Ain't nobody like Lanzini

So as expected Manuel Lanzini has been released. The 30-year-old has given good service to the club and leaves some fine memories, not least that epic piledriver in added time to secure a 3-3 draw at Spurs during lockdown. He also scored a stunning consolation goal at Man City and netted with a lovely bit of control and half-volley at Crystal Palace in 2021-22. Then there was his winner against Spurs under Slaven Bilic. His best season was probably his first and the final one at the Boleyn, when he combined to such great effect with Dimitri Payet and Mark Noble. A bad long-term injury seemed to rob him of some of his pace, but he was always a solid technician and played his part in getting the Irons to the Europa Conference League final. He deserved his goal against Leeds in our final home match. Best of luck in the rest of your career, Manuel.

Ain't no apology like Lanzini

It's good that Manuel Lanzini has apologised for breaking Tier 4 rules at Christmas after being pictured alongside Spurs' Erik Lamela, Giovani Lo Celso and Sergio Reguilon. He tweeted:" I want to apologise for a bad mistake and I take full responsibility for my actions. I know people have made difficult sacrifices to stay safe and I should be setting a better example." 

Covid-19 has been hard on young people and it's difficult to tell footballers on £100k a week what to do, but players need to learn that they are part of wider society and have responsibilities. Hopefully Moyes has used the hairdryer on him as it could also have endangered the rest of the squad. And as for fraternising with Tottenham players — there's certainly no excuse for that!

Back of the net!

Just watched the West Ham website's video of all the WHU goals of 2020. Technically Sebastian Haller's overhead kick against Palace is the best, followed by Antonio's overhead against City. Though in terms of timing and who it's against my favourite is Lanzini's screamer in added time against Mourinho's Spurs. Another goal with brilliant timing was Yarmolenko's late winner against Chelsea. While I also enjoyed Declan Rice's rocket against Watford and then his run to David Moyes. 

For a team goal it's hard to beat the second against Wolves where Antonio bulldozes down the left and crosses for Fornals to hit the post and Bowen to net the rebound. Best header is Soucek's bullet against Watford and best control is Fornals' goal against Leicester. And spare a thought for Robert Snodgrass who has got a couple of cracking goals in the Carabao Cup without getting a run in the side. While the best thing about watching the video is that seemingly no-one ever scores against us...

Lanzini's rocket seals incredible West Ham comeback

Tottenham Hotspur 3 West Ham United 3

Thanks to tier two we're deprived of the lucky pub and watching on Now TV at home. Though a solo Nigel has managed to sneak into the Jolly Gardeners at Mortlake while Michael is in a pub garden in Kennington. Haller is not even on the bench which means he's either injured or infected or Moyes is just trying to wind-up Fraser even further.

WHU are behind after a mere 45 seconds. Kane's fine long ball sends Son in behind Balbuena, with Coufal caught upfield. The General lets the Spurs man turn inside him and it's 1-0. Antonio's back header causes a few problems at a corner and Cresswell fires a free kick over, but it's 2-0 after seven minutes as Kane nutmegs Rice and fires a shot through Ogbonna's legs and into the corner. Rice and Soucek are outnumbered in midfield and we just can't cope with Kane and Son. 

Can it get any worse? It sure can. Reguilon has too much space on the left and sends in a perfect cross for Kane to outjump Cresswell and head home. Its going to be seven or eight at this rate. At least West Ham improve a bit for the rest of the half, but it's not going to be our day. Kane even manages to block a late Coufal shot with a great block tackle. Though we are winning on corners, having had five corners to Spurs none.

GETTING KANED

It's clearly the fault of Nigel for choosing an unlucky pub and forgetting his lucky Status Quo plastic bag. Mystic Matt says on WhatsApp that "Moyes has been completely outwitted by Mourinho" and Fraser asks if we can send Moyes back to his TV set. West Ham show some character and have a better second half. My pal Robert, a Man United fan, has just turned on the TV and remarks that the second half is all West Ham. Though you can't expect to go 3-0 down after 15 minutes and get anything from a Premier League game. But Masuaku and Antonio are at least still making inroads on the left. The Hammers go close as Antonio's shot bounces into the path of Fornals who heads over the bar from a couple of feet out. At the other end Kane strikes the outside of the post as Spurs' break and almost make it four.

Moyes is clearly trying to keep the score down when he takes off our only striker Antonio and brings on Yarmolenko and Lanzini. But there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in Jose Mourinho's philosophy. The influence of Mystic Matt is at work. He has just said that Lanzini is burnt-out and that West Ham could play until Christmas and not score as Cresswell slings in a free kick and Balbuena powers home a fine header after 82 minutes. It's good to get a consolation and 3-1 at least looks respectable. 

AIN'T NOBODY LIKE LANZINI
But what's this? Two minutes later Yarmolemko finds Coufal with a lovely reverse pass and the full-back's cross is headed into his own net by Sanchez. Who needs strikers? Surely this can't be another crazy PL result? Spurs have brought on Gareth Bale, but he's no Robert Snodgrass. The Welsh golfer jinks through our defence only to fire wide of the post.

Meanwhile Spurs are looking jittery at the back. We're into the 94th minute. Late sub Snodgrass wins a free kick which Cresswell takes. It's headed out and Winks helps it on to the edge of the area for LANZINIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII! 

Never in doubt! Manuel scores the best goal of career as the ball rockets into the top corner. He's off with his shirt and is then mobbed by his team mates and subs in a giant heap in what might be a super-spreading incident but who cares? What a goal. 

David Moyes channels David Pleat and John Sergeant from Strictly Come Dancing to do a splendid dad dance of joy on the pitch. What tactical brilliance to take off all the strikers. That display of emotion will help him win over the doubters. Even Fraser admits that, "Moyes is almost likeable sometimes". We deserve it for showing such team spirit and never giving up. That Spurs fan who tweeted, "We bring on Bale, they bring on Lanzini" with some laughing emojis has just been made to look rather foolish. Matt says on WhatsApp that sometimes he enjoys football. What a result, this feels like a win. And what a game. Irons!

Ain't nobody like Lanzini, but where will he fit in?

Fantastic news that Manuel Lanzini has recovered from from his cruciate ligament injury and may take some part in tonight's match against Fulham. Fitting him in is a good problem to have for Manuel Pellegrini. He presumably rates Nasri having won the league with him at Man City and will play Samir or Robert Snodgrass on the right. Could Lanzini combine with Anderson on the left? In a 4-4-2- formation that would mean dropping Mark Noble and having only Declan Rice as a defensive midfielder. Though removing Nobes would deprive the side of leadership and a player who respects the shirt, while leaving us defensively weak. 

It could be that Pellegrini opts for a five-man midfield to include Lanzini, though that would leave a lone striker to be picked from Arnautovic, Hernandez and Antonio, not to mention Carroll and Perez. It would certainly be hard to drop Antonio after his recent return to form. It seems likely Lanzini will be on the bench tonight. We have to hope that he is still the same player after a big injury. But if he is, he's a tremendous option to have.

Lanzini set to miss the whole of the season?

Today's Daily Mirror claims that Manuel Lanzini could be out for 15 months and will miss the whole of next season. The Mirror states that his injury is more serious than anticipated, a "cruciate plus". This is terrible news for player and club. We've lost a £40million player (on today's prices where Sigurdsson costs £45 million) on international duty and he might never be the same again. 

Lanzini has that ability to make things happen and after injury was just starting to find his form after scoring twice in the final game of the season. So West Ham desperately need a midfield creator. Could it be Joao Mario again? Or the injury-prone Jack Wilshere? Could Anderson fulfil the role? Meanwhile Manuel, the best of luck in recovering from such a shattering injury.

Arguing among ourselves

Things are continuing to implode at West Ham. The Evening Standard reports that Andy Carroll left the bench for the dressing room when he wasn't used as a sub against Man City. While the Daily Telegraph claims that Carroll snd Moyes had a row at the training ground yesterday with the striker being sent home. Carroll wouldn't have made any difference at 4-1 down, so it's hard to see what his beef is beyond a bruised ego. 

Meanwhile Chicharito looked completely uninterested when he came on, which is another problem as he obviously doesn't want to play for Moyes. While Moyes seems intent on picking a fight with Manuel Lanzin, West Ham's most creative player, having subbed him for losing the ball before City's fourth goal. 

Moyes at least sounded fairly keen on keeping Lanzini onside when he told the Standard: “The players here have got to understand, we play players to keep the ball, to defend. Manu had a great chance to keep the ball for us and we end up losing the fourth goal for it. But hey, no problem – it happens.” Yes, we want to retain possession, but there's always a risk with creative players and by the time the fourth goal went in the game was lost.

Moyes was right to clamp down on discipline when he arrived but is now the right time to play the hard man? Carroll is a player who could make the difference in the last half an hour of our remaining three games.

Meanwhile, with Carroll annoyed and Chicharito dreaming of a move should West Ham perhaps do the unthinkable and play Hugill alongside Arnautovic? He might not have a great touch, but he'll run all day and put himself about. What we need more than ever is a team who will battle for the shirt.

Irons need creative midfielder as injury crisis hits

More bad news on the injury front. Andy Carroll is out for three months following an operation on his fractured ankle, while it's reported that Manuel Lanzini could miss four to six weeks with his hamstring injury and Arnautovic is out for three weeks with a hamstring problem. We're down to Hernandez up front, while West Ham urgently need a replacement for Lanzini, as there's no-one at the club who can play the number ten role. Not replacing Payet, sold a year ago, has made the situation even worse. 

One solution might be David Moyes' pursuit of Lyon midfielder Clement Grenier, who is not a prolific scorer but can play the creator role. Though knowing West Ham we might sign Paul Clement the former Swansea manager by mistake. Lanzini's injury could be a chance for Ayew to play behind the main striker, but he's always looked more of a winger or striker than a midfielder (and without an injury crisis he would surely have gone back to Swansea after a reported £14m bid). 

The rest of the squad is over-stocked with defensive midfielders, though Kouyate did play better in a more advanced role on Saturday and Antonio would be a boost if he was ever fit, though again his injury sounds serious. Another four wins are needed for survival and action needs to be taken in the transfer window now.