It isn’t so much what starting eleven we put on the pitch tomorrow evening but how David Moyes chooses to approach this titanic game.
The team is almost a given and is likely to be: Areola; Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Cresswell, Rice, Soucek, Benrahma, Paqueta, Bowen and Antonio.
The hand brake has to come off but not entirely as Fiorentina are a creative and attacking side although nobody was keen to hear their manager Vincenzo Italiano discuss the possibility of tactical fouls to stop the Hammers counter attacking game.
At the end of the day, however, that needs to be left to the match officials to give us the crack of the whip which such threats from the Fiorentina manager merit.
Such tactics – if one can call them that – are very much a part of the game in Italy generally and it is an aspect which no doubt Moyes and the backroom team have been discussing so just maybe the manager will choose to play a more pressing game which brought success at vital times in Premier League games towards the end of the season.
Joe Cole believes the Hammers match winner can be Lucas Paqueta claiming that Rice and Soucek need to become the insurance in front of the back four and get him on the ball.
That makes a lot of sense as the Brazilian is a big player who has come to his near best over recent weeks and is very much a big game player and Europe is where the pace appears to suit him more than perhaps the PL right now.
Michail, at his best, is a threat to any side and a top form Bowen will provide assists and goals.
THS REALLLY IS GOING TO BE TITANIC!
COYI
By Hughie Southon