West Ham (A) - Sun 15th May, 14:00 (BST) | Pre-Match Thread

[vin]

Ref will be desperate to give these a penalty so Noble has his moment. Need to be careful.

 

[simon23]

Sterling? Don’t make me laugh.

He presses better than Mahrez or grealish and we will need to defend from the front to protect our makeshift back 4

 

[hihosilva]

If Laporte is good to go i reckon we will go for this:
Ederson
Cancelo Laporte Ake Zinchenko
Debruyne Rodri Bernardo
Foden Jesus Grealish

 

[Lauz9888]

Feeling nervous about this one. West Ham are a decent side and our defence is basically held together with sellotape.

I think we've got to stifle the game, get our forward players on the ball and not give it away. Hog the ball and score where we can.

If we go all-out attack at pace, they'll do us on the counter attack and it becomes a shoot-out, us trying to win 5-4. No control, too much uncertainty. We've got to be patient and sensible instead.

 

[vin]

If Laporte is good to go i reckon we will go for this:
Ederson
Cancelo Laporte Ake Zinchenko
Debruyne Rodri Bernardo
Foden Jesus Grealish

Foden on the right doesn’t work. Either on the left or through the middle. He’s played his best footy in the left though IMO

 

[City_Sean]

If we win today I think that'll win us the title.

Liverpool are starting to pick up injuries and Klopp surely needs to rotate.

Hope Laporte is fit to start, the fact he trained seems to suggest so.

Ederson
Cancelo Laporte Ake Zinchenko
Bernardo Rodri Gundogan
Sterling KDB Foden

West Ham 1-3 City.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

It started being devalued when sky appeared on the scene, live football saturation and the PL money, then the expansion of champions league and the riches to be earned from that. This has led to the situation we have now where finishing fourth is a higher priority than winning the FA cup, or the likes of Burnley play a weakened side in the cup as staying in the PL is a higher priority. Trafford utd missing it completely one year too!

The decision to play the semis at Wembley really killed it for me, the whole magic of FA cup final day used to be about Wembley now it's nothing special at all. Also, moving the KO time and playing it before the season has finished - just not the event it was.

The FA Cup was still as important as ever through the 90s. It was when United declined to play in it in 2000 that did it. When one club decided they were bigger and more important than the oldest cup competition in the world, that was the turning point.

You’re spot on about the semis at Wembley. Takes the shine off the final, big time.

 

[hihosilva]

Foden on the right doesn’t work. Either on the left or through the middle. He’s played his best footy in the left though IMO

Sorry I disagree with that, Foden is a major threat on the right & we'll most likely see him rotating across the front three during the match.

 

[CatMan]

Feeling nervous about this one. West Ham are a decent side and our defence is basically held together with sellotape.

I think we've got to stifle the game, get our forward players on the ball and not give it away. Hog the ball and score where we can.

If we go all-out attack at pace, they'll do us on the counter attack and it becomes a shoot-out, us trying to win 5-4. No control, too much uncertainty. We've got to be patient and sensible instead.

West Ham are currently crap! If you negate Bowen running around then trust me they offer nothing. Their own defence is makeshift and hopeless and they are on a collective downer. We will have 70% possession today and stroll this by at least 3 goals.

 

[stonerblue]

Ake & Rodri @ centre half? You score 4 we’ll score 5

Fern and Rodri