If West Ham football is serious about the Champions League, it should score at least against Manchester United on Saturday. In the demanding part of the season, both teams also count on absences. The start of Tomáš Souček is uncertain after the covid.
More than eight years ago, David Moyes took over the coaching scepter from Sir Alex Ferguson on the Manchester United bench. The phenomenal Ferguson gave it up after a nearly 27-year government. But Moyes’ engagement lasted less than a year, and after ten months, the “Devils” leadership ran out of patience with him and terminated the contract.
Moyes has failed to win Old Trafford since his United League end. None of them succeeded in the role of opponent from fourteen attempts. The Scottish coach will try to break it on Saturday, when he will return to Manchester for the first time in a better position on the table than the “Red Devils”.
His club has a similarly sad balance. West Ham’s last Premier League win in Old Trafford is almost 15 years old. Self-confidence can be given to Moyes’ squad by a recent win on the same course in the English League Cup.
Coufal refuses fatigue
“After this win, I believe we will break it now,” Moyes said confidently. But he immediately added: “It’s never easy at this stadium. We have a big match ahead of us and we have to show that we are in the top six this year.”
West Ham remains fourth in the table, but the teams behind it have fewer matches and can easily skip it. Among them is Manchester, which is only two points behind. “We are still in a very good mood, despite the unfortunate loss of Leeds over the weekend,” says Vladimír Coufal. “The relations in the cabin are good, we are really fine, which is definitely important,” he describes the team’s mood before the important match.
At the edge of the defense, Coufal will face the attacking aces of the “Red Devils”. Hammers’ defense against Leeds did not work very well in the last round. “We trained some tactical things during the week. But we don’t want to change everything because of one defeat, we have a system we trust,” Coufal explained at a pre-match press conference.
He may quite play Cristian Ronald in the match. He recently announced a Manchester attack on the top 3, and West Ham still has a similar goal. In the fight for the top four securing the Champions League, he would need to defeat a direct competitor in the fight for these places. “If we finished in the top four, it would be something amazing for the club,” the former back of Slavia or Liberec shone.
After a difficult program, there was often talk of the fatigue of the basic eleven of West Ham, which he admitted after the match with Leeds and Moyes. “I am ready to play every minute. If I am not injured, I want to play as much as possible. Tomáš Souček, Declan Rice and other players have the same. We enjoy playing together, winning and achieving success. I have no reason to be tired,” he refuses. rest Coufal.
Uncertain start of Souček
In addition, they could return to the team after the injury of Kurt Zoum and after the coronavirus also Tomáš Souček. They were both training with the team. “We’ll have to consider it with Tomas. We don’t know exactly how it’s going,” Moyes said. While Souček has not played since January 1, Zouma has been out for almost two months.
But the match with Leeds showed that the return of the former Chelsea player to the stopper pair is more than desirable. The defensive pair of Issa Diop and Craig Dawson did not show a reliable performance and caught criticism after the loss.
In addition, the defense of West Ham will face the fifth most productive attack of the league, the stars are full of paper. From Ronald to Marcus Rashford, Edinson Cavani, Anthony Martial to young men Mason Greenwood or Jadon Sanch.
However, it is not entirely certain whether the team’s biggest star, the eight-goal Ronaldo, will play in the Premier League this year. He took turns in the final match against Brentford, and coach Ralph Rangnick admitted that he had a neck problem. “A question mark hangs over him. They’ve been trying to fix it for two or three hours, but we’ll see how he feels,” he said. But he is on the roster for the match.
The start of both Cavani and Sancho is uncertain. The summer reinforcement from Dortmund was affected by his family’s death, he was at his aunt Jen’s funeral during the week and, in addition to the match with Brentford, he also missed training. United players experienced more off-field drama. The robbers of the Swedish representative Victor Lindelöf broke into the house on Wednesday and the defender does not want to leave his family now, so he will skip the match with the Hammers.
Manchester will also miss other defenders. Health problems are haunting Extreme Bail Aaron Wan-Bissak, there will be another “countryman” Luke Shaw, and it is necessary to add the representative Eric Bailly, who is at the African Cup of Nations. The way the teams cope with absences will also play a role in the match.
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