Daily WHUFC News - 25th December 2016

From the Boardroom - David Gold
WHUFC.com

I want to start by wishing a Merry Christmas to all our supporters and hope everyone has a memorable weekend.

This is always a special time of the year and I hope our supporters are feeling more optimistic after we managed to secure seven points last week, which took us clear of the bottom three and has us heading in the right direction.

Slaven has been honest enough to admit the performances have not been to our normal standards in the last two home games, but the most important thing was getting two wins and we managed to do that.

We are in a much better place and we can now play with a bit more freedom. I am still very optimistic about the second half of the season and getting more points on the board.

I was delighted to see Andy Carroll back in action and it was great to see him start the last two home games against Burnley and Hull.

We all know Andy's character and the commitment he shows when he is back in the team.

He wants to play every game and the key factor is now keeping him fit and getting a regular run in the team.

Andy has a significant impact on the team and he can make a big difference.

I remember his memorable strike against Swansea back in January 2015 and we would love to see him repeat that strike and get back among the goals on Boxing Day.

Swansea are fighting for their lives in the bottom three and we know it is going to be another tough game.

But if we can play to our best and maintain the form we showed in our last away game at Liverpool, we stand every chance of getting another good result.

We want to go on a winning streak and if we can carry on winning games it will lift everyone at the football club.

The next two games against Swansea and Leicester are very important as we want to get into the top half of the table.

We are having a bit of luck at the moment and let's hope that continues.

Slaven will have to make a change for the game on Monday as Pedro Obiang is suspended.

Pedro has been fantastic since he came back into the side and has made that position his own.

He has been flawless in his performances and we will miss him on Monday. It will be interesting to see what Slaven does with the team and it will give another player the chance to show what he can do.

It is obviously a big blow for the Club that Diafra Sakho will now miss a considerable part of the season after he was forced to undergo back surgery.

It is a disappointment for the player and everyone connected with the Club. We wish him well and hope he can make a speedy recovery.

He is an important player for us and we want him back scoring goals.

The January transfer window is just around the corner and if the opportunity arises we will be doing everything we can to bring in new players.

We are not going to be shy in strengthening the squad if the right player becomes available.

Have a Merry Christmas and for those travelling to Swansea on Boxing Day, I wish everyone a safe journey.

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Joint-Chairman 'very confident' of Payet stay
WHUFC.com

David Sullivan believes West Ham United will enjoy a Happy New Year in 2017.

The Joint-Chairman says the Club will build on a historic 2016 on and off the pitch, strengthening the playing squad and continuing the process of settling into London Stadium.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Mr Sullivan expects the Club to do business in January, but insisted he is 'very confident' Hammer of the Year Dimitri Payet will not leave next month.

"We are a Club that has been growing and progressing in the right direction for some time now, and my hope is that we continue that growth and progress," he said. "Like every West Ham United supporter, I am an optimist and believe that the best times are always ahead!"

Concentrating on the transfer window, the Joint-Chairman said he expects a handful of players to move in and out of east London in January.

"There is no expectation about what we might do, only hope," he explained. "Maybe three players out and three players in, but that is only the hope. In reality, your hopes don't always come true, and we could end up doing no business at all.

"We are always looking for players who could improve any area of the squad but, like almost every club, we are looking for another striker. Diafra Sakho has this week had an operation which will keep him out for a considerable period of time.

"The right player can lift an entire squad and transform a season. I hope we can sign a player who has a similar impact this January."

While he admits three players could leave, the Joint-Chairman is adamant he does not want Ballon d'Or nominee Payet to be one of them.

When asked how confident he was that the France star will still be a West Ham player come February, his response was short and to the point.

"Very confident!" he said.

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Bilic - We won't hold Carroll back
WHUFc.com

Manager Slaven Bilic has backed Andy Carroll to continue showing the commitment he has been in recent games
The Croatian does not believe holding the striker back would serve any purpose
Carroll recently made a scoring return to the first team side against Arsenal

West Ham boss Slaven Bilic revealed he has no intentions to hold Andy Carroll back throughout the festive period, with the striker expected to play a crucial role over the busy winter schedule.

The big forward only recent returned to the first team fray, coming on as a late substitute and scoring in the side's recent Premier League fixture at home to Arsenal.

And since, Carroll has played half an hour against former club Liverpool and started both the Hammers' recent home wins over Burnley and Hull City.

Ahead of his side's Boxing Day trip to Swansea City, Bilic explained he has been left with no doubt in his mind, due to recent performances, about what the striker can contribute.

He said: "You always know during the game and during training what you are going to get. You are going to get everything – commitment, quality, impact. He is that kind of a guy and that kind of a player.

"What you don't know is the next day and if he is going to feel something. Nobody expected Andy to play two full games against Burnley and Hull. It was not the plan.

"I spoke to him at half-time and when there were breaks in the second half and he didn't want to come off. We didn't expect it.

Andy feels good in his body and I am delighted. We are monitoring Andy but why should I hold him back?"

I spoke to him today and he said he feels good. Not in terms of motivation and that has never been an issue. He feels good in his body and I am delighted. We are monitoring Andy but why should I hold him back?"

After picking up a knee injury during the Club's early season UEFA Europa League qualifier against Astra Giurgiu, Carroll played just once – on the opening day against Chelsea – before his lengthy lay-off.

But it is clear, according to Bilic, that training hard and playing games is now best for the 27-year-old to reach full tilt and the heights he set during a terrific campaign last season.

"We can hold him back in training sometimes and tell him to stay in and do extra work," the manager continued.

"Maybe before it was always holding him back and that could be one of the reasons why he was getting injured. Unless you are talking about extreme examples you are more likely to get injured if you are not training.

"Of course you have to be cautious with Andy because of his history, but if he is feeling good let's build on that. Why are we thinking negative?

"I was watching Andy playing for Newcastle, Liverpool and West Ham on television. You can see that energy. I can only talk about this season and last season. His first game was against Newcastle and we were winning 2-0 at home but he came on and was like a little kid in the last 15 minutes. He wanted to do everything.

"He was doing in 15 minutes what is normal in 90 minutes. He was doing that either as an impact player or from the start in every game."

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Angelo's World
WHUFC.com

Ahead of West Ham United's run of matches over the Christmas period, Angelo Ogbonna returns with his blog.

Who knew the Italian was such a big fan of Christmas films?! Find out which one is his favourite…

Hello everyone and Merry Christmas!

I love this time of year, and I hope all West Ham supporters out there enjoy the festive period too! Let's hope we have one or two wins to celebrate.

It's strange to play over Christmas for sure, but sometimes you get quite anxious to be back on the pitch again so I think that it is good.

Afterwards, I want to do something different. I think it's good for everybody to have the football and football makes everyone happy at Christmas time. It's a bit strange that you play two days after another game here, but that is the rule.

Maybe a player can do with one more day to rest the muscles and the head, but for the game we cannot complain. It's our job.

I really like this time of year though, and I am always watching Christmas films. I have a lot. The one where they leave the baby; it Italy we call it Mama, Ho Perso L'Gereo [Home Alone].

The baby remains at home and they leave him to go to the airport. When they get there they can't find the baby and they get on the flight. Then they are so upset about the baby being at home, but the baby is really happy and enjoys his Christmas! It's a great film.

For a present at Christmas, I just want us to have more passion. More people come and see us at the Stadium because it makes me so happy to their passion and for them to see us there.

The recent results in the Premier League have been very important to us because now we can breathe a bit. But we have to keep concentrating on the next game. It's a crucial time for us and every single game in this league is tough. The spell we are about to have it just as tough as the one we have been through; you can lose any game in this league.

We're obviously taking on Swansea City on Boxing Day and I'll face my former Juventus teammate Fernando Llorente.

He is important for Swansea, I think. He is a good striker, very similar to Andy. It's very important for us to stop him and to stop Swansea because it's Christmas time and everybody wants to be happy and to get some points from the game. We have to be focused and determined about this game.

For all those travelling to Wales, have a good trip and hopefully we can deliver on the pitch.

Enjoy your Christmas, everyone!

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Three Key Battles - Swansea City
WHUFC.com

West Ham United's Boxing Day fixture at Swansea City will feature two teams who generally adopt different approaches to their football.

While Slaven Bilic's Hammers usually play an aggressive style and focusing their attacking play down the middle third of the pitch, Bob Bradley's Swans are more akin to a non-aggressive style and attacking down the wings.

According to the statistics, West Ham are generally good at attacking and defending set plays, scoring nine of their 19 Premier League goals (47%) from such positions, while Swansea are weak at keeping their opponents at bay from set-piece situations.

Possession-wise, Swansea have traditionally been a team which has controlled the game, but that has not been the case this season. Both teams enjoy 49% possession, while West Ham's pass-completion of 79% is a percentage-point higher than their Welsh hosts.

As is always the case, individual battles will dictate how the match pans out, so we have picked out three which could decide our Boxing Day fixture at Liberty Stadium.

Fabianski v Randolph


Lukasz Fabianski and Darren Randolph have both been busier than they would have liked this season, but the two goalkeepers have also used the opportunity to shine between their respective sticks.

Poland international Fabianski has started all 17 games for Swansea, keeping just three clean sheets, but making 52 saves in the process. Having lost centre-halves Ashley Williams to Everton and Federico Fernandez to injury, the 31-year-old is being called upon to keep his team in matches, but his high workload is making that difficult to achieve.

Randolph has also been in action regularly in his six starts, making 22 saves, keeping two clean sheets but also making two errors in conceding eleven goals in those matches. Like Fabianski, Randolph is a fine shot-stopper.

Britton v Noble
Two Academy of Football graduates will go toe-to-toe in the midfield at the Liberty Stadium on Boxing Day in Leon Britton and Mark Noble. As players schooled at Little Heath, both are technically proficient ball-players who like to get in possession and make their respective teams tick.

Britton is a deep-lying midfielder who will often collect the ball from his back four and look for openings further forward with his accurate passing. Noble is a more traditional central midfielder, who is not afraid to put his foot in to win the ball back for his side, before using it accurately and intelligently.

The Academy graduate who wins this midfield battle will play a big role in controlling the game for his team.

Sigurdsson v Payet
These two lads are vitally important to their respective team's attacking potency.

Iceland star Gylfi Sigurdsson is the man who makes Swansea a threat in the attacking third. Playing in a No10 or central midfield role, the 27-year-old is two-footed, an excellent passer and can shoot accurately from open play or set pieces.

Sigurdsson might not be as heavily involved in general play as his teammates, but when he is, he makes things happen. Of Swansea's 20 Premier League goals, he has been directly involved in half of them.

Payet is West Ham's attacking heartbeat. Like Sigurdsson, he is two-footed and can pass and shoot with deadly accuracy. He is generally much more involved in the game than his Swansea counterpart, and has played more key passes (63) than any player in Europe's top five leagues.

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The (ex) Rev's Christmas Message: West Ham family values
KUMB.com
Filed: Saturday, 24th December 2016
By: Elwin Cockett

Whether or not you're a fan of Brexit, Donald Trump, or the move to the Olympic Park, it feels like 2016 has been a year of disagreement and discontent.

For West Ham fans trying, like our team, to find our bearings in the new ground, it has been doubly difficult.

Some us find ourselves sitting among strangers who don't watch football in the way we're used to doing. And the players are struggling to recreate the sparkling form they showed last season at the Boleyn.

We seem to be grinding out results against teams we should be beating easily, and losing to teams who we've beaten in recent years. All that, and the BBC lost GBBO, England the series in India, and most of us have a family member who supports a different team.

We could be forgiven for feeling pretty sorry for ourselves.

Or could we? Our team is playing in the richest league in the world in a ground that seats twice as many as we were getting at Upton Park until a few years ago. We've got some world-class players, and we support a great club with a proud place in the world of football.

And most of us are not being bombed out of our homes, or having to flee in terror from insurgents, or wondering where the next meal is coming from. The old adage to 'count your blessings' is a good one.

For many who don't have the advantages that we enjoy, the world is a pretty dark place at the moment.

As someone who has lived in east London for quite a lot of my life, I'm proud of it. It has always been a hospitable place where different communities have worked alongside each other happily for the most part, from the Huguenots, Irish and Jews of earlier times to those who have come more recently from Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.

Players from overseas, like Clyde Best, Slaven Bilic and Diafra Sakho have contributed much to that tradition, just as have home-grown players like Ronnie Boyce, Joe Cole and Mark Noble.

And, through the power of the internet, that old-style East-End West Ham family has become more of a world-wide tribe than ever before. That, at a time when some are determined to set one community against another, is an important strength.

As Prince Charles said recently, "Normally, at Christmas, we think of the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ. I wonder, though, if this year we might remember how the story of the Nativity unfolds – with the fleeing of the Holy Family to escape violent persecution."

If Christmas is a time for families, let the West Ham family be one where we remember those who are not as well-off as we are, or who are different to us. Let's have a heart for the homeless, the displaced, and those who are far from their loved-ones.

And let's remember to cherish those who are close to us, both young and old, even if they support the wrong team. Happy Christmas, everybody!

* Elwin Cockett spent nearly 20 years as West Ham United FC's club chaplain and has been providing his annual 'Christmas message' to readers of KUMB.com fore more than a decade. He is currently Archdeacon of West Ham and Chair of Chelmsford Diocesan Board of Education.

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Swansea boss Bob Bradley knows his side face a hard task containing West Ham's Andy Carroll
By Dev Trehan
Last Updated: 24/12/16 1:23pm
SSN

Bob Bradley admits Swansea will have to pay close attention to Andy Carroll when West Ham visit the Liberty Stadium on Boxing Day.

Although the game marks the return to south Wales of Andre Ayew - who was Swansea's top scorer last season before joining West Ham for £20.5million in the summer - it is arguably Carroll they should be most wary about given the 27-year-old's record against them.
Carroll has scored as many goals against Swansea as he has versus other club in his career, with five in eight games. "He [Carroll] likes to drift to the back post, so we have to do a good job and make sure our central defenders are aware of that," Bradley said.
"We don't want to put that on the full-backs, we have to get it right because that is a big part of their game. "Carroll gives them a different threat, [Dimitri] Payet runs the game and is a threat from free-kicks."

Swansea are only above bottom Hull on goal difference and Bradley has been in the firing line of supporters underwhelmed by his October appointment in the first place. The former USA manager has only been in charge of 10 matches and has a record of six losses, two draws and two wins, with both victories coming in home games against Sunderland and Crystal Palace respectively.
"Overall there is frustration among the fans - and that's fair enough," Bradley admitted. "But we are pleased with the home form in the last two matches, especially against teams in our part of the table. "Those were good results and we hope we can build on that over the Christmas period."

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