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Neither team has
set the Premiership a light this season and West Ham's crash
since the surprising arrival of the two Argentine stars -
Tevez and Maschereno - has astonished a lot of people.
At the end of
the transfer window, the football world was agog at why the
two players had joined the Upton Park side, with many top
European sides wanting them. However, the introduction
of them into the team has unsettled the pattern that Alan
Pardew had developed with his players. It was not only
Tevez and Maschereno who came in, but also Preston defender
Tyrone Mears (who Spurs were tracking), Ghanaian John
Pantsil, England keeper Rob Green, former Sunderland
defender George McCartney and Jonathan Spector from
Manchester United. another signing saw them take
Carlton Cole from Chelsea, when he looked set to join
Tottenham.
In goal, Roy
Carroll has had possession of the gloves and he has been
fairly consistent over the course of this seaon after being
out for long periods injured last campaign. He is
prone to errors, as Spurs fans know only too well, but his
understudy until now has been Jimmy Walker. Short for
a keeper, he is a good shot stopper, but has not been quite
the same since dislocating his knee in the play-off final a
couple of years back. So, that is probaly why the East
Londoners signed Rob Green from Norwich City. his
appearances for the Norfolk club have been impressive, but
he hit a poor patch when they failed to get promoted and
then he got a groin injury taking a goal-kick in an England
B international against Belarus just before the World Cup.
This prevented him travelling to Germany and he has nto
played since, but West Ham bought him and he may be fit to
return to action in this match. A good shot-stopper
again, but he lacks the decisive decision making ability
that sometimes separates the very good from the top class
keepers.
In defence,
George McCartney has been injured since West Ham signed him
in August (Ed - is there something of a common thread
running through their transfer policy here ??) and summer
signing Pantsil has just come back after going under the
knife for knee ligament problems (Ed - yes there is !!).
Daniel Gabbidon has been partnering Anton Ferdinand in the
centre of defence and both like to think they can play a
bit, so plenty of closing them down and catching them out of
position may be the order of the day. Both are tall,
but lack the timing of tackle, relying on their speed to get
back in time. With Defoe and Berbatov in tandem, they
could give them a torrid afternoon. Also available are
Spector, who has played twice this season and veteran
Christian Dailly, who still commands a place in the squad.
Welshman James Collins, who joined with Gabbidon, has
dropped down the pecking order, while Mears is a pacy
defender, who needs a little time to adjust to the
Premiership. We know all about Paul Konchesky, who was
on loan at Spurs, but was not kept on. He is a tough
opponent and if he is up against Aaron Lennon, he will try
and muscle him out of the action, but if Aaron gets a run on
him, he could leave him in dust. He likes to get
forward and has scored a few goals, including one in the FA
Cup Final (albeit a cross that floated in). It could
be that Spurs make the most of his forward forays.
With
Maschereno having played when the team are not doing too
well, a lot has fallen onto the shoulders of Nigel Reo-Coker,
who is the captain of the side. His transfer window
move to Manchester United or Arsenal did not come off, so he
has been a bit unsettled, but he is a strong runner with the
ball, although he does not possess the cool finish of many
midfielders. He will start and no doubt ex-Spur
Matthew Etherington and former Tottenham target Yossi
Benayoun will be willing to have a go at the home side.
Etherington did nothing to endear himself to Spurs fans when
he left the club for E6, but his season was hit by injury
and he has only recently returned to action of late. A
tricky runner with the ball, but with an erractic final
ball, he had ability but not the poise and Benayoun had an
outstanding season for the Irons prompting with his short
passes from midfield or long passes from deep. He also
got forward to score a few and is a dangerous player, who
Spurs cannot allow to play his own game. Out of favour
Hayden Mullins and another veteran, Shaun Newton, can also
operate in midfield with Mullins being a central midfielder,
while Newton prefers the right flank.
The attack
also has some familiar faces, with Teddy Sheringham, Bobby
Zamora and Carlton Cole among their ranks. With the
strong Dean Ashton missing with a broken ankle picked up in
training with England, it leaves Marlon Harewood and Carlos
Tevez as the first choice pairing, with the others vying for
a chance to get on. Harewood is big, strong and a good
goalscorer, but he is also a great misser of chances too.
It depends on which day he decides to do which !! He
can get into the right positions, but sometimes lacks the
composure to hit the net. It is not something you
could say about Sheringham, but he gets only cameo
appearances these days, as his legs have gone, despite his
head still being in good shape, while Tevez has been busy
for the Irons, but has still to gel with his team-mates.
Cole has played fleetingly, with his strengths being his
strength. Again, he needs to develop a calm finishing
technique to go with his ability to hold defenders off.
Witht he poor
run West Ham have found themselves on, it is difficult to
break and they face a Spurs side having not been beaten for
a little while, but the London derby means that the form
goes out of the window and the result will have to be fought
for. Spurs have two reasons to do well with a last
minute equaliser at home and the "food poisoning" game at
the end of last season to settle. With the players
being ready to move up the league with the UEFA Cup form
transferred to the Premiership, it could spell a
continuation of the bad run for Pardew and his Irons ...
PREDICTION
: - Tottenham Hotspur 2 West Ham
United
0
For more information on
the opponents and their history, including full result history of
matches between the two teams, click
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