With the feel good factor still in the mind of every West Ham United supporter following Sam Allardyce’s team’s thumping win at Spurs nearly a fortnight ago, the Hammers go into their next match against Manchester City with no fear.
There is no doubt that Man City have a world class team, but I feel they are still finding their feet a little away from home. Attacking wise, the likes of Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko, Stevan Jovetic, Alvaro Negredo, Samir Nasri, Yaya Toure and David Silva are a daunting prospect, but defensively, they have a lot of weaknesses. They have missed their captain, Vincent Kompany, and with shock defeats to Cardiff City and Aston Villa this season already, it highlights their frailties at the back.
So how should West Ham approach this game tactically? Should we look to replicate the tactics we adopted at White Hart Lane, and pack the midfield? Do we push Ricardo Vaz Te into a more central attacking position? Or do we ‘park the bus’ like last season’s match and play for a point?
Despite it being a home game, personally, I would play the same team and tactics as we did against Spurs. It worked so well, and it’s not a game anyone will be expecting us to win. If we can stop the likes of Nasri, Toure and Silva from getting the ball to the front men, then we stand a chance. We also need to be just as clinical in front of goal. We didn’t have many chances at Tottenham, but when we did, we got them on target or scored. Finally, they will play out from the back, so the likes of Vaz Te and Kevin Nolan will be expected to close their defenders down with Mohamed Diame and Ravel Morrison putting the pressure on the midfielder likely to pick the ball up from them, in this case, it’s Yaya Toure.
We go into the game as underdogs, but I think we can spring another surprise if everybody has the right attitude. One thing is for sure, pick up 3 points, and the confidence will be sky high!
COME ON YOU IRONS!!
By ChelmoHammer
Follow me on Twitter: @ChelmoHammer
It was obvious that two of the goals against Tottenham were nothing more than lucky bounces. The third goal was class, but at the same time, it’s thanks to the Spurs sportsmanship that he wasn’t taken down intentionally. Any other team would have fouled and it wouldn’t have been a goal, just a yellow card, as he wasn’t the last defender.
I will expect West Ham to be ripped to shreds by City. I hope they do, to pull a lot of West Ham fans back down from the clouds where they were lucky enough to spend two whole weeks.
They are a pretty awful team with two of the dirtiest players in the game in Noble and Nolan.
Even then, wouldn’t mind Shitty to drop some points against you lot – it will help out the teams aiming for the title battle, because I find the prospect of West Ham in Europe laughable.
Don’t some people say that was your cup final against the Hotspur? Slightly embarrassing when they don’t even care about you boys.