Finally, we get back to real premier league business (apologies to Derby County!) after a long break. Avram can enjoy the luxury of good set of fit players to choose from. Of course we’ve said enough about ACN and having quality strikers by then, or strikers gaining quality by then. All said, I’m sure than ACN is not as big a challenge as it’s made out to be, especially when you have very good back up players in the squad and that’s the reason why we bought players like Sidwell and Pizarro.

Are these matches (West Ham at home) where you can play Sheva, Sidwell and Pizarro? Answer is Yes, if you have the confidence in the players or if you have confidence in yourself to turn the match around with your tactics and substitutions. Answer is No, if want those three points for today and are not ready to risk anything for it. I have a feeling that Avram is still not confident of his own capabilities as an effective football coach for a top club in a world class league. He seems to rely more on the players and less on himself to get the results that he wants. Of course, it is the players who kick the ball on the pitch, but the coach should have the remote control, right?

At the beginning of this season we seemed to be settling down nicely with a 4-4-2 with wide midfielders, but now we are sticking to 4-3-3 match after match with minimum opportunity for second string even with the substitutions. Drogba’s biggest strength is in the air and Sheva’s best is on the ground. Avram prefers passing around on the ground and he plays Drogba more than Sheva.

Coming back to this match, West Ham are good opponents. I always enjoy watching and us playing West Ham. They have lost some key players since last season such as Tevez, Mascherano, Harewood and Benayoun. When you play Carlton Cole as your regular striker, that certainly speaks about your player drain. In fact, I like Carlton Cole since his Chelsea years. He was a good player who I thought would never become better. For a big club like West Ham to rely on him as ‘the man’ to get them the goals must be an honour for him. Still, I don’t see a goal threat from West Ham, not certainly at the Bridge.

In our team news, the only players that would miss are Cech, Carvalho, Ballack, Malouda, Ferreira and of course, Essien for that dubious last minute red card against Derby. I’d love to see a distorted 4-4-2 with Sheva and Drogba, Joe Cole as the right midfielder, Kalou as the left winger. Lampard and Mikel should be the central midfielders. Cudicini should be protected by Terry, Alex, Belletti and Bridge.

With just another month to go for the transfer window, the injury problems look smaller and smaller. The fact that we have already qualified for the champions league next round and the next champions league match is more than 2 months later, makes me feel lot better.

Avram thinks that we are in contention for all the cups, rightfully so. He says:

We want to succeed in the Champions League, FA Cup, and the Premier League. We are in a good position to fight for everything. You can’t belong to big clubs and not want to succeed in every competition.

Well, he missed out on League Cup, but that’s fine we know that he meant that too!

This weekend has all the possibilities to be a very crucial one, with our title rivals taking on decent oppositions. Arsenal play at Villa park while Liverpool host Bolton. Man Utd has an easy game on Monday against Fulham. We need three points from anywhere, preferably from our boot. I see 2-0 or 3-0 depending on Avram’s choice of formation and players.

You can call this a bad preview, and you could be right about it.