West Ham (a) Pre-Match Thread (League)

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cibaman said:
Gabriel must have been knackered after Saturday's game. His first start for a while, played 90 mins on a heavy pitch against a physical defence. I dont think its a case of keeping his place or not, just makes sense to leave him on the bench for an hour.
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true. still hope he starts though. want him to get off the mark in terms of scoring asap
 
whos_kompany85 said:
With every team ahead of us dropping points we really need to make up some ground tonight. Energy, flair and no shite refereeing please.
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Fairly certain to see some dodgy decisions. Which way? Will we see energy and flair lets hope so. Also if we do go behind lets see a bit more fight and determination
than was the case recently.
 
cibaman said:
Pep seems to have acknowledged that he overdid the tactical variations, the players arent ready for it yet. I doubt we will see a starting back 3 again this season unless we end up playing meaningless fixtures in April/May.

Bravo
Zabaleta
Otamendi
Stones
Kolarov
Fernandhino
De Bruyne
Silva
Sterling
Aguero
Sane

Caballero, Sagna, Clichy, Yaya, Fernando, Jesus, Nolito
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Very much what I expect.
Will be key to show from the start we can do it again. Score first and the story is written.
If Yaya and Kompany are left out - what I expect - there is some mentality missing and I am not sure who takes the lead when things go wrong.
Would be important to see Sergio back as a permanent danger upfront. He should turn up with a sharper body language.

Also agree to have Jesus later on, Nolito as well.
 
Last nights results went probably better than expected for us and again a win leaves us in a position to get back into the top four pack, although our inferior goal difference means we will stay fifth for now. We need to find some consistency from now until the end of the season, to really push on and see where it takes us. West Ham will be really up for this, desperate to avenge the 0-5 cup loss and prove they can manage without Payet, so we can expect this to be more of a cup tie than the one we won, if that makes sense.
 
Saddleworth2 said:
I find it very difficult to predict the team or even say what I think is our best 11. Given that we seem to have settled on 4 at the back, it leaves a further 6 positions to fill and we now have 8 players who I would want to start every game:

Yaya
Fernandinho
Silva
De Bruyne
Stirling
Sane
Aguero
Gabriel Jesus

I would like to see the three amigos get significant game time but that means Kun on the bench. How the hell you pick three from the other four while maintaining balance - probably need to choose one from Kev and Dave. If only we could play three at the back! Maybe once Vinnie is fully fit and has some miles under his belt Pep will try again. Vinnie, Stones and Otamendi should be able to hack it. Until then there are going to be some interesting picks.
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It's good though. The only players there that look like they can actually play every game are Sterling, Sané and Jesus, which you'd expect - they are the youngsters, full of energy! Of the others, De Bruyne and Aguero often have spells where they look shattered and in need of a rest. Then the rest (Yaya, Fernandinho and Silva) are all in their 30's and also need to sit a game out now and then. So we have the quality to rotate. We won't pick the same front 6 from one game to the next very often, if ever! And that's the way it should be.
 
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