We’re just outside the relegation zone on goal difference with no points and five goals conceded from our first two games. The manager has seen the scale of his task in those two games and he must realise the job has to do on our defence is a massive one. While we looked good in attack in the first half against Chelsea in particular last week, our defence looked as vulnerable as ever and maybe even more so.
We play a West Ham team who have lost their first two games too and in worse fashion than us. They lost their opening game 4-0 away to Liverpool and they lost 2-1 at home to Bournemouth last week after taking the lead in that game. There seems to be huge unrest already despite massive investment in the summer and they have a fair degree of injury worries too.
Over the years of the Premier League they have been a bit of a thorn in our side in home ganes in particular, but they cannot be allowed to get anything from this game. We have to show that the new manager is having an effect on the players and put away a West Ham team that look devoid of confidence.
When it comes to the team today I don’t expect to see too many changes from the one that lost at Chelsea last week. The manager seems happy to use his bench early in the game and he’s very open to changing things as the game progresses. He does have a few decisions to make though and those decisions could have a huge bearing on our performance.
In defence there are calls for Stephan Lichsteiner to be given the nod ahead of Hector Bellerin, but I would be very surprised to see Bellerin on the bench. As good as Lichsteiner is it would be a real slap in the face to Bellerin to leave him out and he’s definitely not the only defender struggling at the moment. There has been a fair deal of criticism of his efforts going forward too, but he had a large part to play in much of our good play on the right side last week.
Elsewhere in defence there aren’t too many choices unless he decides to leave Shkodran Mustafi out, but it would be a huge risk to throw someone else in at the deep end with a team that still seem incapable of defending. Nacho Monreal has to play at left back with no other options available and hopefully he can regain his form of last season. He was by far our best defender last season and he offered quite a lot going forward too.
The biggest choice of the day could be who plays in midfield with Matteo Guendouzi surely a dead cert to keep his place. It’s probably a straight choice between Granit Xhaka and Lucas Torreira to play alongside him and Torreira looks like the favourite to get the nod at the moment. I suppose Aaron Ramsey could play that deeper role too, but I would expect to see him deployed further forward if he does get the nod.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was signed in January to score goals for us and he certainly did so for the rest of last season. Last week he had one really good chance to score and another fairly good chance too, but he failed to put both of them away. He needs to put a few away as soon as possible, but like any striker he will miss his fair share of chances too. I still think he is the man to score those goals for us and he is going to make it hard for Alexandre Lacazette to get a lot of game time.
I would be very surprised if both Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan didn’t keep their places even if Ozil didn’t have the best game last week. He is a top class player and hopefully he will overcome the problems he’s having as soon as possible, but the best place for him to do so is in the team. Like Aubameyang last week Mkhitaryan missed a sitter, but he did make up for it by scoring one goal and making another and he must be a certainty to play.
The last choice is probably between Alex Iwobi and Ramsey and I think Iwobi might just keep his place. He scored one goal last week and he is more adept than Ramsey in a wide role which should probably see him picked despite the misgivings many fans have about him. As I said previously Ramsey could play a deeper role too, but I have s feeling he might be on the bench.
We need to get our first win and points of the season after those two defeats and that win has to come today. West Ham are there for the taking and we should be able to do just that if we go about it the right way. Anything other than a win would be a huge blow and it would put real pressure on the manager only three games into his reign. I think we will get the three points and we should see a few goals too.
That’s it for today.
See you tomorrow.
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