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A Week Is A Long Time Especially At West Ham Wise Heads & Young Legs United?

nevillenixon's picture
Submitted by nevillenixon on Tue, 14/11/2017 - 11:09

So now David Moyes has confirmed the appointment of Alan Irvine, Billy McKinlay and Stuart Pearce as his assistants at West Ham United what can fans realistically expect? Initially the least that is expected is for the players to show more commitment than has been on display in this underwhelming season that fans have been forced to endure so far. The long trek to and from the London Stadium has seemed even longer of late and to say the mood has been incredibly toxic would be an understatement!

There is a ground swell of opinion among various West Ham supporters sites that this is a defining moment for the club and one that CAN be positively influenced by the crowd at the London Stadium, of course people want to see winning football, but with the dire straits that the club finds itself in a show of full bloodied commitment would be a start even if the result is a draw or a loss! The manner of the home defeats to both Brighton and Liverpool were totally unacceptable and finally warranted the departure of a 'broken' Slaven Billic, it is inconceivable that Moyes and Co would allow such a lack lustre display, the sight of Moyes' thumping vein at the side of his forehead and the vision of a very angry Stuart 'Psycho' Pearce would surely help motivate a group of players, many of whom require a rocket up their back sides!

IF the West Ham players show they really really mean it then the crowd will get behind the team, of course if the scoreline is 0 - 3 at half time then it would require a greater leap of faith, however Moyes is a driven man and he will have had enough of the Press outlining in graphic detail when, where and how spectacularly he has failed since leaving Everton for Manchester United. Organising his 'Dogs of War', a label he gave his Everton defence, is something the Scot will take great pride in he will be quick to impart the need for his defence to do the basics, ie defend! An art that seems to have been almost entirely forgotten by the team, there are players who are up to the challenge but their fitness levels need to be upped individually and as a collective. Playing in their correct position might also help, as in the past there seemed to be some aversion with selecting players to do the role that they were most used to.

One benefit the new manager and his back room staff has is they owe no particular allegiance to any of the players, they will be selected on merit and not because the management team feel they have to, similarly the team should be selected using the merit method rather than players being played just because they cost plenty of money. One potentially awkward decision has already been made for David Moyes and that is Jose Fonte's position, the ex-Southampton captain has struggled at West Ham and currently has an ankle and foot injury that will make him unavailable for at least a fortnight, his ready made replacement is Declan Rice. Rice has appeared several times for the club but in a midfield position not in his preferred centre back role, surely now is the time to use him, he would also inject pace in to an increasingly ageing Hammers back line.

Moyes has throughout his career not been afraid of using youth players if they are good enough, and at West Ham he is spoiled for choice, don't be surprised if he utilises the likes of Rice and he may even recall Reece Oxford from his loan spell in Germany. There is also Nathan Holland, Quina and Haskerbanovic chomping at the bit to show what they can do, and let's face it they can hardly do any worse than some of the 'senior' players have done this season. Expect Moyes to use a combination of 'wise heads' and young legs to help push the team up the table, the Premier League is all about pace and Moyes will know only too well about the lack of pace that there has been in the team, get some of the young guns to do the running, make the pitch at the London Stadium their friend and turn the crowd in to the positive and massive 12th man that they should be, and not as Martin Keown has recently pointed out, a 12th man for the opposition, something that they have become of late.

At the end of the day what is done is done, there is no chance of returning to the Boleyn so fans need to turn playing at the London Stadium in to a 'home' fixture, rather than the 'Toxic Drome' that visiting teams love to visit, it really is time to get behind the team and the new manager, you can bet your pay packet that things will not be pretty but it is a case of needs must, and grinding out results will be the initial order of the day. - Ed

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Comments

Dartford Bhoy's picture

great post. Only way it will change at the Bowl of Misery is to see some commitment. No one goes to the LS with the intention of toxicity but the lack of fight, interest and pure apathy seen in the recent times just breeds discontent.

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111 users have voted.

Plenty of fight,100 % effort & a bit of pride wearing the famous claret & blue!!not too much to ask is it? we will see

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100 users have voted.
cast iron's picture

If we don't get our selves up the table now we only have the players to blame because these 4 managers in effect, will have the fitness, the organisation, the tactics, and the nous to turn this around we are only 1/4 of the way through the season and we have a hard December with Man city But if our confidence is back, after Watford and Leicester, there is no reason why we cant nick a point of Chelski and Arsenal and who Knows- beat them in the carebou cup as well, allways the optomist we can only dream. BUT if we don't turn it around then we have to look at the players- and they need to look at themselves, we have got from now till January you cant keep blaming the manager, he seems to be doing what the fans want even with using the youth of Martinez and Cullen. So let's hope he's still here at the end of the season

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96 users have voted.
asheshammer's picture

Win, lose or draw, we will see what sort of fitness, strategy and tactics Moyes & co. bring to the set up. You can't say we haven't got the players to be able to perform well. So don't look to the result just yet, but look to how we play and whether the spirit is there.

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107 users have voted.

First game in charge for moyes & his team imo is all about getting these players up to speed,lets not forget sams first game in charge,all the hype about him & kevin nolan & we ended up losing 1 nil at home to cardiff!!

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104 users have voted.
cast iron's picture

I thought that's what we needed with Carrol and possibly Martinez to win the ball in the middle with Ayew to or Chico(injured) to bang them in.

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94 users have voted.

The statistics puts West Ham at the bottom of the table as far as sprints are concerned. West Ham are the only team that have not passed the 5000 mark. I have been saying all along that the Premier Division is all about pace and cannot fathom how the management and staff do not scrutinise that factor when they acquire those new signings. Without doubt Moyes has to introduce one or two academy players to address that issue from match day 1 of his tenure.

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113 users have voted.
asheshammer's picture

What a boring season it looks like in the EPL. Everything is falling out just like it's supposed to for the rich, plastic, TV-merchandise fans. In the sports outlets here they sell shirts for Citeh, Manure, Chelsea (didn't even see a one for Liverpool), and for NFL teams like New England Patriots, the plastic, TV-merchandise teams. As bitter as I am about our season so far, it just confirmed me more as a fan of West Ham United. (Mind you, it makes me feel worse about the move to the London Mausoleum.) Give a few of the kids a run out, even despite the shocking performance against the Derby Sheep, I'd be happy to see Martinez get a chance.

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98 users have voted.
moore 6 legend's picture

Let's hope things change as from tomorrow ashes,feeling optimistic,but can't bare hearing anymore injuries,give us a bloody chance,3 on the trot winnable games up for grabs here.

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104 users have voted.

Lost me on Derby Sheep, Ashes...talking of which the Ashes kick off in a few days...we'll beat you in the rugby league final, too, C'mon Engerland

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111 users have voted.

Right just got it Ashes, the flogging the kids took...
Please excuse me, been a big birthday weekend that started on Friday...hoping the boys can make it better than complete.

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97 users have voted.

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