The international break is always a time when club fans complain about missing their weekly premier league action. But for West Ham this break could really do us some good.
First of those good reasons is that as we have a few players out of the first team through injury, this extra week could really help them get back to full health. Slaven Bilic himself has said both Song and Valencia are expected back into first team action within the next couple of weeks.
With all these players returning the squad is getting a good competitive feel about it which will only help the players put in better performances to keep their place in the team.
In terms of how we can use this time to benefit us tactically, there are still a few things that need an improvement. The most important one of them is our defending, keeping clean sheets gives you the best possible chance to win any game and unfortunately we have only kept 3 in the 8 games we’ve played so far. For most of these games it has come from our own players making silly mistakes that end up costing the team a good result. If we can remove these errors, there is no doubt that we could get many more clean sheets, with a great goalkeeper in Adrian and an ever improving defence in front of him it can definitely get better from here on in.
If you go back and look at the last few results, Norwich and Sunderland have both scored 2 past us and with all due respect West Ham should be winning both of them games, especially at home where we have now failed to beat 2 of the promoted clubs there.
Linking to the point above, we have scored in every premier league game so far this season, creating plenty of chances as well as scoring them so we don’t have to worry about that because we look as though we can create something out of nothing in any given moment. It’s just about finding the balance of scoring but also to prevent the other teams from doing the same to us.
West Ham are currently on a 5 match unbeaten run with 3 wins and 2 draws. We need to continue this run into the end of the month where we face 3 London derbies in a row. Crystal Palace away, Chelsea at home and then to finish the month Watford away.
The Eagles sit one point and two places above West Ham so this game will be no easy one, they are very strong at home and Ex hammers manager Alan Pardew has put together a very talented squad. We will need to start this game with the same intensity as the home team otherwise they will walk all over us and the result will not be good for us.
The Chelsea game is one to look forward to though, the Blues have had a poor start to the season which has surprised the whole league considering their high standards that saw them win the BPL with ease last season. This is a game for the players to show again that they can beat some of the best around, and to further propel West Ham up the table. If we get this right we could record another victory over one of the best teams in the Premier League, adding to Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester City.
The last game of the month will see West Ham travel to Vicarage Road, to face a Watford team that has only conceded 7 goals so far. No game is easy in this league but this is one we really should be winning if we want to have a successful season.
So although no one likes to let the Premier League have a week off, this break can really go a long way to helping West Ham for the long and tough season ahead.