West Ham United face Queens Park Rangers in the FA Cup on Sunday in a game that, for some, has taken on a sense of irrelevance.
After all, the Hammers have bigger fish to fry and, with Premier League safety in the balance, it is easy to see why this fixture is not top of the priority list.
Rangers are bringing around 9,000 supporters to the London Stadium and they will undoubtedly make plenty of noise.
However, any suggestion that West Ham should not take this game seriously must be dismissed. In simple terms, West Ham have forgotten how to win, and any opportunity for Nuno Espírito Santo to remind his players what victory feels like should not be wasted. Even if the FA Cup has slipped down the pecking order, ending the losing run has to matter.
Nuno can use the FA Cup to bring his new signings up to speed
A Chance to Rediscover Winning Habits
For that reason, fielding a side packed with academy players and the likes of Guido Rodríguez feels pointless. Nuno himself appeared to agree when he told reporters, “It’s a good chance to win a football match.”
He is absolutely right. Those opportunities have been few and far between. This match offers a chance to get Pablo and Castellanos up to speed and, hopefully, set players such as Crysencio Summerville back on the goals trail.
With six days between the QPR tie and the Spurs game, and very little travel involved, there is no real excuse to treat this as an unimportant fixture. It might just provide the morale boost this squad badly needs.
Well Gonzo both the clubs below us in the league won their F.A. cup games, don’t know if that’s a good or a bad thing
“WE ARE RELEGATED” Long way to go yet. Talk about defeatist. Sad.
Yes, use QPR as a stepping stone to the bigger match against Spurs. I agree that tomorrow’s game is a chance to win a game, definitely something we haven’t done for a while. QPR, like every team we play these days, might see us as easy pickings. We have to put out our best starting eleven and go for it. And Nuno must carefully manage the game. And if all goes well we’ll be into the next round of the FA Cup and looking forward to a massive game against Spurs. We must be determined to smash those Spuds! COYI.
This fixture Gonzo will show where we are Tell us where we are at If we lose this we will struggle badly next season in the cship
I genuinely hope he plays Kante in the game, I was hoping he would play Earthy but that ship has sailed he is not it seems a Nuno player, If AWB is ready for it, I would play a 442 line up Areola, Scarles, Todibo, Mav, AWB, Summerville, Fernandes, Kante, Bowen, Felipe and Taty, Keep Paqueta, Magassa, Soucek, Wilson, Potts in reserve we need to see how some of these players fare against a mid table championship side and at the same time not take too many risks, Knowing Nuno though it will be another inexplicable selection setting us up to lose and if any of the players are playing well they will be the first ones substituted.
If 9k QPR fans can make a lot of noise in the London stadium why can’t 53k West Ham fans?
There is a hint of arrogance in the title here because it is by no means certain that West Ham are even capable of winning this game. I agree with the sentiment that IF they possibly can, then they should, if only so that they go into the Spurs game with something of a boost, however small. If that becomes something more, then great, we’ll take it. The real problem still remains and that is Nuno and his employers.
Spot on. Team needs to starting winning. Even though we are relegated a good run in the cup is worth it for team morale.
Why not set out to win the cup anyway.