West Ham: Fabianski, Cresswell, Coufal, Diop, Dawson, Rice, Soucek, Bowen, Lingard, Benrahma, Antonio. Subs: Martin, Trott, Balbuena, Lanzini, Ibsen, Noble, Fredericks, Johnson, Odubeko.
Arsenal: Leno, Tierney, Mari, Chambers, Luiz, Partey, Xhaka, Saka, Odegaard, Aubameyang, Lacazette. Subs: Ryan, Gabriel, Holding, Ceballos, Cedric, Pepe, Elneny, Smith Rowe, Martinelli.
According to reports emanating from Hammers 'goose green' training ground, midfield dynamo Pablo Fornals and forward Andriy Yarmolenko will both be available for today's clash with London rivals Arsenal. 'Yarmo' is at best now seen as a 'fringe' player, whereas Fornals is seen as an integral component in the 'Moyes machine'.
The extremely generous, some might say quite ludicrous, terms of Yarmo's contract beggar belief, £115,000 per week for a player who has been unavailable through injury for vast tracts of time, in fact he has played only 53 games scoring ten goals in the process during his entire time with West Ham. Astonishingly he was offered a FOUR year deal, which expires on the 30th of June 2022, despite having a propensity for picking up injuries.
Yarmolenko's current market value is £5 Million, the problem is no one will be willing or able to match his outrageous salary, so it looks as if the club are going to be stuck with him unless they do a similar deal as was done with Jack Wilshere, just to get him off the books.
It is worth bearing in mind that both Yarmo and wheelchair were Pellegrini signings, their combined £225,000 per week wages ate up a staggering £11 Million per year, so far the cost of these 'dalliance' signings is in excess of £30 Million! How David Moyes would love to have had that money at his disposal?
Unfortunately for Moyes he has had to do the housekeeping that involves trying to offload the players who are crippling the club with their lucrative deals, eventually they will all be gone, but not before a considerable amount of fiscal pain.
Fornals, on the other hand, is young, fit and increasing in value, he along with 'Fab' are the only players Pellegrini signed that have been any good, the rest have been very expensive mistakes! So the fitness of Yarmolenko is neither here nor there, but Fornals is a different kettle of fish, fans will be praying that he will be available, because the other options available could fill them with fear. - Ed
The continued concern about the fitness of Hammers midfield dynamo, Pablo Fornals, means that David Moyes has a serious selection decision to make. Last time out, without Lingard who couldn't play, and Fornals who had picked up an injury during the victory over Leeds, Moyes elected to start club stalwart Mark Noble, and the result was clear for all to see.
Setting up for what is a REALLY crucial game against tenth placed Arsenal, the Hammers manager does have lingard available which is a huge bonus, but if Moyes is deprived of the services of Fornals he surely must look towards starting either Manuel Lanzini, or as is more likely, £25 Million signing, Said Benrahma.
Moyes simply cannot start with 'captain' Mark Noble, yes maybe bring him on with 15 minutes to go in order to shore things up, but definitely not as a starter, his lack of pace would be cruelly exposed, and his propensity to give away fouls in dangerous areas is a major worry. Sadly, as a player 'loses' his legs, those precise tackles they once made are now seen as bookable lunges, it is only a mattter of being a yard short, but the pace of a team like Sunday's opponents Arsenal will leave most players breathless, let alone a player who by his own admission has reached the end of the road.
This article is not meant to be disrespectful to someone who has been such a great and dignified servant to the club, but is really meant as a 'fans' warning to the manager. If, the Irons make it to Europe, then perhaps Noble's 'unique' style might be more suited to the less frenetic football played, at least in the early stages, but to get in to Europe the next few games need to be won, something that won't happen if 'Marky' is playing. - Ed
Apart from the obvious delight many Hammers fans feel at the Europa League demise of the team currently occupying 8th place in the Barclays Premier League team, Tottenham, there is a more serious point of contention that needs to be raised, namely that if a squad containing someone who is supposed to be one of the best strikers in the World, and a player who receives £600,000 per week from a combination of Real Madrid and Spurs payments, should be able to progress, at least to the quarter finals stage.
Now it is possible to say that the North Londoners were inept on the night, having spent most of the game playing for a draw, following the 'special one's' boring but generally successful operandi. However, it is not just Mourinho's men who have 'suffered' in Europe, the extra games combined with a compressed domestic schedule has definitely had a negative impact on the progress of British teams.
As West Ham approach what those across the pond like to call 'the end game' part of the season, there are genuine hopes that a European competition spot can be attained, in this the weirdest of all seasons, probably in the Europa League as a Champions League spot is probably just a step too far.
"Be careful what you wish for" If David Moyes DOES steer the team in to Europe, the paucity of the squad would be hideously exposed, wafer thin is an understatement, the need for an extensive overhaul of the squad is obvious irrespective of the team's final league place.
There will doubtless already have been 'contingency' talks about the costs involved in European competition, especially the early stages of the Europa League, there will be the argument that it is pointless expensively equipping a squad to compete in Europe if there is the possibility of a 'slip up' similar to the events of last night.
A Euro place is a bonus that can cut both ways, and if the owners of West Ham do really want to take the club to the next level, they have to back David Moyes in the transfer market significantly, but not to the excesses of his predecessor Manuel Pellegrini. - Ed
Kane Bale and co lol love seeing them Fu*k up guess the radio waves will be jammed with high pitch whining and thats Whining spud fans not winning lol.....well done Special one keep the good work up
Almost inevitably, and especially given the 'injury crisis' the England International team manager Gareth Southgate has had to cope with, Jesse Lingard's fine form for West Ham while on loan from Manchester United has been rewarded with a recall to the National squad, having not prominently featured since the 2018 World Cup finals.
This is what Gareth Southgate had to say regarding Jesse Lingard's recall: "We have injuries in attacking areas which have opened up an opportunity for Jesse. I have to say his performances for West Ham have been excellent. We know he can perform at that level. Ideally, you would be saying he needs to do it for longer but that has not been the option this time around. We have lost Jack Grealish, Jadon Sancho and one or two others like Harvey Barnes and James Maddison. There is a space there, we trust Jesse and think he can play a big part in these three games."
Excellent news for the player who had been left out in the cold by club and country, not so good for West Ham, who will see a key player who's availability will be crucial if the club are to achieve European qualification, going off on England duty for three games, he is hardly likely to return refreshed is he?
Lingard and Declan Rice will team up for England, fellow Hammers Tomáš Souček, Vladimír Coufal, Saïd Benrahma and Łukasz Fabiański are also on International duty. Other 'friendly' fixtures have been cancelled as a result of Covid-19 restrictions.
Of course the major worry is that Lingard might get injured while away with England, and let's face it, Hammers have had more than their fair share of players getting crocked on International duty.- Ed
Big Mich Antonio, or Mikey as his manager likes to call him, is the ever popular and effervescent 'false' striker employed by David Moyes to fill the expensive void left by the club's most expensive signing Sebastien Haller. The sale of the aforementioned to Ajax at an astonishing £25 Million loss, necessitated more game time for Antonio who has struggled with hamstring and thigh issues, mainly hamstring, ever since his arrival at the club from Nottingham Forest.
The fact that he played as a right back, as well as filling in as a midfielder, a winger, and ultimately as the club's only striker, probably hasn't helped his troublesome 'Hammies'. They are so huge no wonder they require 'special maintenance', and that comes in the form of rest and 'gentle' exercise, neither of which commodity is available when a player is away on International duty.
So news that Big Mich has 'elected to make himself available to play for Jamaica will be greeted with some degree of displeasure by David Moyes, not that he would admit so publicly, but the last thing he wants is for one of his crucially important players expending all their energy featuring in games that are quite often completely irrelevant friendlies.
Antonio has been included in England squads under both Sam Allardyce and Gareth Southgate, but has never made his senior debut and has apparently now chosen Jamaica instead because it provides the prospect of more regular international football. A bit of a strange decision because it comes at a time when his chances of an England call-up have increased, because of injuries elsewhere. Tammy Abraham, Danny Ings and Callum Wilson are all undergoing treatment, meaning Harry Kane and Dominic Calvert-Lewin are currently Southgate's only regular strikers available. 30-year-old Antonio was approached by Jamaica last month, but was still considering whether he wanted to play for England, his country of birth or the Caribbean island, where his parents were born. Jamaica are due to play a friendly against the USA in Austria on March the 25th.
David Moyes's comment on Antonio offering his services to Jamaica were "I only found out about it yesterday and I've not had a direct conversation with Michail, I am still holding out he has a chance to get picked for England. I wouldn't say no to Jamaica." So that is how things are perceived However the elephant in the room is that Antonio struggles to be fit for even 2/3rds of the season, let alone the stresses on his body accrued playing additional games, surely someone has to have an unofficial word with 'suggesting' that he might wish to wait out this current crop of Internationals, at least until the club have acquired an additional striker, or two! - Ed
Dodged a bullet with this player or what,His move to Evertons proving what many thought about him over rated and certainly overpaid and under performing hopefully Moyes and the boys will steer clear of this type of player in the summer.
Where ever we end up this season one things for sure we now look a much more attractive prospect to players long may this upward trend continue COYI
Mark Noble's comments, regurgitated by the Star, in which he discusses announcing his retirement and the club's potential to be playing in Europe next season, seem to make little sense, which is probably due to some amateurish copy and pasting!
We hope so, because if not, dear old Marky seems to have lost the plot, if the current Hammers captain thinks he will be playing in those possible European games then he really needs to take a large dose of reality pills. 'Nobes's' showing against Manchester United surely proved the point that, whereas he is indeed an inspiring presence in and around the dressing room, he no longer cuts the mustard out on the pitch.
The situation is hardly going to dramatically change between now and the summer is it? If Hammers are lucky enough to get in to Europe, they will need to exploit the main virtues of the team which are pace and power, combined with a gritty defence that is well screened by the Rice and Potatoes combo.
Someone needs to have a word in Mark Noble's shell like, it would be undignified if he says one thing about his fitness and game craft, but everyone else says another that is totally different. Mark has been a truly great, and loyal servant for the club, a club which has learned from it's past misdemeanours when it comes to respecting players who have given their all, but the truth is that times stands still for no man, or woman, especially in the incredibly competitive and physically demanding upper echelons of elite football. - Ed
Any one in the media who criticises David Moyes's achievements at West Ham does so knowing they are being at the least slightly disingenuous, the Hammers manager has exceeded all expectations in this his first full year in charge.
That said, it doesn't mean that David Moyes is perfect, he would himself say that, despite being one of the most experienced managers in the Barclays Premier League, that he and his team have room for improvement. It is by fine margins that success and failure can be determined, and as such the only 'carp' fans have levelled at the 57 year old Scot is that he continues to show TOO much respect to the supposed 'elite' teams.
Recent games against an underperforming Liverpool team, as well as both recent matches against the referee's retirement home sponsors, Manchester United, stick out from what otherwise has been an incredibly successful season. It may seem churlish even to have a go at Moyes, but he will know himself that these are the type of games that Hammers should be winning if they are to stamp their authority on the 'best league in the world'.
Bearing in mind the constraints Moyes has had to work under he has done magnificently, and perhaps this season's push for European competition is just a tad too much to expect or hope for, either way at least the team has had a 'right old go' at gate crashing the 'smug four'!
If Moyes and his players can learn to overcome the 'big opponent syndrome then there s no reason at all why the club shouldn't build on this season's success and forge ahead with a type of recruitment more suited to a working man's team rather than a bunch of posing prima donas. - Ed
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