Hammers games scheduled to be played in the next fortnight are now increasingly looking as if they will be postponed, they include the League Cup Quarter Final away to Tottingham at 19:45 on Wednesday the 22nd of December and the following Premier League fixtures.
Does Moyes go for European glory or domestic success?
Occasionally in football, managers are faced with problems they could only dream of having. Trying to fit three world class and in-form players into a system that only allows for two for example. Deciding on which competition to concentrate on is another and that is exactly the dilemma that David Moyes is facing.
Hammers Saturday home fixture. as has been widely announced, has been cancelled due to the visitors Norwich being unable to field a 'proper' team due to a surge in Covid cases at Carrow Road. Many other fixtures have already been cancelled as the full effect of the new Omicron variant of Covid takes grip at an alarming rate.
On a night to forget, West Ham's defensive options took a further hit as a very crowd influenced Anthony Taylor proceeded to give Hammers right back Vladimi Coufal TWO yellow cards meaning he will miss the next game which is against Norwich this Saturday.
The 2-0 defeat sees Hammers drop out of the top four of the Premier League, being replaced by last night's winners Arsenal, a team who have taken diving and whining to a new high or low depending on your view point, Mikail Arteta is swiftly becoming our least liked opposition manager!
Arsenal: Ramsdale, Tomiyasu, White, Gabriel, Tierney, Partey, Xhaka, Saka, Ødegaard, Martinelli, Lacazette © Subs: Okonkwa (GK), Holding, Maitland-Niles, Tavares, Lokonga, Elneny, Pepé, Smith Rowe, Nketiah
West Ham: Fabiański, Coufal, Dawson, Diop, Masuaku, Rice ©, Souček, Bowen, Lanzini, Fornals, Antonio Subs: Areola (GK), Ashby, Alese, Noble, Král, Vlašić, Benrahma, Okoflex, Yarmolenko
Injuries, injuries and more injuries is not the sort of information fans want to hear as the club wades in to the 'fixture frenzy' that has been set for them by people more interested in money than player welfare. It can be argued that the obscene wages they receive justifies them playing until they drop, but despite being elite sportspeople, they are still human and there are limits even for individuals who are looked after well by a comprehensive medical team.
West Ham travel the short distance from East to North London this evening to take on Premier League rivals Arsenal, as we publish the fixture is set to go ahead, although there is a possibility the game might be postponed as a result of Covid positives at the Emirates, IF there are no further updates, the fixture which is being broadcast on BT Sport, WILL go ahead.
Hammers Wednesday evening's fixture against Arsenal at the Emirates is in serious jeopardy of being cancelled at the last minute as the host club deal with a potentially huge Covid -19 outbreak as the Omicron variant continues to ravage through all areas of football and the wider community.
Chances were few and far between during the 'dour drawer' between Burnley and West Ham, so perhaps it is forgivable for fans to try and salvage some form of positive from what was a very disappointing outing. The defence looked pretty solid despite being shorn of its two main players, but was bereft of effectively going forward due to the absence of Aaron Cresswell from the proceedings.
Sunday's 'offering' was well below par as Hammers struggled to break down a resolute Burnley defence in the totally uninspiring 0-0 draw up at Turf Moor, profligacy in front of goal didn't help matters as chance after chance was squandered. The hectic schedule ALL clubs are facing is having the effect many feared would happen, namely that the large clubs with huge squads would cope much better, so it has proved.