West Ham v Aston Villa Pre-Match Thread

[Villafirst]

4-3 defeat. Defence worries me.

[Pat McMahon]

Advert in the London Standard a couple of days ago advertising that there are still 2500 tickets left, which surprised me.

[Karl Bridges]

2-4 Away win and the start of a wild ride of goal filled matches, thrills and spills.

[garyshawsknee]

4-3 defeat. Defence worries me.

West Hams attack doesn't worry me too much. 2-1 us.

[Walmley_Villa]

2-2 draw which I would be happy with as long as we follow it up with a win at home.

[PeterWithesShin]

So we have Gabby, Dunne, Albrighton, Herd and possibly Lowton, Carruthers and Holman injured. We sure pissed off the injury Gods somehow these last couple of years.

[SoccerHQ]

Greetings again Villains. The new football season seems to have snuck up on me with all the excitement with the Olympics.

Two things surprised me with West Ham this summer. Firstly, that we've actually signed a couple of decent looking players - Alou Diarra from Marseille who seems a decent player, Momo Diama from Wigan for nothing, and of course your very own favourite Welshman, the Ginger Pele aka James Collins, who has returned to his east London home. The other thing that surprised me is that we haven't signed any "big name" players, despite a seemingly protracted "saga" chasing a tall white long haired Geordie version of Carlton Cole.

Still, onwards and upwards, and what was a decent standard squad from last year has been supplemented by three decent additions. The loss of Green was a shame, but we've got an experienced replacement in Jussi and a young upcoming 'keeper in Stephen Henderson.

Our squad is probably still light another striker, our only options being the infuriating Cole, the enigmatic but often erratic winger/forward Vaz Te, the unproven in the top flight Nicky Maynard and Sam Baldock (the latter of which seems to be unwanted by Allardyce) and the well past his best Piquionne. However we're solid through the middle, and the midfield is strong.

Allardyce of course won't be fooled into any silly footballing ethos type experiments, picking his players to play a system that both works to their strengths and plays on the percentages. It's not always the prettiest to watch but too much of the Premier League is based on not losing at all costs these days that merely staying up is akin to winning the league.

Still, when it worked for us last season particularly in April and May we did produce some great football, far better than the dross we managed under Zola who was supposedly an exponent of the beautiful game.

As for this weekend, well it's anyone's guess as far as I'm concerned. Our pre-season form has been erratic at best, and I've paid very little attention to football all summer. It took me a few moments over the weekend to remember who won the cup last season, and just now I struggled to remember Paul Lambert is now your gaffer.

I'll plump for the draw, even though I've ticked a home win on the poll.

Welcome back Sendo. Didn't you also sign a french striker over the summer?

I think you'll struggle in defence against pace if Collins and Tomkins are your first choice partnership this season.

[richard moore]

Advert in the London Standard a couple of days ago advertising that there are still 2500 tickets left, which surprised me.

Olympic hangover? Too much football on the television seemingly all year round? The credit crunch? People falling out of love with the game generally? A mediocre league full of workmanlike teams? Probably a combination of all these factors put together. What amazes me is that so many people still turn up to watch it all

[VinnieChase84]

So we have Gabby, Dunne, Albrighton, Herd and possibly Lowton, Carruthers and Holman injured. We sure pissed off the injury Gods somehow these last couple of years.

Lowtons fit for Saturday, what's happened to Holman?

[PeterWithesShin]

Went off injured tonight.

[Pete3206]

2-2

[Matt Collins]

If Holman is injured I think the only choices to make are given / guzan, delph / bannan and fonz / weimann. I reckon we'd go:

Given - Lowton, vlaar, Clark, lichaj - KEA bannan - Ireland CNZ - weimann bent

Guzan baker Gardner delph Johnson delfouneso and god knows who else. Perhaps warnock?

If Holman is fit I reckon he starts ahead of weimann.

[pedro25]

If Holman's out I'd put Delph in not Weiman.

[JD]

Greetings again Villains. The new football season seems to have snuck up on me with all the excitement with the Olympics.

Two things surprised me with West Ham this summer. Firstly, that we've actually signed a couple of decent looking players - Alou Diarra from Marseille who seems a decent player, Momo Diama from Wigan for nothing, and of course your very own favourite Welshman, the Ginger Pele aka James Collins, who has returned to his east London home. The other thing that surprised me is that we haven't signed any "big name" players, despite a seemingly protracted "saga" chasing a tall white long haired Geordie version of Carlton Cole.

Still, onwards and upwards, and what was a decent standard squad from last year has been supplemented by three decent additions. The loss of Green was a shame, but we've got an experienced replacement in Jussi and a young upcoming 'keeper in Stephen Henderson.

Our squad is probably still light another striker, our only options being the infuriating Cole, the enigmatic but often erratic winger/forward Vaz Te, the unproven in the top flight Nicky Maynard and Sam Baldock (the latter of which seems to be unwanted by Allardyce) and the well past his best Piquionne. However we're solid through the middle, and the midfield is strong.

Allardyce of course won't be fooled into any silly footballing ethos type experiments, picking his players to play a system that both works to their strengths and plays on the percentages. It's not always the prettiest to watch but too much of the Premier League is based on not losing at all costs these days that merely staying up is akin to winning the league.

Still, when it worked for us last season particularly in April and May we did produce some great football, far better than the dross we managed under Zola who was supposedly an exponent of the beautiful game.

As for this weekend, well it's anyone's guess as far as I'm concerned. Our pre-season form has been erratic at best, and I've paid very little attention to football all summer. It took me a few moments over the weekend to remember who won the cup last season, and just now I struggled to remember Paul Lambert is now your gaffer.

I'll plump for the draw, even though I've ticked a home win on the poll.

Welcome back Sendo after your year away in the Championship. 

[Irish villain]

We need to make another couple of signings.