West Ham United have spent relatively big on 'style' players, when they are on song they are a joy to behold, however in the Barclays Premier league there is no place to hide, and flair players often find it hard to adapt to the cut and thrust of the game. This scenario is currently affecting Manuel Pellegrini's team, the player who has 'suffered' most is Pablo Fornals although Felipe Anderson has also come in for a lot of criticism, most of it entirely unfounded!
Prior to the two defeats against Palace and Everton, fans were overjoyed with the team's performances, so what has gone wrong? The absence of Michail Antonio has begun to have a collateral effect, when teams need 'beasting' he is the man, there is not another player in the current 1st team squad who is equivalent. There are options in the U-23 squad and with players out on loan, it is inconceivable that Grady Diangana will stay at West Brom when the January window opens, as his form will surely put him in to first team contention.
Word has reached us that Fornals is indeed not in the starting line up, and possibly not even in the squad as Manuel Pellegrini looks to protect one of his prize assets from a media that can be extremely cruel, especially to such a young player finding his feet in a new country. If Fornals doesn't make the squad, expect a 'mysterious niggle' picked up in training to be given as the reason for his absence, it is what any good manager does, protect their charges!
It is almost beyond belief that the Irons can play as poorly this Saturday as they did in last Saturday's abject 'surrender' to Everton, Aaron Cresswell will surely play as left back so long as he has recovered from his 'niggle', while maybe the General Fabian Balbuena will replace Angelo Ogbonna in defence. Either way El Pell has to mix things up in order to ensure the promising start to the season doesn't fizzle out, as we have mentioned before, this season represents a genuine chance to go and mix it with the big boys.
As always the crowd will be behind the team at the London Stadium, which will be a pretty noisy place given the vociferous nature of the match, the 'Carlos Tevez Saga' looms large and you can bet your house on the Blades fans being right up for the occasion, their team beat Arsenal last week and they will be looking to add another London club's scalp to their belt.
A Kick start to the season, or more misery? We'll know by 5pm this evening - Ed
