It's been a long time coming, but David Moyes looks like a man who has had a great burden lifted from his shoulders, he finally appears to have put his 'Manchester United ghosts' behind him. One of the ironies associated with this strangest of seasons, is that Moyes path to redemption has been partly paved by another United exile in the form of Jesse Lingard.
West Ham: Fabiański, Diop, Dawson, Cresswell, Coufal, Rice (c), Souček, Johnson, Lanzini, Lingard, Bowen Subs: Martin (GK), Fredericks, Baptiste, Alves, Coventry, Noble, Fornals, Benrahma, Odubeko
Sheffield: Ramsdale, Basham, Egan, Ampadu, Bogle, Lundstram, Norwood, Osborn, Stevens, Sharp (c), McGoldrick Subs: Foderingham (GK), Baldock, Lowe, Jagielka, Bryan, Maguire, Burke, McBurnie, Brewster
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Michail Antonio's hamstrings seem to be some of the most widely scrutinised parts of the human anatomy since the attention given to Jane Russell's cleavage during her appearance in Howard Hughes's 1943 movie The Outlaw.
One by one potential 'emergency' strikers are disappearing from the short list compiled by West Ham, the latest to become unavailable is ex-Chelsea striker Diego Costa who is in negotiations over a two year deal to sign for Brazilian team Palmeiras.
West Ham manager David Moyes is no fool, he has overseen in excess of 500 top flight games, and as such his experience tends to shine through. His team's paucity of strikers has long been well known though, so it has come as a great surprise to many Hammers fans that the club finds itself without ANY back up for Michail Antonio, who is himself a 'converted' winger!
Tuesday evening's hard fought, but ultimately unsuccessful, FA Cup 5th round cup tie against Manchester United unfortunately highlighted West Ham United's paucity of strikers, with Big Mich Antonio 'rested' and his 'replacement' Andriy Yarmolenko looking like a fish out of water as he tried to lead the line. The Ukraine international endured a torrid time before leaving the field with ligament injuries that could see him side lined for the rest of the season.
Manchester: Henderson, Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Telles, Matic, Fred, Van de Beek, Greenwood, Martial, Rashford Subs: Grant, Shaw, Tuanzebe, B.Williams, Fernandes, James, McTominay, Amad, Cavani
West Ham: Fabiański, Coufal, Dawson, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice, Souček, Bowen, Noble, Fornals, Yarmolenko Subs: Trott, Fredericks, Johnson, Diop, Balbuena, Alves, Lanzini, Benrahma, Odubeko
The consequences of standing by one's convictions are that sometimes you have to pay the price, West Ham manager David Moyes decided to buck an old Hammers tradition of buying overpriced has beens just to keep people happy in the short term. This 'positive' way forward does however come with the caveat that in the short term, David Moyes has only one recognised striker who's services he can call upon, and of course that striker isn't actually a bona fide one, Michail Antonio is essentially a winger who David Moyes helped turn in to a front man feared by opposition defenders.
Not unsurprisingly, Tomas Soucek's red card, dished out to him by Mike 'Pearl &' Dean in the game against Fulham, has been successfully overturned following an appeal by West Ham United. Dean, in conjunction with his cohort on VAR, Lee Mason, succeeded in issuing a blatantly incorrect red card for the second time in just ONE week!
Vlad the 'Impaler' Coufal waits to have a word with Mike 'Pearl &' Dean
It will come as no surprise that West Ham have confirmed their appeal against Tomas Soucek's red card, the 'sanction' was inexplicably issued to him by referee Mike 'Pearl &' Dean in injury time of the drab draw against Barclays Premier League strugglers Fulham FC.