"We have to try and keep it going. I don't think being fourth this moment in time means an awful lot apart from showing we have been consistent. As long as we are around the mix and European places, that will be really good but if we can hang on the coat tails of teams above that is what we will try and do." Thus spoke the Moyesiah after Hammers dispensed with an obdurate, but ultimately unsuccessful, Norwich team that tried its hardest but was unable to bridge the gap in player quality between the teams.
It should be remembered that Hammers played a really tough FA Cup tie against Leeds on the Sunday ahead of the rescheduled game against Norwich and as such players were understandably showing a degree of tiredness during certain spells of the match.
Things don't get any easier, with the Leeds match 2:0 due to be held this weekend, this impending League fixture could go a long way in determining Hammers top slot aspirations, a win would push the club towards firming up at least a top six berth, anything less will see the club moving backwards against rivals Arsenal, Tottingham and Ronaldo United.
With Kurt Zouma scheduled to return from injury within the next week or so AND Aaron Cresswell's return, the team's under pressure defence will finally get the break it deserves. While Craig Dawson and Issa Diop are no match for the Angelo Ogbonna and Kurt Zouma, they HAVE performed remarkably well given the amount of games they have had to play, which include ALL the cup games including the UEFA Europa League.
With a little bit of diligent recruitment, there is NO reason Hammers shouldn't claim another TOP SIX slot, you never know, but with a bit of luck well actually an awful lot of good luck Hammers just might be able to 'gatecrash' the top four, it is highly unlikely, but if all the competitors for the top places take points off each other there is every chance Hammers will be there or thereabouts.
What a difference a couple of years make, West Ham United is no longer recognisable from the disparate and desperate club it was, now it is West Ham UNITED, both on AND off the pitch. David Moyes has hewn the club from his own granite like personality, no longer are WEst Ham 'flakey'. Instead every team that is due to play the club knows they will be in a game, IRRESPECTIVE of who they are.
Hammers for the Champions League, why not dream? - LN
Comments
Contenders yes very much so
But can we keep going with the size of squad available i am not so sure....if and right now it is a BIG IF Moyes does manage to get us quality in the areas required(we all know what those are!)then yes apart from Citeh/Bindippers/Chelski who have talent in abundance i can see us pushing for the top four all the way....just the annoying defeats at home to Saints and Brentford already showing that we really cannot afford anymore slip ups against that kind of opposition....with the Spuds once more turning on each other Lego hair seeing his clubs momentum stalling a little this weekend is a massive one with the North London Derby(a draw best bet there)and chelski at citeh we could do ourselves a whole lotta good by beating Leeds again this Sunday do that and a bit of daylight between us and those others start to appear and with a much better looking Villa outfit playing Manure this is going to be a massive weekend for us and our top four ambitions COYI and come on the Moyesiah get those bodies in.
Why not indeed ,this club has
Why not indeed ,this club has morphed into something unrecognizable, and you'd have to say the move goes a long way to being the cause, if we could hold onto Rice there is no barriers to what can be achieved ,personally i can see no reason why he would leave ,if you look at Grealish and his move he appears to have fallen over a cliff.
Give Dec the right pay packet and everything will fall into place ,big names will want to come here ,as for Les and Diop we owe them big time .
To be fair
I thought we looked a bit off last night v Norwich, we have played better and lost but this was a must win and we did win. With Cress back and he will get fitter after his lay off and I expect Zouma to do the same... no Soucek so he will be fresh for the weekend. However if we can get a win v Leeds on Sunday it takes a bit more pressure off and if we can nick wins when not at our best just think what could be achieved when we hit that "purple patch"?
It changes week to week doesn
It changes week to week doesn't it? If Rice gets injured on England duty or the Czech mates, if Liverpool's constant tapping up of Bowen turns his head and he loses form and so on and so forth. What is remarkable is that this paper-thin squad has now been in or around the top 6 for the best part of 2 years which is a remarkable achievement whichever way you look at it. Moyes and his staff deserve massive (yes I know) credit but so too do the players. Rice is clearly leading from the front challenging his team mates to improve and watching Lanzini, Bowen, Johnson, Vlasic etc. they're all improving almost game to game. This weekend is indeed huge because if results go our way then the pressure really does start to build on the chasing pack (and possibly even Liverpool if they stumble agaisnt Brentford, something they've already done of course) but will also boost our confidence. So in answer to the question. Can I get back to you after the weekend? (How's that for fence-sitting?)
contenders yes ...but
I think we are close but not quit there yet. When we field a full 11 we can play the best. I just think the squad is still lacking in quality. We can look at our Euro run with a B team and question this statement but to date the Euro opposition were not so strong. Lets see, its the 15th of the month and still no striker, no left back, no CB and no JESSE. If the unholy Trinity and the new Czech mate are REALLY serious this would have been fixed by now. KTF, COYMI's, Mr Pessimistic Hammer