Watch alot of West Ham because of my fiancée, so I hate saying it but they are terrible. They have next to no creativity, with the exception of Ravel Morrison, who has had a terrific start to the season. They have a lot of rubbish in that squad, the likes of McCartney and Joey O'Brien should not be regulars for anyone who wants to stay in this division. Nolan has had a poor season, as has Jaaselinainen and Diame, who has been played out of position alot but he doesn't look like the force he was last season. He doesn't seem to complete a lot of games, don't know if that's anything to do with injury or fitness. The lack of goals in that team could see them stay down there for a long time. I just think they aren't going anywhere under Allardyce and should look to replace him. If Southampton can amass a decent squad, poach a young, progressive coach then why can't West Ham attempt to do the same? They are very generic and lack any form of creativity - even with Downing or Jarvis. He seems reluctant to play them both at the same, it's normally Downing starting with Jarvis on the bench. I watched their game v Fulham at the weekend and although Morrison came off the bench to carry them over the finishing line, I think Downing got MOTM. My other half was delighted with his performance but I was looking at him thinking 'that's the Downing from LFC'. He will get the ball and move it sideways or stop and pass it back. He lacks the confidence he had at Villa, but maybe with Carroll back he could move up a level. He did put in a few dangerous crosses but there was no-one there to attack them until Cole came on.
With regards to this game, I would stick with the same team and just go at them from the first minute and like against Norwich, press them hard and early when they have possession. They don't have the capacity to play around that. I don't like Collins at the back, he has a horrible, horrible tendancy to just play it long - just hoof it whenever he can. If they play Cole they may have a target to hit but without him or Carroll, it should be easy to defend against. They have some big players and we are weak at set pieces so that might be an area we want to work on. I imagine Skrtel will keep his place for this game. Noble seems to have the monopoly on set pieces, to West Ham's detriment, as he just floats them into the box. No pace, to whip just floated into the box. They would be better served letting Downing attempt to take them. Nolan will look to get on the end of anything they win in the air.
No game is a banker, and this is no different. If we want to win we need to work hard - offensively and defensively. I hope Suarez takes his Norwich form into this game, and not his Hull form.
