O dear God, second game in and, because of the tough start to the season, tomorrow's game against the Dirtiest of the Northern Illegitimates has already assumed the mantle of a must win game. Anything less than 3 points from this one and we may well be rock bottom through September.
Avram has surely learnt a few lessons from Saturday. Coyle arrives, meanwhile, knowing how he and Bolton did a number on us at the Boleyn last season. Both managers will have the frailties of both Green and Tomkins at the front of their thoughts as a result.
Bolton are, of course, Green's bogey team. He had a mare at the Reebok last season and at the Boleyn against Bolton's thugs the season before. He wasn't wonderful against them at Upton Park last season either, although Spector and Tomkins were most at fault for the three goals we shipped. Mind you, the decision of Upson to leave Tomkins to mark Davies means that he was not above blame.
To win, we have to push Bolton on the back foot. None of this 5-5-1 nonsense, with a negative midfield. Let's see 4-4-2, with Piquionne or Diamanti operating just behind Cole, aka Di Michele. Tomkins has to go surely. Da Costa is my pick to handle Davies, although Ben Haim's experience may be preferred, especially as there is no great pace in the Bolton front line. I fancy Ilunga to handle Lee better than Spector managed, but I wouldn't be hugely surprised to see the American return at right back, so poor was Reid at Villa.
My team would read:
Stech: Reid, Da Costa, Upson, Ilunga; Faubert, Noble, Parker, Barerra, Diamanti, Cole.
Stech is a risk I know, but Green was a bag of nerves against Villa and will be even worse as he faces all his worst nightmares at once. Coyle will want Grant to pick him, so Avram shouldn't oblige.
Can we win? Of course we can! Will we win? Recent results suggest not!
No fannying about, we must play two strikers.
ReplyDeleteNoble out!
Any news on Hitz and Behrami?! The OS says Hitz is out again...how long is he out for?! Where was Behrami? Upson was CRAP the other match, and i really wonder whether we should recall Gabbidon and pair him up with Da Costa at back!
ReplyDeleteIf Behrami is available, maybe we should play him at right back and Faubert at right mid? or vice versa?
Green, Faubert, Parker, Noble, Barrera, Diamanti, Cole...a big must! If we play Reid in right back, it'd be nice to see a center midfield with Behrami and Parker... although I want to see Noble to well.
we can definitely win it! Come on Avram; come to your senses!
In an previous article - you accused capello of poking Rob Green in the eye by dropping him from the England team/squad. Now you are suggesting that West Ham should do the same thing.
ReplyDeleteLike you, I don't think that Green is a very good premier goalkeeper but I think that we have to stick with him to build his codfidence back up. Of course he'd be better if the mugs in front of him played football instead of fannying about.
Bolton... horrible snidey team.... I wouldn't be shocked at another defeat.
I think 5-5-1 would be brilliant if we could get away with it!
ReplyDeleteStani noble should not be dropped especially as the two player to be dropped need to be boa morte and kovac and HF i wouldnt drop green as in my opinion hes only as good as the defence in front of him and he wont be dropped because hes on a run of consecutive starts that has reached well over 100 tomkins i agree on but if da costa issnt fit still i would swap timkins ti right backand play reid in center back barerra must start and so should diamanti
ReplyDeleteIf the Hungarian keeper was fit I would play him,but sadly he is injured.Green must be taught not to block shots and palm the rebound to the other team who score an easy goal.
ReplyDeleteAnd what will dropping Green do to his confidence after being dropped for England?
ReplyDeleteGreen is still an excellent goalkeeper and will prove that over the course of the season.
Putting Stech in(effectively our 3rd choice goalkeeper) is a far greater risk than keeping Green in after a couple of errors.
What will another mare do to his confidence?
ReplyDeleteFred,
ReplyDeleteHow long...how many chances will you give him? There are a few players in our squad that Grant needs to be honest to himself about and Noble is one of them. It is sad, but true.
You cannot be as slow as he is and survive in this league. And he still continues to make basic set piece errors like hitting the first man, wasting what are vital moments in the game for a team like ours when our defenders have come up all the way from the back. He was doing it in the last game.
Ahhh, only hours away now, I can almost smell the 'gutrot' burgers as I stroll down Green Street under a leaden grey sky and buzz of anticipation...... Oh Sh*t! We're playing Bolton!
ReplyDeleteApache, I expect Coyle woould agree to it if to pplay the extra man, Grant agreed to pick Tomkins and Spector!
ReplyDelete