PL: West Ham United vs Arsenal | 05/11/06

[IBL]

After the brilliant yet fruitless display on Wednesday I think we're all still in a state of shock as to how we didnt put the ball into the back of the net, so much so that we've forgotten that we have a tough London derby fast approaching. West Ham may have been struggling but they've finally got themselves a win and will be up for this match, I just hope that our confidence in front of goal hasnt been affected.

line-up: I expect the exact team to start as the one against Moscow.

 

[qs]

Dont know whjat sort of defence we'll see. I think Djourou would be unfortunate not to play. Theres loads of options at centre half now its very hard to call.

Id be very disappointed if we dont win this one. Scoreline doesnt really matter but with back to back draws now we really need to get back on track if we're to continue our challenge for the title.

Toughish games for United and Chelsea coming off a CL week too so this could be an opportunity to make up the ground lost last week.

 

[awooga83]

I'm quite worried about this game simply because West Hm had such a bad spell and got a result the other day without playing totally great and they will be due a good performance soon and a game against us should mean they are right up for it

We on the other hand have had two poor results where we should have won but failed to do so and really need a win now. Its the kind of game we need to win to get over this and we need to improve our finishing because we will always create chances its just a question nowdays of how many we need before we score.

 

[qs]

we need to improve our finishing

Am I to take it poor finishing id the new lack of width then?

We dont have a problem with our finishing. Henry and ven Persie are 2 of the best finishers in World football. Rosicky one of the best shots of any midfielder. Lets not create a crisi out of a little bit of bad luck.

Finishing wasn't the problem against Everton, it was an inability to break through the 8 man defence they had set up.

 

[Ginger_Reyes]

I can't see us failing to get 3 or 4 goals against West Ham to be honest. If we come out of the blocks in similar fashion to the moscow game we should destroy them in all honesty.

I hope he picks the same team as yesterday as some of the football was sublime and I'd like to see the Toure/Gallas partnership continue. Clichy was also a big positive from yesterdays game (good link-up play, fast and calm on the ball), as he looked out of sorts against west brom.

I'm going for a 3-1 win.

 

[gunner_down_under]

Make no mistake, EPL teams will be nothing like CSKA, but West Ham are a pile of **** at the moment, and I said it before and I say it again - if we get one goal in, it's gonna start pissing down goals for us. And I'm fully confident it will happen in this one.

Same lineup as CSKA, all the guys were unbelievable, just some extraordinary bad luck!

would love to see Javier Mascerano start and be taught a lesson in midfield by Cesc! - would shut a lot of the Mascherano-lovers here up!

 

[awooga83]

No Henry is just off form at the moment but we have been very wasteful this season in 4 or 5 games we have dominated and created some great chances but in all of them we have failed to win.

We have plenty of great creative midfielders now but we lack any that are going to contribute the 10-15 goals that you need from some midfielders.

All our players are not clinical enough at the moment for example look at Van Persie he can finish fantastic chances then miss 2 or 3 sitters.
Finishing was the wrong word what i meant is we must be more clinical which is something we have struggled with this season, but the top teams are always clinical they can have a poor game get one or two chances anf they will score from them on those type of days.

 

[andyswafc]

Can see this being a difficult game, West Ham hot off the heels from their win against Blackburn, confidence must be back on the up for them. After another stuttering display in the Champions League, confidence within the Arsenal Camp won't be at the best , although as of late, our performance after a champions League game has been very good, 4-0 vs Reading, 1-0 vs Man Poo, so hopefully that will continue....


Adebayor is rated 90% to make his return, whether that could mean RVP being moved back to left midfield, leading to Cesc getting his overdue rest, I don't know.

We can't afford to drop any more points while Utd and Chelski keep winning.

I'm saying 3-1 Walcott to get first goal........

 

[the dawn raids]

we need to improve our finishing

Am I to take it poor finishing id the new lack of width then?

probably. with lack of luck finishing a close third. :roll:

 

[Lukazan]

Typically West Ham got a big win for themselves just before they play us, and this will give them a huge boost. Although even if they were still on that run without a win, this game would not be anything like easy. They'll frustrate us and I certainly can't see a thrashing of any kind.

A scraped win or a disappointing draw/loss I reckon.

 

[N!]

West Ham's win was a flash in the pan in my opinion... if they play either of their two Argie Superstars they'll lose... they disrupt the flow of their football, they're not suited to the style of play that West Ham employ.

i'll say a safe but not too optimistic 2-0 though. Mainly because we have hit a rough patch in finishing chances, but the Hammers win will have boosted confidence.

i'd say... Henry and Theo to score.

 

[Lord Dula]

Sooner or later we're absolutely gonna pound a team six or seven nil.

Wish Baptista was around and ready for action

 

[Clrnc]

west ham attacking style means they most likely won't be all man behind ball team against us. the best thing is we don't concede anymore early goals otherwise its gonna be hard again.

i see us creating 3 or 4 very good goal-scoring opportunities in the match, us finishing it or not is another matter. hopefully tevez don't start.

 

[Jkreffer]

Forgetting West Ham's last result, they have been poor this season and probably will still be on Sunday. They have looked to attack teams without scoring many goals.

If this is the case again we could annihilate them. They will have to come out playing at home and our away form is surprisingly good so far this year. I am confident if we create half as many chances as yesterday then we should win. I don't think West Ham really have the players or mentality to sit back and defend even if they do get the first goal.

I imagine the 4-5-1 will come out again with Van Persie playing on the left side. Like much of the season so far alot will depend on an early goal.

 

[>YounGunner<]

People have slated the 4-5-1 but i like it and see great potential in this formation.

Lets face it if we did well defending against set pieces and took our chances i'm sure no one would be moaning about 4-5-1.

 

[Jkreffer]

I like the fact that we have the ability to switch between two formations now. Obviously the 4-5-1 has worked wonders in Europe and against United this year.

When it works, it really does work as proved with Reading, but when it doesn't we are always going to be labelled as trying to walk the ball into the net. I am prettysure that problems this year have been down to problems irrelevant of the formation such as set peice defending and missing open nets.

 

[Gurgen]

People have slated the 4-5-1 but i like it and see great potential in this formation.

Lets face it if we did well defending against set pieces and took our chances i'm sure no one would be moaning about 4-5-1.

And if my auntie had a Willie she'd be my uncle.

Everything is linked my friend, the formation, the players in certain positions and even our finishing.

 

[Jkreffer]

I don't agree that our wastefulness has had much to do with the formation. I mean when you through on goal, you are through on goal. How the team is lining up behind you is then irrelevant. The chances would be no easier or harder to score had you been playing in a 4-4-2 its down to your personal finishing at that moment.

 

[Gurgen]

Only when Rosicky goes through on goal it's different from Henry going through on goal. Like I said, 4-5-1 mainly creates chances for the midfielders. Our midfielders are not goalscorers, so it's hardly surprising that we don't score enough goals.

 

[sabret00the]

Reo-Coker will undoubtedly put in his first performance of the season. that could inspire the win, we'll see.