da 888： To get through to the League Cup semi-final, West Ham are required to travel to Old Trafford and beat Manchester United on their own turf.
da betcris： It’s an unenviable task, despite Sunday’s credible 1-1 draw in Premier League action. Draws are all fine and well but actually defeating United in Manchester is a different prospect altogether.
It’ll take a committed and energy draining performance that in some quarters could be seen as a distraction or even a hindrance to their league form. They haven’t won in four games after all and are now facing a potential relegation battle.
That said, we believe West Ham should be putting every inch of effort into winning the League Cup to give their fans some long overdue success.
Here’s Football FanCast’s THREE reasons why Slaven Bilic’s team should throw everything into winning League Cup silverware this season, starting with tonight’s Old Trafford clash.
Too good for relegation, not good enough for Europe
Hammers fans, we promise we’re not trying to jinx you. We understand the danger of saying a team is too good to go down.
In our eyes it just isn’t going to happen, despite Bilic’s side being just a point above 18th placed Hull City. There’s too much quality in the squad and as shown last season, the side can go on extended runs of decent form.
West Ham squeaked into a European spot last season by making 7th and relying on Manchester United winning the FA Cup. We don’t foresee that happening this year after a pretty slow start in the first 13 games.
So Bilic’s side really have nothing to lose by committing wholeheartedly to an EFL cup run. It may see a couple of dropped points here and there, but over the course of the season it’s likely to matter little.
Football is about tangible glory, especially for the fans, so we don’t want to see squad rotation and youngsters in the team at Old Trafford.
They’ve never won it and making history is nice
The closest the Hammers have come to winning this competition was way back in 1981, when a replay loss to Liverpool saw the Anfield side take home the trophy.
The Londoners haven’t reached the final since and haven’t won the FA Cup in a similar amount of time.
The difference between good teams and great teams is silverware. The sides people remember are the ones that reach national finals and achieve something special for the fans.
I’m sure West Ham fans of a certain age can still name the FA Cup winning side of 1980 and fans much younger will have strong memories of the 2006 final.
The EFL Cup is less prestigious but it’s still a fine achievement to win it and this team can write themselves into West Ham history by delivering.
With good feeling comes good form
There’s no escaping that West Ham are on a poor run in form right now and it’s seen them slide down the table.
The pressure free environment of the EFL cup could be just the ticket they need to kickstart their season into another gear.
A victory at Old Trafford would be an excellent sign this side are ready to please their fans and if they do something even more special by reaching the final, there would be a good feeling around that should translate into better league form.
Despite our assertion the side are too good for relegation, things can become very dicey very quickly and an extended cup run could give Bilic’s team the confidence they need to steer well clear of a potential relegation dogfight.