By Hughie Southon
With the lads having picked up a superb point against Arsenal and the pressure relenting on our league position, we can probably enjoy the second Conference leg against Gent far more than we have previous games this season.
The tie stands at 1-1 and a performance along the same lines as we produced against the Gooners will give us a great chance of making our second European semi final in successive years.
David Moyes gave few clues on what sort of team he would be putting out with Bournemouth on the agenda for Sunday but it seems as if – as Claret and Hugh revealed yesterday – Nayef Aguerd will be back.No team can be written off at this level of football and let’s not expect the Belgians to roll over but regardless of that it would be a big shock if the Hammers were to be knocked out at this stage of things.
And commenting to www.whufc.com ahead of the match the manager said: “I thought the players performed incredibly well on Sunday. It saw us get a well earned point against Arsenal.
“I think the performance gave everybody a lift. I hope it gives us a lift going into the game on Thursday. If we can perform at those levels then we give ourselves a great chance of qualifying for the semi-finals.”
“A manager’s job is to raise expectations. Isn’t it incredible that West Ham are a favourite to win a European competition? I think that says a lot about what we’ve accomplished.”
“Over the years, we’ve had to chop and change the team. The hardest thing about this competition is playing Thursday-Sunday and that does have an impact on all managers. It’s not quite as easy as picking your best players.
“We expect Nayef [Aguerd] to be okay. He got a foot injury over there and didn’t recover in time for Sunday but he should be okay for
I still cannot figure moyes out, his treatment of Fornals is border line criminal. But there are others too. The team I would go with and is potentially our best team is the following Areola, Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson, Rice, Lanzini, Bowen, Fornals, Cornet and Divan. I like this team he has pace and power, it has all and a solid back 4. If we wanted we could play Cresswell instead of Emerson. But this team contains 7 changes to the team that played on Sunday. I would not mindvyhus team playing Bournemouth this weekend. So Moyes shut up no more excuses pjaying sat/sun and ritarevthe squad. Finally wake up and pick a team that will be on the front foot and entertain. People will disagree with this team but the point I am making is we have a squad that if used correctly we can achieve both goals.
I like Fornals you can’t fault his effort. He runs round like an eager puppy trying to get the ball but like a puppy often loses it. I think that’s a kinder analogy than saying he’s a headless chicken. Play him over Benrahma or Bowen? I don’t think so. I like Lanzini too but in this game maybe not. Often Lanzini is too lightweight in midfield, easily knocked off the ball. Against a physical counter attacking team like Gent I think it would be a mistake.