Forum | General Discussion

Festive greetings and all that goes with them, now that's out the way it is time to concentrate on the tricky task of being a West Ham supporter at this moment in time. The team is currently in the middle of a 'relegation' warranting spell of just one win in five games and the visitors to Stratford this Boxing day are a club who love to 'disrupt' Hammers' momentum.

As the current momentum is an incredible downward spiral, interrupting it would NOT be a bad thing! Injuries and loss of form have contributed to the current state of affairs, but it is Lady Luck who has deserted the club at present. There can be no clearer example than the 1/4 final defeat over at the North London Gin Palace, but for Lloris having his 'game of the season', things could have turned out differently. Hammers fans will temporarily become Chelsea supporters en masse when their Semi final against Tottingham is being played.

The fact that Hammers currently sit FIFTH in the Premier League table is testament to how brilliantly the team were doing until the injuries hit home, the last match highlighted the dilemma perfectly as Hammers took on the club they love to beat, but were without FIVE essential first team players and yet still so nearly managed to get a positive result, losing against *'them players' hurt!

IF tomorrow's game goes ahead, there is every likelihood Hammers will still be without vital players, but at least Vladimir Coufal will be available, thus releasing Ben Johnson to cover for Aaron Cresswell should it be necessary. Young Harrison Ashby can then be on the bench to cover at right back, unfortunately cover for left back is another issue.

We at the Org always try to be positive about the players, none more so than Authur Masuaku, but his performances since being drafted in to the first team have been lamentable, save for his freak goal against Chelsea. Authur is a defensive LIABILITY and should NEVER play as an out and out defender, it comes as little surprise that both of Levy's boys goals came from down the flank that he was supposed to be guarding.

All the carpers who have been banging on about how 'useless' Michail Antonio has been since returning from the International break, were given a bleak reminder during Wednesday's narrow 2-1 defeat of how devoid of ideas and toothless the team is when he is not playing.

It seems as if every opponent Hammers face have had extra days of rest due to postponed games, Boxing Day's visitors Southampton are a case in point. However before turning an envious glance in the direction of teams that have had a 'jolly good rest', it should be remembered that ALL of those postponed games HAVE to be completed somehow within a scheduled timetable that had already been stretched to the limit before recent events.

A win against the Saints would go a long long way to make up for recent disappointments and help stabilise the ship, problem is that Southampton have always seen West Ham as an 'easy target' away from Home, as has been borne out historically.

Winning against teams who have held the Hex over the club has become one of David Moyes' managerial traits, the game on Boxing day would be a great time to kick start that particular element of his influence. Hopefully there will be happy hammers heading home in the late afternoon. They will however have to do so WITHOUT the use of the Overground, so expect plenty of delays as a 60,000 crowd attempt to get through the 'tentacles' of Stratford tube station alongside ALL the bargain hunters visiting Westfield shopping Mall.

We wish everyone a Happy Christmas and a Glorious New Year, but more importantly, THREE POINTS on Boxing Day! - Ed

* An homage to Glenn Hoddle's use of the English language

Easy target for keyboard warriors? Well it is Panto season, so everyone loves a wicked witch don't they? Hammers current fall guy, and their have been plenty in the past including Aaron Cresswell AND Manu Lanzini, is Issa Diop. Having been given virtually no Premier League game time until a spate on injuries made David Moyes HAVE to select a player he clearly doesn't reckon, Diop has become the target for fans who are disappointed by the club's awful run of form, never mind the fact that the squad is woefully short of players and without a main striker in Michail Antonio's absence.

Diop represents an easy target, he is tall and gangly, he will NEVER look cultured but he is a fine young player who will eventually become one of the best, if not with West Ham then definitely with one of the club's rivals, it is rumoured that Palace are going to try and nick him on the cheap, after all, that is what they did with James Tomkins and Cheiko Kayoute.

Why on earth would fans want to DESTROY one of their young player's confidence? It makes no sense! But that is exactly what is happening, David Moyes alluded to basic schoolboy errors in defence during the defeat by Tottingham, without actually naming Diop, but his inference was clear, we at the Org expect better from a manager who was himself a central defender.

There are still a couple more games before the transfer window opens, surely Moyes and others would be best served by keeping a zip on it, at least until those important games are out of the way and reinforcements, if they arrive, can be deployed? - Ed

Having to send a team out devoid of its entire first choice in defence was hard enough, but to then be deprived of your main striker with only a few hours notice made it almost mission impossible for David Moyes West Ham away to Tottingham in the Carabao Cup semi final.

The end to end game was decided by a three goal spell ALL within the space of five first half minutes, the home team took the lead only for it to be cancelled out by a superb bit of improvisation by Jarrod Bowen following a miss hit by Nikola Vlasic. Unfortunately the parity only lasted a couple of minutes before the home team scored again.

Matters weren't helped by Hugo Lloris deciding to have a mater class in goal as he deprived Hammers of at least three certain goals, he somehow kept an energised Hammers from equalizing right up until the very last minute of play. No one can say Hammers didn't give it a real go, on another day the outcome could have gone West Ham's way, alas it was not to be.

There is no disgrace for a severely depleted team to have been beaten by a home side that was at full strength, one that had the benefit of having been able to rest and recuperate their players for THREE additional games more than the Irons had.

Losing important players like Michail Antonio to Covid will be more frequent, as unfortunately the Omicron variant is more than likely going to be the main team selector for many team's line ups for the foreseeable future, at least in the short term and it will hit clubs irrespective of their size, although those with huge squads will obviously be able to cope much better than those with limited squads, such as West Ham.

Hammers can now concentrate on the LEAGUE and the FA Cup, ahead of the last sixteen of the UEFA Europa League Cup, a competition that has qualification for the champions League as a prize whereas the Carabao Cup doesn't! - LN