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Hammers Sweating On General's Assessment Ahead Of Saints

nevillenixon's picture
Submitted by nevillenixon on Sun, 23/12/2018 - 11:29


Manuel Pellegrini is determined to come out fighting for Hammers next match,“First, we have 24 points and we will try to add some more against Southampton. If you asked me what I thought if we could have 27 at that point of the season, I would be happy so I hope that we can recover the points we lost against Watford at Southampton on Thursday.” Fabian Balbuena and Chicharito were both forced to leave the pitch with injuries that will be assessed on Sunday evening before any decision is made on their involvement at Southampton on Thursday.

Of the two, the injury sustained by ‘The General’ who fell badly as he conceded Watford's penalty, is the most worrying, any injury that has the term ligament involved usually comes with a lengthy lay off, the scans scheduled to take place later will reveal the full extent of Balbuena's injury, but things aren't looking too good. Angelo Ogbonna aquitted himself well after he replaced Balbuena, which says a lot for Hammers' strength in depth, but that strength must surely be at breaking point given the ridiculous amount of injuries both long and short term that the club is having to cope with.

The injury to Javier Hernandez, whilst not welcome, is again not totally debilitating to the squad which has options, with Andy Carroll gaining more match fitness and youngster Xande Silva already having been on the bench against Watford. Lucas Perez should also have recovered from his foot injury in time to join the squad to face the Saints, a Saints side that have won two in a row under new manager Ralph Hasenhuttl.

On another day the 'defeat dragged from victory' Watford result could easily have been a draw, especially if Antonio had been a little more fortunate in front of goal, so despite his obvious displeasure at the result Pellegrini is still determined for his team to continue playing the expansive attractive football that is his trade mark, he will be hoping that Hammers can 'do a Watford' and end Southampton's recent ressurgence on Thursday. - Ed

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mcbikeman's picture

Why the bloody hell did we buy him! i dont expect us to have a player come in and not sustain a knock:-) its the west ham way its what we fans expect all this playing regularly week in week out was taking the piss if you ask me

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53 users have voted.

Just looking at Totalscum tonight it never ceases to amaze me how they can go week after week with virtually the same squad and when they do get an injury it's to a dipstick like Dier

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58 users have voted.

Burkie 1

La Vida Hammer's picture

we get this half fit to play it will be time for the other half to get injured, unlike the rest of the league we need two squads. However, so far so good, the boss has done really well with the players he has had available. I would have preferred Diangana to start and look forward to the Southampton game knowing the football we are playing is good to watch, win or lose and I haven't said that for a long long time. COYI

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63 users have voted.

Do players adequately warm up and stretch before playing games? In the case of Hernandez he does little action and movement when he is not on the ball then he is bound to be cold and liable to injury

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70 users have voted.
boogerscaravan's picture

I have full confidence and made Danny Ings my Fantasy Football Captain.......I do have Snodgrass, Anderson and Flappyhandski though COYI...

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54 users have voted.
asheshammer's picture

I think we snatched defeat from the jaws of victory against Watford. It's a pity because we haven't won 5 in a row in a very long time. But I think we can get back to winning ways in the next two matches. I'd love to see what Diangana and Silva can do. I already know what Andy Carroll can do. He will make an appearance for one or two matches. Put himself about like a giant headless chicken, get injured or sent off or both, and possibly score one or two winning goals. Such is life. But I'm more worried about Balbuena, who has been terrific for us once he settled in. I don't like thinking about leaking goals again like we did at the start of the season.

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