Portsmouth v West Ham Preview

Doesn’t seem like too long ago we were drawing 0-0 with Tony Adams’s Pompey side.  Although his tenure started off fairly brightly, they have not won their last 3 league games.  Like I’ve said a number of times this season, this is a winnable game, but in order to win games you need to score goals.  I think Zola must start the game with two decent finishers up-front, which is why I would advocate Cole on the bench and a start for Diego Tristan for this game.  We’ve not exactly seen much of Tristan so far and his fitness and pace are still questions but one thing he can do is finish and it is our lack of finishing that is letting us down right now.

The middle of the park is also an interesting one right now, especially since Noble has found his form and Collison is shining brightly.  I’m also curious what would happen if we had natural balance on the left and right, Boa-Morte is no ones favourite, but he is at least a natural winger who would give us balance.  With these questions in mind, my starting 11 would be;

Green

Illunga  - Upson – Davenport – Neill

Collison – Parker – Noble – Behrami

Tristan – Bellamy

Bench: Lastuvka, Cole, Faubert, Mullins, Sears, Spector, Boa-Morte

I’d stick with the one change for kick off but definitely think LBM on the left should be looked into at some point.  And Sears is definitely ahead of Di Michele for me as a sub.

It’s a game we could win but this is West Ham so a 1-1 draw is inevitable.  We’ll be expecting a lot more from the lads on Sunday against Stoke.

So, all that leaves me to do is wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New year.  Thank you for continuing to read the blog, this is a labour of love for me, so your continued comments and feedback are always welcome.  Let’s hope 2009 is a great one for you and the Hammers!

Comments

[Dave]

I agree with that squad, although I wouldn't have Faubert on the bench, he is useless.

[Wes]

Merry Christmas to you. Hopefully, 2009 will be better for us all.

[curtis]

this is perfect!! although i prefer sears than tristan