For me, Dawson, Diop and if fit Ogbonna start. Balbuena on bench
For me that will make for a very slow & rigid back 3. I think the option of Johnson as LCB or Coufal at RCB would make it much more balanced & fluid. Happy for Ogbonna to start if he is fit, with Dawson, but not Diop/Balbuena too.
But Cresswell isn't quick
Would say Diop is quicker than him and Ogbonna probably similar
Don't see Johnson starting at LCB he's always struck me as a fullback who wants to play up the pitch, don't think he has the positioning and experience to play CB even in a back 3
ASM had a field day against us on the opening day. I think if Moyes sticks someone on him like we did to nullify Grealish we should come out on top against Newcastle.
Cresswell isn't quick but probably a bit more agile than those others. I think you need someone there who can feel at home in that position, able to step up a bit to be sort of extra full back when the wingback has pushed up. I think Johnson would feel out of place and we shouldn't be sticking him in every position. Ogbonna's great in the middle so maybe it should be Diop on the left. I like the idea of just flipping things and putting Coufal as RCB though.
I don't think this is a bad game to play a back 4 though. I think Masuaku's qualities are better for counter-attacking, so maybe he should miss this out. Play Johnson as LB and put Benrahma in the team to help break them down if they're sitting back.
I can't see Johnson playing left CB, and I don't see the need to. If Oggy is fit, and Moyes wants a back three, then the three CB's, Oggy, Daws and Diop, fit the bill. Also Diop and Oggy are no slouches imo. If we go back four then Johnson slips in at LB in place of Cresswell.
Sky pundit has this as 2-1 Newcastle based on the fact over the last 5 games we’ve created the fewest chances and faced the most shots at 83. He feels our luck must run out soon.
Lawro predicts we'll lose almost as often as he predicts Liverpool will win, so his opinion has not mattered for a long time.
As for Shelvey's claim, well, I guess he could genuinely believe that. Or maybe he's trying to build the confidence of his teammates. Either way, I would imagine Noble will remind our players of this statement before kick-off on Saturday.
Trying to be as objective as possible, I think only Dubravka, Lascelles, Saint-Maximin and Wilson would threaten our first team. Their squad may be bigger, but I don't think it's as good as ours in terms of quality.
We supposedly wanted Shelvey a few times, at least it was something for them to recurgitate every transfer window. Instead we have had to do with likes of Soucek, Coufal, Dawson and now Lingard. To quote George Best “Where did it all go wrong?”
In fairness to Lawro, I think he may now be parodying himself when talking about the Hammers, in his predictions he says "I am going for the Hammers to lose this time but I am sure they won't mind - I also thought they would be beaten by the Foxes and, before then Wolves, and I was wrong on both occasions."
I also admit that "fairness to Lawro" is very difficult to type 😁
Sky pundit has this as 2-1 Newcastle based on the fact over the last 5 games we’ve created the fewest chances and faced the most shots at 83. He feels our luck must run out soon.
I read this article. So the guy is not a former footballer but he certainly does a thorough analysis of stats on games, with the aim of getting best value in terms of betting.
He seems to suggest West Ham’s form is not sustainable because we have one of the highest net shots against (shots taken - shots faced) over the last couple of months. He said that in our last 5 games, we have faced a massive 83 shots against (despite taking 10 points). This is added to our shot conversation rate being 32% over the last 3 games, the highest in the league. Basically suggesting that if that clinical edge was to fade for a match, there is every change we will lose because we are likely to concede around 15 shots in the game. We have scored 9 goals in our last 3 games but our expected goals count over those 3 games is under 5. We are not creating any clear cut chances, apart from the goals we are scoring.
It made me think; is this lucky? Is this some form of negative way of playing that will eventually be found out or stop, or is it just the sign of a good side? Isn’t the difference normally between average strikers and good strikers in how many chances they need to score goals. An average forward may need 6 or 7, a good forward may need 2.
The Guardian mentioned that we will play four days short of the 35th anniversary of our 8-1 win (21st April 1986).
Admittedly three of those goals were scored while Peter Beardsley was in goal, Newcastle's first choice keeper was still suffering from a shoulder injury and both the backup keepers were injured.
Now that teams are allowed 9 subs on the bench maybe Newcastle should include an extra keeper, just in case
PS Peter Beardsley had made plans to stay in London that evening - in Alvin Martin's spare room
Ryan Fraser still out with a groin injury he picked up on international duty
"Wilson and Saint-Maximin have trained all week so they're both OK. They've both had muscle injuries and they're the most difficult to manage because they both rely on explosive pace and power. There's a decision to be made."
These shot stats are pretty irrelevant imo. So we've conceded 85 shots in the last 5 games of which 23 were on target and 8 went in. I don't think Fab has made a worldie save in that time and probably only a couple of good saves. If Fab was playing out of his skin then there maybe some credence but he hasn't had to so there's not.
I'm more nervous for this game than the last three. A combination of raised hopes and the expectation of winning this.
I hate football. It's rubbish when you're rubbish and rubbish when you're good.
I think if you're really good, like Man City or Bayern good, it's fun. But, yeah, I'm finding the run-in to this season weirdly as stressful as the one for last season.
Comments
Would say Diop is quicker than him and Ogbonna probably similar
Don't see Johnson starting at LCB he's always struck me as a fullback who wants to play up the pitch, don't think he has the positioning and experience to play CB even in a back 3
I don't think this is a bad game to play a back 4 though. I think Masuaku's qualities are better for counter-attacking, so maybe he should miss this out. Play Johnson as LB and put Benrahma in the team to help break them down if they're sitting back.
Newcastle have started with a 5-3-2 then switched to a 4-4-2 when they brought ASM on
As for Shelvey's claim, well, I guess he could genuinely believe that. Or maybe he's trying to build the confidence of his teammates. Either way, I would imagine Noble will remind our players of this statement before kick-off on Saturday.
Trying to be as objective as possible, I think only Dubravka, Lascelles, Saint-Maximin and Wilson would threaten our first team. Their squad may be bigger, but I don't think it's as good as ours in terms of quality.
Lingard. To quote George Best “Where did it all go wrong?”
I also admit that "fairness to Lawro" is very difficult to type 😁
Like we deserved our early leads, they weren't lucky we dominated early in each and we had chances to have greater than 3-0 leads
But also wolves and Leicester (less so) did have chances that they didn't take...and Arsenal could've won
He seems to suggest West Ham’s form is not sustainable because we have one of the highest net shots against (shots taken - shots faced) over the last couple of months. He said that in our last 5 games, we have faced a massive 83 shots against (despite taking 10 points). This is added to our shot conversation rate being 32% over the last 3 games, the highest in the league. Basically suggesting that if that clinical edge was to fade for a match, there is every change we will lose because we are likely to concede around 15 shots in the game. We have scored 9 goals in our last 3 games but our expected goals count over those 3 games is under 5. We are not creating any clear cut chances, apart from the goals we are scoring.
It made me think; is this lucky? Is this some form of negative way of playing that will eventually be found out or stop, or is it just the sign of a good side? Isn’t the difference normally between average strikers and good strikers in how many chances they need to score goals. An average forward may need 6 or 7, a good forward may need 2.
We race into a lead and then shut up shop, hence why our stats are inflated
Think we've shown throughout he season we have more aspects to us then just smashing and grabbing
Admittedly three of those goals were scored while Peter Beardsley was in goal, Newcastle's first choice keeper was still suffering from a shoulder injury and both the backup keepers were injured.
Now that teams are allowed 9 subs on the bench maybe Newcastle should include an extra keeper, just in case
PS Peter Beardsley had made plans to stay in London that evening - in Alvin Martin's spare room
Hopefully Oggy's back though.
Ryan Fraser still out with a groin injury he picked up on international duty
"Wilson and Saint-Maximin have trained all week so they're both OK. They've both had muscle injuries and they're the most difficult to manage because they both rely on explosive pace and power. There's a decision to be made."
I hate football. It's rubbish when you're rubbish and rubbish when you're good.