By Sean Whetstone
All of us are still be feeling sick to the stomach after that late capitulation against Tottenham – now the Gunners arrive at our place and there can be no repeats.
We seriously need to shove it across Arsenal and avoid the North London sneers.
Spurs were on the ropes and that’s exactly where we need to put the Gunners today but also land the deadly knockout blow. Lessons need to have been learned from the last trip across the capital to WHL but with no Aaron Cresswell and Michail Antonio it is going to be tougher than tough.
There was the Winston Reid sending off for two petty fouls. It was a nightmare end to what had been a fantastic evening for West Ham. And the neighbours Arsenal are the perfect team to take out our agonised frustration upon after the mixed fortunes of Old Trafford.
A season which started full of promise has developed into a nightmare and after the unbelievable results of last season, bookies have Slaven Bilic at 11/1 fifth favourite, behind David Moyes, Bob Bradley, Alan Pardew and Mike Phelan to be the next Premier League manager to be sacked.
Those teams are all down at the bottom with us, and we could soon be staring a relegation battle in the face. After today it’s Liverpool at Anfield and it’s perfectly conceivable to think in terms of zero points and bottom of the league by mid-December. Sorry this is realism.
After that we play Burnley, Hull and Swansea, three games we could definitely win, and it is likely that Bilic will be given until the end of that spell to see if he can turn it around.
If he makes it until January, he really has to splash the cash. Rumours are flying around suggesting we could buy Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge for £25 million. He has had his injury problems – and many would fear we would have another Andy Carroll on our hands – but if he could stay fit, what a sensational signing he could be.
Imagine partnering him with Carroll, with Payet feeding them. That’s the sort of team that should be challenging for Europe, not battling relegation. Betting odds currently have us as 9/2 sixth favourites to be relegated. Surely we’re too good for that?
We’ve said that before though, and look what happened. We need cut out the late defensive lapses and bring in a striker and right back but in the meantime nerve ends are being shredded.
We aren’t too good to go down.
We won’t be signing Sturridge unless Liverpool can get in a suitable replacement and I think Klopp knows he can turn games so when going for cups and the Title I can’t see him letting him go. As for shoving it too Arsenal yes that is what we should be doing and if the team don’t come out fighting we should rightly get on their backs. Arsenal are still weak against a physical game so thats what we should give them.