West Ham United Blog

Chelsea v West Ham Preview

Our couple of weeks of mission improbable starts at 5.30 on Saturday with a trip to Chelsea, followed by Manchester City a week after.  If we dawdle through the game like we did against Villa or don’t even turn up like we did against Bolton, we might as well concede and take the 3-0 defeat now.  We need to turn up like we did against Spurs a few weeks back with a determined rearguard and our front creating a couple of good chances for themselves.

Team wise, I imagine O’Neill, Parker and Da Costa are out for this one at the very least.  The form of Mark Noble has been really unimpressive of late and I’d give him a game on the bench to see if that brings out more in him.  I’d say 442 will have to be the way here.  If Parker were around I might have flooded the midfield a bit more, but that’s not looking possible with the squad as is.  Possible alternative would be Cole on his own up front with Spector pushing forward like he did agaisnt Man Utd/Sunderland with Hitz and Noble sitting behind.

Green

Bridge – Upson – Gabbidon – Jacobsen

Boa Morte – Hitzelsperger – Spector – Sears

Cole – Keane

Bench: Boffin, Tomkins, Noble, Hines, Ba, Piq and Faubert

We’re going to have to work like dogs for this one.  One advantage is that Chelsea are playing tonight against Birmingham, so hopefully a couple of knocks can be received and red card for a player or two will be more than welcome.  A draw will feel like a victory here, so come on you irons, let’s see what you’ve got….

Bring Allardyce to West Ham before it's too late

I’ve endured many things as a West Ham fan, but few were as dis-heartening as the performance on Saturday.  A must win game looked more like a pre-season friendly for a dis-spirited and tactically inept Hammers side.

It all started off so well, with the pre-match activity building to a roar which lead to a goal and about 15 minutes of high tempo football from the Hammers.  But as so often this season, a high tempo patch has led to a long period where we sustain an onslaught and seem to lack the ability to turn it around.  What is it with the mentality of this side?  When O’Neill went down I was waiting for the players to surround the ref, put some pressure, make the next decision ours if not this one.  But no, not a word, especially not from the mute captain Upson.  I think Upson is a decent footballer on his day but a captain, no way.  Every newspaper and TV channel assume that Parker is the captain, if that’s not the biggest criticism of his position, I don’t know what is.

So, what to do now?  I don’t think any of us believe that Avram Grant will be here next season, whatever happens to us.  Either his ambitions will see him elsewhere or our future Premiership safety will have to be ensured with a manager of better pedigree.  I don’t hate Grant at all, it’s a tough league and everyone bar the top 6 are looking over their shoulders.  It’s just that with a few tweaks here and there, we could be sitting in Villa’s position rather than our own.  A manager who knows how to close a lead and make it hard for the opposition to score is what we need.  Assuming Martin O’Neill has little interest in the role and the club are looking to not pay another club compensation, then I can see only one option.  Bring in Sam Allardyce for the rest of the season.

Yes, I know the words stick would stick in the throat of most fans, but really, what alternative do we have?  The team are clearly stuck in a malaise, they need something different and new.  I still remember one of my most productive office days was when my company moved.  And when a new manager joined it was new and exciting and you felt energised.  Give a new lease of life to Faubert and Boa-Morte who can still give something to the final fight.  Give Upson a kick up the behind and give Parker the captaincy.  Organise the back four.  Teach Noble not lose possession in the penalty box.  Teach Carlton how to get a penalty.  Give Cole the arm around his shoulder he needs.  Give West Ham the fight they need to get out of this mess.  And we still can.  It seems ridiculous to say, but imagine what a 0-0 draw at Stamford Bridge would do for us?  Who do you think can get us that result more?  Exactly….

Gabbidon Twitter Outburst

Danny Gabbidon has added fuel to the ill feeling between fans and club today with a no holds barred outburst on his Twitter account.

I don't know the messages he received in order to respond in such a way - there are no doubt some keyboard warriors who can be pretty abusive and hideous, but to word the tweet in such a way just days after Carlton Cole was hauled in front of the FA is careless at best.  Ironically, I thought Gabs had a decent game when he came on for Da Costa yesterday, certainly not one of the worse performers on the pitch.  And as I said the other day, the advent of Twitter is a good thing in terms of communication between fans and players and it clearly has a downside.  Not every person is suited to such a platform and it appears it is not suited to Danny Gabbidon.

West Ham Blog backs the Y Word Campaign

Our manager is Jewish.  Some of our owners are Jewish.  Whether you like them or not is irrelevant.  There is no room for racsim at Upton Park.  Frankly, I think we've come a long way from some dark days we had with racism at West Ham, butwe can never be educated enough on the matter. 

Respect to the players, including Frank Lampard, who stood up to be counted for this.

 

West Ham v Aston Villa Match Preview

I’m so excited/nervous about this game that I could not wait to write the preview.  You’ll note the lack of post match analysis on the Bolton game, but really, what could one say?  We were as abject as we were at Anfield, a performance I’d hope we didn’t repeat again this season.  The only consolation is that after that game, the team woke up and we started to play better.  I hope they take this lesson into this crucial game against Villa.

I’ve been thinking about the team line up a lot, inspired a bit by an excellent thread on the Hammer Forum about tactics for this match.  So I’m going to go for a bit of controversial line up and I’ll explain my decisions after…

Green

Bridge – Upson – Da  Costa – Jacobsen

Boa Morte – Hitzlsperger – Parker – O’Neill

Cole – Keane

Bench: Boffin, Gabbidon, Spector, Ba, Tomkins, Piquoinne and Noble

We’ve got to nullify the threat of Villa’s wingers, Young and Downing as they create a majority of their chances.  Playing two proper wide men who do work hard in spite of their faults will help Bridge and Jacobsen double up when being attacked.  It will also give Villa a problem to think about when we are attacking. 

I’m also worried that we are not using some of our strikers effectively enough as part of a three.  It can and does work, as we have proven, but right now I’d be looking to accommodate Keane into the side, and I think he will work best with another striker who holds the ball up well, which Cole does better than Ba.  This also gives a real threat off the bench and depending how the games goes, I’d be tempted to bring on Ba for the last 20/30 to give the tiring legs of Collins and Dunne something else to think about.

Dropping Noble is probably the other controversial decision.  It’s nothing against him, he’s done okay recently, but I’m putting the team to win, not the team with some nice players in it.

I’m sitting just behind the dugout for this one and will be sure to pass on my thoughts to Wally and the gang.  Whatever happens, we really need a win here, it will be a massive 3 points if we can get them.  I’m sure the crowd will get behind the lads on Saturday and create an atmosphere that intimidates Villa.  My prediction?  Really hard to call, but I’m going to go for a 1-0 win to the Hammers with Carlton troubling the scorers.  Come on you Irons!!!

McCarthy Departs - Catering Company set for losses

Benni McCarthy has officially left West Ham.  Apparently he made 14 appearances but I don't remember any of them.  McCarthy was purchased as part of the survival punt that saw Ilan, Mido and himself join the club in the transfer window last season to keep us up.  Suprisingly, it was Ilan whose goals contributed most to our security, and it was McCarthy who proved the biggest disappointment.  Just a few years ago, he was Champions League striker who was a start for his native South Africa as well.  By the time he joined us however, he was allegedly dealing with weightier issues and never gained the confidence of the management. 

I hope the club have managed to make some savings on his early departure.  I usually wish players luck when they leave and look forward to seeing them at Upton Park again in the future.  But in his case, I really couldn't give a monkey's....

FA - what does that stand for again?

The FA have farcically charged Carlton Cole with improper conduct following one of his tweets during the England v Ghana match.  This is wrong on so many levels, it's un-true.

The advent of the Premier League and all its riches had made the gap between fans and players wider than it ever had been.  The foreign star in his blacked out BMW did not relate to the star struck 7 year old boy who worshipped.  There was no connection save for the 90 minutes the boy got to watch his hero every Saturday.  The advent of social media allowed a connection between players and fan that had previously not existed.

There are some faults with the twitter relationship that players have with their fans, namely they are happy to be followed but don't really follow.  However, many reply to tweets and are happy to re-tweet on request.  But the fact is, Twitter has given us insight into the lives of footballers that us fans had never had before.  In some respects, it shows their lives can be as mundane as ours 'staying in and watchin telly tonight folks' but it also gives us their thoughts before a match that the scripted pre-match interviews don't.  Fans really value the fact their heroes are giving them this entry into their world, and now the FA is looking to act as the thought police and control the thoughts and words of our footballers outside of the game.

Carlton's tweet was a bit silly, but I don't imagine one bit of malice in it.  It's the kind of comment or joke people make everyday.  But to bring him up on a charge, in a world where Wayne Rooney gets away with smashing an opponent in the face with his elbow, is a disgrace.  It will only serve to turn footballer's tweets into the sort of mediocre crap we have to put up with in match interviews, where everyone is treading on eggshells and being careful not to offend anyone.

So, well done FA, you've taken the game back another decade.  There are plenty of things wrong with the game, why not focus on those rather than penalising players for being human, or is that what you are afraid of.....?

Bolton v West Ham Match Preview

Off we trot to play the trotters tomorrow, and Hammers fans will not need reminding that this is not a happy hunting ground for us.  Indeed, we’ve not beaten Bolton for 8 matches at home or away, though that’s not for lack of trying, last season’s cup tie in particular was a game we would have won on another day.  But with Bolton’s mind on the FA Cup and a few injuries niggling their team, combined with our recent impressive form, there is no reason for the Hammers to be scared tomorrow.

Team wise, I think a little bit of mixing it up could be in order.  I’d like to be able to accommodate Keane as I think it’s his experience and goals that can give us an edge, but he would have to be accommodated in a 433 system and to drop Ba or Cole would be harsh.  However, as we saw last week, 433 will not always work for us.  Well, let’s have a tinker and see what we end up with….

Green

Bridge – Upson – Da Costa – Jacobsen

Hitzlsperger – Parker – Noble

Keane – Cole – Ba

There are so many variations here, one could argue for a midfield of

Boa Morte – Hitz – Parker – O’Neill with a front two of Ba-Keane

This would give us some bite in the middle, but again would seem harsh on Noble.  A bit of Boa-Morte’s bark could be what we need for the game as well.  Very tough to call, but for me I want to see Robbie Keane on the pitch and causing the same trouble he did at Blackpool.

A draw would be acceptable, a win would be invaluable, we can do this, come on you Hammers!!!