West Ham 1-0 Tottenham

[Biggs]

West Ham Piquionne 29'

____

1-0

____

Tottenham

Barclays Premier League - 25th Sep 2010 - KO 15:00 - Ground: Upton Park

TV: N/A | Live Feed | Make Prediction

 http://video.yahoo.com/watch/8292080/22108372

[dedleysting]

Derbies are never easy. They are quite bad at the moment. Don't get me wrong, playing Spurs is their cup final so they will be up for this game. We will have to be at our best.

Thank god Harry rested most of our first team last night so the lads should be well rested and raring to go in this one!

[Stuthesuperspur]

Even though this is their cup final, we should still have far too much class for them. Even taking into account their win last night, their form at the moment is pretty poor with only one league point all season!

We look much better away from the Lane so far this season, so lets hope for another 3 points.

Be interesting to see what midfield Arry puts out if Mod is fit?

[SomersetYiddo]

We do always beat them but they do usually give us a fairly tough game each time. They got a 1 point last weekend away at Stoke and a win in the cup last night so they will be confident but i think we have a much stronger and better squad than them, they are pretty crap generally apart from Scotty Parker. With Harry resting our better players last night for this game and FC Twente on tuesday, we should be in for a win. But were Spurs so anything can happen! Interested in who we would put out in the starting line up, apparently Gomes is back in contention!

[dedleysting]

Really hope Gomes is back. He was missed, esp against Wigan!

I think we will go with the team that beat Wolves at the weekend. Hope Hutton gets another opportunity (but not Jenas) be good if Modders is fit, he could play LM with VDV at RM with Huds and Palacios in the middle. The width would come from the overlpapping full backs in Hutton and Bale!

[Gareth Keown]

Palacios will no longer be starting ahead of Jenas.... and Bale has IMHO made it quite clear to Arry that he wants a midfield role in any side - whether that be at Spurs... or if not elsewhere...

its a shame that even after playing well by common consent in all his games this season, that you still cannot evaluate Jenas without a very prejudicied viewpoint..

brings us always back to what to do with the overpriced Modric..... yet again.

[Stuthesuperspur]

Palacios hasn't been the same since the death of his brother, but I'm sure he will come good. 'You don't become a bad player over night'.

If Mod is fit, he surely has to start. I think the serious lack of creativity in the past 3 or so matches (Bremen apart) only goes to prove this point. Wouldn't be surprised to see VDV playing off Crouch, Mod and Hudd centre of the park with Lennon out right and Bale out left.

It will be tough on Saturday, as derby games usually are and the Spammers will be bang up for it. But I can't really see anything but an away win!

[Gareth Keown]

1) the Palacios brother death argument is a very lazy one.... Palacios was going thru the worst of the kidnapping and subsequent death of his brother virtually the same time as he joined Spurs in Jan'09, and he was playing very well indeed.... how is that going to affect more now after more than 20 months  since the event ??

2) Palacios form really hasnt gone down (or up) appreciably this season.... its just that with Jenas been injured last season and Gardner long since gone, we need a new scapegoat to push everything on to..

3) we reallly havent lacked creativity at all in Modric's absence... the 1st half against Wolves was fantastic from a passing/movement/creative point of view.... but as usual, we let the 0-1 scoreline camouflage that... even Arry said he couldnt have wanted more from the lads in that 1st half..

Modric may find it harder than expected to waltz back into the team at CM.... maybe will get a game at LM when Arry rests Bale ....

[Biggs]

Palacios didn't play for 2 weeks the week his brother died because he flew to Honduras. Ever since he returned he has not been the same. He was even quoted saying he felt like quitting football.

Yeah maybe, the kidnapping has been going on for a while, but he could have never of guessed they would have killed his brother... and it is obvious it has effected him.

[Stuthesuperspur]

Palacios has without doubt been affected by the death of his brother and isn't, at the moment, the same footballer he was when he first pulled on the Spurs shirt. 

As for the Wolves game, yeah we had a lot of possession and passed the ball well, but there was no cutting edge to our game. Clear cut chances were very few and far between.

It may well be that Mod goes out left on Saturday, it could be that Arry decides to rest Bale, although we may well see Bale at left back if Arry decides to rest BAE following his 90 mins and extra time on Tuesday.

[ugs]

If all fit and available then I expect the line up will be
 
                           Gomes
 
Hutton           Gallas       King          BAE
 
Lennon        Huddlestone   Modric     Bale
 
                       Van der Vaart
 
                           Crouch
 
If Gomes is still unfit then Cudicini, and possibly Pavlyuchenko instead of Crouch.
 
 

[Gareth Keown]

Palacios' brother died even well before the start of last season, never mind this season - and he played excellently in the pairing with THudd and we maintained a Top4 position right thru the season.... he was only dropped cos of yellow/red cards or injury at the season-end (starting with Ars*nal at WHL game)...

this whole Palacios is now below par cos his brother died is abit of a old-fan's wife tale..... IMO he is as good as he was before, albeit the errors are now being recognised more as we now need a new scapegoat...

but as Jenas beds himself into the team again, I suspect that Palacios will undergo a 'rapid improvement' in the fans' eyes....after all,  they now have their old scapegoat back..

PS - good points about BAE or Bale being rested.... hopefully Modric can then get a game in under the new regime in central-midfield...

[Gareth Keown]

body discovered 9th May 2009...... 3 months BEFORE the start of the last season just gone by....

Palacios seemed to play well enough even in the 1st 2 games against Liverpoo and Hull.... he even scored a cracker against Hull in the thrashing we gave them..

Palacios then proceeded to play very well forming the central-hub with THudd for the majority of last season, when we did rather well..

case rested.

[SomersetYiddo]

UGS - Mate i would be happy with that line up and i think that line up is more than capable of beating a west ham side which is pretty much a one man team (Scott Parker). We will have to see today what the injury situations are and whos fit.

[dedleysting]

If we shoot on target from just outside the box, Rob Green will do the rest for us!