch in the Premier League; alongside Tottenham (whose own delusional sense of glory is based solely on winning the double almost sixty years ago). It would be no surprise if it were one of those two teams who ended up in second place to runaway leaders Manchester City, even if they will both have effectively been lapped, come the end of the season. The big challenge for will then be to hold on to their top performers (and managers) when the truly big clubs come-a-knocking.

Head to Head

If the north-west in general is not a happy hunting ground for the Hammers then visits to Anfield are a desolate wasteland with a return of just four wins (forty four defeats) from sixty six attempts. West Ham are, however, unbeaten in their last three visits including the memorable 3-0 victory for Slaven Bilic’s side in August 2015. It was, however, defeat by Liverpool at the London Stadium in November that hammered the final nail into Bilic’s managerial career at West Ham.

There are some bad memories associated with Liverpool and relegation as it was the Reds who had beaten the Hammers in the final matches of both the 1977/78 (crushing my belief that West Ham were a perennial top tier club) and 1988/89 seasons to confirm the worst. At least there will still be ten games to play after today.

Team News

West Ham resisted the urge to jet off somewhere exotic for a spot of warm weather training during their week off; a tactic that in previous years has precipitated a run of poor form. It is reported that both Manuel Lanzini and Winston Reid are available for selection while Jose Fonte has popped out for a Chinese. My sense is that while Reid may play, Lanzini will be start on the bench. Whether we will see much of Lanzini and Joao Mario on the pitch at the same time will be interesting but I can’t see it happening at Anfield.

There are no prizes for guessing what the West Ham tactics will be for the game and a repeat of the backs to the wall and hope for a smash and grab approach that almost upset Manchester City and earned a point at Tottenham is to be expected. The problem with parking the bus at Anfield is that there is a high probability that some scally will sooner or later turn up to nick a goal (as well as the hubcaps.) While I would have confidence in our central defenders deftly heading away crosses until the cows come home, they typically struggle against the trickery and rapid interplay that is a feature of Klopp’s team. If and when the first Liverpool goal goes in it is difficult to see where a West Ham response could come from; and there is goal difference to play for as well as points.

Liverpool, who took a break to Marbella as reward for their FA Cup exit, have no injury worries unless a late outbreak of Spanish tummy runs through the squad.

Man in the Middle

Today’s referee is Stuart Atwell from Warwickshire who should be fresh in the memories of supporters as the man who overruled his assistant to allow the offside/ handball Bournemouth equaliser having previously shown undue leniency to a Cherries defender for a reckless red card challenge. He owes us one for that. He also, with some justification, sent off Andy Carroll at Turf Moor earlier in the season. In twenty games this season, Carroll is his only red card to go along with seventy yellow ones.

Predictions

In a rare alignment of the planets, both Lawro and Merson are going for a 3-0 home win. I admit to having drawn a huge sigh of relief at reaching thirty points after the win against Watford but subsequent results served to trim the breathing space back down to a measly four points. This game might be seen as a free spin for West Ham but it is vital that it is not a crushing defeat. Perhaps the away win unicorn could put in an unexpected appearance or inspired defending could secure a precious point but, in reality, confidence is not high of getting anything from the game other than a respectable scoreline and no further injuries.

Five Takeaways: Pulling Together The West Ham Way

As David Sullivan calls for unity and the need to pull together, a Marko Arnautovic inspired West Ham bounce back from their recent doldrums to record a much needed win over Watford. What did we learn from the game?

We All Pull Together

The team performance against Watford was a perfect reaction to the disappointment of half-hearted effort on show at Brighton last week. In David Sullivan’s attempt at a damage limitation video (that was posted on the official West Ham website) he repeated, in a style reminiscent of Theresa May’s much ridiculed strong and stable slogan, the mantra as to how we all needed to pull together to drag the club out of its current plight. I am all for unity but for it to be achieved everyone has to see that striving for it is to their advantage. Donating my time, effort and money simply to line someone else’s pocket is just not tempting enough to earn my unquestioning support unfortunately. Still the players responded well and they ably demonstrated the spirit, determination and togetherness required to earn a valuable three points from what looked to be a troublesome fixture against a confident Watford side.

Arnie Is Back

In my match preview I predicted a point at best and that we would be lucky to see Marko Arnautovic on the bench. The inaccuracy of that latter expectation had a direct impact on the imprecision and negativity of the former. While I am in confession mode, I will admit to having been ambivalent about the signing of Arnautovic. Not that I was a huge Stoke City watcher but the impression I had was of an inconsistent, fair-weather, sun-on-his-back type of player who would pick and choose which matches he would contribute to at the best of his ability. His early outings in claret and blue did little to dispel that assessment. He looked moody and disinterested and added an early blot to his copybook with a needless sending off at Southampton. Then suddenly, after thirteen goalless outings, he was given a more attacking role by David Moyes, free from tracking back along the wing, and goes on to score seven times in the next eleven games. And it is not only in goals that he is contributing to the cause as his overall effort, strength and impressive close control have made him into a defender’s nightmare. It is difficult for me to remember ever being so completely wrong about a player in the past. When the new golden age of player recruitment, as promised by the Board, becomes a reality let’s hope there are a few more Arnies up their sleeves.

The Legendary Game Of Two Halves

In many ways it was an unusual game. The first half West Ham were very much on the front foot with great movement and invention on show. Cheikhou Kouyate was a midfield driving force demonstrating a power and energy that has largely been missing from his game in recent times, and with the ball at their feet the combination of Arnautovic, Michail Antonio, Joao Mario and Javier Hernandez always looked threatening and capable of opening up the Watford defence. A goal disallowed for the thinnest of offside margins, a denied penalty appeal and a spurned Arnautovic chance all preceded the opening goal. When Hernandez headed home after a fine Antonio run and cross it felt like we were on a roll. The second half was a very different animal and it was difficult to tell whether this was because Watford had upped their game or whether West Ham had decided the best tactic was to defend deep and deny the visitors any chance of a quick counter attack. The inability of West Ham to keep the ball for more than a few touches and the tendency to go for the long ball was a concern but for all of Watford’s possession they created little. Watching live it seemed a very long second half that was all Watford, but watching the highlights later it was apparent that, apart from a free kick well saved by Adrian, it was West Ham who enjoyed the clear cut chances. Ultimately it was the Hammers who secured a further (rather scrappy) goal to seal the match and claim the points.

Heads Up

Initially the starting line-up puzzled me when it was first announced. I was sure it was going to be a back four and when it was apparent that this was not the case I was concerned about how well the Angelo Ogbonna, James Collins, Aaron Cresswell threesome would deal with Watford’s creative players. Cresswell has performed adequately in his new role but I am yet to be convinced that his lack of height will not be exploited by more astute opponents. For all of Collins limitations against more mobile adversaries there are few better when the opposition decide to rely on the lofted cross as their main form of attack. Similarly the aerial assault plays to one of Ogbonna’s main strengths; the other being wrestling with opponents at corners. Much was made of Watford’s 64% possession but it should be obvious to most by now that possession does not equate to dominance.

Canny Jock Or Dour Scot?

It remains tight at the bottom end of the Premier League table but the thirty point milestone is a good one to have crossed with still more than ten games to go. When Moyes took control of the team, West Ham had recorded nine points from eleven games and were sitting in eighteenth place. In the sixteen matches since he took charge his team have amassed twenty one points and now sit in twelfth place. It is a decent achievement and current trajectory should ensure a safe end to the season and even eyes on a top ten finish. The likelihood that at least six out of the eight teams sitting below West Ham in the table outperform them by a sufficient margin in the remaining eleven games is a slim one. What happens at the end of the season though is anyone’s guess. Personally, I think Moyes should be given the opportunity to show what he can do (both in terms of success and style) after a sensibly planned transfer window. Whether he wants to, or will be allowed to, depends very much on what the new strategy of pulling together actually means in reality.

Carry On Up The London Stadium

As the long running East End comedy gets even more farcical, can West Ham scrape together enough points to secure Premier League safety?

Apparently, the latest product to go on sale in the club shop is the claret and blue Oxo cube – and as you might expect it is being marketed as the laughing stock. OK, so it’s an old joke but, for a club with a long history of faux-pas, self inflicted gaffes and off-field own goals, a new low of incredulity has been reached over the past few weeks. Unfathomable transfer dealings, claims of racism in recruitment, plans for protest marches and culminating in woeful PR from the Board where the subtext of the message is ‘it’s our club we don’t care!’

While the West Ham owners have much to answer for, particularly with respect to unrealistic expectation setting and broken promises, there is now an unstoppable bandwagon upon which a large section of the media has now jumped. It would be no surprise to read in the comin weeks that Messrs. Gold and Sullivan are also responsible for global warming and the fatberg in the London sewers. I don’t recall West Ham ever having lovable owners (apart from that brief Icelandic big-spending honeymoon period maybe) but the current club custodians now have an approval rating that gives the Bond scheme a real run for its money. The relationship between supporters and owners is invariably a fraught one, except during periods of success, as each group makes its own claim as to whose club is it anyway. The apparent shambles that currently exists on and off the pitch and the lack of any empathy between Board and supporters does not bode well for creating a happy environment in which the team are meant to play football.

Today’s visitors are another of the sides embroiled in what has become the relegation play-offs; although a surprise 4-1 win over Chelsea last Monday sees them sitting three points better off than West Ham. Rewind a few weeks to a time of greater optimism and a look at the fixture list might have led a glass-half-full Hammers fan to imagine sitting pretty at around 33 points by now. But failure to win any of the games against Palace, Bournemouth and Brighton have necessitated a rapid re-calibration of those confidence levels. With injuries, suspensions and injudicious transfer activity I am now looking at the expected line-ups this afternoon and concluding that Watford (yes, Watford) look far stronger on paper than a club which is allegedly in the top twenty of the world’s rich league.

Head to Head

West Ham’s overall home record against Watford is a good one although the Hornets were the first visiting team to win a league match at the London Stadium when they came from two goals down to win 4-2 in September 2016. In the last twelve home games against Watford, West Ham have won eight and lost three.

Apart from that 4-2 reverse the last home defeat to the Hornets was on this very day in 2007 when, despite having Nigel Quashie in midfield, Alan Curbishley’s side went down 1-0 to bottom of the table Watford. Carlos Tevez was on the bench that afternoon in the days before going on to single-handedly save the Hammers from relegation.

The reverse fixture this season was David Moyes first as manager where he witnessed an uninspired performance leading to a 2-0 defeat. He will be expecting a better effort this afternoon.

Team News

The straw to clutch at for today is the will-he-won’t-he return from injury of the latest club saviour Marko Arnautovic – although I imagine he will be on the bench. Other than it seems that we must look for inspiration to a 36 year old full-back who hasn’t played a competitive game since his sacking by Marseille in November 2017. Only at West Ham could playing Patrck Evra in defence have little impact on the average age of that unit.

Best guess for the line-up would suggest a couple of changes from the team that performed so poorly at Brighton with the Pablo Zabaleta in midfield experiment being quickly abandoned in favour of a return to the Mark Noble/ Cheikou Kouyate combo that has failed to inspire confidence for much of the past two years. Possibly Winston Reid will return in defence but there is talk that having recovered from his injury he is now laid low with a sore throat (so that talk would be in a hoarse kiwi accent.) I don’t like the idea of Declan Rice in defensive midfield but things are so desperate that I would be tempted to give it another go.

The front three will most likely see Joao Mario and Michail Antonio supporting Javier Hernandez.

Watford are also without several injured players and there is not even any comfort for the Hammers in that given that one of the missing players is comedy defender Younes Kaboul. The Hornets have some fine players and I have been impressed with the likes of Doucoure, Capoue, Richarlison and Pereyra in the past and there is also the question of Deulofeu, at one point linked with a loan move to the London Stadium.

The Man in the Middle

Please welcome Graham Scott from Oxfordshire a rare but lucky visitor to West Ham matches . In the most recent Hammers encounters, Scott was in charge of this season’s away win at Stoke as well as victory last season at Southampton. In twenty one games this term Scott has shown fifty-four yellow cards and four red ones.

Predictions

Both Lawro and Merson smell a Hammer’s victory by 1-0 and 2-0 respectively. I wish I had their confidence as I think we will struggle badly in midfield unless there is a massive reaction to last week’s disappointment. Even then it is not going to inject the badly missing and much needed pace into the heart of the team. A win is badly needed but I can only see a point at best.

Five Takeaways: West Ham All At Sea As Brighton Rock

We don’t like to be beside the seaside. A second defeat of the season to the Brighton hauls the Hammers right back into the relegation mix.

A Giant Leap Backwards

This was as terrible a West Ham performance as those we had to endure in the early part of the season. Although some allowance can be made for the perennial long injury list it was worrying that the resolve, spirit and determination that had developed since the appointment of David Moyes was nowhere to be seen yesterday. West Ham were disjointed, lacked cohesion and once again the defensive/ central midfield offered little or nothing; allowing Brighton through at will and providing no springboard to launch ou own attacks. If the best we have in that area of the field for the remainder of the season is a mix of Noble, Zabaleta and Kouyate then I would be very worried. The inability to fill this long standing and well known gap in the squad, particularly following the injury to Pedro Obiang, could be a disaster that is paid for with the ultimate Premier League price.

Uninspiring Selection

I was very surprised to hear an unchanged team announced for the start of the game. It may have been a spirited performance and comeback against Palace but there now appeared more options available to supplement what had been regarded as a scratch side. Perhaps there was an element of caution in not wanting to bring players back too quickly but it backfired badly. Brighton played OK but as usual West Ham were the architects of their own downfall. The first goal was a great example with the ball given away cheaply in attack, Aaron Cresswell more interested presumably on revenge, for an earlier hand in the face, committed an unnecessary and reckless challenge, the midfield had gone missing and the back three were all over the place in allowing Murray all the room in the world to score. Cresswell did, at least, look a threat going forward and either side of a fine goal by Javier Herandez, set up presentable chances for Sam Byram (twice) and Joao Mario. In fact, with the scores level at half time, and with Brighton’s early energy levels dropping, I was still quietly confident that the Hammers would be able to take something from the game.

Second Half Surrender

Any half time confidence was quickly dissolved by an insipid second half performance in which the Hammers managed to go through the whole forty-five minutes without bothering the Brighton keeper once. No changes were made at half time in an attempt to seize the initiative and as the game developed it was no surprise when Brighton regained the advantage. Despite it being a stunning strike by Izquierdo, he was again given far too much time and space to work out his necessary angles and trajectories. West Ham had managed to scrape back into the game in the first half with a goal out of the blue but this time there was no way back. Gross, the best player on the field, capped an influential display with a third after a poor James Collins clearance. By then the Hammers were in complete disarray and it could well have been a more emphatic defeat. Michail Antonio was eventually thrown on (but did little of note) and Jordan Hugill was given no time at all to make an impact.

Collective Liability

No doubt that the goal by Hernandez was an excellent piece of opportunist finishing. It was typical Little Pea but other than that he contributed little to the overall play. The dilemma is how to incorporate such a player while attempting to build a modern team ethos in which everyone works for each other. How many goals would he need to score before his limitations in a tight team formation became acceptable? I don’t believe he is really suited to the style of football that most Premier League teams now play. Not that Hernandez was stand-out poor in comparison with the rest of the team. If I was giving ratings the only players worth more than a 4 would have been Mario and Adrian. Having been pleasantly surprised by the improvement in Mark Noble’s performance and leadership in recent weeks he was back to his frustratingly slow sideways and backwards worst yesterday.

Gloomy Outlook

West Ham are now in the middle of the run of games that were meant to guarantee their safety before the fixtures became stickier against the bigger clubs from April onwards. A return of two points from games against Bournemouth, Palace and Brighton is way below what I expected. West Ham sit just three points above the relegation places and although maintaining an average of a point per game may be enough there are still some tough games to come. There needs to be a huge improvement over the next few weeks coinciding, hopefully, with the return of Arnautovic and Lanzini. Unfortunately, we will not see Obiang again this season and with that weakness in central midfield I can’t, at times, help but fear the worst.

West Ham To Continue Their Unbeaten Start To The Year At Brighton?

Beyond the injuries, transfer disappointments, suspensions, scandals and sackings there is a football season taking place. Can West Ham consolidate their mid table position with a result at Brighton?

Leaves on the line, icy roads and a disappointing January transfer window. They happen every year and yet we are all still caught by surprise.

As we entered the window there was almost universal agreement that West Ham needed more bodies in the squad; and that was even before serious injuries to key players and a needless suspension added to the toll. The previous window had closed with a desperate attempt to sign a decent defensive midfielder, the need for which remains glaringly obvious. Apparently, it did not seem to occur to anyone to line up feasible replacements in advance of the shops re-opening as the club once again stumbled to heroic failure on the last day of the sales. It is looking like a repeat of the three year search for a right back that only ended with the signing of Pablo Zabaleta – who ironically may now be asked to cover in a defensive midfield role.

Without a shadow of a doubt the current owners are the worst West Ham have had ……..since the last ones and the ones before that. Rinse and repeat until the club is eventually purchased by a small middle-eastern Emirate or overseas oligarch. Unfortunately, the club has a history of being accident prone: from Mannygate, Tevezgate, Icelandicsgate through to the hot off the press Henrygate (why would anyone with half a brain put those types of thoughts down in a permanent electronic record?). With Tony Henry now dismissed I await the announcement of Big Ron Atkinson as the next director of Players We Won’t Eventually Recruit.

With all the off-field shenanigans taking place it is sometimes difficult to remember that there is also a football season going on. Today West Ham travel to the south coast to face Brighton at the Amex Stadium. It was only a few months ago that after promising starts to the season you would read many an article praising the exploits of the newly promoted clubs and predicting a season in which, for once, none of the three would be relegated. Now they each find themselves just a point away from the drop zone and dropping fast. It would be no surprise if at least one experiences a quick return to the Championship, although with such a congested table picking which one is anyone’s guess. Of course, our own Hammers are still well within the mix and so there is all to play for in yet another crucial race to the bottom clash this afternoon.

Head to Head

The Hammers have a 100% record at the Amex Stadium having previously won on their only previous visit in October 2011. The win that day was courtesy of a Kevin Nolan goal in a team where only Mark Noble and Winston Reid still survive in West Ham colours. Apart from that success West Ham have won on just one more occasion (1978) while losing four times in their nine visits to sunny Sussex.

Brighton memorably romped to a comfortable 3-0 victory at the London Stadium in October in one of the Hammers most incompetent displays of the season. In the preview to that match I mocked Brighton’s (alleged) tax-avoiding striker Glenn Murray and his double that day means that I won’t be making the same mistake this time around.

Team News

There is better news on the West Ham injury front with Reid, Michail Antonio and Jose Fonte all reported to be available for selection along with the newly recruited Jordan Hugill.

The selection questions for David Moyes will be: whether Zabaleta plays again in midfield with Sam Byram filling in at right wing back; which is the best threesome out of Reid, Fonte, Angelo Ogbonna, Declan Rice and James Collins to bring stability at the back; if Antonio is brought into an attacking midfield role will Kouyate make way (with the risk of ensuing mayhem!) or would that mean Zabaleta returning to wing back with a reliance on the previously suspect Noble/ Kouyate combination in the centre; does he start with Javier Hernandez, Hugill or Antonio as the lone striker?

I will be interested to see Hugill, a player who I admit to never having heard of before Wednesday. He deserves to be given every chance to show what he can do before any premature conclusions are reached. He is said to have an admirable never-say-die attitude and great strength although a supposed lack of pace could be a red flag at the top level. A debut goal would be welcome.

Brighton are without Locadia, Brown, Sidwell and Skalak but may give an outing to loan signing Ulloa, a player who often seems to have a productive afternoon against the Hammers.

Man In The Middle

Match-day referee is Roger East from Wiltshire. East was previously in charge of the 1-0 home win against Swansea in September. In nineteen games he has awarded sixty-four yellow cards and two reds.

Predictions

Both Lawro and Merson are convinced that this game is a 2-1 home win which would put the Seagulls level pegging with West Ham on twenty-seven points from twenty six points. With Brighton without a league win in 2018 and with only one win in fourteen, I am looking for the Hammers to prolong their misery for a little while longer. It will be a tough game and I expect a lot of early pressure from the home team. If the all-new resolute Hammers can weather that early seaside storm I will back them to win by the odd goal. Three points from the Amex – that’ll do nicely!

Five Takeaways: A Point Against Palace and Transfer Fever

Moyes’ Makeshift Hammers Move One Point Closer To Survival In A Spirited Performance – But Reinforcements Are Still Badly Needed.

First Page Of Teletext

Supporters of a certain age will remember Teletext (or CEEFAX) as their primary source of up to the minute football information. Page 324 of CEEFAX showed the Barclays Premiership league table over two pages and I can still recall one fan’s excitement in the aftermath an away win at Southampton in 1993/94 that West Ham had finally made it on to page one for first time that season. History repeated itself last night and no matter how temporary the position the Hammers have at last assumed the top ten position that their financial muscle should routinely guarantee. Two teams can theoretically leapfrog us tonight in the increasingly congested lower reaches of the table but it is good to carry the momentum into the upcoming fixtures against Brighton and Watford.

Patched Up Squads – plus ça change!

In the circumstances it was more a case of a point gained than two points dropped as the Hammers extended their unbeaten (league) sequence in 2018 to five matches. As mentioned in our Palace match preview this is the longest unbeaten start to a calendar year since 1974 when the Hammers embarked on a ten match spree, before finally finishing one point above the relegation places – a season where Billy Bonds finished as West Ham’s leading scorer. My memory of that time is also of patched up teams filled with played out of position defenders as the lineup from one of those games illustrates (a 3-0 win over Chelsea courtesy of a Bonds hat-trick): Day, Coleman, Lampard, Bonds, Taylor, McGiven, Holland, Paddon, McDowell, Brooking, Best. I’m sure every team has its bad luck with runs of injuries but does any other top flight club so regularly get into such a mess? Flashbacks to Ian Perace at centre-forward and Les Sealey as an outfield substitute spring to mind.

Honours Even

A point apiece was a fair reflection of the game. Defensively we should have done better with the Palace goal as Aaron Cresswell had strayed too far upfield in a situation where we did not have good possession and Declan Rice was slow to close down the advancing Townshend. Benteke is another of those players who is generally woeful but too often experiences a productive ninety minutes against the Hammers. It was great to see Tomka getting an assist with the equaliser; a definite penalty, calmly dispatched by a cool Mark Noble. There was also excellent work in the build-up also from Joao Mario who had a more than encouraging league debut. It will be fascinating to see how Mario and Lanzini will be paired together in the same side.

Too Late, Baby

Given the shortage of numbers it was a brave (and correct) decision by David Moyes to drop Michail Antonio from the match-day squad for failing to turn up on time. It is another indication that Moyes is bringing greater professionalism and discipline to the club after the happy go lucky days of Slaven Bilic. It has been reported that Antonio apologised and that the incident was now closed but it is difficult to understand what is going on with the player. He can play a crucial role over the next few weeks in the continued absence of Arnautovic and Lanzini as West Ham face important winnable games against fellow stragglers and strugglers. Let’s hope he can get his body and mind together and make a useful contribution in picking up the points that are required to continue the climb away from trouble.

Slam Shut Day Is With Us

The final day of the transfer window has arrived with everyone at West Ham allegedly working hard to bring in new players. Even as the day breaks new names (such as Islam Slimani and Ibrahim Amadou) are added to the list of targets (already including the likes of Pelle, Smolov, Cairney, Schneiderlin and Dendoncker) which continues to grow at a time when you would hope it is being narrowed down to known players and realistic proportions. Those involved agree that a transfer is a complex business with issues related to valuations, wages, fees, loans versus purchases, buy-out clauses, sell-on clauses, payment terms, medicals and lucky squad numbers to be resolved. Past performance does not instil a tremendous level of confidence that our crack negotiating team will manage to get more than one (if any) deal over the line in time. As usual I will disregard common sense and the lessons of history in the improbable hope that a rabbit or two can be pulled out of the hat at the last minute. Don’t go to bed!

West Ham Unable To Take It Easy As The Eagles Check Out The London Stadium

With a patched up squad and lacking influential players will Moyes be happy to share the points against Palace? Or will Super Mario make an immediate impact on the Premier League?

If only Michail Antonio had taken the ball to the corner flag or launched it into Sainsbury’s car park rather than chipping it back to the Palace keeper then West Ham might have found theselves sitting in ninth place, above Everton, and seemingly out of the relegation dogfight, which according to most observers comprises only eleven teams. Then again, that sliding doors moment, may have seen the Hammers remain under the stewardship of Slaven Bilic and his Carry-On-Coaching team with the unimaginable dire consequences that such a situation might have created.

Of all the managerial changes that have taken place in the Premier League so far this season, it is in the boardrooms of the London Stadium and Selhurst Park where the Directors will be most effusively slapping themselves on the back, oblivious to their own poor decision making that led to the respective crises in the first place. Yet with this season proving that our league is the most competitive in the world (at least as far as relegation places are concerned) the mid-table standing that the two clubs currently enjoy offers little in the way of real comfort.

West Ham will be looking to forget the inconvenience of having to go through the motions of a highly predictable FA Cup defeat by Wigan while Palace will hope to recover from their dreadful defensive display at the Emirates. Why the schedulers saw fit to arrange so many games in January (and interfere with the far more newsworthy transfer window) is a mystery but the Hammers have the opportunity to start a calendar year unbeaten in their first five league games for the first time since 1974; a run that, back then, eventually extended to ten games either side of a FA Cup defeat to Hereford United.

Head to Head

The last twelve competitive games against Palace show four apiece as far as wins, draws and defeats are concerned. In the last twelve encounters on home turf (which date back to 1972) West Ham have won six and lost three.

Team News

If a low key and unspectacular exit from the cup was the unspoken objective then there must be huge disappointment that West Ham came away from the game with another serious injury and a long term suspension. The injury list is a long one, and that it includes bothh Marko Arnautovic and Manuel Lanzini means that any offensive threat will be at a premium. It is probable that at least a few of the walking wounded out of Mark Noble, Cheikhou Kouyate, Winston Reid, Andre Ayew and Michail Antonio will be available for tonight’s clash. In the circumstances there must be a temptation to rush Antonio back but past performance suggests that this would be a massive risk.

Almost certainly there will be a first league start for João Mário Naval da Costa Eduardo in midfield and there doesn’t seem any viable alternative to using Javier Hernandez once more as lone striker, despite all the evidence that it is not a role that he is anywhere close to accomplished in.

Palace are not without their own selection problems with Roy Hodgson claiming that he only has eighteen players to choose from. There is a high probability of their still being one Sakho out on the pitch tonight as the Eagles welcome back defender Mamadou; while Cabaye and Ward are also back in contention for a place. Loftus-Cheek is missing and so it will be Zaha (and his tendency to go off-balance in the penalty area) who carries the greatest threat to the Hammer’s unbeaten run.

The Man in the Middle

Anyone looking for an omen of a lucky referee will be disappointed to see Neil Swarbrick picking up the match-ball when the teams walk out tonight. Swarbrick was previously in charge of heavy defeats by Newcastle and Liverpool this season. In seventeen outings during 2017/18, Swarbrick has forty-five yellow cards to his name but remains a red card virgin.

Predictions

Lawro returns to his 1-1 safety net for this clash while Merson expects a 1-2 away victory. I can see pragmatism ruling the day in this one with both teams adopting a safety first approach that lacks in any real adventure. My own sense is also a draw and it would be no surprise should it remain a goalless one.

First Class Players Wanted. All Positions.

West Ham once again look set to disappoint as the annual January transfer window frenzy draws to a close. Is the squad strong enough to survive?

When the short lived Thames AFC (who played their games at West Ham Stadium in Custom House) were elected to the Football League in 1930 their Directors placed an advertisement in the newspaper in the hope of attracting players of sufficient quality to preserve their new found status. In the event the ploy was an unsuccessful one and Thames lasted only two seasons in the professional game before being wound up.

With just a few days remaining in this year’s January transfer window and the context of an ever increasing injury list, a wafer thin squad in terms of quality and a long term suspension, then maybe it is time for the current Board to consider a similar approach. Perhaps David Gold could send out an appropriate tweet to set the ball rolling.

If fake news in the political arena is a recent and growing phenomenon, fake transfer news has been with us ever since the introduction of the window system. Media outlets have recognised that the recycling of stories, subsequent denials and supporter outrage create a steady flood of click bait traffic to their sites and enhance advertising revenues. Notwithstanding that the majority of transfer stories are pure fabrication, aspiration or hallucination, the window at West Ham tends to follow a fairly predictable pattern of failing to plan and deliver until last minute panic sets in. The only good piece of incoming January business that immediately springs to mind is Dean Ashton.

With a window that started with the premise that it was more players the club needed, rather than fewer, West Ham have already seen Diafra Sakho depart and (if reports are to be believed) Andre Ayew could soon be following him out of the door. It was clear from Moyes preference to play Michail Antonio or Marko Arnautovic in the striker role that he didn’t really fancy any of the supposed forwards on the books. None of them are really suitable or equipped to play in a style that the majority of also-ran Premier League (including the Hammers) teams now set up for with pressing and rapid counter attack the order of the day. The lone striker needs to fast, strong, athletic and mobile. Arguably Sakho was the closest but he unfortunately lacked that final attribute of sanity.

With less than forty-eight hours remaining for reinforcements and cover to be recruited the names resonating with greatest frequency are Russian captain Fedor Smolov or Graziano Pellè up front and Morgan Schneiderlin, Tom Cairney or Leander Dendoncker in midfield.

I will admit to knowing nothing about Smolov other than his scoring stats look great at first sight. Pellè, on the other hand, would be a panic acquisition pure and simply; this year’s Jose Fonte. Unless I am remembering wrongly he is just another lumbering immobile lump who couldn’t even terrorise vertically challenged Chinese defences.

I was always a big fan of Schneiderlin at Southampton but he is another Saints player who has not travelled well and who now appears to have gone well off the boil. Maybe he is up for another challenge. Cairney and Dendoncker look to be decent signings but one feels that the price may be too high for a club who have short arms and deep pockets when it comes to scraping together transfer funds – a consequence in part to the stupid amounts the club wastes on wages.

Will West Ham Be Up For T’Cup at Wigan?

Can David Moyes pull off a delicate balancing act by keeping the plates spinning in both cup and league competitions? Or will the Hammers obvious priorities see them crash out at Wigan?

In more straightforward times a cup weekend was an exciting interlude to the muddy slog of everyday league action, a little like a mini-break weekend to somewhere more exotic. With the fourth round ties reducing the field to sixteen teams, anticipation and dreams of a day out at Wembley would start to creep into supporter’s minds. A draw against a team from two leagues lower would, despite the Hammer’s penchant for being giant-killer victims, generate images of claret ribbons in the merry month of May. The modern reality, however, is that even at this relatively advanced stage of the competition the matches for the majority of Premier League clubs (players and managers) are a mere sideshow. West Ham, like many others, treat the FA Cup as a nice to have and as a far lower priority than collecting the points that will help maintain Premier League status. Even in the media the Fourth Round very much plays second fiddle to the last days of the transfer window, with the games viewed as an unnecessary interruption to the daily speculation as to who will be the next £50 million import arriving in Manchester.

It is a curious coincidence that today’s opponents are the only team ever to have won the FA Cup and been relegated from the Premier League in the same season. Since that day in May 2013 Wigan have experienced two relegation’s and one promotion and now find themselves on the verge of another as strong favourites for a return to the Championship. Whether their fans would have traded the Wembley win for survival, as suggested by David Moyes, is debatable (and perhaps expectations are different at Wigan in any case) but as someone who has had the good fortune to see West Ham in three FA Cup Finals the occasion is certainly among the highlights of a supporter’s life.

The Latics are having an impressive season at the summit of League 1, having lost just three times with a record of most goals scored and least conceded. In the cup they have already comfortably seen off Premier League Bournemouth (a task that was beyond West Ham) in a replayed game at the DW Stadium earlier this month. West Ham struggled to elbow past Wigan’s League 1 colleagues, Shrewsbury Town, in the previous round and a growing injury list, which has deprived Moyes of eight players including his entire creative contingent, doesn’t point to an easy afternoon in the north-west. West Ham’s manager may acknowledge the importance of the cup to fans in public but in private it is sure that his attention will be focused on the midweek game with Palace, his own performance being tied to league stability rather than cup heroics.

There should be a further opportunity for some of the younger players to show what they are made of this afternoon (including the likes of Josh Cullen, Reece Burke and Toni Martinez) but it is up to those senior players still available to demonstrate that they really are Premier League class. If West Ham are to get a positive result (by which I mean victory as another replay would not really be welcome) then we need performances from players such as Mark Noble, Cheikhou Kouyate, Javier Hernandez and Andre Ayew.

It would be great to get over this fourth round hurdle in the hope that league status and injuries will be more settled by the time that the next round comes around and it is only three games to the final. Unfortunately my sense is that we don’t have the quality or resolve left in the squad to see off a buoyant Wigan side. Strangely, I do not get the sense that the Latics are in anyway underdogs today. Hopefully I am wrong but I am not at all confident.

Today’s referee is new to West Ham and goes by the name of Chris Kavanagh from Lancashire, suspiciously near Wigan!