Forum | General Discussion

Last time we at the Org remembered, Barclays Premier league football was a game played between two teams each comprising of eleven players with three substitutes available to be used from the bench, the game is played on a pitch, not paper and usually the visitors supporters out sing the home crowd for much of the match. To read some of the pundits and fans comments there seems little point in West Ham even turning up to play all conquering Manchester City at the Etihad for this evening's fixture.

The prognosis being that City, despite having a mini injury crisis, have such strength in depth and will blow the Hammers away with their slick football. That may eventually be the case, but to down tools before the match is disgraceful both for the other teams in the Premier League and the fans who will have travelled a fair old distance for this rearranged fixture, many of which will be heavily out of pocket having originally booked travel and in some cases accommodation for Tuesday night when the match was originally going to be played.

Much in the same way as Mike tyson in his prime or the West Indies cricket team in their pomp in the seventies, many opponents were beaten before they even started, and it wasn't until Lennox Lewis and the Aussies changed peoples' perception about the 'unbeatable'. Sure enough the once indestructibles began to get beaten, after all they were only mere human beings who were perceived to be better than they actually were, and it is this mind set that the West Ham players need to be aware of.

City have already had their 'mini wobble' suffering three defeats to lowly opposition, but the fact that they did lose a string of games with virtually a full squad available proves that even Pep's men can be vulnerable to teams that refuse to bow to their superiority. It all comes back to perception and intent, if Hammers go out to press City they will get punished, but for once Manuel Pellegrini, who will be returning to the Etihad for the first time as an opposing manager, has a surfeit of attacking options. If City are to be given a good game it is vital that Marko Arnautovic starts up top as he has the physicality to 'bully' City's defence, and although Samir Nasri might play against his former club it is highly likely that Pablo Zabaleta will be rested and that Ryan Fredericks will start due to his lightening pace that he possesses.

City need to win this game in order to maintain their title challenge and the possibility of doing the 'quadruple', Hammers need it to chase a Europa League Cup spot, Huddersfield's victory over Wolves will have definitely provided an added incentive for the pursuit of seventh spot. Manuel Pellegrini has talked about rotating the teams to play against City and then against Newcastle just three days later, but at least he now has what is beginning to resemble a squad as opposed to a M.A.S.H unit! The pundits reckon Hammers will be battered, or could that be tempuried? - Ed

Hammers returned from their 'warm weather' training session in Spain to find the temperature not far off back here in 'Blighty', however the team bonding excercise seems to have been worth it judging by the Instagram snippets shared with the media of the team celebrating Manu Lanzini's birthday. There are some observers who frowned upon hearing clearly drunk West Ham players singing Bubbles at Manu's birthday bash, but they weren't doing coke in the toilets or 'roasting' young girls in their hotel, nor were any of them caught breaking curfew by sneaking out for a late night binge!

Things are changing at West Ham in many different ways, newly installed manager Manuel Pellegrini has an ethos and style that is the blue print of how he wants his teams to be, both in performances on the pitch but also relating to their behaviour and mentality outside of the pitch. Transgressors know that beneath the calm and quite exterior lurks a man who will take no prisoners and has a steely determination to get things done his way, his efforts have been hampered by a ridiculous injury list but now he will begin to have access to some of those players who have been sorely missed, most notably Manuel Lanzini.

It is almost impossible to valuate where the club could have been in the league table had Lanzini been available, and while the club has had to deal with a whole raft of injuries, his has had the most detrimental effect. Players like Robert Snodgrass, honest as the day is long and a player who will run his heart out for the cause, need creative gems like Lanzini around them to help raise their game. It is worth noting that club captain Mark Noble always seems to perform better when in the company of 'gifted' players, they make him raise his game to a different level, and this positivity drips down through the rest of the players.

Hammers take on relegation threatened Fulham, who are winless on the road, at the London Stadium tonight in a fixture that in the past would have had all the hallmarks of the visitors being 'helped' by a West Ham team that loves to lose against lowly opposition. This is a game that Pellegrini's big club mentality ethos will be put to the test, by now he knows who has bought in to his ideas and who hasn't, his 'rejection' and freezing out of Lucas Perez being a case in point, it is clearly obvious that El Pel's rebuilding of the club is only at the foundation stage, but given the correct resources by the board and with a fitter squad next season could be something special.

Imagine the team Pellegrini could have selected without the horrendous injury list, let us know what your first team would be if all the squad were available. - Ed

It has taken nearly three years for West Ham United and the LDCC to address one of the most glaring failures of hosting football, British football that is, at the London Stadium. Given the outrageous costs of converting the Stadium from an Athletics dome in to a football arena, it seems almost unbelievable that it has taken so much time to resolve the issue of having a pitch that virtually looked like an oval. It wasn't exactly rocket science to explore moving the ground level seating of the Sir Trevor Brooking and Bobby Moore Stands by around 14 feet, thus bringing those fans closer to the action, which will in turn enhance the atmosphere.

It would be churlish to criticise West Ham for not having pushed these improvements through sooner, because for a long period of time the only negotiation between the club and the LDCC was via litigation lawyers! Who was to blame for that state of affairs is anyone's guess, but who or whom ever it was, managed to delay what is a cost effective, relatively easy and aesthetic 'fix' that is long overdue.

In the light of today's announcement from West Ham about the proposed changes to the ground level seating of the Sir Trevor Brooking and Bobby Moore Stands behind each goal, we at the Org contacted one of the senior planners of Cross Rail who has since moved on to oversee another massive public infrastructure, to obtain his views as to the viability of 'digging down' from the present pitch level around 20 foot in order to drop the level of the pitch to enable the original seating plan to be utilised, the eyesore of scaffold and the seats that are currently subterranean could be gone forever, with the added bonus of an increase in capacity by as much as 10,000 and better sight lines for many.

Now that there is a new found accord between the tenants, West Ham, and their landlords , the LDCC, such future plans might now receive the attention they deserved before all the bad blood and bickering. If the London Stadium was properly developed for football, it would benefit the tax payer immensely as the Stadium would be fit for purpose.

One thing that is guaranteed, should the Stadium be developed properly, it wouldn't be called the London Stadium for long because global sponsors would jump at the chance of having their name emblazoned across a 'real world class stadium'. The sponsorship alone could be worth a substantial amount, the public purse and the club could benefit in tandem, a win win situation that only needs diligent application to bring to fruition. They've tried using the 'suits' to no avail, perhaps now is the time for all interested parties to get back to their roots and concentrate on what can be done and not on what can't. - Ed