A very efficient performance saw us brush aside an average West Ham team 2-0. The Hammers came to the Emirates on a high from their previous win against the then leaders, Manchester United, but they also came with a very depleted and injury-ridden team. No Dyer, Bowyer, Zamora, Parker, Solano, Etherington, Bellamy, Boa Morta, Gabbidon, Faubert, Davenport, and Collins. Ljungberg limped off after 37 mins too, so thats a full team that can probably easily beat the team that started today.

Like I said in my game preview, the only threat I expected was from set pieces. At full strength, West Ham would give anyone a good game. So lucky for us, we got a break.

We had 4 changes from our last game, with Eboue, Hoyte, Adebayor, and Rosicky replacing Diaby, Sagna, Bendtner, and Hleb. The 4-4-2 formation was expected to be used at home against a mid-table team.

The game started with a bang. A superb cross from Fabregas who was given more space than he should ever be given was chested down and volleyed into the bottom corner with one touch by our Crozilian Eduardo, again proving how clinical and lethal he is in the box … almost clinithal!! This goal was the fastest goal to be scored in the Emirates, only 72 seconds into the game.

West Ham actually tried to make a game out of it in the first half, and had a couple of half decent chances from corners and free kicks, the most significant being Ferdinand’s shot from the corner which was cleared off the line by the magnificent Clichy. Not much later, Clichy again was involved and made a great pass down field with Adebayor running between Upson and Ferdinand and using his pace to get to the box before them and nudged the ball with his head past Green’s outstretched arm and just when everyone thought the chance was lost reaching the corner line, Adebayor used some sort of Togolese voodoo magic to hit the ball from an impossible angle where it twisted and turned and spun outside then inside the goal even with two defenders almost getting to the line!

2-0 with only 19 minutes gone. After the second goal, the game was relatively over. Arsenal went from 2nd gear to 1st gear, never needed to anything more. The only other significant events of the half were a penalty for us from Spector’s handball blocking an Eboue cross, and Ljunberg being subbed after injuring his hamstring. An amusing argument between Freddie and McCartney was caught on camera a few mins before the substitution.

The second half Arsenal just went through the motions. Relatively stress free half with nice touches throughout from our team. Walcott came in for Eduardo in the 63rd min. We changed our 4-4-2 to a 4-5-1 at that point with Theo slotting as a left winger. It was weird strategic change, I would’ve thought it was a perfect chance to have Theo play upfront as an out and out striker. A few mins later Hleb came on for Eboue, which meant Theo moved to the right with Rosicky going left, while Hleb went in just in front of Fabregas and Flamini almost as a 2nd striker. Nothing that significant happened, except maybe Theo seeming to have re-injured his shoulder, but that didn’t look too bad.

A comfortable win overall. One thing I really enjoyed about this game was the fact that we always had people in the box for crosses. Eduardo was there, Adebayor was almost there, and even Rosicky was in the box! When we switched to 4-5-1, Adebayor was as good as we know he can be, dominating their defenders, controlling the ball, and so on. Fabregas was excellent, everyone else had a good game or better, except Hoyte. He’s not Sagna for sure, but he also lacks match fitness, so giving him the chance today was a good move.

Player ratings -

Almunia - 7 - Not much to do.
Clichy - 9 - An excellent assist, a game changing goal line clearance, and an overall Clichyesque performance.
Toure - 7 - Solid, will be missed
Gallas - 7 - Solid
Hoyte - 5 - Shaky first half, much better 2nd half.
Rosicky - 8 - I personally thought he had a very good game.
Flamini - 7 - Typical midfield engine performance.
Fabregas - 9 - Controlled the midfield and a great assist. One more assist or goal away from our man of the match.
Eboue - 6 - One of the most skilled players we have. Needs to help out more defensively. Needs to quit his silly “I’ve been fouled” jump everytime he’s hit, makes it look like a dive even when its not.
Adebayor - 8 - Used his pace and power for the goal, and had a very good 2nd half.
Eduardo - 8 - Great control, great finishing. Will rip defences apart the rest of the season. Coolest finisher I’ve ever seen.

Man of the Match - Clichy.

The team finally returns home after two tough away games, and they really ended that mini-trip in style with the excellent and unexpected 4-1 win at Everton on Saturday after the disappointing 0-0 game at Portsmouth. I say disappointing because we ended our ’scoring in every game this season’ streak, not for the point we came back with. A point away at Portsmouth is not as bad as some fans think, and many fans actually went to panic mode all of a sudden!

Back to Tuesday’s game.

West Ham are the only other team to EVER win at the Emirates in all competitions!

They also come to this game in a good mood after doing us a favor and making a really good come back to defeat Manchester United 2-1. I watched most of that game, and they did very well, didn’t roll over and actually tried to create something from the game. They had more possession, more shots on goal, more shots on target, and twice as many corners as United. Both goals came from set pieces - the first a corner from which the less ugly Ferdinand brother scored from. The second from a free kick which former gunner Upson scored from. Both goals were headers too, which is an important stat that I’ll come back to later.

West Ham have the best defensive record in the league outside the top 4, with only 17 goals scored against. Fortunately for us, there are also missing many players. Dyer, Bellamy, Bowyer, Boa Morta, Zamora, Gabbidon, Etherington, Faubert, Collins, and Davenport make a loong injury list, which significantly limits their attacking strength. Add to that the fact that both Solano and Parker were substituted because of injuries in the ManU game, and they really do look limited.

Back to the set pieces issue mentioned above - Both Ferdinand and Upson are tall defenders who are good headers of the ball and will be a threat at set pieces. But wait, there’s more … Dean Ashton and Carlton Cole are both taller than the defenders and are also a dangerous aerial threat. So imagine this, in any corner or free kick situation, they will have Ashton (6′2″), Cole (6′3″), Upson (6′1″), and Ferdinand (6′0″) in the box against Gallas (5′11″) and Toure (6′0″). We should try our best not to concede silly fouls near the box. Solano and Noble are two of the better crossers of the ball in the league. I worry about crosses to either side of the goal, hopefully they wont capitalize on the height advantage against Sagna and Clichy.

From our side, Van Persie remains injured as well as Walcott. I can’t find any news of other injuries. Correct me if Im wrong, but I think Flamini’s 5th yellow and Bendtner’s red rules them out of the Burnley game, so they should be fine. Eduardo is making a case for more starts. I honestly expect him to turn things around the second half of the season. My guess is that we will go back to 4-4-2 since we are at home playing against a mid-table team.

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In the last 10 years, we’ve played West Ham at home 8 times (they were relegated for 2 seasons). We won 6 and lost 2 . We scored 17 goals and had 6 against. That’s an average of about 2.1 goals a game against West Ham at home, and 0.75 conceded.

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My guess for our formation is -

**EDIT** Since I wrote this preview a day early, there was little news on team selection. It turns out that Sagna and Gilberto are out, while Eboue, Hoyte and Walcott are back in. My guess is that Eboue will start after his rest, either in last season’s role at right back or replacing Hleb. Rosicky did well last game and scored and I think Wenger will give him a chance. Hoyte would slot in at right back if Eboue replaces a winger.

I hope Fabregas and Hleb will get their groove back, and I really hope we start 2008 like we ended 2007! Also, lets give Ljungberg the welcome he deserves ….

Happy New Year in advance!