Category: Preview

Having picked up seven of nine points from a run of games where the majority had given the Hammers little chance, they now travel to face a Brighton side in a match where the law of big money should point to West Ham success more often than not.  That ignores, however, the Hammer’s historic propensity to stumble badly (perhaps in a misplaced sense of complacency) in the wake of the optimism that follows a string of good results.  Just as the equivalent fixture last season put an end to a six game unbeaten run in the league by David Moyes’ side.

In fact, although the overall record against Brighton looks good on the surface this most reflects bygone non-league and war-time cup encounters.  In the senior leagues it is the Seagulls that have the upper hand and, in the very top flight, West Ham have won only once in the six meetings to date – a 2-1 win (Cottee, Dickens) at Upton Park in March 1983.

Last season, West Ham charitably donated six of Brighton’s forty league points as well as six of their thirty four league goals.  When the two sides met at the Amex Stadium in February this year, the home side ran out 3-1 winners but only three Hammers (Mark Noble, Pablo Zabaleta and Declan Rice) from that game are likely to be on show again tonight.

With no fresh injury worries there can be no debate about Manuel Pellegrini’s starting lineup tonight.  Any changes to the formation that has worked so well since being introduced at the Everton game would be a big surprise.  Whether by accident or design the manager has hit upon a system that suits the players available, giving them the freedom to demonstrate their particular talents and to play a style of football that is finally worth the admission money.  Provided that key players stay fit and over-confidence is kept at bay then I see no reason why it cannot continue to pay dividends.  The squad still has a flimsy look in certain positions but everything is looking a whole lot rosier than it was before the last international break.

No matter what system a team plays there will always be comparative weakness somewhere in its make-up that opposition team will seek to exploit.  For West Ham, it is the amount of space that we allow attacking players down the flanks.  It is a delicate balance as to how much support wide attacking players should give to the full-backs without restricting attacking ambitions.  Keeping the shape seems to work better on the right hand side where Andriy Yarmolenko tracks back effectively despite a few chaotic attempts to clear the danger.  On the left, however, the shape has been a lot less compact and it will be a key battle tonight to see how how well Arthur Masuaku, Pedro Obiang and Felipe Anderson collectively nullify the threat from the pacey Knockaert.  The Obiang role is rather confusing involving as it does a lot of running and closing down but relatively few touches.  It is interesting that in the last two games his average position has been further forward than that of Anderson.

Brighton may well have been many people’s tip for relegation at the start of the season but have shown enough spirit and organisation to suggest that they can survive for a second season.  There are certainly more than three worse teams in the Premier League at the moment.  Home form will again be important to them and they will surely be targeting a return from tonight’s fixture.

The absence of Gross is a big blow for Chris Hughton (and a bonus for West Ham) but the Seagulls may be able to welcome back Colombian Izquierdo, a player who did little last season other than embarrass the Hammers on two occasions.  One would assume that the Fabian Balbuena/ Issa Diop partnership would be too strong to be bothered by veteran striker Murray, but having written him off several times in the past I will reserve any critical judgement of his threat and abilities for the time being.  It is a surprise that Murray never featured in the long list of failed West Ham striker signings but you just know, if he had, he would have been turning out, a broken man, in the National League by now.  Instead he has had a new lease of life mixing it with the best on the south coast.

The matchday referee is Kevin Friend from Leicestershire who takes charge of his second Brighton game of the season, the previous one being the home side’s victory at home to Manchester United.  Friend is one of the lower key Premier League referees and one of the least likely to go around waving red cards.

Neither of our favourite pundits have foreseen a West Ham win tonight and, while Merson predicts a 2-2 draw, Lawro has the Hammers stumbling to a 2-1 defeat.  A win by more than two goals will see West Ham clamber into the league’s top ten, at least temporarily, at the expense of Manchester United.  It will by no means be an easy game but using the power of positive thinking to will us above Mourinho’s miscreants I will be predicting a 4-1 win.

It is no doubt a reflection of the “hope for the best, fear the worst” mentality that goes with supporting West Ham that I can’t quite make up my mind whether today is a good or a bad time to be playing Manchester United.  A lacklustre start to their Premier League campaign had already created rumblings of discontent at Old Trafford and these became amplified by the midweek League Cup defeat by Championship side Derby County.  So the question is, will the ever moaning Mourinho get a storming response out of his players at the London Stadium or will they continue to struggle in shaking off the shackles of their manager’s nineteenth century safety first tactics?

It would be no surprise if Manchester United were among the first to change managers in the Premier League this season as his style, or lack of it, falls far too short of the expectations at famous (and one-time successful) club.  However, my money for first managerial casualty would be either on Claude Puel at Leicester or Colin Wanker at Cardiff.  The transition from the Alex Ferguson era at Manchester United is looking just as painful as that which followed the retirement of Matt Busby; and if history repeats itself then the Red Devils can expect to win their next title by 2039.

It would be foolish to read too much into League Cup results these days as no-one really starts taking it seriously until reaching the quarter finals stage.  Still you can only beat what is in front of you and a stroll against League 2 basement club, Macclesfield Town, can’t have harmed the confidence in the Hammer’s camp, following on from the win at Everton and draw with Chelsea.  A fourth round tie against Blackpool or Burton Albion would do very nicely.

Today will see Manchester United’s third visit to the London Stadium where they have yet to concede a goal – last year’s drab scoreless draw being preceded a 2-0 Manchester victory thanks largely to Mike Dean’s dreadful decision in sending off Sofiane Feghouli.  The Hammers recent record against the visitors is not so good and, apart from the famous last game at the Boleyn victory, there have been no other successes in the last nineteen league meetings.  As usual the biggest obstacke in the way of improving that record will be Lukaku, who has netted eleven times in his last eleven matches against West Ham – he has also scored in each of the visitors three away league games so far this season.

We are promised the return of Marko Arnautovic from injury today and his inclusion at the expense of Michail Antonio could well be the only change from the team which started last weekend against Chelsea.  It is possible that Manuel Pellegrini will make tactical changes in the full-back positions but it would surprise me.  With Carlos Sanchez now absent through injury there are limited options left to replace Mark Noble when his legs run out around the 75 minute mark.

It was good to see several youngsters get a game in midweek and it is about time the Academy started to deliver after a lengthy barren spell stretching back almost a decade.  Clearly performances must be viewed in the light of the opposition faced and it is a huge leap in class from Macclesfield to Manchester.  However, I think there should always be room for at least one young player with potential to be on the bench as a way of introducing them to the atmosphere and expectations of league football.  It was Grady Diangana who received all the plaudits following his two goal debut in the League Cup but he will surely be behind Antonio and Robert Snodgrass in the attacking bench pecking order. So, arguably it could be Conor Coventry who is more likely to get a look in as the fresh legs cover for the Hammer’s skipper.

The referee for today’s game is Michael Oliver from Northumberland who took care of two West Ham defeats (home to Spurs and away at Everton) last season plus the home draw with Stoke.  In five Premier League matches this season he already has two red cards to his name.

BBC pundit Lawro predicts a 2-0 away win confident that Mourinho will get a reaction from his chaotic charges while Merson at Sky is sticking with a 1-1 draw.  It will be interesting to see how the game pans tactically and whether Pellegrini expects his team to sit back, as they did against Chelsea, or show more attacking intent.  A more enterprising West Ham may be just what the visitors are looking for and there is the potential for the game turning into a cagey cat and mouse affair.   Notwithstanding the curse of Lukaku I am going to stick my neck out and predict a 2-0 home victory that heaps even more misery on the morose Manchester manager.

Prior to our game against Everton just a fortnight ago I wrote in my preview that, although we were pointless at the time, I would be more than happy if we could amass eight points from the following four difficult fixtures to bring our average up to a point a game. With away games at Everton and Brighton, and home games against Chelsea and Manchester United that would be a difficult task, especially considering our performances in our opening four matches. Nevertheless, we are half way to my “target”, and based upon what I’ve witnessed in the past two games, I am confident that we can reach eight points from eight games. We just need a win and a draw from this game at home to the Red Devils, and the trip to the South Coast to face the Seagulls next Friday. Hopefully we can start with a win this weekend.

A game against Manchester United is always something special. Like them or loathe them, they have been the most successful club in England in the history of the game. They have won the league 20 times, as well as 12 FA Cup wins and various other honours including three wins in the European Cup / Champions League. They are the biggest club in England and the third biggest in the world in terms of revenue.

Of course all West Ham fans fondly remember the final game at the Boleyn just over two years ago, where we followed the script and came from behind to win the game 3-2. Despite Manchester United’s success over the years their record against us on our ground is not the best. Other “big” clubs have visited us on a similar number of occasions in history and have beaten us more times than we have beaten them. But our record against United bucks the trend and we have more wins against them than they do against us on our home turf.

I’ve written previously about the changes in personnel at football clubs, especially our own in recent times. Of the fourteen West Ham players involved on that historic night in May 2016, only Antonio (who played at right back), Noble, and Obiang (who came on as an 84^th minute substitute) were on the pitch last Sunday against Chelsea. Randolph, Kouyate, Payet, Sakho, Tomkins, and Valencia have left the club, Reid, Carroll, and Lanzini have long-term injuries, and Ogbonna and Cresswell were on the bench. It’s funny how the term bench has survived; these days players sit back on comfortable padded (and heated?) seats whilst awaiting the call to enter the fray.

I’m not sure how much attention we need to pay to the supposed behind the scenes unrest at United, especially the apparent issues between Pogba and Mourinho, but in many ways they don’t seem to be a happy bunch. Based on what I’ve seen so far they are nowhere near the level of Manchester City, Liverpool or Chelsea, or perhaps even our North London neighbours, Arsenal or Tottenham, and given our battling performance against the blues from West London last weekend I am hopeful that we can go one better in this game.

They have won half of their six games so far, losing on their travels at Brighton, and a hefty home defeat to Tottenham. Last week they drew 1-1 with newly-promoted Wolves, so their ten points sees them sitting in seventh place, two points behind the aforementioned North London duo, but already eight points adrift of the top of the table.

Those people who bet on West Ham to win or draw against Chelsea were in profit, and you would be equally successful this weekend with the same bet, if one of those two results happen. The bookmakers are not as generous with their odds on us beating United as they were against Chelsea, with around 10/3 the going rate, and 12/5 for a draw. I think I’ll just stick with the win for this one, as I’m confident we will pick up the three points to heap more misery on the face of the opposition manager, and even more so if Arnie has recovered from his knee injury. I’m not expecting 8-0, but a good performance, and any kind of win would be good. 3-2 again?

It is surprising the extent to which a good result at the weekend can play in creating a positive impact on your life – or at least that portion of it that is devoted to football.  Post-match euphoria has a long half-life and can easily be topped-up as with repeated highlight watching and mutual social media backslapping.  The warm glow of victory can be comfortably felt for the remainder of the week albeit with the potentially dangerous side effect of unrealistically raised expectations.

The visit of Chelsea to the east-end is always one of the most eagerly anticipated games of the season and, with the added incentive of derailing the visitors 100% perfect start to the season, there is plenty at stake.  Despite the west Londoners having bossed encounters in recent history, following the injection of Roman’s dodgy roubles, a West Ham victory today would even-up the all-time record at 57 wins apiece.

It is a surprise to see Chelsea (once again under new management) start the season so positively although, with the exception of a visit by Arsenal, they have been favoured by a relatively benign set of opening fixtures.  Still their confidence will be on a high having also successfully come through a midweek European gimme in Salonika.  If only they had a half decent striker they might well be offering serious competition to Manchester City and Liverpool in this season’s title race.

Chelsea’s undoubted strength is in the midfield areas where they look particularly formidable.  The introduction of Jorginho alongside Kante provides more energy than a whole box of Duracel batteries combined and allows Hazard and Willian the freedom to menace opposition defences at will.  Hazard can divide opinion among fans of other clubs but, for me, he is one of the best and most creative players currently turning out in the Premier League.  Clipping his wings will be key to any West Ham’s success today.

I can’t see Manuel Pellegrini making any discretionary changes to his starting lineup after last week’s win at Everton – the fitness of Marko Arnautovic being the greatest concern and still uncertain.  I have read others suggesting changes to either full-back (Ryan Fredericks in for Pablo Zabaleta or Aaron Cresswell in for Arthur Masuaku) and even, bizarrely, those recommending a place for Carlos Sanchez at the expense of Mark Noble.  I am no great supporter of the 2018 model skipper but did they they not witness Sanchez disastrous short suicidal cameo last weekend?

There may be a case for changing the full-back slots where Zabaleta and Cresswell edge it defensively but fall shorter on attacking threat.  Both Fredericks and Masuaku can be electric going forward, but it depends to what extent formation and set-up allows that to happen.  This aside, and at the risk of projecting previous West Ham manager behaviours onto Pellegrini, I am confident he will not change a winning team and will stick with his latest preferred formation until its weaknesses become exposed.  The main apparent weakness being too much space left on the flanks for opponents to exploit when attacking.

Much will depend today on how effectively the midfield three of Declan Rice, Pedro Obiang and Noble acquit themselves; and the way in which they are deployed.  Last week Rice did a great job of tracking the runs of Sigurdsson and he may well be given a similar responsibility with Hazard today.  That will require Noble and Obiang to keep busy in covering the flanks and getting forward to support the front players wherever possible.

Fitness permitting, I look forward to seeing the front three of Felipe Anderson, Andriy Yarmolenko and Arnautovic pick up where they left off last week; putting plenty of pressure on the visitor’s defence.  I have never really seen the value of David Luiz and believe he can be bullied and forced into mistakes when pressed – critically this depends on the availability of Arnie.  If the Austrian is not passed fit I suppose the replacement would need to be Lucas Perez – assuming he is warmed up in time!

There can be no real debate concerning the keeper and centre backs with the current incumbents each having performed admirably in recent games, even if the goals against tally suggests otherwise.  West Ham should have particularly high hopes for Issa Diop who looks like he will be a great signing even though his performances will ultimately attract the attention of more successful sides.  To think it could have been Alfie Mawson in the back four!

Today’s referee is Mike Dean from The Wirral known for his exuberant celebration of Tottenham goals.  Dean is always a little card happy and it would be no surprise if there were fewer than twenty-two players on the pitch come the final whistle.

This afternoon sees the return to West Ham of former manager Gianfranco Zola.  The affable and grinning Italian has an undistinguished managerial career, following his time at Upton Park, but now finds himself in an assistant coaching role in West London.

There is a difference of opinion between the much loved pundits this week with Merson opting for a Hazard inspired 3-1 Chelsea win but Lawro going out on an uncharacteristic limb with a 2-1 West Ham success.  One might conclude that it is a case of wishful Lawro thinking and that his motivation for the result is that it would benefit his beloved Scousers.  Personally, I think that there is a very high chance that the Hammers will not get beaten this afternoon and pick up their first home league point of the season.  Whether it is all three and another week of glorious football well-being or whether we will have to settle for just a share is hard to call.  Naturally, a win would satisfy my raised expectations but feel a draw is the most likely outcome.  As long as it accompanied by more signs of improved performances and greater understanding then I would reluctantly take that.

Well, not quite morning, but an early kick-off nonetheless. We have to leave early on a Sunday morning to watch this game. Chelsea Morning was the title of a song written by Joni Mitchell in 1968. It was initially released as a track on the debut Fairport Convention album that same year, before Mitchell herself released it as a single the following year. Ah, 50 years ago. I am old enough to remember it well.

Coincidentally 50 years ago this very weekend West Ham played Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Hey Jude by the Beatles topped the chart as West Ham came from behind to earn a 1-1 draw in front of a 58,000 crowd. I stood in the Shed as a 14 year-old, not revealing my allegiance to the away team, as I was amongst the home supporters. I had to suppress my excitement as Billy Bonds moved forward with ten minutes to go and found Trevor Brooking on the right. Trevor went to the bye-line and crossed for Martin Peters to head home off the underside of the bar, the ball barely crossing the line, a trick mastered by West Ham in the sixties. Fortunately, although it was many years before goal-line technology was to send a message to the referee’s watch, an alert linesman spotted that the ball was over the line and the game was drawn. This was a good point earned against a Chelsea team who went on to finish fifth at the end of the season (we were eighth).

The game was our tenth league fixture that season and at that stage we had only lost once, 4-1 at home to Everton, who coincidentally are the only team we have actually beaten this season in a league game. The West Ham team that day was full of famous players who played many times in the claret and blue; Ferguson; Bonds, Howe; Peters, Stephenson, Moore; Redknapp, Boyce, Brooking, Hurst, Sissons.

The Chelsea goal in that game was scored by Bobby Tambling, the player who held the Chelsea record for most goals scored (202) before it was overtaken by Frank Lampard. Bobby Tambling was born in 1941 (the same year as our own Bobby Moore), and made his Chelsea debut in February 1959 (two days after my fifth birthday), scoring the winner in a 3-2 victory over (you’ve guessed it) West Ham. Our own Bobby Moore (full name Robert Frederick Chelsea Moore), also made his West Ham debut in the same season, coincidentally also in a 3-2 victory (against Manchester United).

In the same season that Moore and Tambling made their debuts (1958-59), then yet another coincidence, 60 years ago this very weekend West Ham played at home to, you’ve guessed it again, Chelsea. In those free-scoring days we won that match 4-2, to record our fifth win out of nine games played at that stage, to move up to eighth in the table. In the three league games that we’d lost prior to that match, we had conceded four goals in each one, to Luton, Nottingham Forest, and Manchester United. It will be no surprise to learn that by May that year we had scored 85 league goals and conceded 70, to finish sixth in the table in our first season back in the top flight in over a quarter of a century.

Despite an indifferent time last season we took four points off Chelsea, who were the reigning Premier League champions. In the away fixture on 8 April, less than six months ago, Chicarito came on as a substitute with 20 minutes remaining and within three minutes equalised Azpilicueta’s first half goal. Despite that game being so recent, only four players from that day were involved in our win over Everton last Sunday, namely Masuaku, Noble, Rice, and Arnie.

And on 9 December last year we had another early kick off at 12.30 pm on a Saturday lunchtime. Arnie scored his first goal for the club in the sixth minute, and we held on for a nail-biting 1-0 win to record our first victory under David Moyes in his fifth game in charge. A repeat of that scoreline this weekend would be most welcome.

For supporters who like to place a bet on West Ham to win games, then the losses incurred after the first four league games would have been largely wiped out with the win at Goodison Park last Sunday. A win this weekend would put you well in profit as West Ham are around 9/2 and upwards to repeat last December’s victory, and even the odds on a draw at around 7/2 would appeal to some. Of course Chelsea have begun the season with five straight wins in the league, and are tying for top spot with Liverpool, so naturally are hot favourites to win the game. If you think that we can repeat the same score as last season then the odds on 1-0 to us are around 18/1.

If you are looking for an omen, then the last time that Chelsea won their first five games of the season (which was eight years ago when Ancelotti was their manager), they lost their next match by a 1-0 scoreline. But having said that, they have twice (in this century) won their opening six league games, and on both occasions went on to win the title.

Barring any necessary changes for injuries I would expect the same starting line-up this week. Thankfully the manager has finally seemed to realise the necessity for greater strength and mobility in central midfield, and in my opinion the performances of both Obiang and Rice in particular were outstanding against Everton. Why they haven’t been selected to fulfil those roles before now is a mystery to me. Of course Yarmalenko took the headlines, but the front three with Arnie and Anderson added to the Ukrainian, started to show that they can cause problems for opposition defences this season. And our central defensive partnership of Diop and Balbuena could be the first choice for the foreseeable future. I can’t remember a West Ham victory when so many different players were accorded the star rating for the team by various newspaper / media reports of the game. It goes to prove how many of the side had played so well.

At half-time last weekend I was trying to work out in my mind if we were fielding a starting line- up of eleven totally different nationalities. Quite probably the answer is yes, although Diop and Masuaku were both born in France and represented them at lower age levels, but are not full internationals and their allegiances could change. I’m not sure about Obiang either – he has played for Spain at the lower age levels but could still become a full international for Equatorial Guinea. With two of our three substitutes used being Snodgrass (Scotland), and Sanchez (Colombia), we fielded (probably?) thirteen different nationalities in the match, which must be some kind of record? And in addition we have had players from Spain, Italy, and Mexico on the pitch this season, and New Zealand could be added to this list in the future. An interesting comparison can be made with the West Ham team that played against Chelsea 50 years ago which comprised ten Englishmen and a Scotsman. How times have changed!

Fabianski (Poland); Zabaleta (Argentina), Diop (France/Senegal/Morocco), Balbuena (Paraguay), Masuaku (France/DR Congo); Obiang (Spain/Equatorial Guinea), Noble (England), Rice (Ireland), Yarmalenko (Ukraine), Arnautavic (Austria), Anderson (Brazil).

It will be a difficult game against a team in such excellent form, but let’s hope for another fine performance, and perhaps even an end to Chelsea’s unbeaten start to the season. 1-0 again?

Part two of the weekend’s Merseyside versus London Premier League action sees pointless West Ham travel north to face unbeaten Everton at Goodison Park.  If the Hammers are as thoroughly outclassed as their itinerant North London neighbours were at Wembley on Saturday afternoon then we could be in for a painful afternoon.

Trips to the north-west have never come easy for West Ham with Everton representing a particular challenge, both home and away, in recent years.  In the last twenty visits to Goodison, the Hammers have only returned down the motorway with all three points on two occasions (in 2005/06 and 2015/16).  It is not a record that encourages optimism.  Another defeat would represent a worst ever start to a league season in the entire history of the club and heap even more pressure on manager Manuel Pellegrini.  Unfortunately, it is all looking very Avram Grant at the moment.

It is difficult to know at what point the Board would take action should the bad run of results and performances continue but the season already has that feel of immense disappointment about it.  Even if Pellegrini does eventually turn it around as he did after slow starts at Villareal and Malaga it is much more likely to be a slow climb to mid table than a surge to Europa League qualification.  Perhaps we can be reassured by the words of Michail Antonio who told the Official Site that the squad had made good use of the international break by working on “shape and tactical stuff”.  You can’t have too much tactical stuff in my view and I look forward to witnessing the improvements this afternoon.  One assumes that it is a change of tactics that we are talking about rather than a case of having previously forgotten about having any!

On the evidence of the last time out, at home to Wolves, it is not only shape and tactics that are in need improvement but also the levels of effort, intensity, sharpness and tempo.  The performance against Wolves was widely criticised – and for good reason. So, are we likely to see any significant difference today?

I am still of the view that three at the back would suit the players available far better than a flat back four.  However, it would be a major departure to Pellegrini’s beliefs to countenance such a change.  Thus, I can see the defence being largely unchanged from that which started against Wolves and, with few options to choose from up front, all of the tinkering has to be in the midfield areas.

Everyone, apart, it seems, from those responsible for player recruitment, knew that West Ham had a major problem in defensive/ central midfield.  The late signing of Carlos Sanchez, as an afterthought, in the final hours of the transfer window was akin to buying your wife’s Christmas present at the petrol station just before it closed on Christmas Eve.  It is only going to end badly.  Not that Sanchez has been the stand-out worst performer in the games where he has featured; just that he is not good enough to fill this most necessary of positions.  Without a Fernandinho or Kante to call upon, West Ham need at least two bodies in this area of the pitch and, as things stand, it is a case of finding the least worst pairing out of Sanchez, Pedro Obiang, Mark Noble and Declan Rice to do the job.  For me, it would be Sanchez and Obiang but then I would also be starting Rice (in his proper position) as part of a back three.  Sadly, Noble is well past his best-before date and his lack of pace and his first instinct to go backwards is not a step in the right direction (as far as better tactical stuff is concerned!)  Neither am I convinced, despite his undoubted passion,that he provides so much in the way leadership on the pitch; although it is a worry where else this would come from.

The reluctance to start Andriy Yarmolenko continues to puzzle and maybe there has been a question over his match fitness.  If I was holding the purse strings I would want to see my expensively assembled squad in action right away.  I would feel short-changed (after spending £100 million) at having to yet again watch Robert Snodgrass plod around to little effect.  Apart from his short-lived purple patch while at Hull he has never been an effective Premier League player.  As he offers the greatest threat down any flank and is a useful outlet for under pressure defenders my choice for the left sided midfield role would be Arthur Masuaku.  At least he has the pace and trickery to run at, unsettle and get behind defenders.

Felipe Anderson needs to start earning his keep and to be played in the freer attacking midfield role that we saw against Arsenal.  He has a big price tag to live up to and needs to deliver sooner rather than later.  There have been a few promising signs and I have to remain hopeful that he can build a useful understanding with, and provide much needed support to, Marko Arnautovic.  I can imagine Arnie quickly losing patience if he is left abandoned up front on his own for much longer.

This week’s straw to clutch is that opponents Everton have a long list of injuries in defence and without the suspended Richarlison ‘look’ rather light in attack.  On the other hand, games against West Ham always seem to bring out the best in Walcott and Sigurdsson.

Today’s match referee is Martin Atkinson from West Yorkshire who officiated several of last season’s best forgotten matches away at Manchester United and Swansea and at home to Brighton.

As for the pundits, Lawro is plumping for a 2-1 Everton win while Merson is being kinder by going for a 1-1 draw.  I can see us breaking our duck today but with just the single point from a scrappy draw.  More importantly some clear signs that the players do actually care, are committed to the cause and appear to know what they are doing would be most welcome.  That is the beauty of tactical stuff!

If you are one of those supporters who like a bet on your team to win a game of football, then this season wouldn’t have been ideal if you are a fan of West Ham. If you placed, say, a tenner on each of our league games so far then you would now be £40 out of pocket. If West Ham had been as successful as Watford in the opening four league games then you would now be sitting on a pot of around £260. And if we had picked up four wins and you had been bold and reinvested your winnings each time then your original £10 would now be worth over £6000! But sadly that hasn’t happened.

Now of course this may seem a little far-fetched, but any Watford fans who had done this would have been looking at some very big gains. You have to remember that whilst bookmakers had West Ham finishing somewhere between 7^th and 10^th, their odds suggested that Elton John’s unfashionable North of London outfit were one of the favourites to be playing Championship football next season. And if you do like a bet then one of the games to consider this weekend is the very generous 7/2 being offered on Watford beating a poor Manchester United team who are at even money.

One sensationalist newspaper that I read suggested that West Ham were the only team in the top eleven leagues in the English football pyramid to have not earned a single point so far this season. But I’m not sure they did their homework correctly because Lancaster City were stuck at the bottom of Evostik North (see what I did there?) with a similar points tally after they had played five matches.

But joking aside, it has been an horrendous beginning to a season that began with high hopes. A few statistics: At the first international break we are the only team out of the 92 Football League sides without a single point. We have scored the least goals in the Premier League (2, tying with Cardiff and Huddersfield), have conceded the most (10, level with Huddersfield), and have the worst goal difference (-8, again the same as Huddersfield). Our manager is second favourite to be the first Premier League manager to depart the club this season (after Mourinho). And apparently our players have covered less distance on the pitch than every other team in the top flight bar Cardiff and Manchester United. But it is still early days and two or three wins on the bounce would soon wipe out the pessimism surrounding the club. But do we have the ability to do this?

Everton, under new manager Silva, are one of the five clubs in the Premier League who haven’t lost a game so far (one win and three draws), and currently sit 7^th in the table, which is probably roughly where they are likely to finish at the end of the season according to most pundits. They are generally seen as the team most likely to challenge the established order of the top six so-called elite clubs. Their six points sees them six points off the top, as well as six points ahead of where we are.

Our record against them in history shows that in 138 meetings, Everton have won exactly half of the games (69), with the other 69 seeing 39 West Ham wins and 30 draws. Our record defeat in football was 7-0 at the hands of Everton (in 1927, before my time!). But, of course the last time we met was our final home game last season, when, with the pressure off, we gave them a good hiding with a very comfortable 3-1 victory, with England keeper Pickford conceding three goals from distance.

I’m not one of those who believe that football only began with the advent of the Premier League, but it does provide a convenient timeframe to examine results of the last 25 years or so. And our meetings with Everton do not make for good reading. In 44 matches we have won just 8, whilst Everton have come out on top 24 times. 5 of our 8 wins were at home meaning that we have won just 3 of our 22 league visits to Goodison Park in the Premier League era. Those wins were 1-0 on New Years Day 1994, 2-1 shortly before Christmas in 2005, and 3-2 in March 2016, when a Payet-inspired comeback saw us come from two down to win the game in the last 15 minutes. Those of you who like symmetry will anticipate that our next win there will be 4-3, so let us hope that is what happens on Sunday.

I won’t even begin to predict the team that our manager will select for this game as I have no idea how he will have reacted after the dismal showing against Wolves a fortnight ago. We were quite rightly universally castigated for that performance and we will need to have improved significantly to start to climb the table. Our four games leading up to the next international break are, in addition to the game at Everton, home games against Chelsea and Manchester United, and a trip to Brighton. We could theoretically have 12 points by that time, but I would be more than happy if we can amass 8, which would mean 2 wins and 2 draws. That would still leave us averaging just one point a game, which is still relegation form, but would nevertheless be a significant, although possibly unlikely scenario and much needed improvement. On paper at least the fixture list gets easier for a while after the end of the next half a dozen games, but by then, if results haven’t improved, we could be in a relegation battle with barely a quarter of the season gone.

As someone who personally enjoys football at 3pm on a Saturday our next four games are an interesting mix of times, but they give everyone who has the necessary TV platforms the opportunity to watch us on TV. Coming up the games are at 4pm on Sunday, 1.30pm the following Sunday, 12.30pm the Saturday after, and then finally 8pm on Friday 5^th October.

Bookmakers are not very generous with their correct score odds on football matches. The best that I could find for my unlikely “symmetrical” West Ham 4-3 win was just 175/1. A 6-0 West Ham victory was only 250/1, but how likely is that? Considering the relative starts to the season of both sides, the odds on the game are not quite what I expected either. You can generally get only 5/2 or perhaps 11/4 on a West Ham win. The correct odds should be much longer than that, surely? But nevertheless if you take them, and we do win, then you will go some way towards winning back the money you might have lost so far this season betting on West Ham.

If you had just landed in your spaceship after a long journey from another planet and looked at the Premier League table, then you might think to yourself that, despite West Ham sitting at the foot of the table with zero points, a match against a newly-promoted Wolves team sitting in fourteenth place, and without a win themselves, would be the ideal game for the Hammers to get off the mark for the season.

If you delved further into what has happened in their first three games, you might not think that West Ham’s task would be an easy one however, although in many respects, despite performing admirably in all three games, Wolves could just as easily be propping up the table themselves, alongside us, without a point.

In their opening fixture at home to Everton, they twice had to come from behind to draw the game with their second equaliser coming just a few minutes from time. However they were helped by a referee (Pawson) who (perhaps) controversially sent off Everton’s Jagielka just before half time. They did look quite impressive, but it is always easier to do so with a man advantage.

In their second game at Leicester they once again had a numerical advantage for the last half hour after Vardy had been sent off, but despite another good performance they failed to capitalise and lost the game 2-0.

Last weekend they were at home to champions Manchester City and after taking the lead were happy to settle for an unlikely draw. Once again they looked well organised; but if VAR had been in operation the Wolves goal would have been chalked off when the referee failed to spot Boly’s handball (and offside) goal. They gave City a bigger test than many sides do, but were fortunate in that they only conceded once, as their opponents hit the woodwork three times.

Our own performance against Arsenal last weekend was much improved, and in many respects we were unlucky to not get at least a point from the game, which could even have been three points if the players had remembered to pack their shooting boots. It was pleasing to see that Anderson began to show glimpses of why his transfer fee was as high as it was.

Against AFC Wimbledon in midweek most of our players had good games, and we ourselves were helped by the dismissal (a bit harsh I thought) of an opponent centre back after 17 minutes. We had gone behind in the second minute thanks to Ogbonna at a corner once again concentrating on trying to block the man he was marking, not watching the ball, and being beaten in the air. I also believe that Adrian would have been disappointed that he could not keep the header out. What I can’t understand is why nobody on the West Ham coaching staff is pointing out to our experienced Italian international the error of his method of defending at corners which was a copy of the Bournemouth winner just a fortnight ago.

For me there were excellent performances from many of the players, especially Snodgrass, Rice and Diop. Hernandez, known for his goalscoring as opposed to his general play, missed several chances to score by not even connecting cleanly with the ball, and even the goal he scored at the end was fortunate. For me he should be an impact substitute at best and certainly not a starter in our best eleven.

Bookmakers expect the game this weekend to be a close affair with 1-1 being the most likely score according to the odds they have set. We are marginal favourites at 6/4 to win the game, although our opponents are priced at around 9/5 with 12/5 for a draw. With my trusty optimistic hat once more on my head I’m predicting a 2-1 win which is priced at 8/1. With more difficult fixtures in the pipeline we could really do with three points from this game, otherwise we are likely to spend some time near the bottom of the table looking upwards, a similar situation to the past two seasons. Five of our next six games see us facing Everton, Chelsea, Manchester United, Tottenham and Leicester. And even the easiest game of the six (on paper) against Brighton will not be one to look forward to if last season’s two games against them are anything to go by.

One table where we often find ourselves near the top in recent times is the one where they work out how many points teams drop in a season from a winning position. After just three games this time around we find ourselves at the top once again having already dropped six points from being in the lead in two of our matches. Let us hope that this time we can score first and retain the advantage to pick up the much-needed three points and begin to climb the table.

Tomorrow sees West Ham’s first meeting of the campaign against one of last season’s three promoted clubs.  In normal circumstances this would be seen as a great opportunity to put some points on the board but Wolves, along with Fulham, have a level of financial backing that would suggest something more than attritional backs-to-the-wall survival is on the radar.

Wolves have, to date, bucked the trend of Chinese investment in English football by embarking on an impressive run of success while for the others its has all gone lychee shaped.  Owners, Fosun International (“creating happier lives for families worldwide”), are a multinational investment conglomerate headed by one of the wealthiest men in China with interests ranging from asset management, insurance, real estate and entertainment.  With the company earning over a billion US dollars in profit every six months, shortage of funds is not going to be an issue should the owners wish to invest even further.

Under the guidance of magnificently bearded Nuno Espirito Santo, Wolves record this season is two home draws, against Everton and Manchester City, and one, reportedly unlucky, away defeat to Leicester.  Like the Hammers they are seeking their first league win of the season this weekend.  I watched much of the Wolves – Manchester City match last week in which the hosts played a compact 3-4-3 formation; worked hard for each other and were quick and dangerous on the break.  The did get the rub of the refereeing decisions (their goal looked both offside and hand-ball) but on the evidence it will certainly be another stiff test for Manuel Pellegrini’s team.

The West Ham versus Wolves rivalry extends beyond sixty matches but this will be only the fifth meeting in the Premier League.  On the last occasion the two teams met it in a league it was a bottom of the table clash on New Year’s Day, 2011 when a Freddie Sears goal sealed a 2-0 victory that dumped Wolves into bottom spot and took the Hammers to a season high 15^th.  As we all know to well, by the end of the season fortunes had been reversed as the Hammers bid their most recent farewell to the top flight.

It was a welcome midweek EFL cup win for West Ham (and defeat would have been a further shock to confidence levels) but it is impossible to read too much into a performance against hard-working but ordinary League 1 opposition, who spent much of the game a man down.  I doubt that the manager learned anything new as far as this weekend’s team selection is concerned, except that those who might have been hoping to stake a claim for selection (Obiang, Perez and Ogbonna) were unable to take advantage.

From a defensive viewpoint, the only certainty is that Lukasz Fabianski will return to the keeper’s jersey.  Beyond that I suspect that Pellegrini will stick with Fabian Belbuena and Issa Diop as centre backs.  The Declan Rice situation is a puzzles that to me he looks every inch a central defender and, even though he may have done OK (as a defensive midfielder) against AFC Wimbledon and in a handful of meaningless friendlies for the Republic of Ireland, he has tended to look lost there against more capable and dynamic opposition.   The only upside is that he is well placed to drop back into a back three as required – but, then again, that is where I would start him in the first place.

It is a toss-up with the choice of full-backs between the attack minded Ryan Fredericks and Arthur Masuaku or the more defensive Pablo Zabaleta and Aaron Cresswell.  There may even be a case to play both Cresswell and Masuaku (not both as left backs, obviously) bearing in mind the probable threat down that wing from either Costa or Traore.  At times, Arthur has looked by far the most likely player to get behind an opposition defence.

In midfield, I am sure Pellegrini will again allow Felipe Anderson the freedom of a central attacking role following the clear improvement at Arsenal last week.  This would mean Jack Wilshere (if selected) needing to drop deeper to partner Carlos Sanchez in front of the backline.  I am not yet ready to jump onto the second coming Robert Snodgrass bandwagon although I am sure he will start on Saturday – getting the nod over Andriy Yarmolenko who, it seems, needs more work to achieve match fitness.  Players need to do more than run around a lot and look busy, and Snodgrass has yet to deliver much in the way of true end product during his Hammer’s career.

West Ham’s fortunes may well end up resting on the fitness of Marko Arnautovic.  Seeing him in the starting lineup would be a massive boost to confidence rather than having to rely on his understudy, Javier Hernandez.  Perhaps, one day, Hernandez will surprise me but I still struggle to see how he can be used beyond being an impact substitution.  If it is any consolation his compatriot, Jimenez, who will be leading the Wolves line carries little more threat – creating the prospect of a Mexican stand-off.  Hopefully, the magic sponge man can work his wonders on Arnie’s knee.

The match referee has been announced as Chris Kavanagh from Lancashire.  The website that likes to tells us each week whether this is good or bad news for West Ham, calls it as bad news on the basis that he was in charge of the FA Cup defeat at Wigan last season– ignoring the fact that he also ref’d the away league win at Leicester that finally confirmed Premier League survival.

Sky’s Paul Merson felt the Hammer’s played well at Arsenal last week and is predicting a 2-2 draw.  At time of writing that lazy git Lawro has yet to share his views but I am guessing he will say 1-1.   Given what has gone before and that run of still to come tough September fixtures then Saturday’s fixture takes on an added tension filled significance.  Another defeat would leave us traumatised over the international break.  I have to believe and keep the faith, both in Pellegrini’s abilities and in Arnie’s knee.  I think that we can shade this one by the odd goal in three.  Two of Wolves three league opponents this season have been reduced to ten men; a warning, perhaps, that discipline is required all round.

Watching our game on TV at the weekend I heard the commentator mention how Arsenal had lost each of their opening three league matches in the 1992/93 season but subsequently went on to win both the FA and Football League Cups – beating Sheffield Wednesday in both finals.  An omen, maybe, that the Hammers take inspiration from history as they yet again set off hopefully on that elusive road to Wembley.

At the start of the season, the League or EFL Cup (in its many guises) is considered the piece of silverware that is most closely within the grasp of the smaller clubs; this despite the fact that the big six have won fifteen out of the last twenty competitions.  On paper, a second round fixture against League One opposition should be a routine victory; and then all we need is the continued luck of the Carabao draw and, hey prstoo, we are all the way to the final, for the first time since 1981.  Consider though the Hammer’s capacity for shock exits before pencilling the date of 24 February into your diary!

Today’s opponents are AFC Wimbledon whose remarkable rise through the football pyramid since their formation in 2002 sees them compete in the second round of the League Cup for the very first time.  It is debatable whether football historians should regard this as our first encounter with the Dons or whether the previous twenty-seven meetings with the former Wimbledon FC should also be taken into account – a sequence that included a fourth round League Cup victory for West Ham in 1989 courtesy of a Martin Allen thunderbolt (and a Julian Dicks red card).

These days, AFC Wimbledon temporarily strut their stuff at Kingsmeadow stadium pending a return to their neighbourhood roots at New Plough Lane in 2019.  The new stadium will be built on the site of the old Wimbledon dog/ stock car/ speedway arena, where I assume they will not be leaving the old track in place.  For those travelling, it is likely to be a tight squeeze into the 4,850 capacity Kingsmeadow for tonight’s game – I believe the smallest stadium, by capacity, in the entire football league.  For the less adventurous the game is being shown on Sky Sports.  A sign of how football on TV has changed over the years is that one of earliest televised games I can remember watching (it may only have been the second half) featured former Kingsmeadow ground share partners, Kingstonian, in a live FA Amateur Cup Final – such were the restrictions on the broadcast of live games back then.

It has been customary for Premier League clubs to put out a second string in the early rounds of the League Cup.  I can’t decide whether this is because two games in a week is too much for players in the modern game or whether you will be ceremoniously mocked as not being a proper top club should you put out your first team.  Understandably, risking injuries against what could turn out to be agricultural opposition, would be a concern but such bad luck can also occur in training.  Not that I am suggesting AFC Wimbledon will be employing crude tactics, I know nothing of their style of play, but their manager did feature, as a player, for both the old crazy gang and for Millwall.

With Manuel Pellegrini still looking to discover his best team it would seem the perfect low risk opportunity to treat this game as any other in his pursuit of the holy grail.  Sure, bring in a few who are realistically on the cusp of a Premier League first team slot, but don’t give games to total fringe players who would only otherwise get the call in the event of a major flu epidemic or bout of lasagne poisoning.  I think it is fair to give Adrian a run out and I would also like to see Declan Rice, in central defence and Pedro Obiang in central midfield.  I don’t know what the fitness situation is with Andriy Yarmolenko (given that Robert Snodgrass repeatedly gets the nod in his stead) but some more game time for the Ukrainian would be useful.  Marko Arnautovic will certainly not play any part, which will mean probable outings for Javier Hernandez and/ or Lucas Perez.  If Pellegrini is inclined to ‘unleash’ any youngsters in his lineup then he could do worse than allowing Nathan Holland or Xande Silva to show what they can offer.

The Hammers badly need a confidence boosting victory from the game and the prospect of defeat before a tough run of league games is unthinkable.  I have to believe that we have the talent to prevail but do we have the attitude and organisation?  I am hoping so, and will predict a comfortable 3-0 positive outcome.