How West Ham and Manuel Pellegrini should spend the next 9 days off

The timing couldn’t be better for West Ham and Pellegrini as they have over 9 days to prep for Palace and their futures. How should they use the time wisely?

Typically the Christmas period is packed with matches and it still will be for West Ham, just with a little bit of help due to Liverpool playing in a club competition that will take them away from the EPL match this weekend. Timing is perfect, but it must be used extremely well.

It hasn’t been very often that the Hammers have gotten a break this season so this is somewhat nice. But what should they do with their time to get better? To make sure they can keep their manager? And most importantly stay well above the relegation zone?

First and foremost, they need to keep working on the formation that Pellegrini put out last time out against Southampton. Clearly playing two up top worked wonders for the Hammers attack and in return, kept the opposition at bay and not on the attack as much.

Related Story. Two up top can work for West Ham and Haller. light

As of now, the only options are Sebastien Haller and Michail Antonio for the two slots upfront but with work and time, Ajeti could be a nice fit in a two striker formation. That formation worked wonders against a lower side but can it against Crystal Palace who is more equal if not better this season?

The Eagles are aggressive in defense and have a solid midfield to back that up but by keeping the attack on Palace it will make there already card hungry defenders more aggressive. With well over 12 days to prepare the combo of Antonio and Haller will have ample time to prepare.

The Hammers defense has been in question but as of late have turned it on a bit. Seemly West Ham has a plethora of center backs that could take the role and run with it but the Hammers should stick to winning ways and start with Fabian Balbuena and Angelo Ogbonna.

With Ryan Fredericks being out due to too many yellow cards, that means that Pablo Zabaleta will probably get the nod at right-back. That is a bit of a scary proposition especially with Zaha’s pace but if the team can work on that in practice, they have enough time to work it out.

LONDON, ENGLAND – OCTOBER 05: Pablo Zabaleta of West Ham United during the Premier League match between West Ham United and Crystal Palace at London Stadium on October 05, 2019 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images) /

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Working together as a cohesive unit can help take the pressure off of one man and let the whole team play together and grind out the kinks. There were many times last season when Declan Rice would play over to help a slowing RB and it will need to happen again,

David Martin has been a steady helper over the last 4 matches and he will need to step up again on Boxing Day. Or will he? Claret and Hugh have reported that Hammer of the Year, Lukasz Fabianski might be healthy and ready to return to action but please God let him stay healthy.

With Martin in solid for I see no rush to bring back an aging keeper if he’s not fully ready for action. Whatever the Hammers decide to do over this time off let us just hope they can keep it positive and in the right direction,

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All they have right now is themselves as the transfer window hasn’t hit yet. So, work with what you have and use this time to shore up the attack, work as a collective front on defense, and keep that keeper healthy and get back the team’s best player but until then, COME ON YOU IRONS!

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