Respect Southampton ?,yes.Fear Southampton ?please,we've got the best squad in the league,time to deliver by playing football !.The biggest mistake Samuel Allardyce can make tonight is to pick a team to physically impose themselves on Southampton by playing Cole as lone striker &five across the midfield in a bid to stifle The Saints.All you do by doing that is handing the iniative to Southampton.Carlton Cole is no lone striker he hasn't got the technique,control or ability to hold the ball up,aspects that any player picked to play that role must have.All that happens when you play Cole as lone striker is hand the ball back to the opposition ,the defending players pick the ball up when Cole loses it,with our midfield out of position having moved up to support Cole ,the opposition scythe through &have free run at goal,you might as well wave them through with a white flag.No doubt Southampton will be expecting to play with five across midfield.Tonight we've got to approach the game entirely dfferent.
We've got to come at Southampton from the off ,place them under the cosh &keep them their,we've got to surprise them by playing football,they will no doubt be expecting us to hit it long most of the time.We've certainly got the players in the squad that have the ability to play attractive football.Its now up to Samuel Allardyce to let them off the leash &allow them to do that,time for the manager to trust the squad &pick a team to take the game to Southampton from the off.Sitting back &inviting Southampton on to us is inviting trouble,do that &their is every chance that Southampton will nick &early goal,then the crowd gets edgy &that in turn makes the players edgy &before you know it you conceed a second goal &it's game over.
Getting it right tonight on &off the field is so important.Beat Southampton tonight &you open up a comfortable gap between you &the rest of the pack.Lose &it's hoofball & hope to the end of the season as West Ham United simply have to get promoted to the PL this season because of the clubs debt.In effectively from here on you are in actual fact preparing for a return to the PL .Their is a huge difference in a team crawling over the finishing line &a team winning a league comfortably playing good football .Promoted teams more often than not carry their end of season form over to the next season.Finish the season well,players confidence are up at the end of the season making it easier for new signings to bed in next season.
So what about tonight ?.I'd go with :Green,O'Brien,Faye,Tomkins,McCartney,Faubert,Noble,Landsbury,Taylor,Cole&Baldock.
Subs:Reid, Maynad,Vaz Te ,Demel,Morrison..Im going for Faye over Reid as i feel that he provides leadership at the back &will be needed to combat the physical presence of Rickie Lambert.The defence &Robert Green definetly missed his ability to cut out crosses from the danger zone.when he was out injured.I would keep Faubert on the right to start with ,&Taylor on the left.With Landsbury alongside Noble in the middle of the park to supply the creativity.Its taken the boy some time to reach full fitness after injury,with no Nolan walking around clogging up the midfield,this undoubted talent will have the space &time to open up spaces for others to exploit.With Maynard on the bench i was tempted to start him with Cole.But i think it will be a huge boost to Baldock's confidence should Samuel Allardyce give him the nod over the new arrivals,and i've a feeling that Baldock will reward the manager with a goal or two.It will also send the message to the new arrivals :you have to earn the right to play for West Ham.
I think the sooner you get Raval Morrison on the pitch &playing football the better.To have him hanging around is not going to do him or the Manager any favours.This boy has undoubted talent ,should things go well tonight,bring him on,will give him him confidence &get him focused on playing football rather than his off field antics.I may be wrong but i'll stick my neck out,Raval Morrison is going to become a firm favourite at the Boleyn Ground.With players like Maynard,Vaz Te,Demel &Reid on the bench we have options that Southampton cannot hope to match or indeed any other club in the championship.Time to shake off the shackles of mediocrity &deliver a compelling performance with the football being worthy of the Academy of Football.With a packed &electric atmosphere at the Boleyn Ground tonight i've got a feeling that led by the boy born to lead the Hammers Mark James Noble,that will indeed be the case.We're more than a football club we're a way of life !,COYI'S !
