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Catastrophic Loss Could Have Massive Implications As Hammers Crash Out Of FA Cup

nevillenixon's picture
Submitted by nevillenixon on Sat, 27/01/2018 - 17:49

Like many Premier League managers David Moyes elected to make wholesale changes to his starting line up for the FA Cup match against Wigan, Premier League survival being the holy grail. He probably assumed that his team would have a battle on against a rampant and well drilled Wigan team and that they might even end up losing, but never in his worst nightmares could he have envisaged what eventually transpired at the DW Stadium.

To lose Pedro Obiang, one of his most reliable players , with what looks like a season ending injury was bad enough but to then lose Authur Masuaku ,one of his most essential players, for what could be anything from six to eight games as a result of him spitting at an opponent turned a 'routine' outing in to a Hammer Horror Show!

The two nil defeat was bad enough but the implications to West Ham United's survival hopes are massive, losing two key players along with the 'Arsenalesque' current injury list has really altered the survival horizon. Through no fault of his own Moyes has cruelly been denied the use of six key players, many with long term injuries in the space of a few days, that's over half his team! It doesn't matter how much strength in depth or promising youth players you have, half a tea is half a team!

Suddenly Tuesday night's match against Crystal Palace at the London Stadium takes on even more significance, a buoyant Palace team will relish the prospect of facing a Hammers team devoid of all it's major striking options bar Javier Hernandez who has already indicated he wants out, and featuring a midfield that will be relying on new signing Joao Mario as the only creative player in the absence of Manuel Lanzini and 'Elbows' Arnoutovic. Defensively losing Obiang is a loss, but one that can be coped with, we wish Pedro all the best in what will be a long and arduous recovery.

Sam Byram seems to have overcome his long standing injury problems just in time to fill in for the recklessly stupid Authur Masuaku, yes he was on the receiving end of a really poor challenge but to spit at an opponent was not only abhorrent but was ridiculously stupid and irresponsible, Masuaku will argue that he did not spit directly in the opponents face, but why spit in his direction at all?. The irony being that if he had retaliated with a tackle that broke the protagonists leg he would have only received a three match ban, but then again if he had time to engage his brain to calculate his revenge then he probably would not have taken it!

Ultimately the result of the match is unimportant, but the consequences could be catastrophic for Hammer's survival plans, hopes of mid table safety are beginning to look a little optimistic given recent events, and in case any West Ham Fans are in any doubt, the club is now in a real survival battle, and as it is unlikely that the owners will risk spending big during this transfer window it can only be hoped that they have a couple of incredibly creative loan options lined up! - Ed

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Glimmer of light here as Newport have taken the lead against Tottenham and are doing to them what Wigan did to West Ham in terms of domination.

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155 users have voted.
mcbikeman's picture

Any west ham fan does not expect us to struggle Nev....and now i expect panic buys and silly money spent before deadline day...not because of the result but because of the danger of going out of the prem the holy grail for all chairmen....i would though like to point out that failure in the transfer market in the summer and trying to do things on a shoestring is now coming back to bite them on the bum.....will it change of course not...if we survive expect to hear how hard it is to do business in a world cup year....and i hope supporters wise up and refuse to attend cup matches after all the club is not interested so why part with your hard earned cash...the clubs lost its soul the be all and end all is staying in the prem cups are an annoyance to use the kids or second stringers in......the one thing the club must look at though is the constant long term injuries we seem to suffer not a week or few days we are talking months...how/why does this happen? not many clubs suffer the way we do with injuries...gooners yes but even they must look and think WTF is going on at west ham to suffer so many major injuries in a season...so a long hard look needs to be taken at what can be done because it is ruining season after season because of it.

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175 users have voted.
Essexhammer's picture

West Ham's current injury list: Ayew Noble Antonio Fernandes Kouyate Rice Lanzini Arnautovic Reid Sakho Fonte Carroll Obiang

That is one serious problem ,and unless the board start to spend some money on 3 or 4 quality players(and I don't mean on has-beens,loanees that the parent club don't want,or some 20 goal a season player from the Swiss second division) Westham are staring relegation in the face.Mario is an excellent start ,a player who can ran with the ball,speedy ,skillful and provides many assists,but we can't just rely on him as the team does with Lanzini ,there is a need for two more midfielders because there is just no creativity in the side,one preferably a holding player.There is also a desperate need for a top striker,Sturridge has the quality but a huge risk,Troy Deeney not the same ability but knows where the net is.If the board give us more of this tosh that clubs dont want to sell their best players,then they really need to seriously consider what is worse ,paying over the odds for a quality player or relegation.

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168 users have voted.

For a manager to come out and capitulate the way Moyes did mid week and then put out his reserve team i honestly expected nothing else ,didnt see the match but if Masu did that he should never play again for us and in my opinion for anyone else

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188 users have voted.

Burkie 1

plaistow-man's picture

I was there and to say disappointed would be an understatement, we created nothing, defended like amateurs, kept passing backwards, Hart no chance for the opener or the pen but does not command the area the way Adrian does. But Hart tbf constantly forced to clear his lines punting the ball up to little effect. We had a starting XI that on paper could have won or at least made a game of it, dodgy pen maybe, Masuaku's actions unforgivable, whatever way you look at it we got in the end what we deserved.... nothing!

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168 users have voted.
metbobby1's picture

of this ‘Premiership survival at all costs’ nonsense. What do the fans get out of it?? Bugger all, that’s what! It only lines the pockets of those two greedy b******s and gives just another excuse to raise ticket prices.
We will be going nowhere except down, for as long as they hold the purse strings.
They purport to be fans but if they genuinely are, why take us away from the Boleyn?
They got what they wanted, a world class stadium on the cheap....and to hell with what we wanted.
The laughable excuse that it would lead us to Champions League football has been shown up for what it was....b******s!!
Where were the Champions League signings??
We’ll only ever be a cup winning side as long as they’re holding the purse strings and there’s about as much chance of us doing that as I have of winning a three legged race....and I don’t have any!!!!

Does anyone remember a consultation?
Not that it would have made any difference.

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161 users have voted.

I'm now thinking all the board wanted was the cheap stadium. Once they got that we have become a cash cow to them. West Ham fans my arse. No intention in them taking us forward. The signings are still of a standard we always had.

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154 users have voted.

Just read Sullivan was confronted by fans after the game. When he asked who fans would buy one chirped up Jonjo shelvey. Unless I read it wrong he replied "he's useless"! This was after he had said it's become impossible to sign players! Well Mr Sullivan if you describe and treat players like that I wonder why?

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160 users have voted.
La Vida Hammer's picture

The last 2 cup games I have not seen any promising youngsters with any promise? ?

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161 users have voted.

I have visions of hodgson rocking up in his mobility scooter on tuesday,number plate with Woy.1 on it,plastic covering to keep the rain out & him fist pumping to "Glad all over!!"

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132 users have voted.

There are a few manager's in football that are a breath of fresh air not constantly bitching like Arsehole whinger or pretentious fuckers like Marinio,or greedy rent a club BFS ,Hodgson is a gent ,never looses his cool he's a refreshing change to your prem managers and i wont have a word said against him

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167 users have voted.

Burkie 1

Hodgson had that hatred for the Hammers. None of the Hammers made the England squad when he was in charge, in spite of players like Antonio, Noble and Cresswell being in the peak of their form, that saw West Ham finish in the top seven under Bilic's first year in charge.

Now Sakho has actually passed a medical and will be moving to Rennes on a permanent move. The guy was clapped out these past few games with goodness knows what, and suddenly he has miraculously recovered to make the transfer window.

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162 users have voted.

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