West Ham face Tottenham Hotspur in North London this weekend in what is yet again a must win game for Nuno Espirito Santo and the club.
We have to win on Saturday, or the win against QPR will feel pointless. Yes, we got through to the next round of the FA Cup, but that match was nothing more than a confidence booster. A confidence booster to take into this game and beyond, but that small bit of confidence we got from that narrow win against a mid table Championship side will all be gone with another loss.
To give us every chance of getting the win on Saturday, Nuno has to get the mentality of the team right, if we can’t get up for Tottenham away we’ve got no hope of staying up. Not only that, the Portuguese manager has to get the starting lineup spot on.
With Paqueta unlikely to feature as he wants to leave, and Mavropanos injured, there are a couple of selection dilemmas. The first priority has to be to make sure Max Kilman isn’t in the team – i’d choose Igor, Mayers, Golambeckis, or even Magassa in central defence before even thinking about starting Kilman. However, I think Nuno will opt for the Englishman.
My predicted team to face Tottenham Hotspur: Areola; Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Kilman, Mayers, Walker-Peters; Fernandes, Soucek; Summerville, Castellanos, Bowen.
Apart from Kilman, this team wouldn’t be exactly bad, I don’t think we’d see a heavy defeat away at Tottenham with this team as it’s very defensive. However, I think it would struggle to win, and we need to win. We can’t afford to play for draws, especially against a team in such poor form like Spurs, especially at home.
My ideal team to face Tottenham Hotspur: Areola; Walker-Peters, Todibo, Igor, Wan-Bissaka; Potts, Magassa, Fernandes; Summerville, Pablo, Bowen.
The first noticeable difference is the formation, I think we have to start with a back four, we have to go for it. I think Igor is the best option to partner Todibo, I wold have gone for Mayers, but the manager clearly prefers him as a full-back option in a back four, so I didn’t even really consider it. But I would really like to see it.
The most controversial choice is Pablo Felipe over Valentin Castellanos. It may be slightly harsh on Taty after he scored the winner against QPR, however, I think Pablo would be the better option. We haven’t seen him play the proper striker role yet, but I think his ability to hold the ball and link play could really benefit us at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
However, if Nuno opts for the Argentinian over the Brazilian I wouldn’t complain at all. He might be full of confidence after scoring his first goal in claret and blue, but only people at the club know that.