Expectation vs. Reality; Predicting West Ham XI vs. Spurs
By Adam Smith
Often guessed, rarely right the weekly predicted XI is back for West Ham as Jose Mourinho’s Tottenham Hotspur come crosstown. Here’s the best guess put up against the best Hammers team available.
Expectation vs. Reality. When it comes to West Ham, it is very clear that some changes are direly needed in the starting XI. A supporter’s expectation would be that after an awful run of match these changes would be coming through. In Manuel Pellegrini’s reality, however, the manager needs to win his way, so don’t expect it to happen now.
A leopard can’t change its spots, an old dog can’t learn new tricks, and both can be said about a proven manager. Why would Pellegrini change his strategy now, bending to external pressure to abandon what he views as Pellegrini-ball? With this ominous overtone, I present to you, the predicted XI to face Spurs:
Roberto
Fredericks – Balbuena – Diop – Masuaku
Rice
Yarmolenko – Snodgrass – Fornals – Anderson
Haller
Same formation and same players in the team apart from a few switches. Arthur Masuaku draws back in after playing in the international break, but no justice for Angelo Ogbonna. Maybe he had a bust-up with the Gaffer, but there was no reason to drop him in the first place so why would the lack of logic abruptly end now?
Again we will see Sebastien Haller isolated up top in this formation, but Andriy Yarmolenko draws back in based on necessity and injury to Manuel Lanzini who previously occupied Pablo Fornals‘ position in the middle of the pitch. Robert Snodgrass also keeps his spot but look for a Mark Noble sub in the second half.
The ideal team for Tottenham:
Anang
Fredericks – Diop – Ogbonna – Masuaku
Rice – Fornals – Snodgrass
Yarmolenko – Haller – Anderson
A 4-3-3 better suits the players Pellegrini has on hand and allows for a more packed midfield to suppress the opposition’s possession. The midfield has been a huge issue for Pellegrini and he can’t seem to sort it out in the 4-1-4-1 formation he uses, perhaps a change is needed?
As mentioned, it’s doubtful that Pellegrini would make this drastic of a change now; he’s either going to succeed or fail playing football his way. This team has the firepower to get the job done, too, the question becomes ‘will the Hammers turn up in their biggest fixture of the season?’