You have to hand it to the club.
For the second season on the trot they have completed their transfer business in record time – with the exception of Michail Antonio last term- and the manager has had plenty of time to prepare his squad for the season ahead.
Thus there can be no excuses tomorrow night at Chelsea where Antonio Conte is in charge for the the first time looking for exactly the right sort of start but personally I have no fears about the game.
I don’t expect the Italian to get away on the front foot because despite some moaning over the failure to sign a”20 goal a season striker ” for loads of dosh. I reckon West Ham 2016/17 has enough.
Unforunately there will be no Dimi from the start but he’s almost certain to make an appearance at some stage and as we all know can be a total game changer should that be required.
Slaven clearly has 100 per cent faith in Andy Carroll who has looked particualrly good in the first pre-season he has had in seven years burying two goals against Conte’s former Juventus side and showing himself to be good enouugh against the very best opposition.
Andre Ayew is class and can cause mayhem when in the right mood whilst, despite the reserations about him in that right back role, Michail Antonio is still a massive threat when he marauds forward.
Yes, Chelsea have an awful lot to prove this season but I believe we can cause the sort of shock we performed at Arsenal last season or at the very least come back with a draw ahead of Thursday night’s match in Rumania and Sunday’s opener at the new stadium next Sunday.
That’s a tough opening programme but we have the squad although it’s ulikely that on Deadine Day we shall be reminded by David Gold “not to go to bed.”
That will be a relief.
COYI
Nordveid is an out and out defender in midfield, which allows him to drop back when the full-backs go forward. I think that will help cover chelsea wide players ( especially Hazard ), when Antonio is going forward.
I am optimistic as we DO have fantastic choices in midfield and up front, but would prefer Byram over Antonio at RB. And Reid is looking suspect. Chelsea will have a point to prove. This will be no stroll in the park, and they will know to exploit down left by Hazard of all people.
Because of this, a draw would be a good result… but who knows, maybe with our power in front of defence, we could whip their sorry asses!
COYI
Still think we have one signing yet to make!! No fear football; yes we need to be aware and have a plan to deal with Chelsea but we need to let them fear about containing us, something that Allardyce never seem to understand. Very positive, let’s take the game to them and same start as last season would do nicely please.
I would like to see Byram next to Novedt on the right hand side of defence with Antonio on the right wing in fron of Kouyate, that would stop the Hazard threat and give us a team of players that can play the ball out from the back,
If we approach this game as we did last year not sit back trying to keep it tight we will out score them,
No more respect the point
Attack Slav Attack
A big win here could start a great season for us
I wonder if Slav might play Valencia and Carroll at the start and hold Dimi and Ayew In reserve ?
I cant see Enner starting and I hope Carroll does not start if we play one up top. I would love to see Enner and Ayew up top but I know this wont happen due to the continued faith in AC. I have to laugh at the article above, yes he scored two goals against Juve but if you at every other game including the Europa league games he was very average. If we continue to show faith in him as a lone striker, it will severely cost us in terms of points but that’s just my honest opinion. Apart from that I cant wait to see game tomorrow and I really hope we can go better again this season.
Well, there,s one thing for sure. If we want to be top four, this is one of the teams we will have to beat to get there.
Nice to see someone agree with me that we can’t bring in another ‘top’ player without pushing an equally deserving player aside. There is a lot of quality in this team. Time to stop creating uncertainty with endless transfer rumours and give them their chance to prove it.
In many ways having a tough opening match is a blessing. It will show up any serious weaknesses while there is still time to correct them