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Cup Or League Priority Dilema For Both Hammers And Spurs

nevillenixon's picture
Submitted by nevillenixon on Tue, 30/10/2018 - 13:03

Starved of success for too many years, the fans of both West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur are guilty of a serious case of denial this season. In the case of West Ham new manager Manuel Pellegrini the levels of expectancy went through the roof when the 'world class' man arrived and splashed out more money than Hammers fans and just about everyone else in football could ever have imagined. Talk of European qualification was not scoffed at ahead of the first Premier League encounters, sadly those hopes rapidly evaporated leaving a very uneasy feeling around the club, with talk of relegation and Pellegrini being given the heave ho after four straight defeats circulating. Fortunately the club's hierarchy either kept the faith because they believed in their man or retained his services because they couldn't afford to sack him! Either way the end result of sticking with Pellegrini was that the team were able to climb out of the drop zone and now, at least, look to have put fears of relegation to bed as Pellegrini's new recruits have started to gel.

Of course being West Ham United the team is always close to an injury crisis, and sure enough having up to nine first team players unavailable through injury and illness is what Pellegrini is having to cope with, throw in Mark Noble's ludicrous red card and the need for prioritising future fixtures becomes paramount. The reality is that unless Hammers embark on a 'Leicester City 2016' type of run, European qualification via league position is already out of the question leaving the Cups as the only real possibility of achieving a place in Europe. Why is European football so important? After all look what has happened to most teams that have qualified for the Europa league, there have been mixed fortunes but generally teams tend to suffer because of their congested fixture lists. The reason teams need the exposure in Europe is two fold, firstly the money, but more importantly the profile of an English club is massively enhanced by a successful campaign which in turn puts the club on the radars of top players and their agents.

Tottenham Hotspur, Hammers opponents on Wednesday evening in the Carabao Cup, played against Manchester City yesterday evening at the 'Superdome' losing 0-1, after Wednesday evening's match against West Ham at the London Stadium they then have to play an away match against Woverhampton Wanderers on Friday evening. Given their need to maintain their battle for a top four position and Champion's League qualification, Tottenham's manager Mauricio Pochettino has hinted at changes for the Carabao Cup. Before Hammers fans rub their hands in delight at Pochettino's dilemma it should be remembered that Tottenham have plenty of players ready and able to step up to the mark, the situation is entirely different for Manuel Pellgrini, not Mauricio Pellegrino as a couple of sites have mistakenly been calling him of late, Pellegrini must balance the need for success with a pragmatic need for survival.

It was always going to take a while for Pellegrini's ideas to be understood and acted upon by the players, but no one foresaw the extent of the injuries that he would have to deal with so early on in his tenure as manager. Luckily Pellegrini is not adverse to trying out the pool of youth players at his disposal which has already yielded results, whether through necessity or not the selection of youth players gives fans hope for the future, something that had been missing from the club for several years. It is to be hoped that Pellegrin can maintain the balance between 'blooding' new players whilst still achieving the necessary results required to climb up the table and go on a good cup run, if anyone can Pellegrini can. - Ed

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mcbikeman's picture

We are never going to win the League and it has been so long without a trophy it is getting silly.....so lets try for this league cup as we have never won the competition its about time we did....

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141 users have voted.

I am up for a cup and as my so called relatives remind me that it is never dull being a west ham fan always in a relegation battle and must win scenarios !!!!!

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109 users have voted.

Ill be there tomorrow & even though the stadium is not my cup of tea i fully expect a good atmosphere against the spuds.

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127 users have voted.
moore 6 legend's picture

I'd love for us to win this cup,and if we do get to Wembley,get that bloody pitch sorted out,it looks like a building site.

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115 users have voted.
cast iron's picture

Think Pellegrini Will give Pablo a rest tonight and I think Fredricks will show a bit of fighting spirit he has a chance to prove himself hasn't played in ages. Adriane might play tonight as well if he doesn't play I can see him leaving in January. He loves taking a penalty and I think this will be a 1-1 draw after 90 mins. Should be a good atmosphere and there are 4,800 cocks turning up tonight so COYI

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119 users have voted.

Everyone of them are definately COCKS!!

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148 users have voted.

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