By Gonzo
Trying to second guess West Ham’s remaining Premier League results in an attempt to extrapolate The Hammers survival hopes isn’t an exact science.
I’m guilty of discounting the fixtures against Manchester City and tomorrows match against Arsenal for good reason. David Moyes record against the very best teams is atrocious and ultra defensive, so I find myself searching for the elusive points elsewhere.
Unfortunately the West Ham manager has now taken to deploying his ‘park the bus routine’ against pretty much everyone from the Dog & Duck to Real Madrid. Moyesie may have won against the recent games against Southampton and Fulham, but the opposition swarmed our defence as we held out for 1-0 victories.
O’Neil & Moyes
Ordinarily West Ham would earmark games against AFC Bournemouth as winnable fixtures but not at the moment. To put it bluntly, the Cherries are better than West Ham and David Moyes will know it. They have three wins in their last five games, play quick attacking football and never give up.
The Hammers head coach set the team up defensively against Cypriot team AEK Larnaca in the first leg of the Europa Conference League game, and he did the same against Gent. Both teams peppered the West Ham goal with Larnaca winning 14 corners and Gent being invited to shoot at Areola’s goal on 20 occasions.
If Moyes can play that way against lesser European teams then he’ll certainly do it against a motivated Bournemouth side. Having watched Gary O’Neil’s team once again score late on in their win against Tottenham, Moyes will view the South coast team as a dangerous foe.
I believe the game will be pivotal. Six points may be enough for West Ham to survive this season but Bournemouth’s form has created an unexpected banana skin.
For Bournemouth life is just a bowl of cherries at the moment. They are definitely better than West Ham right now, no doubt about it. Watching their game away against Tottenham, you wonder how a team with no real star players has managed to do so well recently and score goals. And, as a West Ham fan, you think – why can’t we do that? The Cherries really went for it against Spurs and were well worth their win. They press high and run run run. Maybe their players are a bit younger than the Hammers but our squad should be able to replicate what the Cherries do. Gary O’Neil is not a negative tactician. Unfortunately David Moyes is way too negative and does not encourage his team to really go for it, preferring to defend and try not to concede, Unfortunately we have seen how that pans out more often than not. We invite pressure and often we crack. Ok, we held out well against Fulham, fortunately. Moyes brings on subs with about thirty minutes to go but changes like for like, with no change in structure or intent. I certainly expect we’ll have a very difficult game away against little old Bournemouth, only three days after we play Gent in the second leg of the Conference game. It could be yet another season defining result in our quest for Premiership survival. I’m scared, very scared!