West Ham vs. AFC Bournemouth Match Preview
Week two is upon us and after a dismal start to their season West Ham United get an opportunity to flip the script this week as they face off against AFC Bournemouth.
It will be the home opener for West Ham this week and I am sure that the players as much as the coaches want to put up a great showing in front of 57, 000 plus happy hammers at home.
Last week was an eye opener and I am hopeful that it was a productive week at the Training Ground to fix the mistakes and continue to gel as a unit. Working together is what needs to happen for West Ham at the moment. Obviously knowing that will take time is one thing, knowing that we need a good showing against a less formidable opponent is another.
Manuel Pellegrini and the squad will have to have a good showing this Saturday to keep the naysayers at bay. I recently ran a poll on twitter and it was an overwhelming showing of votes for either winning by 1 or by 2 or more.
Match History
Last season we had a rough time against AFC Bournemouth only notching out one draw and then losing the other. To be able to get to the top half of the table these are the types of matches we must win. Eddie Howe’s side won comfortably last week but that was against a much weaker side in Cardiff City.
The offense showed life at time last week but it will need to show more on Saturday. The gaffer’s formation was with a more defensive midfield this past week and there is a very high potential that it will be that way again. I know this is considered a “must win” match but Pellegrini is a man who wants his formations and style to work so he knows he must keep at it to get it right.
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With the offense I only could see a few changes. One, I would like to see Michail Antonio replaced with Andriy Yarmolenko and two, potentially move Jack Wilshere up in a more number 10 role to move the attack on.
At the Back
The defense, was poor but will it be changed? Like i previously stated, I do think the Pellegrini will keep this formation and most of the squad to continue towards a final goal. Playing out of position and failing at the high line was an issue last week but I do think we will see the high line again. The only change I could see is Aaron Cresswell replacing Arthur Masuaku at Left Back. I will get into the injury report next but Cresswell seems healthy and would a good fix to help lock up the defense. Ryan Fredericks was caught out of position a few times but you can’t help to blame the young right back who was playing in his first Premier League start against arguably the potential league champion last week. With all that in mind, I believe he will get another go this week.
Hey guess what! The injury report this week looks much better than previous. Seemingly whatever knock Marko had is no longer a thing and Cresswell is back to training and available. The only three players on the current report are Lanzini, Carroll, and Reid and it was reported today that Lanzini could be back to playing by January so all good news here currently. Carroll reportedly will be back for December, but for how long no-one knows.
Why Anderson could be key against Bournemouth. dark. Next
Clearly I believe we will win, but I am still not convinced that it will be in blowout fashion. We are a new side with new management so we must give it time and at this time a convincing win might be what is needed. My hope is that by the end of the 90 minutes we are all screaming bubbles and cheering off our victorious Hammers. As always, COME ON YOU IRONS!