Once again we seem to be hemorrhaging players to injury! I know statistics will prove me wrong but how come other teams dont seem to be affected by this ,look at the scumbags from shite fart lane they seem to play the same 11?week in week out ,i know shitty have had their fair share but it seems like every time one of our key players goes down from a bad tackle your hearts in your mouth thinking omg howi long will he be gone for

So we are now left with Carroll and jelevic as strikers. Don't fill me with confidence these two . Injuries as always seems to happen are leaving us with the bare bones,of a squad and I'm finding it hard to see where the wins are going to come from.

A game of two halves,good first half performance ,Lanzini impressed again ,well supported by Zarate .Midfield could have been better at closing down as they do tend to give the opposition time on the ball in midfield,better opposition would have taken more of an advantage.Second half the team's performance took a nosedive and WBA took the ascendency,Pulis' halftime talk and readjustments made the difference,and it seemed Bilic didn't have the answers.Looking at the 4-2-3-1 system Bilic uses,it's the 4 front players that produce most of the goals and assists,namely Sakho,Moses,Lanzini,Zarate .For me Moses doesn't contribute enough in that department,he is not getting his share,and I think his place is up for grabs.Payet is a massive loss.Not knocking Moses as a player, some good skills,pacey but in the system the team plays he is coming up short,when it comes to assists and goals.Its a real shame Samuelsen was loaned out to Peterborough ,because he looked ready to step up to me as does Cullen,both can score goals and comfortable on the ball going forward,and both have great shots.As far as holding players are concerned still unsure.

You could have : Obiang/Song...Kouyate/Noble....Obiang/Noble....Song/Kouyate...Obiang/Kouyate....Noble/Song....or include another squad member ,like Oxford,who had a great game against Arsenal in that role.
Simply put,one of the holding players is more offensively oriented , takes care of the playmaking and secures the rear space behind number 10, if his team is in possession of the ball. The second holding player is mostly responsible for defensive tasks,effective at closing down and breaking up attacks,ensuring that he doesn't wonder so he doesn't get caught out of position.. Ideally, the two players swap their roles in the system of play time and time again, in order to become less predictable ,but both of these players FIRST PRIORITY is to protect the back four.This is where a lot of Westham's problems lie ,the defence gets left exposed(look at the Spurs game),the holding players have gone walkabouts ,and the closing down in midfield has gone to pot.Even in today's game against WBA they were allowed more and more time on the ball in midield because Westham's midfield were not closing down and breaking up opposition play effectively enough...
When it comes to the defence,I get the feeling Jenkinson's confidence has taken a hammering with his early season form ,in today's game it looked like he didn't want to do much with the ball just release it as quickly as possible and Cresswell is another who hasn't reached the heights of last season.All our central defenders are good players but they all seem to be prone to silly mistakes that have been costly recently ,it seems Tomkins is now in the spotlight and Bilic dropped him .I like Tomkins he works hard but can sometimes shoot himself in the foot with the silly mistakes he makes in games.
Overall this team without the main man Payet and the loss of Valencia,Song and maybe Sakho now after today's injury could have serious consequences on the season,because we are talking the teams best players here.Hopefully it won't be too long before Song reaches a good level of fitness to play at least 70mins,but without these players I can only see a struggle to get into the top ten.Maybe the board will see sense to invest in some more quality in January to keep up our European push,definitely need a top pacey striker.Who would you see as priority?

Never thought id see the day id be shouting for chelsea

my team for tommorow would be: Adrian,Tomkins,Reid,Ogbonna,Cresswell,Antonio,Kouyate,Song,Moses,Lanzini,Sakho. Subs:Randolph,Jenkinson,Obiang,Oxford,Zarate,Carroll,Jelavic

Anyone else seen the videos that are regularly posted on-line showing first team players scoring goals with added headlines supporting why they should be part of the first team eleven? Is it just me or have we all not seen miles better goals over the years from everyday players? Watching the videos it is clear to see the players are working at 50% and not diving around to stop shots and going through the motions like they would in a league game. So I see no point in sharing the videos and I see even less point in claiming a player is ready for the first eleven on the back of a 'lame' goal in training. Anyone else agree or have an opinion?

Noble is banned against wba, so there will be at least one change. Well who replaces him? The obvious choices are song , obiang and Oxford. Who do you think bilic will play? Song imo looks like he is yet to be match fit based solely on the fact bilic only gave him 10 mins last week. I think you need to be fit enough to play at least an hour if you start. So I'm thinking last 20? Obiang has been injured recently but rumour has it he's in the squad so must be ok. And then we have Oxford played 2 games one good. Or do we use someone else? In a different formation? Or even Tomkins as an anchor midfielder? For me it's gotta be obiang if fit and Oxford if not fit. On top of that, will he make any other changes in personnel or formation? I think there should be more personnel changes but the question really is what do you think SLAVEN will do?

If anyone is interested then please let me know. I will be going to the supporters club before the game for a few beers getting there for 12noon. The seat is in the front row above the away support in the Sir Trev Stand near the Chicken Run. Good seats and good banta.

I've been having an interesting conversation on another thread about Andy Carroll, which kinda got me thinking.on one side of the argument is Carroll is a one trick pony with no footwork and on the other side of the argument Andy Carroll footwork is under rated. So which is it for you guys? Discuss.

Its just come to some of us' attention that poor Nev has suffered a terrible personal tragedy. In amongst us squabbling about team selections and tactics Nev has been trying to keep this site running whilst having to deal with this. We don't show enough appreciation to Neville for his hard work, the money he spends on this site and just generally all he has done for us. Thank you Nev and its difficult to know what to say or do when you hear of such a terrible tragedy. My/our best wishes and prayers to you and the family. So sorry.