If West Ham can forget about their Premier League troubles for long enough they face Arsenal in the quarter fi nal of the League Cup later this month. After seeing off Cheltenham Town and Bolton Wanderers in the earlier rounds, Slaven Bilic’s men produced a stirring comeback to recover from 2-0 down and defeat Tottenham Hotspur 3-2 in the last 16. Here we consider what David Moyes’ side will need to do to keep the Wembley dream alive
1) Defend with discipline We need to defend as a team from the very start and refuse Arsenal time on the ball. It is important we frustrate their midfield, particularly Ozil. Our players needs to close down Bellerin to cut off the supply to Sanchez and Lacazette, who let’s be honest, are guaranteed to score against us!
2) Attack as a team Pace is what we need to stretch Arsenal and expose their defensive frailties. With this in mind, I’d like to see Masuaku start. Moyes should play a front two of Hernandez and Ayew or even Sakho to attack spaces and unsettle Koscielny. It would be fantastic to see our superstar youngster Martinez given a run out. I think this would be very popular decision with our supporters as he seems to be a very popular player among the fans.
3) Calm down Carroll A player like Carroll is always a risk when you have teams who are taught to get the foul. Watching the Watford game, it always felt as though we were one jump away from being down to 10 men. I love Carroll and will always defend him, but I think we need to save his grit for the end of the game to avoid any unlucky decisions giving us a disadvantage.
4) Fans unite for the team West Ham fans need to unite and back the boys. Nothing or nobody is bigger than our club, and we need to be louder than ever to show our players we are there for them. Making moaning signs/singing chants is self-destruction. Bubbles on fall blast please!
5) No time to waste We need to take our chances when they come! We won’t get that many, and we can’t afford to be as wasteful as we have been in previous games.
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