westhamonkey Wed 27 Feb 2019, 7:28 pm
Team line-ups....
well, no one cares about who plays for City...
but who's playing for us... no one seems to be putting out a team sheet just yet, so I goes on the actual Offish to see what's up and this is what sets to greet me...
Fabianski in goal - absolute stone cold pick... no arguments. Love him. He'd been player of the year, we'd be lost without him.
Fredericks -- thought he did good when he played against Fulham
Diop -- great to see him get on the scoresheet. Like what I've seen of him
Ogbonna -- seems to get picked no matter how squirrelly his performances are. He can blow hot or cold with no justification for either but is often colder than hotter... maybe he's just riding the good fortune of Reid and Balbuena being injured but he's accident prone and a bit of a defensive liability a little too often for my liking.
Johnson -- Ben Johnson. Who? that's what everyone is asking... Here's how the Offish describes him "turned 19 in January. Johnson has thrived since being converted from a winger into an attack-minded full-back in recent seasons. The teenager has been with West Ham United since the age of seven and featured regularly in every age-group side he has featured in. The defender was rewarded with a new contract in January 2018 and has featured 18 times for the Hammers at U23 and U21 levels this season. He becomes the 1,128th player to represent either Thames Ironworks or West Ham United. Good luck, Ben!"
Not sure 'attacking defender' is really a good idea against sure a surging attacking force as City... but good luck to the kid... we shall see.
Obiang -- always the better of the two 'O's to me... hopefully he's replacing someone in midfield because as always, this is where the game will be won or lost.
Rice -- one of our diamonds.
Nasri -- everyone deserves a shot at redemption - not everyone deserves continual shots if they're not cutting it. He's looked decent thus far so glad to see him fit enough to at least be in the team. Hopefully the faith is rewarded.
Antonio -- always a good player... not quite up to the standard he was a couple seasons ago but will always try and gives up options going forward. Want him to be on his best game but am glad we have him as he seems to care.
Anderson -- like I keep saying. He needs to put in a shift for an entire game. Anyone (almost) can be great for ten seconds or a couple of moves) but we need quality players who can play for a whole game - that's what makes a difference.
now it's this last selection that has me scratching the old noggin...
Carroll - not only Carroll... but Carroll with a (c) after his name. What the actual fupp????? Carroll doesn't deserve to play... he certainly doesn't deserve to be made captain. Who makes these stupid decisions... (and I'm totally prepared and happy to watch the game and see him put in a command performance and score the sinning goal) but there's been nothing in his recent performances that gives me any cause to see this as a logical choice in either role.
Rice should be the captain... or Fabianski... give it to someone who deserves it... someone please tell me why he is a: in the team and b: being made captain... please... for the love of god...
Let's take a look at the subs...
Adrian
Zabaleta
Noble
Lanzini
Snodgrass
Dianganna
Chicharito
As you know... I'm happy Noble isn't playing. I think Adrian is a decent back-up keeper but worried that he won't want to sit on the bench for much longer. Zabaleta was at fault a lot in the opening of the Fulham game so maybe a little sit down is required.
Very happy to see Lanzini back in contention. He's not match fit so the bench is a good lace for him.
Soddy is the biggest surprise to me. He's been very consistent of late and always seems to put in a shift, so not entirely sure why he's been dropped - hope it's not because of some injury.
Diangana - I like him. It's great to see younger players coming through. He seems a little short on being on top form day in day out - hopefully that will come so if he's in the team I expect him to play less than a full game - so stating or bench works for me.
Chicharito - feel sad for him. He's a proven goal scorer, more often than not puts in a good shift but is stuck in a formation that almost never plays to his strengths.
But here we are... and there's no mention of Arnie... what's up with that? Our 'best' player... apparently he's 'ill' but what does that mean?
Cresswell will be missed
We need Reid to get back to fitness...
how will this line-up fair... I'm not sure.