All Hail the new Nolan
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Arnies injury to keep him out for a month so the poor man gets to spend christmas with his feet up.......nice timing
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Are pensioners Being Given LSD? They Must Be After Warnock Comments
Coupled with the "Well I thought I've never seen (Felipe) Anderson as quiet this season. He ripped Newcastle to pieces and yes he lost Bruno once but I thought Morrison and Bamba did well tonight, I can't remember their strikers doing much at all," Comments made by the affable but obviously ageing Cardiff City manager Neil Warnock, he also confided that he asked how on earth his team were losing 3-0 at the time from fellow manger Manuel Pellegini. What football match did Warnock go to, was it one of those football fantasy 3D console games?
With the exception of a ten minute spell in the first half which culminated in an unjust penalty that was saved by 'bargain of the season' goalkeeper Lukas Fabianski, the visitors were relatively anonymous, whereas West Ham were dominant and the score could have been 4-1 before half time. Shortly after the beginning of the second half, Hammers and in particular Felipe Anderson, really kicked in to gear which makes the Cardiff City manager's comments about Anderson seem even more disjointed, because Anderson was devastating. The look of fear exhibited by the opposition defence each time he ran at them said it all,they did not know how to cope with his speed and trickery.
By the end of the match, and despite getting a late consolation goal, the visitors had been run absolutely ragged, but not in Neil Warnock's eyes! We suggest he markets whatever he is on at raves and parties because it must be a powerful psychoactive hallucinogen. - Ed
Hammers Were Inspired To Cardiff Victory By Surprising Event
Having secured a valuable 3-0 victory against Newcastle at St James' Park on Saturday West Ham were looking to gain back to back Premier League wins for the first time in a little short of two years, however possible due to enforced changes and squad rotation the atmosphere at the London Stadium was a rather stilted affair despite Hammers peppering the Cardiff goal and coming close to score on three occasions. The 'lack lustre vibe' continued until, with 10 minutes to play until half-time, Cardiff were awarded an extremely dubious penalty when Marko Arnautovic was deemed to have fouled Junior Hoilett in the box.
The London Stadium was a cauldron of seething resentment to the fans who couldn't believe their team's dominance was about to be cruelly denied, up stepped Cardiff midfielder Joe Ralls, but his low left footed effort was kept out superbly by Lukasz Fabianski. Resentment turned to absolute joy and the Stadium erupted, noise levels went through the roof and the home team seemed to gain anextra yard roared onby the now animated crowd, even the unwelcome sight of Arnoutovic having to be substituted before half time wasn't greeted with the dispair that would normally be expected.
'Arnie's' replacement Lucas Perez was not initially greeted with any enthusiasm at all, with many fans not able to comprehend Pellegrini not utilising Andy Carroll instead, but in 'Pele' they have a manager who they can trust, his judgement vindicated in a five minute second half spell where Perez scored a brace, the ex-Arsenal player's first Premier League goals for nearly two years. The fact that one of the assists for Perez's goals game from another player that Pele believed in when no one else did, Robert Snodgrass speaks volumes for the Hammers' manager's man management skills and perception.
Snodgrass left the pitch to a deserved standing ovation from all round the Stadium, his redemption and Perez's inclusion shows just why Manuel Pellegrini is the man to steer the club up the table, who knows how far? Although one suspects a certain Chilean pensioner knows exactly how far, City fans used to call him this gentle man, perhaps Hammers fans may end up calling him 'The Redeemer'. - Ed
Team Managment
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Well we certainly have a manager who understands how to manage a team through injuries and in game decisions....and if we are to lose Arnie for a game or two then rather now when we will not be facing the best opposition....when Arnie pulled up last night with what maybe a slight hamstring pull how many times have managers kept players on just to see if its something they can get through only for them to tear it properly and out for months....not El Pel off you come son thinking long term not short term and how easy would it of been to put Carroll on but nope Perez came on and took his chances and that will be a boost to his confidence...3-0 game won off comes chicaritto for carroll and snodgrass who was playing well for Diagana this shows he is thinking of Saturdays game against Palace and giving players time on the pitch and others off for a rest....Wheelchair not on the bench again El Pel not going to risk throwing in him straight away but easing him back in....this is an important part of management and one he clearly knows how too do....things are changing at west ham and the revolution is slowly taking shape.COYI
Match Day Live West Ham United v Cardiff City Team Line Ups
West Ham Utd: Fabianski, Masuaku, Ogbonna, Diop,, Noble, Rice.Antonio., Snodgrass, Anderson, Arnautovic, Hernandez. Subs: Adrian, Carroll, Obiang, Wilshere, Perez, Diangana Zabaleta .Balbuena
Cardiff City: Etheridge, Ecuele Manga, Morrison, Bamba, Gunnarsson Camarasa, Ralls, Arter, Hoilett, Paterson, Murphy. Subs: Peltier, Bennett, Ward, Smithies, Reid, Mendez-Laing, Harris
Hammers Sweat Over The General And Cress's Fitness
West Ham will give late fitness tests to Aaron Cresswell and Fabian Balbuena,'The General', ahead of tonight's clash with Cardiff City at the London Stadium. Cresswell went off early in the 2nd half against Newcastle and Balbuena picked up a nasty knock later in the same half, of the two Cresswell is most likely to not be available as he has a 'hammy' situation and that usually means at least a couple of games out even in the best case scenario.
Injuries are part of the game, and the frenetic pace of the Premier League which makes it the most viewed in the World exacerbates the extent and regularity of players picking up lengthy injuries, to lose one key defender is problematic but to lose two would be a major blow. Balbuena has forged a superb partnership with Issa Diop at the heart of Hammers defence, they already have an almost telepathic line of communication that will only get better over time, missing the 'General' could be a key issue against a Cardiff side that will have been well prepped by Neil Warnock.
One thing that is for sure there will be no lack of endeavour from the visitors and they will have a plan, a plan that will more than likely involve 'taking' Felipe Anderson out of the game in order to prevent him having a similar influence on the game as he did during Saturday's 3-0 victory over Newcastle at St James' Park. Of course, if they divert too many resources to containing Anderson then that will leave gaps elsewhere that can be exploited by Arnoutovic, Snodgrass and Chicharito if Pellegrini elects to start the Mexican again.
Realistically few people, apart from Manuel Pellegrini, thought that Hammers would get anything better than a draw last weekend, but now the onus is on the team to secure back to back Premier League victories for the first time in two years tonight against the visitors who have shown plenty of fight and commitment in their last few games that has seen them move out of the bottom three. Tonight's is this type of game that West Ham must start to win if there is ever going to be any hope of the 'Pele' project really taking off, it is all very well for the team to rise to the big occasion by beating or drawing with the 'elite' teams, but in the past such heroics have invariably been followed by either a lack lustre display or a 'billy big bollocks' arrogance that is rewarded with a sharp reminder that there are no easy games in the Barclays Premier League.
If Hammers can address the inconsistency of their performances, there is no reason why the team shouldn't climb the table as we approach the 'business' end of the season, Manuel Pellegrini believes, he just needs his players make it happen. - Ed
Birmingham It Is For FA Cup 3rd Round
West Ham United have been given a home game against Birmingham City in the 3rd round draw of the FA Cup. Co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold were the owners of Birmingham before selling off there holding ahead of buying West Ham. The match is due to be played at 3pm on Saturday the 5th of January 2019 at the London Stadium, although the kick off is television coverage dependant.
Team Spirit Never Better At The Still Unamed London Stadium
Helter Skelter, the Water Wheel, the Loop-the-Loop, the Runaway Train, the See Saw and the Trap Door could all be descriptions of Hammers early season form and it's possible consequences instead of being the name of snooker holes. Fast forward to now and what is blatantly obvious is the team spirit shining through the squad, they have bought in to Manuel Pellegini's philosophy and are now beginning to see the benefit of their belief. Nothing illustrates the tight knit nature of the team more than when you see them actually enjoying a group activity, in this case the Crazy Snooker Challenge with legends Steve Davies and John Parrot, judge for yourself.
Mark Noble and Marko Arnoutovic or the 'double M' showed exactly how much of their youth was spent at school and how much in the Pool and Snooker halls! Joking aside, the new found belief and confidence that Manuel Pellegrini has 'enforced' on his team really is starting to bear fruit. Match day anxiety is occasionally becoming a distant memory, unless the opposition is Manchester City of course, but all in all despite a humongous injury list that Arsenal would have been proud of back in the day, the 'Pele' bandwagon keeps rolling along.
With the defence decimated through injury there may only be three wheels left on the wagon, but in 'Pele' the fans and the players trust! - Ed
Complacency Is Hammers Biggest Danger Ahead Of Cardiff
How many times in the past have West Ham achieved a great result and then followed it with capitulation to a team that they should beat? The answer is plenty, it is so long since Hammers won consecutive Premier League fixtures that Brexit voting was something on the horizon! A couple of points worth bearing in mind ahead of the clash with Cardiff at The London Stadium on Tuesday evening, the victory over Newcastle at St James' Park whilst incredibly valuable was by no means the stroll in the park that the 3 -0 score line suggests, on another day and with a little more luck the home side could have drawn level on several occasions, and as Rafa Benitez pointed out would have done far better if he had similar firepower available up front to call upon as opposing manager Manuel Pellegrini.
Unfortunately the victory over Newcastle came at a cost, namely the injury to Aaron Cresswell who was just beginning to rekindle the form that made him an England candidate not that long ago. The extent of his hamstring injury will be known later, but the prognosis is not a good one, four to six weeks bare minimum which leaves Hammers in a precarious position defensively. Manuel Pellegrin is already without the services of Ryan Fredericks and Sam Byram at right back leaving only Pablo Zabaleta as a recognised senior player in that position, but to lose Cresswell is a double blow because it leaves only Authur Masuaku to fill the left back berth. Mauaku by his own admission is far better going forward than defending, but with Felipe Anderson making the left wing position his own by a country mile Masuaku would have to defend for his life in order to let Anderson continue in his 'Libero' role.
Cardiff City FC are not now the 'cannon fodder' that they were at the begining of the season, a couple of decent results in addition to some narrow losses has seen an upturn in team morale, and with the 'wiley' Neil Warnock at the helm they will not be push overs. He will have sat his team down and told them that West Ham will be vulnerable because of over confidence, after all the team is only one misattempted 'lift pass' away from disaster when players like Mark Noble get a rush of blood to the head and try to emulate a player of Felipe Anderson's ability!
Visiting teams love playing at the London Stadium for numerous reasons, the pitch is always immaculate the lighting dazzling added to that the visiting fans are accomodated in such a way as to give them the chance to make plenty of noise they are not stuck up in the Gods as is more often than not the case in other stadia, Newcastle's St James' Park in particular being one such Stadium. The once intimidating atmosphere of the Boleyn Ground is long gone, that is not to say tthat the LS cannot rock, indeed there have been several occasions this season when it has been outstanding and every bit as good as the Boleyn was, the problem is if things aren't going too well there is a tendency for people to go quiet and be outsung by the opposition, which doesn't engender a good feeling for the home team.
Manuel Pellegrini has already said that veteran defender Pablo Zabaleta canot be expected to play all of the matches in December, although he may well ask 'Zaba' to figure in the Cardiff game in order to try and ensure three points and a bit of breathing space, both actually and metaphorically. The injury to Cresswell will have only added to 'Pele's' woes, he will have to use fringe players ahead of the January window, the only problem is that the squad is down to it's bare Redknapps as they approach the crucial December games that could catapult Hammers up to the table in to Europa league places contention, mind you seeing what has happened to Burnley is a salutory warning of being careful what you wish for. -Ed
No Reunion For Arnie And Sparky
When Marko Arnoutovic helped bury Stoke City last season, their manager at the time Mark Hughes was 'less than pleased', he was particularly vociferous during the match at the Bet 365 Stadium where it was not necessary to be a lip reader in order to get the gist of his opinion of the player his club sold to West Ham for £24 Million. As a result of the minor verbal altercation Hughes was warned of his behaviour by the FA and the matter seemed to be forgotten, that was until the next meeting when unpleasantries were exchanged again.
So it is with regret to some observers that the 'Arnie and Sparky Show' will not now take place on the 12th of December at St Mary's as was originally scheduled due to Mark Hughes' dismissal as manager of Southampton, the club he joined after all but relegating Stoke. It was always a question of when not if Hughes would be on his bike given the Saints appalling results spanning back to last year that he failed to turn around, his re-employment possibilities look rather bleak in the immediate future, he'll probaby end up as a BT Sport commentator!
Alas there will be no pantomime featuring Sparky as the villain and Arnie as the angel this year, there probably won't ever be another one, shame. - Ed
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