Winston Reid is ruled out of the fixture against Manchester City after sustaining a hamstring injury against Everton.
And the Hammers now travel to the toughest match on the Premier League programme with a real defensive crisis.
Jose Fonte has been ruled out until next year and James Collins will be unavailable after he came off feeling his hamstring problem for the under 23s against Wycombe Wanderers in the Checkatrade Trophy clash on Tuesday night.
And with manager David Moyes options so limited it looks likely that Cheik Kouyate will be drafted in at the back alongside young Declan Rice and Angelo Ogbonna.
It makes what was looking an impossible job anyway even more difficult as the Hammers bid for something slightly in advance of a miracle at the Etihad.
However, Andy Carroll, ruled out of the clash against Everton, looks set to return after twisting his knee on the training ground.
Adrian
Zabaletta – Kouatye-Rice-Ogbonna-Cresswell
Lanzini-Noble-Obiang-Antonio
Sakho
You might be right with that selection Thaugh
If not Noble maybe Edmilson Fernandes.
Noble? You’re having a lend Thaugh?
If you think Obiang and Kouyate are better at the moment, you’re the one having a laugh mate!
Agree I would do a back 3. Feel bad for Adrian finally gets a chance & only experience CB is Ogbonna our worst at Individual errors.
To bad Collins isn’t back.
But Kouyate will need to be a CB.
I would say Zab could cover it but Bryan is out and I think we could use him
Spurs & Poch are keen on Lanzini again said to be so in Jan. And we could lose Lanzini this summer anyway hasn’t signed new contract.
If we could get £50m for him from Spurs Liverpool or a foreign team would you being willing to sell him to use money to reinforce in January?
Maybe at he end of the season -if we go down he’ll leave anyway. Selling him in January would be suicide, and the effect would be worse than when we sold Payet.
We’ve certainly got a few chocolate teapots our club that need accessing to stay or go ?? Keep the faith C.O.Y.I
We go there with ‘low’ to ‘no’ expaction of success… so what’s the worst that could happen..? I can’t believe I just said that. We have a long and distinguished history of massive capitulations to a variety of teams, under a swathe of different managers… I can remember 12 goals conceded in consecuative away games against Blackburn and Everton when I confidently predicated an upturn after the first defeat. I hope for the sake of the travelling fans they make a fist of it and at least put in a performance. I don’t have a ticket. Sad thing is, I would still go if I could. My son is coming up for 25 in December. I told him at a game once when he was a kid that supporting West Ham was like having malaria; you’ve got it for life… only it’s not as much fun. He knows the reality now but still goes with me, week in, week out. Ho hum. COYI! Let’s hope for a miracle… and ‘E’ for Effort!
Do you know what- & like Iron Man I can’t believe I am saying it- I am finding i don’t give a toss any more about injuries, transfers, who the manager is. This club has been shafted good & proper.
i dont see a crisis in the defense, i see a decent center-back who is highly rated and ready to step in.
the crisis however is desperate in midfield, where we have literally nobody of any quality.
Er Master
I think that is oversimplifying the situation . We do have some midfield options but our defence is shot and we do not have a cohesive forward line, and if we have to play a totally inept Ayew up front when we have a perfectly capable striker in Sakho or Martinez there is indeed a crisis. Carroll is a damp squib without his elbows and even when he wins headers the defence get it.
There are so many underperforming players in the whole team in that Hart is shell shocked now and must be rested, both full backs are underperforming, Reid looks shaky, Kouyate doesn’t seem to have his normal grit or know where he should be playing, Obiang has gone off the boil etc etc etc
I see crisis everywhere I look at the moment.
Last night was a complete embarrassment and I’ve see a few in my time but that was up there with the worst
East end and master – You’re both right. Our defence and our midfield are both shot. Teams defend from the front and we cannot defend for toffee (see what I did there?).
And £50m for Lanzini JRS, you’ve lost the plot fella. Decent players leave relegated clubs for a fraction of their true value, and that’s exactly what will happen here. Not that he is digging up any trees currently, but how could he with the statues around him? Stick him in a mobile side and watch him go.
We’ve plenty other players who are seemingly decent individually, but cannot perform as a unit. So what is this telling us? Poor management and applied tactics? We’ve changed manager and same old same old. The only common denominators are the owners, the ground and the players. Whatever we think of the owners, we’ve all said that on paper we should be higher up the league. Our away form is dire, so what’s left? How do they restore confidence and belief and start to perform to their potential? Or have we been fooled all along and they’re just not as good as we thought they were?
Not saying I would sell him just asking the question. Yes we have individual talent but as a team we are horrible & some of that is down to recruitment.
I’d like to keep Manu & get real money to spend in January to help him & others but £20m won’t be enough.
Still have faith we won’t get relegated but I don’t know the answer.
If a **** poor Everton side can do that to us last night, then I really fear for us at the weekend. If we come away with a 3 or 4 nil loss then I will be relieved. If we can keep it 0-0 after 5 minutes then we have a chance! 😉
What was the score in that recent League Cup game away to City?
Have you ever watched Winston Reid walk? I respect Winston, and do not want to disrespect him, but maybe he needs a Montessori posture analysis. He is awkwardly ‘knock-kneed’. This is most likely one reason why Reid is injury prone, a claim backed by ample evidence. When Winston runs his gait is awkward.
Reid’s absence, yet again, is no crisis. By definition it’s an ‘every few games’ re-occurrence. So I’m unable to agree with Hugh’s assertion that this injury is a ‘new crisis’; rather it’s a continuation of the long standing crisis in the defence that Slaven chose to pathologically deny.
This ongoing crisis was deepened by the abject failure of Slaven et al to get a brace of central defenders from among the several transfers of accomplished CB’s that took place during the summer transfer window. Reid’s injury is simply a manifestation of that underlying crisis, not its cause, and actually there’s nothing ‘new’ about it.
It was apparent to any half-objective Hammers fan reflecting on last season that we had a surfeit of inadequate CB’s on the books – old, injury prone, lack of presence in the air or in the challenge, immobile on the turn, or simply not swift enough going forward for the PL – and thus a clear-out was required. Let’s be fair Fonte is the epitome of an ‘over the hill’ player accompanied by fearless Ginge who now turns with the pace of a striking slug. He’s had his day; he looked tactically outstanding when we played a League 2 outfit, but he’s passed it for ‘high end’ football.
As for the midfield offering, what can be added to the punditry posted on this blog? Our midfield seriously lacks pace, has no desire to press, lacks inventiveness and variety. How many times did our midfield drop deep, allow Everton to breeze past them, and pass, unreliable, square and back. Pundits on this blog have covered all the salient criticisms. But before digging into the midfield let’s not be self-deluding about this – our inadequate CB’s are at the core of the team’s crisis.
A digression: Adrian has to be played ahead of Hart. It’s a disgrace for Adrian to be sidelined for a ‘England’ keeper who is in no way ‘head and shoulders’ above the Spanish stalwart.
I think you are absolutely right. Two midfield players are necessary to stabilise and energise things. A decent centre forward too. There are so many many players who are performing in other teams that we could and should have snapped. Ranoccia, the blond guy from watford who scored again this week, Woods who also scored), almost any of the Huddersfield players (Depoitre is even better than Carroll), a couple of the Brighton players (knockaert anyone?). And many many more. Why did we miss on those and invest in Arnautovic who, let’s be honest, has always been a controversial figure.
As for the goalie, don’t get me started. Another misjudgment. Was he signed because he is English ? Because there are tons of better goalkeepers than him. During the transfer season I kept on giving a list of 12 or so goalies who would have been ideal. Even Matt Ryan or Lossl are better than him now. He is at best a second division goalie, with his best level behind him. Cites doesn’t want him, Torino did not want him. There is a reason. In the past games he has cost us several goals and several points because of critical errors at crucial moments. He came out much too late on the penalty, he came out much too soon on the third goal. He had other options than to kick the ball back in the middle. Yet he made a U-11 mistake. At this level, with the team fighting to come back, it is unforgivable. He needs to be sidelined and bye bye in January, if that is an option.
And of course I omitted to talk about centre halves. Van Dijk instead of Fonte would have been great. Then there are versatile players such as Dendoncker who in my opinion are better than Carvalho (too slow).
Our recruitment is main reason we are here. England’s #1 cost more then enough on loan to get a good CB. He is our highest paid player up there w Chicharito more if City doesn’t cover £20k.
And Adrian is a better shot Stopper faster & can go to his left for 6th of the wages. We went for PL experience & just added to aging & injury prone squad.
I don’t think WC is the answer either especially at his price he would help but even his own coach said he lacks pace.
Mou loves him publicly but never made a move for him when needed DMs a number of times.
We desperately needed to add creativity too & didn’t. Arnie as only assisted 2 against Bolton.