Cast your mind back to December 2014, when a new look West Ham United side had taken the league by storm with their expansive and attacking football, atypical of what you would imagine a team managed by Sam Allardyce would play like. While Ronald Koeman and Southampton received the major plaudits for their upturn in fortunes this season, it was the East London boys who were the ‘best of the rest’ at Christmas when they were sitting in third place, upsetting the league demographic with statement wins against Champions League-calibre teams in Liverpool and this week’s opponents Manchester City. Foolishly, I believed the best was yet to come for the Hammers, and felt we had one hand on a European place.
Serves me right for buying into the deceptive Allardyce.
With only two league wins since Christmas, the boo-birds are very much out in full at Upton Park, and rightfully so. Reverting back to his negative style of football, and then having the audacity to blame it on the ‘under-performing’ players after he needlessly changed his tactics, Allardyce has all but sealed his fate as manager, with seemingly a new name every day being touted as his eventual successor. At least the first half of the season has shown enough for me to believe the right manager can turn this talented squad into a top 6 contender sooner rather than later as we prepare to move into the Olympic Stadium.
Looking like a team who has nothing to play for, meandering their way throughout the remainder of the season, I fear for us heading into Sunday’s game, still scarred by the 6-0 whipping City gave us last season in the Capital One Cup. City have let a title challenge slip through their fingers, and while I think talk of them falling out of the Champions League places completely hyperbolic, they cannot afford many more slip-ups in the several games left this season.
Heavily depleted up front due to a slew of injuries of late, it’s a tough ask for West Ham to pose City any real problem at the back like they did at Upton Park when Diafra Sakho and Enner Valencia made Vincent Kompany and Eliaqium Managala look like Jean-Alain Boumsong and Titus Bramble circa-2006 at Newcastle. Likely lining up in Allardyce’s 4-5-1, which he poorly brands as 4-3-3, with Carlton Cole playing as a lone striker won’t give Pellegrini many sleepless nights ahead of this one. West Ham will look to sit back, absorb pressure and hit City on the break with the pace of Valencia from wide. But that’s a dangerous game to play. Give Silva time to pick a pass and he’ll pry you open with ease.
Like I said, I’m not expecting much from this one. A humbling defeat is on the cards here.
Prediction: Manchester City 3-0 West Ham
