West Ham vs Southampton Match Thread

You should build up the courage to stop being an asshole

Why am I an asshole?

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Looking forward to this one. First game of the season for me and should be a fairly heated one against an opponent who’ll be desperate to win at all costs. I can see us on the receiving end of some tough tackles so its vital we keep our heads.

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West Ham struggling at left back.

Redmond or Tadic to have a good day?

Originally posted by @Optimus-trousers

Sourced from Daily Echo article

West Ham dealt injury blow ahead of Saints visit

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West Ham have been dealt another injury blow ahead of Saints’ visit with the news that defender Arthur Masuaku will be out for at least six weeks.

The 22-year-old Frenchman was brought in for £6million from Olympiacos in August as cover for injured left-back Aaron Cresswell.

But Masuaku has now joined Cresswell on the casualty list after damaging knee ligaments during the EFL Cup win over Accrington on Wednesday night.

For manager Slaven Bilic it is another problem to solve in a defence which conceded eight goals in their previous two Premier League outings.

The Hammers face Southampton on Sunday without a recognised senior left-back, so one of Alvaro Arbeloa or Sam Byram will have to move across from right-back to fill in.

“Masuaku did his knee against Accrington, he damaged ligaments and we will know better in a week but it’s going to be at least six weeks, if not more,” said Bilic.

"Some players can play in different positions, and you can fill gaps, but when you have two left-backs who have done the same ligaments it’s not good news.

“But I’m not looking for excuses. But we have a good team and I expect us to do it on Sunday.”

Bilic can welcome centre-half Winston Reid back after a couple of weeks on the sidelines and also had positive news on Cresswell, as well as injury-hit striker Andy Carroll.

“It was in the papers on the day we played Accrington that Carroll had had a setback, but it’s not true,” he added.

"We are expecting him and Cresswell to join and train with the team after the international break.

“Injury wise we look much better than at the beginning of the season. We have a good team and I expect us to be really good in every way on Sunday afternoon.”

Summer signing Andre Ayew and fellow forward Diafra Sakho are still out injured.

The visit of Saints is the first Premier League match at the London Stadium since trouble flared among fans during the 4-2 defeat by Watford.

The West Ham board are attempting to solve the problems by improving stewarding, relocating disgruntled fans and beefing up the segregation between rival supporters.

Defeat on Sunday could see West Ham slump to the foot of the table so Bilic has urged the fans to put the off-field issues to one side and back the team.

“I want the fans to be behind us, and they will be,” he said.

“We need their support more than ever and they will play a big part in this game. We need them all the time, but especially now to help get out of this situation. I have no doubt they will be very positive.”

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…demandingly built by Optimus trousers…beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!

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We all know Payet will score a world free kick…

Small consolation for west ham in a 5-1 spanking :lou_wink_2:

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Not sure Masuaku being injured is much of a blessing. He’s looked like a disaster from what I’ve seen so far.

A mate of mine is a Hammers fan & his view is that the whole defence had been a disaster so far this season.

Long may it continue

:smiley:

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Add a comma and a question mark, and that’s virtually a team talk:

“Long, may it continue?”

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Looking forward to watching their fans fighting amongst themselves and as my seat is so far from the pitch, it might be all I see.

Anyone got any field glasses?

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my heart, my penis and my balls are all saying a saints victory, but by bones are not so sure. The bones say a draw, 1-1.

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Dem bones, dem bones, dem…etc etc

Google the rest of the lyrics

:lou_lol:

I think you should put your bones head-to-head against Lawro/Merson’s predictions for the rest of the season Fats. They use body parts to make their predictions too, I’ll let you guys figure out which.

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Nice to see the game get a mention on MOTD as a featured match on MOTD 2 tonight. BTW did anyone catch who West Ham are playing today…they didn’t actually say. :lou_facepalm_2:

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I did catch that as it happens. Standard media hating of Saints.

We’re only the featured match because it’s the only match

What are the odds that the "expert pundits ’ will only talk about Wet Spam, regardless of the result?

Probably less than me talking about The Ryder Cup during the next 7 days

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Really nice to see Claude joining in with training and smiling in the video in the OP (from about 3:45 ish).

Also Clasie saying that following a lot of meetings about the formation/style of play, that he thinks the players better understand what Claude wants…

Originally posted by @Optimus-trousers

Sourced from Premier League - Official Site article

Clasie appreciating Puel’s new system

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Jordy Clasie says Southampton head to London to face West Ham United on Sunday with renewed confidence and better understanding as to how their manager, Claude Puel, wants them to play.

Southampton have won their last three matches with six goals unanswered, beating Sparta Prague in the UEFA Europa League, Swansea City in the Premier League last weekend and Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup in midweek and Clasie says practising Puel’s style of play has paid off.

“In the first couple of weeks I think it was a bit difficult for every player to play the system,” he told saintsfc.co.uk. “We had a lot of meetings about that but everyone agreed that we have to work on it and we’re very happy with the last few games.”

See also: Clasie aiming high | Clasie on competition for places

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…climatically instigated by Optimus trousers…beta v1.9 - now with EXTRA pictures!

Clasie won’t be playing then.

Seems to be the new MO that someone who isn’t playing does the PR story

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Everything about today tells me that we should win comfortably - they’re in shocking form with a huge injury list and we’ve won 3 on the bounce, but there’s something that makes me think we’re going to draw this. Hopefully proven wrong!