Forum | General Discussion

West Ham: Fabianski, Cresswell, Diop, Ogbonna, Zabaleta, Noble, Rice, Anderson, Antonio, Lanzini, Arnautovic Subs: Adrian, Balbuena, Snodgrass, Hernandez, Nasri, Masuaku, Perez
Huddersfield: Lossl, Lowe, Kongolo, Stankovic, Smith, Bacuna, Durm, Mooy, Rowe, Pritchard, Grant Subs: Hamer, Billing, Mounie, Zanka, Hadergjonaj, Daly, Puncheon

Having proved his point by dropping his top striker for several matches, Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini is clever enough to avoid 'cutting his nose off to spite his face' by intimating that Marko Arnautovic will lead the line from the start in the match against Huddersfield town at the London (hopefully soon to be renamed Tesla) Stadium this Saturday.

The line has been drawn in the sand regarding last weekend's appalling performance against bottom three side Cardiff City, part of the process to rapidly move on is to start Arnautovic against The Terriers who are all but relegated, however can still mathematically survive as they have 14 points with just 8 games remaining, unfortunately apart from West Ham they also have to face Tottenham, Manchester United and Liverpool in their run in so they are done dusted! That said, the visitors will be playing for pride and future contracts so they will be dangerous adversaries, if Hammers stroll out with a 'billy big bollocks' attitude they may well come a cropper.

On the topic of starting the player who was West Ham United's talisman before 'chinagate' Manuel Pellegrini had this to say, “Marko was out of the team for several reasons. First, because his mind was out when he had the option to go to China. Then he returned and didn’t work for about a week, so he needed time to recover his performance. After that, he was sick. He was going to start against Manchester City but he felt bad that day. There’s a lot of reasons why he was starting on the bench, but I think he is ready to return in his position.”

This statement will come as a relief to many fans who were beginning to worry that Arnautovic might become disenfranchised by the treatment being dished out by his manager, however it has to be appreciated that a manager of Pellegrini's standing cannot afford to tolerate indiscipline even if it is from one of his star players. Hopefully the past is water under the bridge and 'Arnie' can pick up where he left off, judging by pictures from yesterday's training both player and manager looked really happy, either that or they are both great actors!

Starting Arnautovic when fit is a bit of a no brainer, he might not make the full 90 minutes given his recent lack of game time, but he can bully the opposition defenders senseless until he runs out of puff, then perhaps 'Cheaterito' for the closing stages where he can earn free kicks, possibly penalties(sic). Pellegrini also alluded to the fact that Pablo Zabaleta will start at right back, Ryan Fredericks dropping to the bench is probably a good thing as he had an absolute stinker against Cardiff, then again most of the team did but it is felt that 'Zaba's ' professionalism is required for this particular fixture. There is also the possibility of the 'General' Fabian Balbuena starting ahead of Angelo Ogbonna alongside Issa Diop, however that would be rather harsh on the Italian who has performed well once he shook off his ring rust.

Probable team to face Huddersfield: Fabianski, Zabaleta, Diop, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Noble, Rice, Snodgrass, Lanzini, Anderson, Arnautovic. Subs: Adrian, Balbuena, Nasri, Masuaku, Antonio, Fredericks, Hernandez

Manuel Pellegrini, or this 'Charming Man' as he was known to Manchester City fans while managing at the Etihad, was far from charming when he met up with his players for Monday's post match analysis of Saturday's dreadful performance against relegation strugglers Cardiff City.

Apparently there was some 'styrofoam damage' done to drinking receptacles, the players not being allowed to use real china for fear of freak injury, followed by a 'Bonzo' style work out the likes of which Rush Green has never seen before, it made Moyes and Psycho look like Yoga teachers.

It seems that the venerable and highly experienced Pellegrini has realised that he has credited several of his players with more intelligence than they actually have, and that some of them perform to a higher level when 'challenged' to do so on a regular basis, hence his 'falling out' with players like Lucas Perez.

At the end of the day it will be his way or the highway when it comes to Pellegrini's dealings with players, by this time next season his ethos will be firmly engrained in those players who remain after what will be little short of a cull in the Summer.

A 43 year old Billy Bonds regularly used to out run the 'young 'uns' during pre-season back in the day when the squad used to decamp to just near Southend On Sea in order to run up and down sand dunes, he did what he thought was expected of him despite having a dodgy toe that eventually nearly had to be amputated. Bonzo came from a different breed of player, they did what they were told and recognised how fortunate they were to be paid to play, not giving their all didn't enter in to the equation, they couldn't let themselves down, but above all the fans who had spent there 'hard earned' to be there.

Back to the future can be beneficial at times! -n Ed