It's been a while since I've done one of these, so apologies if it is awful.
First off, what a season it has been for West Ham so far! Sitting in 6th place half way through the season is an impressive start, compare this to last season and it is almost beyond belief and it definitely didn't prepare me for this. We have seen an influx of new players who have all been very influential in our progress forward. Firstly at the back the signing of Cresswell and loan option of Jenkinson have been a real coup, there may still be a few question marks over them defensively but they are both young, learning and still really adjusting, yet going forward they provide width and pace and both have excellent deliveries on them. Then you look at our midfield where the main man of note would be Alex Song, his class overall tends to shine through where he makes everything seem effortless, although now and then he could seem like he is trying a bit too hard, then you have Kouyate who is similar to Diame in ways but a bit more consistency about him, although he doesn't offer quite as much of a goal threat, he is very solid, then you have Almalfitano, who when we signed I wasn't sure about at all as he seemed to go missing for West Brom last year, but he seems to have slotted into our side very well. Lastly up front you have Sakho and Valencia, the latter not quite setting the world alight with goals, although the ones he have scored have been pretty good! They also offer the perfect starts of our defending as they have the energy to close down opposition defenders to rush them into making a mistake. On top of that you have Carroll and Downing who are like shadows of the players Liverpool wanted out of their club, Downing at the top of a diamond has seen him become one of the most creative players in the Premiership and with Carroll staying fit is like an extra signing.
Highlights of the season for me have definitely been the home games against Liverpool and Manchester City, which highlighted a big improvement in the way we set up as a team and how our team don't fear anyone. Yes we lost out to Chelsea without doing much, but they have world class players in every position and it is always going to be tough against them and I fully expect them to win the league comfortably.
I'd also like to mention Adrian, he has been a rock at the back for us and has undoubtedly kept us in games by himself with multiple saves throughout games.
With the January window opening, it appears Zarate is off to QPR, I feel for the guy as I feel he's never really being given a full chance to show what he can do, but the fact it is a loan and QPR will probably play him a lot (hopefully), then it could have it's benefits, it could show us that he could be a very good player who deserves a chance in Claret and Blue, or he could flop and we could see we need to let him go. My main concern this window though is Winston Reid, he still appears no closer to signing a new contract and if that is the case, then surely we would be listening to offers now rather than letting him go for free. Which makes me believe we need at least 1 quality centre back in although I'd like 2 to cover any injuries, I like Collins and Tomkins, also Kouyate could work as a backup, but I feel both James' have mistakes in them that can sometimes prove to be costly. Overall though, I'm not really sure what else we would need, maybe another striker to put pressure on the main 3 we have, as I don't feel Carlton Cole shows that!
I do have one concern though Sullivan our co-chairman recently spoke to Soccer AM how Sam did not want Sakho but he persisted and it appears to have paid off, this worries me that there is a bit of a power struggle over transfers, especially with Zarate stating he wasn't the managers signing. I know from when they owned Birmingham how outspoken Sullivan can be and he was similar under previous managers for us and renowned himself with going to the press when things were not going West Ham's way. I just worry that one day this could all come to blows and see if things end sourly.
Lastly I am going to try to guess where we may come this season, I honestly cannot see us being in the top 4, I feel the main contenders are a bit too strong for us and will probably not suffer as much during the AFCON. I do however feel we could qualify for Europe and I think Sam will be hoping that is the case to prove a lot of his doubters wrong. So I am going to plump for 7th.
Showing posts with label Irons. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Irons. Show all posts
Tuesday, 30 December 2014
Friday, 3 January 2014
New Year, New Me...
Well it's now 2014, with West Ham sitting in a disappointing 19th and 3 points off of the relegation zone. The end of last season now feels like a distant memory as this year has been a great big struggle. We started off okay, although we weren't playing superbly, we looked very good defensively, since the injury to Winston Reid, we appear to be leaking goals left, right and centre, with the only shining light that I can truly recall being those 2 wins at Tottenham, first in the league and then again in the cup (come on, I had to get that in here somehow!). Other than that it appears we just see players getting injured everywhere, Andy Carroll, Ravel Morrison, Mark Noble, Winston Reid, James Tomkins and Stewart Downing to name a few! It seems like a horror show that loves to repeat itself at West Ham and it's slowly getting more and more irritating. On top of that, we haven't exactly performing well at times, struggling to pass, create chances and on top of that score goals. It's a season where I've seen fans calling for Sam's head and other fans just screaming that something needs to change. All in all, I agree with them, I'm stuck though, as I do not feel there are many managers available who could do a decent job, especially when in the tough battle that is appearing ahead to avoid relegation, but at the same time, I want Sam Allardyce to leave, as I find his tactics not only stressful to try and watch but also predictive and uninspiring.
Looking at some of the games we've dropped points are also worrying signs, we can't afford to drop points to teams in the same area as us any more and those prior to this (i.e. Fulham and Norwich who had just suffered heavy defeats before beating us) could end up costing us dearly.
We need to sign in January, I can think of us requiring another CB, a Striker and possibly another number to midfield as cover just to help, especially as Allardyce did say a short while ago that no one in our youth teams was good enough to play in the first team. A verdict that I was strongly upset about, a tradition that I fell in love about West Ham was that we always gave those youth players a chance to shine, just look at some players who played over the years for us, some succeeded and some did fail, but I felt you could only give that verdict after giving them the odd game here and there, even if it was only 15 minutes. There are players who I'm sure would thrive at the chance, Elliot Lee who was scoring for fun in the youth teams would love to score for the senior team and at a time where scoring goals has been an issue then why not chance it? If it pays off, you'd look like a genius for giving him his chances. George Moncur would love to follow his fathers steps and appear in the first team too, from what I've seen (albeit very little) he looks like he could be a composed midfielder. Then you have the likes of Potts, Chambers and Ruddock who have all impressed now and then in little runs in the first team, give them a shot and they might really make a step up, especially playing alongside experienced players, then you also have the likes of Turgott who last season went on a fantastic cup run with Bradford City and Tombides, Spence etc. who must be begging for a chance to play. I'm not saying they are the answer but you could question why they've never really played much to try and show their worth, maybe the hunger they have could be enough alone to make them perform, also it could shout out a strong message to people under performing that they need to be at the top of their game, otherwise their place could be in jeopardy. Thankfully Sam has said he will play a fair few against Nottingham Forest in the cup and I really hope they all put in strong performances despite the managers damning verdict, just to try and prove a point. They may not be the answer, but it is a start alongside restrengthening in this window. I really do hope we are active, even if it is loans, we need something to help us in what could be a big battle to stay up.
Do I think we will stay up? At this moment in time, I would say no, from the games I've watched this season, we've looked like a team lost, unable to pass the ball, lack of movement and support especially going forward, a team that sits back and lets the other team come at them all the time and a severe lack of confidence. They are all things that I feel could hurt us and on top of that, we have a captain who appears to just love being sent off, which is never going to help with all the injuries and he isn't making a good case for himself, especially to me, who is a fan that has never been a fan of him. I honestly feel like he doesn't deserve to be captain right now, but then again, I don't feel Allardyce deserves to be manager anymore, but I feel he could well be surviving on the fact that there are no proven managers who would seriously consider coming to West Ham. Although Malky McKay is available, I honestly have not seen enough of him to warrant us considering him, unproven in this league and could he motivate a team with their heads down to survive relegation? I'm not so sure myself. Also if the rumours are true that it would cost £6 million to sack Sam, that could also be helping him greatly, but then again, the cost of relegation could be much more so and our board won't like to see a repeat of the Avram Grant season. The one thing I really dislike about Sam at the moment though, is his lack of accepting some of the blame. Yes he isn't solely to blame for the injuries and our captain going a bit crazy, but he does pick the team and tell them how he wants to play, maybe if he showed more belief in them then he could get them playing better, also he is one manager who never seems to have a plan B, when we went down 2-1 to Fulham, he brought off Maiga for Carlton Cole in a direct switch, when chasing a must win game, surely you would risk putting on Cole to play alongside Maiga in the desperate attempts to claw at least a goal back, even if you did end up losing 3-1?
Who should we sign in January? Should Allardyce be gone? Should we be showing more faith in our younger players and giving them a chance? I want to hear your views!
Looking at some of the games we've dropped points are also worrying signs, we can't afford to drop points to teams in the same area as us any more and those prior to this (i.e. Fulham and Norwich who had just suffered heavy defeats before beating us) could end up costing us dearly.
We need to sign in January, I can think of us requiring another CB, a Striker and possibly another number to midfield as cover just to help, especially as Allardyce did say a short while ago that no one in our youth teams was good enough to play in the first team. A verdict that I was strongly upset about, a tradition that I fell in love about West Ham was that we always gave those youth players a chance to shine, just look at some players who played over the years for us, some succeeded and some did fail, but I felt you could only give that verdict after giving them the odd game here and there, even if it was only 15 minutes. There are players who I'm sure would thrive at the chance, Elliot Lee who was scoring for fun in the youth teams would love to score for the senior team and at a time where scoring goals has been an issue then why not chance it? If it pays off, you'd look like a genius for giving him his chances. George Moncur would love to follow his fathers steps and appear in the first team too, from what I've seen (albeit very little) he looks like he could be a composed midfielder. Then you have the likes of Potts, Chambers and Ruddock who have all impressed now and then in little runs in the first team, give them a shot and they might really make a step up, especially playing alongside experienced players, then you also have the likes of Turgott who last season went on a fantastic cup run with Bradford City and Tombides, Spence etc. who must be begging for a chance to play. I'm not saying they are the answer but you could question why they've never really played much to try and show their worth, maybe the hunger they have could be enough alone to make them perform, also it could shout out a strong message to people under performing that they need to be at the top of their game, otherwise their place could be in jeopardy. Thankfully Sam has said he will play a fair few against Nottingham Forest in the cup and I really hope they all put in strong performances despite the managers damning verdict, just to try and prove a point. They may not be the answer, but it is a start alongside restrengthening in this window. I really do hope we are active, even if it is loans, we need something to help us in what could be a big battle to stay up.
Do I think we will stay up? At this moment in time, I would say no, from the games I've watched this season, we've looked like a team lost, unable to pass the ball, lack of movement and support especially going forward, a team that sits back and lets the other team come at them all the time and a severe lack of confidence. They are all things that I feel could hurt us and on top of that, we have a captain who appears to just love being sent off, which is never going to help with all the injuries and he isn't making a good case for himself, especially to me, who is a fan that has never been a fan of him. I honestly feel like he doesn't deserve to be captain right now, but then again, I don't feel Allardyce deserves to be manager anymore, but I feel he could well be surviving on the fact that there are no proven managers who would seriously consider coming to West Ham. Although Malky McKay is available, I honestly have not seen enough of him to warrant us considering him, unproven in this league and could he motivate a team with their heads down to survive relegation? I'm not so sure myself. Also if the rumours are true that it would cost £6 million to sack Sam, that could also be helping him greatly, but then again, the cost of relegation could be much more so and our board won't like to see a repeat of the Avram Grant season. The one thing I really dislike about Sam at the moment though, is his lack of accepting some of the blame. Yes he isn't solely to blame for the injuries and our captain going a bit crazy, but he does pick the team and tell them how he wants to play, maybe if he showed more belief in them then he could get them playing better, also he is one manager who never seems to have a plan B, when we went down 2-1 to Fulham, he brought off Maiga for Carlton Cole in a direct switch, when chasing a must win game, surely you would risk putting on Cole to play alongside Maiga in the desperate attempts to claw at least a goal back, even if you did end up losing 3-1?
Who should we sign in January? Should Allardyce be gone? Should we be showing more faith in our younger players and giving them a chance? I want to hear your views!
Monday, 26 August 2013
Early Days
As of writing this, the season has seen us have 1 home and 1 away performance. I won't talk about the table as this is practically pointless at the moment and won't really come to light until another few games are played, but I do not blame any West Ham fan for having a little smile when they do see our current position, or more importantly our Goal Difference, not only is it a plus, but we also haven't conceded.
In our home game against Cardiff, we looked very comfortable, especially on the ball, although for a home game against a newly promoted team, I did still feel we let them have a little too much of the ball, luckily for us they seemed to lack the cutting edge that they had in their game against Manchester City, thus never really creating any chances. In that game Jussi faced one shot on goal. Credit where it is due, Sam really does seem to have got the best out of our defence, Demel and O'Brien look comfortable either side of the pairing of Reid and Collins, who have both started the season where they left off on the last. Winston Reid especially seems to be improving every game, I'm a big fan of his now, he battles for everything, strong on and off the ball and up for any header in his path, Collins on the other hand I'm still unconvinced, yes he is very good defensively, he will block everything, but as soon as he has the ball, he is more likely to look long than short, this is good at times, especially when Andy Carroll is in the side, as the big man just seems to get his head onto everything and the wide players and Nolan are always looking for it, but I can't help but feel, when he isn't in the side, our wide players aren't as eager to get near the front man, I noticed this with Carlton last year and Maiga this year a little but not as much. Whenever the ball last season especially went long to Carlton, the players such as Vaz Te, Jarvis & Nolan, just never got near him, so even when Carlton did win the ball, it ended up going straight back to the other side, it did seem Carroll brought a lot more confidence to our midfield going forward at least. I sometimes just wish Collins would happily knock it out wide or forward now and then before going long, but Allardyce probably likes this about him as it straight away gets the opposing team on the back foot, but I'd just like us to mix it up a little bit more. This could just be because I'm a fan of passing football, but I also feel we have the quality in midfield to mix it up and maybe play shorter a little more. I also feel sorry for Tomkins as it looks like he will be the third choice centre back from now on, it's an awful shame as this young player was once looking destined to become one of the clubs favourite home grown players in a while, but ever since that dreaded Olympics, it seems to have suffered him more than benefiting him, I do hope that he can get back his form though and maybe see him in the future develop a strong partnership with Reid like they had in the Championship at times. Time will tell, but I would like that to happen, it just means seeing him make the most of his potential. I can't complain though as this backline also happily kept Newcastle quiet at St James' Park, in a formidable display to keep consecutive clean sheets and a solid defence is always a good platform to build on, as you know if the opposing team can't score, then you can't be beaten.
Midfield wise, it seems this year we could potentially see Allardyce getting a few headaches. Good headaches that is, with the arrival of Downing, who is already looking to impress in Claret & Blue from what I've seen so far, it must be tough for Sam to see our best midfield. You can almost guarantee that Noble and Nolan will start, but Morrison could soon be pushing Diame for a starting spot, which I personally only see as a good thing, Diame is fantastic, but sometimes he does seem to try to do a little too much on the ball, when a simple pass could be the better option, also there were times last season where he seemed to run out of steam, so having Morrison pushing him could improve his all round performances and also give him a well earned break when he needs it, also the prospect of Morrison seems quite exciting. On the wings it is also tough who is the best two to have, Downing, Joe Cole and Jarvis. Jarvis and Downing are the more natural wide players, so you know they will get crosses in, but then Joe Cole has that little bit about him to create something out of nothing and pop up with the odd goal, so it could be a mixture, or maybe it could depend on who is starting up front, or who we are up against. You also still have Vaz Te, but I feel that possibly Sam and the West Ham faithful have run out of patience with him, I personally saw glimmers of hope in him last season, but not enough, I had hoped maybe with him knowing the potential arrivings, that he would have upped his performances in pre-season, but to me he still seems like the unpredictable player of last year, when you were never sure just whether he'd turn up or not.
Up front it feels we are still short. We only have Carroll and Maiga, while I have full faith in Andy when he is fit, as he does so much for the team, wins aerial battles, holds up play, creates and scores, he's the perfect striker mould for Allardyce's style. Maiga though, there are still a few questions, whilst against Newcastle, he seemed to do okay in the aerial battles, but he was offside when he managed to score and maybe could have had another chance, if he'd been a bit more determined to go for the ball after Downing's header across. I personally think Maiga is okay, but I know a lot who disagree, I feel given time playing in his natural position, he could show his worth as I do feel he can finish, but my only worry for him is that he is not comfortable as a target man in the Premier League, he might prefer balls to run onto and utilise his pace, or maybe balls to feet where he can try shaping up to shoot. It's a tough one, but I'm willing to give him a chance and see how he does. Whether the full West Ham faithful agree, will be a completely different story.
So overall, I feel defensively we look fantastic, which is great, not only for us Hammers, but I think Sam will be over the moon too as he likes a team that is hard to defeat and this year we could possibly be even harder, especially with the likes of Rat and Tomkins eager to come into play. Midfield I think we are good and have multiple options to mix our style of play too, again a very promising sign and hopefully it could create more diversity for Sam's team as I did feel last year that we struggled at times going forward due to lack of ideas, now with the players at his disposal, he can mix our play up without even changing formation. Up front, I'm still undecided, with Carroll fit I feel Maiga is a nice option to have coming off the bench when other teams are tired and we could utilise his pace, but while the big man is out, I'm not 100% sure yet, as I'm not sure he's f comfortable in that role, but Gold admitted last night that we are at our wage cap which means a player or 2 would have to go before another comes in. Personally I think Taylor and Vaz Te could definitely be leaving, both I wouldn't be too upset to see go either, Taylor is just getting on a bit and Vaz Te for me just isn't consistent enough, another couple that could go is Diarra, who had a massive bust up with Sam last season, so I wouldn't be surprised if he sees the lack of opportunities again this year and decides to go and possibly Collison, this one hurts me to admit as I love the guy, I think he's class, but he never really seems to have fully recovered from his injury so I'm not sure he would ever cement a first team place and whether we would need him with Morrison coming through. If 2 or 3 of these went then I think we could possibly see another striker come in, the only trouble is, they would have to be prepared to play second fiddle to Andy, which could make it tough to make a move seem appetising to a player. I just feel we need another target man type player and then we could see ourselves with one of the strongest squads we've had in a long time. I think there is reasons to be optimistic though, I would love to see us improve on our 10th place finish, although I'd be more impressed if we had a proper go in the cups this year too.
Looking at the squad we are building though, I think it is safe to say Sam will be around for a few more years, everyone knows by now I'm not his biggest fan but he is building a squad to suit his style of play and we do seem to be getting increasingly tough to beat, so I have to tip my hat to him and give him full credit for that, as in previous seasons we have probably been a bit too leaky in defence. What I would like to see though, is a bit more possession from our side in certain games, especially those we know we should beat. If we could manage that then I think we could be one of the hardest teams to come up against in the division, just because we would then have the options to go short and long even more than we already did, as we did see last season, there were moments when we played beautiful football, so I would like to see that encouraged a little more. Overall I think we have good reason to be optimistic about the year ahead and if we can continue to add quality to our side then who knows, maybe we could push up higher, but it will be tough with the teams who finished above us last year as they all have added quality to their sides too.
In our home game against Cardiff, we looked very comfortable, especially on the ball, although for a home game against a newly promoted team, I did still feel we let them have a little too much of the ball, luckily for us they seemed to lack the cutting edge that they had in their game against Manchester City, thus never really creating any chances. In that game Jussi faced one shot on goal. Credit where it is due, Sam really does seem to have got the best out of our defence, Demel and O'Brien look comfortable either side of the pairing of Reid and Collins, who have both started the season where they left off on the last. Winston Reid especially seems to be improving every game, I'm a big fan of his now, he battles for everything, strong on and off the ball and up for any header in his path, Collins on the other hand I'm still unconvinced, yes he is very good defensively, he will block everything, but as soon as he has the ball, he is more likely to look long than short, this is good at times, especially when Andy Carroll is in the side, as the big man just seems to get his head onto everything and the wide players and Nolan are always looking for it, but I can't help but feel, when he isn't in the side, our wide players aren't as eager to get near the front man, I noticed this with Carlton last year and Maiga this year a little but not as much. Whenever the ball last season especially went long to Carlton, the players such as Vaz Te, Jarvis & Nolan, just never got near him, so even when Carlton did win the ball, it ended up going straight back to the other side, it did seem Carroll brought a lot more confidence to our midfield going forward at least. I sometimes just wish Collins would happily knock it out wide or forward now and then before going long, but Allardyce probably likes this about him as it straight away gets the opposing team on the back foot, but I'd just like us to mix it up a little bit more. This could just be because I'm a fan of passing football, but I also feel we have the quality in midfield to mix it up and maybe play shorter a little more. I also feel sorry for Tomkins as it looks like he will be the third choice centre back from now on, it's an awful shame as this young player was once looking destined to become one of the clubs favourite home grown players in a while, but ever since that dreaded Olympics, it seems to have suffered him more than benefiting him, I do hope that he can get back his form though and maybe see him in the future develop a strong partnership with Reid like they had in the Championship at times. Time will tell, but I would like that to happen, it just means seeing him make the most of his potential. I can't complain though as this backline also happily kept Newcastle quiet at St James' Park, in a formidable display to keep consecutive clean sheets and a solid defence is always a good platform to build on, as you know if the opposing team can't score, then you can't be beaten.
Midfield wise, it seems this year we could potentially see Allardyce getting a few headaches. Good headaches that is, with the arrival of Downing, who is already looking to impress in Claret & Blue from what I've seen so far, it must be tough for Sam to see our best midfield. You can almost guarantee that Noble and Nolan will start, but Morrison could soon be pushing Diame for a starting spot, which I personally only see as a good thing, Diame is fantastic, but sometimes he does seem to try to do a little too much on the ball, when a simple pass could be the better option, also there were times last season where he seemed to run out of steam, so having Morrison pushing him could improve his all round performances and also give him a well earned break when he needs it, also the prospect of Morrison seems quite exciting. On the wings it is also tough who is the best two to have, Downing, Joe Cole and Jarvis. Jarvis and Downing are the more natural wide players, so you know they will get crosses in, but then Joe Cole has that little bit about him to create something out of nothing and pop up with the odd goal, so it could be a mixture, or maybe it could depend on who is starting up front, or who we are up against. You also still have Vaz Te, but I feel that possibly Sam and the West Ham faithful have run out of patience with him, I personally saw glimmers of hope in him last season, but not enough, I had hoped maybe with him knowing the potential arrivings, that he would have upped his performances in pre-season, but to me he still seems like the unpredictable player of last year, when you were never sure just whether he'd turn up or not.
Up front it feels we are still short. We only have Carroll and Maiga, while I have full faith in Andy when he is fit, as he does so much for the team, wins aerial battles, holds up play, creates and scores, he's the perfect striker mould for Allardyce's style. Maiga though, there are still a few questions, whilst against Newcastle, he seemed to do okay in the aerial battles, but he was offside when he managed to score and maybe could have had another chance, if he'd been a bit more determined to go for the ball after Downing's header across. I personally think Maiga is okay, but I know a lot who disagree, I feel given time playing in his natural position, he could show his worth as I do feel he can finish, but my only worry for him is that he is not comfortable as a target man in the Premier League, he might prefer balls to run onto and utilise his pace, or maybe balls to feet where he can try shaping up to shoot. It's a tough one, but I'm willing to give him a chance and see how he does. Whether the full West Ham faithful agree, will be a completely different story.
So overall, I feel defensively we look fantastic, which is great, not only for us Hammers, but I think Sam will be over the moon too as he likes a team that is hard to defeat and this year we could possibly be even harder, especially with the likes of Rat and Tomkins eager to come into play. Midfield I think we are good and have multiple options to mix our style of play too, again a very promising sign and hopefully it could create more diversity for Sam's team as I did feel last year that we struggled at times going forward due to lack of ideas, now with the players at his disposal, he can mix our play up without even changing formation. Up front, I'm still undecided, with Carroll fit I feel Maiga is a nice option to have coming off the bench when other teams are tired and we could utilise his pace, but while the big man is out, I'm not 100% sure yet, as I'm not sure he's f comfortable in that role, but Gold admitted last night that we are at our wage cap which means a player or 2 would have to go before another comes in. Personally I think Taylor and Vaz Te could definitely be leaving, both I wouldn't be too upset to see go either, Taylor is just getting on a bit and Vaz Te for me just isn't consistent enough, another couple that could go is Diarra, who had a massive bust up with Sam last season, so I wouldn't be surprised if he sees the lack of opportunities again this year and decides to go and possibly Collison, this one hurts me to admit as I love the guy, I think he's class, but he never really seems to have fully recovered from his injury so I'm not sure he would ever cement a first team place and whether we would need him with Morrison coming through. If 2 or 3 of these went then I think we could possibly see another striker come in, the only trouble is, they would have to be prepared to play second fiddle to Andy, which could make it tough to make a move seem appetising to a player. I just feel we need another target man type player and then we could see ourselves with one of the strongest squads we've had in a long time. I think there is reasons to be optimistic though, I would love to see us improve on our 10th place finish, although I'd be more impressed if we had a proper go in the cups this year too.
Looking at the squad we are building though, I think it is safe to say Sam will be around for a few more years, everyone knows by now I'm not his biggest fan but he is building a squad to suit his style of play and we do seem to be getting increasingly tough to beat, so I have to tip my hat to him and give him full credit for that, as in previous seasons we have probably been a bit too leaky in defence. What I would like to see though, is a bit more possession from our side in certain games, especially those we know we should beat. If we could manage that then I think we could be one of the hardest teams to come up against in the division, just because we would then have the options to go short and long even more than we already did, as we did see last season, there were moments when we played beautiful football, so I would like to see that encouraged a little more. Overall I think we have good reason to be optimistic about the year ahead and if we can continue to add quality to our side then who knows, maybe we could push up higher, but it will be tough with the teams who finished above us last year as they all have added quality to their sides too.
Thursday, 11 July 2013
The Upcoming Season Potential
At the time of writing West Ham have currently played 2 of their pre-season fixtures. One away to Cork City which the Hammers won comfortably 6-2 and another away to Boreham Wood which was won 3-0.
Now I know not to get too excited by these fixtures, as I'm pretty sure under a certain Avram Grant, we won every single friendly, prior to a season that I would much rather forget. None the less there have been some promising features. Mainly the inclusion of a fair few youth players, which is to be expected. Most notably for me though is the inclusion of Dan Potts and Jordan Spence in the full back positions, these 2 have been in and around the first team squad for quite a while now, so I wonder, could we possibly see these 2 feature a lot more regularly for us next season in the starting 11? I personally hope we do, as I think they've got a lot of potential and feel they will only improve with more experience, unless they go out on loan to a Championship club for a full season and we monitor their progress closely to see if they could become starting players. Another player is Ravel Morrison, West Ham fans have been calling for this young guy to be given a shot in the first team for ages and it appears after a successful loan at Birmingham City for the duration of last season, that he may well have a chance this year of breaking into the side and I fully hope he grabs this opportunity with both hands. He has managed to bag 2 goals in 2 in these friendly fixtures, so maybe he could begin to put some pressure on the midfield trio of Nolan, Diame and Noble, as well as those as back up such as Jack Collison. I personally think that if he continues to work hard and put in good performances when he gets the chance, there is no reason why he couldn't break into the first team, especially as there is no denying Nolan's age and maybe giving him a rest now and then could help improve us even further. Whatever happens, I hope we continue to see him feature in pre-season and maybe eventually see him break into the starting 11. If all of this carries on I feel it could be a very exciting time for West Ham with good experienced players and some decent young players putting pressure on those already in the first team, giving valuable competition for positions and making everyone perform to their best ability. We also mustn't forget that we've also seen Elliott Lee, Paul McCallum and George Moncur feature as well, all these players in my opinion are a bit too inexperienced to push into the first team yet, but hopefully they could all go out on loan this season, just as Morrison did and gain some valuable experience and come back to the squad stronger than ever, hungry for success and looking to get into our side.
Also today the new away kit has been shown available to pre-order now and you would receive this on the 25th July, please see below for pictures of the beautiful new away kit.
Now I know not to get too excited by these fixtures, as I'm pretty sure under a certain Avram Grant, we won every single friendly, prior to a season that I would much rather forget. None the less there have been some promising features. Mainly the inclusion of a fair few youth players, which is to be expected. Most notably for me though is the inclusion of Dan Potts and Jordan Spence in the full back positions, these 2 have been in and around the first team squad for quite a while now, so I wonder, could we possibly see these 2 feature a lot more regularly for us next season in the starting 11? I personally hope we do, as I think they've got a lot of potential and feel they will only improve with more experience, unless they go out on loan to a Championship club for a full season and we monitor their progress closely to see if they could become starting players. Another player is Ravel Morrison, West Ham fans have been calling for this young guy to be given a shot in the first team for ages and it appears after a successful loan at Birmingham City for the duration of last season, that he may well have a chance this year of breaking into the side and I fully hope he grabs this opportunity with both hands. He has managed to bag 2 goals in 2 in these friendly fixtures, so maybe he could begin to put some pressure on the midfield trio of Nolan, Diame and Noble, as well as those as back up such as Jack Collison. I personally think that if he continues to work hard and put in good performances when he gets the chance, there is no reason why he couldn't break into the first team, especially as there is no denying Nolan's age and maybe giving him a rest now and then could help improve us even further. Whatever happens, I hope we continue to see him feature in pre-season and maybe eventually see him break into the starting 11. If all of this carries on I feel it could be a very exciting time for West Ham with good experienced players and some decent young players putting pressure on those already in the first team, giving valuable competition for positions and making everyone perform to their best ability. We also mustn't forget that we've also seen Elliott Lee, Paul McCallum and George Moncur feature as well, all these players in my opinion are a bit too inexperienced to push into the first team yet, but hopefully they could all go out on loan this season, just as Morrison did and gain some valuable experience and come back to the squad stronger than ever, hungry for success and looking to get into our side.
Also today the new away kit has been shown available to pre-order now and you would receive this on the 25th July, please see below for pictures of the beautiful new away kit.
Enjoy these exclusive pictures and hopefully see you all wearing them soon!
Monday, 29 August 2011
Victory at the City Ground
This game was being billed as one of the toughest away matches West Ham will face this season, with Nottingham Forest making the play-offs consistently, yet unable to get themselves back into the big time, they would be a tough opposition for the Hammers to face in their fight to return to the Premiership at the first time of asking.
Forest are renowned for being extremely solid at the back, but their attacking line always had some questions hanging over it, were they good enough to fight strong defensive lines? Here would be a good chance to find out as they faced a West Ham squad with 2 changes of note from the Leeds game. Parker had not travelled with the squad, over what is believed to be a potential transfer to our fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur, with Faubert replacing him, meaning a much more natural midfield, Collison playing in his preferred centre midfield role alongside Nolan and Noble, with Faubert providing width from the right and as usual Taylor on the left. The other change was at left back, where many fans had been begging Ilunga not to play there, after multiple mistakes in recent games, he had been dropped for George McCartney who plays on the left once more for the Hammers, a welcome change for everyone!
As kick off approached, we would see just how good we are away from home, with 2 wins already, it was hoped we could take that form into the stern test Nottingham Forest would be. The game was a very scrappy affair right from the get go, neither team could keep hold of the ball, especially in that final third, both teams strikers had no support when the ball was sent their way, when support did arrive for Cole, it was from Faubert or Taylor, which resulted in West Hams midfield losing width and it's shape. As the first half progressed, Forest looked much more dangerous, keeping the ball in our half and trying to calve out chances, McGugan blasting over a couple of times, then also being miraculously beaten by Green when he saved with his right foot, Findlay also came close for Forest, seeing his shot go just wide of the post, if it wasn't for these wasteful chances and a superb Green, the scoreline could have been very different. West Ham then finally carved out there first goal, the ball was knocked out wide to Taylor who drilled a low cross across the six yard box, which Luke Chambers, the unfortunate Forest defender sliced into the back of his net. West Ham benefiting from yet another own goal.
West Ham then saw there second goal come quickly after from a quick corner delivered towards the far end of the area which Tomkins headed back into the middle for Nolan to redirect the ball into the back of the net and West Ham were 2-0 up. This didn't stop Forest though who kept attacking and causing problems for the United back line, but again Forest just kept wasting good chances. A major problem for Nottingham Forest by the looks of it this season.
Just after the half hour mark Forest were truly punished for there poor finishing when a Taylor corner missed everyone and O'Brien picked up the ball outside the box and crossed a lovely ball back into the area which the tall No 9 of Cole rose to head home and score his third goal in as many games, a promising return so far from a striker West Ham are use to seeing miss his oppurtunities.
The second half saw Forest use all their subs by the 65 minute mark, with the away side still yet to use theirs, but it seemed Forest had lost a bit of hope in the second half, giving West Ham much more time on the ball and letting our midfield knock it around for fun, although the introduction of Andy Reid, a Forest favourite seemed to kick start Forest back into life. Forest managed to create a lovely passing move which was finished with Findlay slotting home from close range and seeing the score set to 3-1 by the 70th minute, had this goal came much earlier, Forest may have pushed themselves back into the match, but it definitely seemed too little too late for the home side, especially when West Ham won another corner which was poorly cleared by the Forest back line and the ball landed straight back to Taylor who crossed the ball in and it was missed by everyone apart from Winston Reid who tapped home to make it 4-1, scoring his first goal for West Ham in his career and topping off a good performance from himself.
In all honesty, the scoreline flattered West Ham and didn't do Forest any justice, who could have quite easily scored 2 or 3, had lady luck shone on them. Our defence once more was superb and McCartney now playing on the left gave a much more convincing performance than Ilunga has in a long time for us. Our midfield in the first half seemed sloppy, there wasn't much shape at times and they just couldn't dominate possesion as you'd expect they can do, but again from set pieces we were very dangerous and made this pay and having natural wide midfielders is proving to be pivotal to our success with the two own goals it's caused to help us. I am hoping with the introduction of new signings Sam Baldock and Brian Montenegro could prove to help us play 4-4-2 at home, as we don't seem to create enough at Upton Park and that could be the reason why, 4-5-1 away from home seems to be working perfectly, with our team using a solid back line as the foundation and trying to be much more counter attacking with the ball. 9 goals scored and 9 points gained away from home is a lovely stat to have so far and this can only help in our chase for promotion. If the squad can keep organised and create more at Upton Park we could yet see ourselves as the toughest team to play against in the Championship.
Forest are renowned for being extremely solid at the back, but their attacking line always had some questions hanging over it, were they good enough to fight strong defensive lines? Here would be a good chance to find out as they faced a West Ham squad with 2 changes of note from the Leeds game. Parker had not travelled with the squad, over what is believed to be a potential transfer to our fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur, with Faubert replacing him, meaning a much more natural midfield, Collison playing in his preferred centre midfield role alongside Nolan and Noble, with Faubert providing width from the right and as usual Taylor on the left. The other change was at left back, where many fans had been begging Ilunga not to play there, after multiple mistakes in recent games, he had been dropped for George McCartney who plays on the left once more for the Hammers, a welcome change for everyone!
As kick off approached, we would see just how good we are away from home, with 2 wins already, it was hoped we could take that form into the stern test Nottingham Forest would be. The game was a very scrappy affair right from the get go, neither team could keep hold of the ball, especially in that final third, both teams strikers had no support when the ball was sent their way, when support did arrive for Cole, it was from Faubert or Taylor, which resulted in West Hams midfield losing width and it's shape. As the first half progressed, Forest looked much more dangerous, keeping the ball in our half and trying to calve out chances, McGugan blasting over a couple of times, then also being miraculously beaten by Green when he saved with his right foot, Findlay also came close for Forest, seeing his shot go just wide of the post, if it wasn't for these wasteful chances and a superb Green, the scoreline could have been very different. West Ham then finally carved out there first goal, the ball was knocked out wide to Taylor who drilled a low cross across the six yard box, which Luke Chambers, the unfortunate Forest defender sliced into the back of his net. West Ham benefiting from yet another own goal.
West Ham then saw there second goal come quickly after from a quick corner delivered towards the far end of the area which Tomkins headed back into the middle for Nolan to redirect the ball into the back of the net and West Ham were 2-0 up. This didn't stop Forest though who kept attacking and causing problems for the United back line, but again Forest just kept wasting good chances. A major problem for Nottingham Forest by the looks of it this season.
Just after the half hour mark Forest were truly punished for there poor finishing when a Taylor corner missed everyone and O'Brien picked up the ball outside the box and crossed a lovely ball back into the area which the tall No 9 of Cole rose to head home and score his third goal in as many games, a promising return so far from a striker West Ham are use to seeing miss his oppurtunities.
The second half saw Forest use all their subs by the 65 minute mark, with the away side still yet to use theirs, but it seemed Forest had lost a bit of hope in the second half, giving West Ham much more time on the ball and letting our midfield knock it around for fun, although the introduction of Andy Reid, a Forest favourite seemed to kick start Forest back into life. Forest managed to create a lovely passing move which was finished with Findlay slotting home from close range and seeing the score set to 3-1 by the 70th minute, had this goal came much earlier, Forest may have pushed themselves back into the match, but it definitely seemed too little too late for the home side, especially when West Ham won another corner which was poorly cleared by the Forest back line and the ball landed straight back to Taylor who crossed the ball in and it was missed by everyone apart from Winston Reid who tapped home to make it 4-1, scoring his first goal for West Ham in his career and topping off a good performance from himself.
In all honesty, the scoreline flattered West Ham and didn't do Forest any justice, who could have quite easily scored 2 or 3, had lady luck shone on them. Our defence once more was superb and McCartney now playing on the left gave a much more convincing performance than Ilunga has in a long time for us. Our midfield in the first half seemed sloppy, there wasn't much shape at times and they just couldn't dominate possesion as you'd expect they can do, but again from set pieces we were very dangerous and made this pay and having natural wide midfielders is proving to be pivotal to our success with the two own goals it's caused to help us. I am hoping with the introduction of new signings Sam Baldock and Brian Montenegro could prove to help us play 4-4-2 at home, as we don't seem to create enough at Upton Park and that could be the reason why, 4-5-1 away from home seems to be working perfectly, with our team using a solid back line as the foundation and trying to be much more counter attacking with the ball. 9 goals scored and 9 points gained away from home is a lovely stat to have so far and this can only help in our chase for promotion. If the squad can keep organised and create more at Upton Park we could yet see ourselves as the toughest team to play against in the Championship.
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
Recovery
So after the disappointing start to the Championship, it appears 2 more games can turn this round into sheer delight.
I didn't report on the Doncaster game as unfortunately I was only able to use the West Ham site for the game report, which is always dodgey if you ask me as I find it a little biased, especially in our torrid season just gone. But, I can be proud, despite what sounded like a few shakey moments, we seemed to dominate the game and this time were rewarded with a 1-0 win rather than a loss, thanks to a well finished Nolan goal within 5 minutes.
Watford was a whole different story, almost a minute into the game and Watford had one decent chance to take the lead early on, not good for the nerves, yet just as I was praying for the side to wake up, they took the ball to the other end and won a corner, the delivery was met by Tomkins and West Ham were 1-0 up inside 2 minutes. The game became a little more equal for a while with both teams have chances and Tomkins always threatening from set pieces, a very pleasing sight considering we use to be terrible at defending and attacking these. Then right before the half time whistle, Joey O'Brien picks the ball up at the halfway line, makes a darting run through the Watford side and shoots on goal, his first shot is stopped but he manages to get a foot on to the rebound and slots it into the goal. 2-0 West Ham at halftime, a very pleasing sight.
After the break the two sides came out and both seemed to be sharing the chances, but West Ham never looked too threatened by Watfords attack, with Tomkins and Reid especially doing well at the back. West Ham managed to score a 3rd through Carlton Cole from a nice pass from Herita Ilunga, hopefully this can do the defender a lot of good and boost his confidence to help him play better, although McCartney could easily come in and do the job once fully fit. Parker then scored a lovely goal right before the end to make it 4-0 and West Ham record back to back away wins. Beautfiul.
If I could think of many negative points, then the ones I would say were the early chance from Watford, showing the side need to be as alert as possible from the word go and possibly the lack of possesion at times, but this wasn't very often. Also Ilungas performance at times was questionable, but like I said we always have McCartney. I would also like to see the squad with Big John Carew up front, he has tweeted that he should be fit for Sunday, so maybe he will have a role to play against Leeds!
Lots of positives to take from this match especially, another clean sheet, proving Big Sam is definitely whipping these guys into shape as they are not running out of steam. 4 goals in one game, I was worried we wouldn't be the biggest goal threat at times, as noted in the Cardiff and Doncaster games, but it seemed against Watford people were knowing each others runs better and providing good chances from the off, being threatening at set pieces as well, is all going to benefit this. We now sit in 3rd place, despite it being early days, 6 points in 3 games is good and can only help us in our quest for promotion.
I didn't report on the Doncaster game as unfortunately I was only able to use the West Ham site for the game report, which is always dodgey if you ask me as I find it a little biased, especially in our torrid season just gone. But, I can be proud, despite what sounded like a few shakey moments, we seemed to dominate the game and this time were rewarded with a 1-0 win rather than a loss, thanks to a well finished Nolan goal within 5 minutes.
Watford was a whole different story, almost a minute into the game and Watford had one decent chance to take the lead early on, not good for the nerves, yet just as I was praying for the side to wake up, they took the ball to the other end and won a corner, the delivery was met by Tomkins and West Ham were 1-0 up inside 2 minutes. The game became a little more equal for a while with both teams have chances and Tomkins always threatening from set pieces, a very pleasing sight considering we use to be terrible at defending and attacking these. Then right before the half time whistle, Joey O'Brien picks the ball up at the halfway line, makes a darting run through the Watford side and shoots on goal, his first shot is stopped but he manages to get a foot on to the rebound and slots it into the goal. 2-0 West Ham at halftime, a very pleasing sight.
After the break the two sides came out and both seemed to be sharing the chances, but West Ham never looked too threatened by Watfords attack, with Tomkins and Reid especially doing well at the back. West Ham managed to score a 3rd through Carlton Cole from a nice pass from Herita Ilunga, hopefully this can do the defender a lot of good and boost his confidence to help him play better, although McCartney could easily come in and do the job once fully fit. Parker then scored a lovely goal right before the end to make it 4-0 and West Ham record back to back away wins. Beautfiul.
If I could think of many negative points, then the ones I would say were the early chance from Watford, showing the side need to be as alert as possible from the word go and possibly the lack of possesion at times, but this wasn't very often. Also Ilungas performance at times was questionable, but like I said we always have McCartney. I would also like to see the squad with Big John Carew up front, he has tweeted that he should be fit for Sunday, so maybe he will have a role to play against Leeds!
Lots of positives to take from this match especially, another clean sheet, proving Big Sam is definitely whipping these guys into shape as they are not running out of steam. 4 goals in one game, I was worried we wouldn't be the biggest goal threat at times, as noted in the Cardiff and Doncaster games, but it seemed against Watford people were knowing each others runs better and providing good chances from the off, being threatening at set pieces as well, is all going to benefit this. We now sit in 3rd place, despite it being early days, 6 points in 3 games is good and can only help us in our quest for promotion.
Tuesday, 2 August 2011
West Ham United V Cardiff City - Preview
Well the season is now less than 1 week away, it's time to let ourselves get excited, then experience all the happiness/sadness and general mix of emotions bring when you beat teams you thought you couldn't, lose to those you felt should be a walk over and see the season unfold.
As far as I am aware we don't have many injuries among the main squad that I would presume to be picked for our opening fixture. Faye being the stand out candidate of being injured, he would be a handy team mate in a fixture where the side will first experience that no Championship side is going to go easy on us and will want to make our life here an absolute misery. Especially when we are one of the favourites to be promoted/win the league. I on the other hand have said from day one that I believe we should make the play-offs, this league isn't easy and it's so tough to predict when you look at some of the teams promoted in the past couple of seasons, no one could have seen Norwich doing so well in their first season, I also wouldn't have said Swansea were a side fighting for promotion, the same could be said for Blackpool last season too. Then you see sides like Nottingham Forest who have been in the play-offs a couple of times and the same goes to our first opponents Cardiff, always there, but never quite acheived their true goal, which should always be a worry, they are always going to be fighting to be up there and the team and fans feel they have the right to be in the top flight, especially now their rivals Swansea have done it.
Now to the line up, we can be thankful we haven't lost our 2 star players over the past few seasons, Parker and Green, so I fully expect them to appear, with the injury to Faye, it makes the back line tough to decide, Reid could come in, yet Spence can also play in the middle. I think a lot of the squad will pick itself though, we've a lot of room for rotation at the start. So here is my predicted team sheet.
Green in goal.
Defenders, Spence on the left, Reid and Tomkins in the middle, O'Brien on the right.
Midfielders, Parker playing a holding/anchor man role, Nolan and Collison in the middle in front of him and Barrera and Taylor in wide positions right and left respectively.
Cole as a lone striker up front.
Subs: Boffin, Faubert, Ilunga, Noble, Stanislas, Sears and Piquionne.
I believe we will line up in a 4-1-4-1/4-3-3 hybrid formation as appears to be the case most of the time.
The reason I have chosen this squad is for these factors, Spence and O'Brien as our full backs because I feel O'Brien can play a less attacking Right Back role better than Faubert (if we are 0-0 with 20 minutes to go bring on Faubert to go for it) and Spence because I feel he did well towards the end of last season when called upon and he is a player everyone knows wants to play in claret & blue. If Reid or Tomkins pick up a knock then we'd probably see Spence go in the middle with Ilunga coming on.
Noble people may be saying should be one of the first names on the team sheet and I would normally agree, but with Nolan being captain, he is guaranteed to start and I feel Nobles stronger positions will either be that of Nolans, being the midfield dedicated to picking out passes and trying to win the ball back before relying on Parker and the defence or I could see him playing in Parkers position, Noble isn't afraid to put his foot in and he can pass for fun in that role, I wouldn't be surprised that if Parker goes that will be Nobles future position.I believe that Collison is our best midfielder going forward when it comes to being a threat in front of goal. I have also chosen Taylor because I feel he is our most creative wide player, Stanislas is very good too, but Taylor just has that little more experience to start, but I would want to see Stanislas more as the season continues, I have also chosen Barrera over Sears and Stanislas as I feel if he plays like he can, he could well be a stand out player in the Championship, with fast feet and the ability to take players on time and time again, he could end up creating a lot of chances for us although I could see Sears playing as he is better in front of goal having scored 2 pretty nice goals in pre season.
Cole up front I feel speaks for itself, he is hands down a better player than Piquionne, who I believe has been rather poor and I would happily see Nouble on the bench over him, but I do think West Ham are in desperate need of a proper goal scorer to start in the squad!
Out of the substitutes I can't see much changing although throughout the season but I would like to see players given the chance, Montano, Abdulla and Nouble all looked fairly good in pre season and I feel should be given an oppurtunity to shine, I do feel Hines will have something to prove as well, considering he felt he should get a contract offer from a Premiership team, so if he believes that's the case then he should go out there and show us why he felt that. Also I think Reid will be on the bench normally with Faye being our main defender alongside Tomkins.
I have predicted a hopeful 1-0 win for us at home in our first game, we won't create hundreds of chances but that isn't Allardyce's style, his main aim is to be solid defensively and you can't lose if you don't concede. I would setlle for a draw as Cardiff are not an easy team but I feel a little optimistic.
Lastly, COME ON YOU IRONS!
As far as I am aware we don't have many injuries among the main squad that I would presume to be picked for our opening fixture. Faye being the stand out candidate of being injured, he would be a handy team mate in a fixture where the side will first experience that no Championship side is going to go easy on us and will want to make our life here an absolute misery. Especially when we are one of the favourites to be promoted/win the league. I on the other hand have said from day one that I believe we should make the play-offs, this league isn't easy and it's so tough to predict when you look at some of the teams promoted in the past couple of seasons, no one could have seen Norwich doing so well in their first season, I also wouldn't have said Swansea were a side fighting for promotion, the same could be said for Blackpool last season too. Then you see sides like Nottingham Forest who have been in the play-offs a couple of times and the same goes to our first opponents Cardiff, always there, but never quite acheived their true goal, which should always be a worry, they are always going to be fighting to be up there and the team and fans feel they have the right to be in the top flight, especially now their rivals Swansea have done it.
Now to the line up, we can be thankful we haven't lost our 2 star players over the past few seasons, Parker and Green, so I fully expect them to appear, with the injury to Faye, it makes the back line tough to decide, Reid could come in, yet Spence can also play in the middle. I think a lot of the squad will pick itself though, we've a lot of room for rotation at the start. So here is my predicted team sheet.
Green in goal.
Defenders, Spence on the left, Reid and Tomkins in the middle, O'Brien on the right.
Midfielders, Parker playing a holding/anchor man role, Nolan and Collison in the middle in front of him and Barrera and Taylor in wide positions right and left respectively.
Cole as a lone striker up front.
Subs: Boffin, Faubert, Ilunga, Noble, Stanislas, Sears and Piquionne.
I believe we will line up in a 4-1-4-1/4-3-3 hybrid formation as appears to be the case most of the time.
The reason I have chosen this squad is for these factors, Spence and O'Brien as our full backs because I feel O'Brien can play a less attacking Right Back role better than Faubert (if we are 0-0 with 20 minutes to go bring on Faubert to go for it) and Spence because I feel he did well towards the end of last season when called upon and he is a player everyone knows wants to play in claret & blue. If Reid or Tomkins pick up a knock then we'd probably see Spence go in the middle with Ilunga coming on.
Noble people may be saying should be one of the first names on the team sheet and I would normally agree, but with Nolan being captain, he is guaranteed to start and I feel Nobles stronger positions will either be that of Nolans, being the midfield dedicated to picking out passes and trying to win the ball back before relying on Parker and the defence or I could see him playing in Parkers position, Noble isn't afraid to put his foot in and he can pass for fun in that role, I wouldn't be surprised that if Parker goes that will be Nobles future position.I believe that Collison is our best midfielder going forward when it comes to being a threat in front of goal. I have also chosen Taylor because I feel he is our most creative wide player, Stanislas is very good too, but Taylor just has that little more experience to start, but I would want to see Stanislas more as the season continues, I have also chosen Barrera over Sears and Stanislas as I feel if he plays like he can, he could well be a stand out player in the Championship, with fast feet and the ability to take players on time and time again, he could end up creating a lot of chances for us although I could see Sears playing as he is better in front of goal having scored 2 pretty nice goals in pre season.
Cole up front I feel speaks for itself, he is hands down a better player than Piquionne, who I believe has been rather poor and I would happily see Nouble on the bench over him, but I do think West Ham are in desperate need of a proper goal scorer to start in the squad!
Out of the substitutes I can't see much changing although throughout the season but I would like to see players given the chance, Montano, Abdulla and Nouble all looked fairly good in pre season and I feel should be given an oppurtunity to shine, I do feel Hines will have something to prove as well, considering he felt he should get a contract offer from a Premiership team, so if he believes that's the case then he should go out there and show us why he felt that. Also I think Reid will be on the bench normally with Faye being our main defender alongside Tomkins.
I have predicted a hopeful 1-0 win for us at home in our first game, we won't create hundreds of chances but that isn't Allardyce's style, his main aim is to be solid defensively and you can't lose if you don't concede. I would setlle for a draw as Cardiff are not an easy team but I feel a little optimistic.
Lastly, COME ON YOU IRONS!
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