Wednesday evening’s Carabao Cup performance was marked by the consistent intensity of our play, the efficiency with which we approached the task and the ultimate ruthlessness with which we dispatched our opponents. This is a clear recipe (if it can be replicated) for the club’s future success. Too often in the past West Ham have struggled with this calibre of opponent, but not this time as the team achieved everything expected of it and much more besides. It was good to see players like Perez and Snodgrass utilise the opportunity presented by the match to shake off the ‘ring rust’ and ‘open up the throttle’ to start firing on all cylinders; and of course, other regular first teamers like Ogbonna, Fredericks and Cresswell also secured invaluable additional game time. However, perhaps the single most pleasing aspect of the entire evening was the first team debuts of Powell, Coventry and Diangana and, particularly, the latter’s two goal return.
This Macclesfield Town match also proves just how crucial luck is in football. Silva and Holland were the U-21 prospects widely seen as most likely to make an immediate impact at first team level. Yet injury strikes at the wrong time and that gives others the opportunity to impress in their stead. Make no mistake, both Silva and Holland remain top prospects, its probably just going to take that bit longer than originally anticipated. Looking at it from a slightly different perspective, it is probably a huge positive that three youngsters (Powell, Coventry and Diangana) have emerged so strongly and, yet, outstanding prospects likes of Holland and Silva remain on the production line. It would seem that the Academy of Football could very well be back and that is a development that will be welcomed by every true Hammers fan.
I must admit that I had initially feared that the Academy might suffer when Pellegrini was first appointed. However, in retrospect, Pellegrini probably knows that the transfer budget at the London Stadium (although substantial) is unlikely to ever rival the riches available at the likes of Man City and that, as a consequence, the Academy supply line remains an essential pre-requisite. Indeed, I have recently been encouraged by Pellegrini’s nurturing of the Academy and the encouragement he has given to our youngsters. The three debuts on Wednesday is a clear indication of that.
Following on from the victory at Everton, and the hard fought draw home against Chelsea, this result has given the whole club a massive shot in the arm. It has nicely set us up for the Manchester United home match and the very real possibility of another eye catching performance/result. Yes, our talismanic striker, Marco Arnautovic, could very well still be missing through injury and, if so, we need to show faith in Lucas Perez and select him to lead the line on Saturday. This is the essence of a squad system, strength in depth, competition for places and players ready and waiting to take their opportunities when they present themselves. If Perez gets the nod on Saturday then he needs to ‘step up to the plate’ and grab his chance with both hands. What is certain is that Perez will be in a far better place to achieve that after his goal scoring performance on Wednesday. Confidence is a huge factor in football and never more so than for strikers, who thrive on self-confidence. Hopefully, we will start to see exactly what Perez can achieve on the bigger, PL stage.
Manchester United will arrive at London Stadium, fresh from the humiliation of exiting the cup on Tuesday at the hands of Championship club, Derby County. Can we add to Jose’s mounting woes? One would certainly hope so. However, I am not going to tempt fate by changing my prior call. I am still going for an entertaining score draw, which will hopefully set us up for an away victory, the following Friday evening, at Brighton & Hove Albion. COYI!
With regard to the fourth round of the Carabao Cup, the draw takes place this Saturday evening (Broadcast live on Quest – Sky 144, Virgin 172 and Freeview 37), at 9pm and West Ham have been allocated ball number 15. Hopefully, we will get another ‘kind’ home draw. The numbers best avoided (if at all possible) are: 2. (Arsenal), 5. (Chelsea),
10. (Man City) and 14. (Tottenham).
The best available draws are probably: 3. (Blackpool), 4. (Burton), 11. (Middlesboro), 12. (Norwich City) and 13. (Nottingham F.).
SJ. Chandos.