West Ham United Blog

Middlesbrough v West Ham preview

I’ll combine two posts with one today, with some thoughts on last night and looking forward to this weekend.  I only saw the 2nd half action last night so it is difficult to comment on what really happened.  Man Utd could have stepped up another gear but I guess the positive to take is that we did not curl up and die like we have done in the past at Old Trafford.  We were still trying to play our football and I think that’s a good thing. 

Three of the four games we have lost have been against the current top 6 clubs and the only game for me where we did not give a true account of ourselves is against Bolton.  But now we need to start getting results before we are dragged down with the likes of relegation strugglers Tottenham.

So, onto Middlesbrough away and I will get on my knees and beg Mr Zola to start playing a recognised right back in the right back position.  This is a clear weakness that the team has and I do not know why it is not being addressed.  Faubert looked quite good going forward last night but a defender he is not.  Di Michele also had a bit of a mare at Old Trafford and I think Freddie Sears deserves a start.  Let’s kick off with...

Green

Illunga – Collins – Upson – Neill

Mullins – Parker – Faubert

Etherington – Bellamy – Sears

Bench: Latuvska, Boa-Morte, Di Michele, Collison, Bowyer, Etherington, Spence

Let Neill look after the defensive duties and give Behrami and Faubert licence to attack ,I think they could cause havoc if they get their rhythm right.

Boro are definitely beatable, although they did well against Man City last night.  You can definitely go there and get a result if you put the pressure on.  I reckon we can do them 2-1 with a brace from Bellamy.  Coral will give you 14-1 for the score and a free £10 bet if you click below.  Okay, my last betting tip wasn’t the best, but come on, 25/1?!!  Come on you Irons!!!!!

Update: I've changed the team as apparently Behrami may well be out as his injury is thought to be fairly serious

SkyBet don't fancy the Hammers!

I've always been a bit of a betting fan.  If you ever meet me, I'll no doubt bore about the time I won a grand when Di Canio scored and we won 1-0 at Old Trafford.  It was 100-1 which to me were silly odds, and frankly I think SkyBet have done the same.  They've put as at 14/1 to win tomorrow night.  That means they think if we play Man Utd 14 times, we'd only win once.  Forgive me, but I think that's rubbish.  True, we've not had the greatest run of results lately, but this team is slowly coming together and if it weren't for a post here and a trailing keeper's leg there, the last few results could have been very different.

Anyway, I won't babble on, I just wanted to pass on what I perceive are pretty good odds in a two horse race.  The link below will give you a free £20 bet with your first bet as well, so you could cover your bases.  Let's take SkyBet to the cleaners!

Click here to visit SkyBet, come on you hammers!!!

Update: Thanks to Joel for his comment, can confirm that Betfair are offering 25/1 on the Hammers, wow, no one is giving us a chance.  We're certainly not favourites but I think to offer such odds for any Premier League game is pretty crazy.

Manchester United v West Ham preview

Out of the frying pan into the fire for the Hammers tomorrow night.  After Arsenal sneaked past us on Sunday, I have a horrible feeling Manchester United will be a bit less subtle.  I used to really hate Man Utd, but my feelings have softened somewhat of late.  I like to see a British club do well in Europe and they always represent us well.  They are looking after our Carlos as well and I still love the fella.  And Gary Neville is not appearing so regularly for  them these days, so it’s hard to remember how much I hated them when he is not playing.

So, what of our visit to Old Trafford?  Well, I really hope we learnt the lessons of Sunday.  Of primary importance is the have Neill or Behrami in the right back position.  I’m frankly a bit sick of seeing Faubert there when he is clearly not a right back.  While I appreciate he is there as an attacking right back, he just does not appear to have the defensive qualities required for this position.  Collins and Upson must stay as the centre half pairing as they looked pretty solid together.  Upfront, I will assume Cole is suspended, so I’d go Etherington – Bellamy – Sears and try to hit them with pace rather than long balls up the field.  So the team will look something like this;

Green

Illunga – Upson- Collins – Neill

Mullins – Parker – Bowyer

Etherington – Bellamy – Sears

Bench: Latuvska, Boa-Morte, Faubert, Behrami, Spence, Widdowson, Lopez

I’d keep the defensive midfield we played against Arsenal and maybe unleash Behrami against Boro, assuming he is fit again.  Other option would be to replace Sears with Faubert and see if he can do some damage higher up the pitch.  Be interesting to see what Frankie Z does.

As for the score, I’d be frankly delighted with a draw but can’t see anything but a bit of a beating by the reds at the moment.  We’ll have to take this one on the chin and as long as we put in a credible performance, that will be good enough for me.

West Ham 0 Arsenal 2

The first official day of Winter saw some discontent at Upton Park this afternoon, as the Gunners put two past us to continue our increasingly worrying run of defeats.  However, I don't feel the need to be despondent as again there were some encouraging signs.  I just hope Zola can learn the lesson from what he sees and tinkers with things until we get the right balance. 

Mullins and Bowyer brought much more grit to the middle and were able to break things up there.  James Collins came back and played as if he had been there all season.  However, my main bugbear continues to be the use of Faubert at right back.  I'm not sure what was wrong with Neill or Behrami today, but we have to move Faubert away from this position as soon as possible and go more traditional with our back 4 ie Illunga - Upson - Collins - Neill.

Overall though I felt we were a bit unlucky and that Arsenal only have an own-goal and a last minute breakaway to show for the match illustrates this.  Apart from a 20 minute period in the 2nd half when they began to dominate, I felt we matched the Gunners.  Anyway, let's take a look at individual performances...

Green - 7 - couple of great saves, slightly dodgy positioning for the second goal but overall a good performance

Illunga - 6 - not his best game for us but kept Wallcot fairly quiet

Upson - 6 - nothing great, nothing bad from the big man

Collins - 7.5 - possibly our man of the match, really commanding, I seriously think he is a very under-rated player, hope he stays in the team

Faubert  - 5 - I can see Julien really wants to do well but his distribution was poor and defending shoddy today

Mullins - 7 - did what needed to do and did it well

Parker - 7 - some good play from Scottie, think there is even more to come from him when things settle down

Bowyer - 7 - some good defensive play but faded towards the end, understandable considering it was his first match this season

Di Michele - 5 - very poor game, wayward passing and little contribution

Cole - 6 - very harsh sending off at the end of the game, not his best game but as ever tried to cause the defence problems

Bellamy - 7 - looked most likely to get something, again, more to come from the Welsh wizard

Zola/Clarke - 6 - think the subs should have been made before we conceded the first goal as we were starting to lose our grip on the game.  Need to sort things out at right back as well, but still keeping the faith!

Overall, some positive things mixed up with a couple of poor performances and everyone needs to be on top of their game to beat Arsenal, just was not our day.  Anyway, Old Trafford next, easy!

Introducing the official blog of Hertia Ilunga!

So I had an email this morning from the 'official' blog of Herita Ilunga and it looks pretty good and authentic.  Ilunga has been a very welcome addition to the West Ham squad thus far.  We were all worried about losing George McCartney who had been a solid and consistent performer for us.  However, Ilunga has certainly brightened things up on the left hand side with an attacking instinct and great flair.

The blog is in French so you need to use the google translator on the left hand side to get a sense of what is being written.  Unfortunately, this occasionally makes it read a little like one of those emails from a Nigerian fraudster...

Sample quote 'Herita took advantage of a lapse in the second goal of the opposing team shipper for him the ball and score through a super returned. The arbitrator found that this action was dangerous and severely punished inherited part by denying him the purpose and other distressing him a yellow card'.  I think this means Ilunga took a cheeky kick at the goalie when he threw the ball in the air and he was a bit upset to get the yellow for it, but you get the idea!

Anyway, great to see one of the lads embracing the world of blogging, I'll see if the man will even do a quick interview for us at some point in the future, until then, enjoy the world of Herita Ilunga!

West Ham v Arsenal Match Preview

After the disappointment of our last couple of games against Bolton and Hull, the Hammers face a big test in front of the cameras this Sunday, taking on Arsenal at home.  I think it is quite a big game for us and one we need to one before the media start to talk of a ‘crisis’ at the club – not that I believe there is one, but we just don’t need any more pressure heaped on us.

Once again, I plead that we ring the changes for this one.  I still believe we must have Neill as right back rather than Faubert.  Bring in Davenport or Collins to partner Upson at the back.  I also think it is important for us to break up Arsenal’s midfield play and therefore either Bowyer or Mullins should be brought in to replace Noble.  I actually think Noble could do more damage as one of the attacking three rather than trying to do everything in midfield.  So my line up would go something like this;

Green

Illunga – Upson – Collins – Neill

Bowyer – Parker - Behrami

Noble – Cole – Bellamy

Bench: Lastuvka, Noble, Tristan, Etherington, Davenport, Mullins, Faubert

Bit harsh on Etherington perhaps, he could start and then be replaced with Noble after 60 if we need to change the game, I’ve noticed Matty does run out of puff towards the end of games.  What is clear is that Noble is a better attacking midfielder than an all round one, so he will be best utilised in this role.  We also have to break up Arsenal’s midfield play, hence the need for a Bowyer/Mullins player and we need to be stronger at the back, hence bringing in more defensively minded players.

Having said all that, I’m feeling confident for this one and a 2-1 win for the Hammers is on the cards for me.  Arsenal, while strong and a team I respect, seem to have a bit of mental weakness about them this season and if we can press them and not let them get into their pattern, we can control the game.  Let’s have a great atmosphere at Upton Park and really get behind the lads as well as our management.  Come on you Irons!

The game is live on Sky at 4pm and you can still take advantage of this offer for Sky Hi-Definition for £75 instead of £150, just click below...

15% off West Ham retro shirts

Found this while working my way round the web, toffs.co.uk are offering 15% off retro football shirts, so you can pick up a 1980 FA Cup Shirt or a 1965 European Cup Winners Cup shirt.  The offer is only on the football shirts but it's all good, just click here to visit and add the code football15 at the checkout to get 15% off, enjoy...oh, and the offer is good till the end of October, so hurry up!

Keep the faith...

No ratings today after the 1-0 defeat against Hull, just some thoughts...

I don’t think we played that badly, certainly some promising play going forward, but we must find a way to unlock teams like Hull and Bolton who are very well organised defensively then hit us with the set pieces.  There is a need for some adaptability in the formation as well, I just wondered if we hit them with 442 for some periods yesterday we may have been tighter and caught them a bit more.

The defence is the biggest worry for me – I’ll say it again, Neill must be moved to right back and Davenport/Collins brought in to partner Upson, we will look much more solid that way, Faubert simply does not have defensive attributes to be the attacking full back.

Noble had a better game but I do want to see Mullins brought back in to break up midfield play.  I know, I never thought I’d see, but I understand his value better now.  However, I imagine he is not a Zola type player and his chances may be limited.

We are in danger of turning into Arsenal in terms of trying pass it into the net, we need to be more incisive and aggressive in our attack play.

Ilunga is both infuriating and exhilarating, if we had cover at left back ,I’d be intrigued as to what he could do in the Etherington role, as he is excellent going forward.

Bellamy will get sharper with more games and I can’t wait for him to get into his groove.

Keep the faith – I still 100% back Mr Zola and Mr Clarke and the football they are trying to bring to the club and I don’t want part time percy’s starting to boo and get impatient.  Please, let us not turn into Newcastle, let’s give these guys time to build and drill their vision fully to the players.

Oh, and many congratulations to Sheffield Wednesday in their beating of Sheffield United yesterday, I cheered the Owls all the way through, nice one.  And thank you to Stoke City too.  If only the Hammers had got something, my day would have been complete!

Bring on the Gunners next....got a good feeling about this one....

Hull v West Ham match preview

Tough test for the Hammers with a Sunday fixture away to Hull City.  The game is not on Sky however, I think it moved for the Hull fair, though if anyone has any better info, let me know.  Either way, we need to put the Bolton game behind us pretty quickly and regain some sort of stability.  However, we are up against a Hull team who have taken full points of Arsenal and Spurs at their grounds in the last couple of weeks, so we definitely need to be at our best.

I've not had an update on Green but I hope his withdrawl form the England squad was more of a precaution than anything else.  For those unaware, we have added Diego Tristan to the squad but doubt very much he will start.  Zola clearly fancies his Xmas tree type formation and that's fine but there are some real changes I would make, best explained by the my starting team;

Green

Illunga - Davenport - Upson - Neill

Parker - Mullins - Behrami

Etherington - Cole - Bellamy

Bench: Lastuvka, Sears, Noble, Di Michele, Faubert, Spence, Boa-Morte

I strongly feel we need a proper right back and Faubert just isn't that.  Having defensive minded Neill will give Behrami more freedom to attack the wing.  Mullins will give us some defensive balance in the midfield and can likewise free up Parker to get forward a bit more.  It would be great if Beallmy is considered fit enough to start as I reckon his pace could really scare Hull.

The first goal will be a crucial one, if we get it it could open the floodgates for some confident attacking football, if Hull get it they can ride on their recent confidence and give us a bit of a caning.  I'll be happy with a draw from this one, so let's go for a tough 1-1 draw up there, come on you Irons!

Hammers attract Middle East interest

I've not felt the need to write a panic post on the worldwide financial crisis and how it may effect the Hammers.  Yes, Iceland is in trouble, but there are so many guarantees and investments still flying around, I just do not see a major financial crisis occuring at the club. 

And today's news may confirm that, with a Dubai investment group, who previously expressed an interest in Charlton, turning their attentions to Upton Park.  It even seems that Bjorgolfur Gudmundsson is playing hard to get by rejecting the initial offer.  You can read more about it at the Guardian, but either way, I'd be confident of still having a club to follow at the end of the season.