By CandH’s top blogger Allen Cummings
The disappointment of Sunday’s result against Everton is still raw.
Hopes – if not expectations – were high that we could gather another three points on Sunday but all our huffing and puffing, control and possession, counted for nothing.
The Toffees did a ‘job’ on us – the way they had enjoyed similar snatch and-grab awaydays at Arsenal, Liverpool, Leeds, Leicester and Spurs amongst others – 36 points gained away from home tells its own story.
But now isn’t the time for the players to feel sorry for themselves – or for us supporters to launch into any kind of wake.
We still have three games left to play, with nine points up for grabs. Such have been the many twists and turns we’ve all seen in this most unprecedented of football seasons, who knows what will eventually unfold over the coming days.
We’ve learned to live with the fact that nothing is certain right now – and personally I find that refreshing.
Sadly it looks as though Manuel Lanzini’s season may be done, which is devastating news for the little Argentinian, who may just have had the quality to pull a rabbit out of the hat for us yesterday, had he been able to complete the game.
His performance in Declan Rice’s role at Burnley was exceptional, and we were looking forward to more of the same.
But there are real hopes that the main man, Declan himself, will be back to face Brighton on Saturday. What a boost that would be at such a critical time.
The players were clearly gutted, like the rest of us, by losing on Sunday. “The dressing room was down after the game,” Jesse Lingard revealed.
“Everyone’s disappointed but we need to pick ourselves up because we’ve got another big game next weekend.” It’s the response we would expect to hear – and more importantly on Saturday it’s the one we would expect to see from all the players involved.
Brighton have been something of a thorn in our side in recent seasons. But this is a new breed of West Ham who have shown a completely different mindset to other teams before them.
The Seagulls will be without two key players in defender Lewis Dunk and striker Neal Maupay – and as a result of Fulham’s defeat, Brighton’s Premier League status is secured once again.
Not sure that means Albion’s players will actually be ‘on the beach’ when we arrive at the Amex – it’s still pretty nippy by the sea – but they may already be thinking about doing their packing.
Regardless of anything else the ball is firmly still in our court. We need the kind of response we’ve seen already this season from David Moyes’ men. The fight to the finish is still very much on.