This season we’ve played our way in to trouble, played our way back out of trouble, and now find ourselves playing our way back in to it again.
Recent performances have been unacceptable. We’ve been a shambles defensively and can’t seem to keep hold of winning positions – we’ve lost 20 points from being ahead this season.
Tonight’s game at Arsenal, on the face of it, looks like a forgone conclusion. Last season we went to the Emirates on the opening day of the season and stunned the entire country with a 2-0 win – it was the first chapter of an incredible season we’ll always remember fondly.
We could do with writing a similar chapter tonight, but a number of injuries to key players and the fact we can’t win for toffee at the moment doesn’t exactly fill anyone with confidence.
Arsenal, though, have their own problems. Their fans seem hellbent on making life difficult for the players and Arsene Wenger, seemingly ungrateful for what Wenger has done for their club over the years.
Their players don’t seem to care either, while a reported ‘captain crisis’ and injuries to Cech and Ospina means they head in to this game seemingly unprepared.
So with that in mind, and recalling back to the times when West Ham beat the good teams and lost to the rubbish ones, here is the XI that might just manage to get something at the Emirates tonight…
