We have a massive game ahead of us. Wait, that’s not at the Old Trafford or at the Emigrants, come over to Upton Park where we take on the Hammers. We have won every single premier league match we played against West Ham since 2003. That won’t mean much for this match.

I think the team morale must be hitting new lows as I see the incidents of the last weekend unfurl one by one. Anything less than a win here is going to put the club, not just the team and manager, under heavy pressure. Hard decisions will have to be taken.

Betting houses have already cut the odds on Avram Grant to be the next premier league manager to be sacked. Grant could not go back to Israel for his UEFA pro license sessions due to turbulence at London. News is that if he misses another couple of such sessions, he will not get his license. Grant must have started to feel the heat.

We have a crucial champions league home fixture against Olympiakos on Wednesday night. Now is the decision making time for Grant. Where does he see a better chance of success – premier league or champions league? I’d say champions league. Tell me which one is better – a defeat at West Ham or defeat by Olympiakos? A win against both would be very nice and highly possible that we can have two top class starting elevens playing these two matches. But decision making seems to be Grant’s problem. Players would always like to play all the matches but Grant should see that he has enough players rested for the champions league match. The last thing I’d like to see is Olympiakos dumping us out of the champions league a Stamford Bridge.

After a much ridiculed choice of first eleven at Wembley, I’m sure Grant would not want to make a meal this time at Upton Park. He has to make up his mind as either (i) I have a system and I will fit the available players to suit the system or (ii) I have the players to play and I will devise the system to suit these players. At Wembley, the problem was, he did both.

Let me help Grant. I go with a 4-1-2-1-2 or the narrow 4-4-2 diamond. Cech is still my keeper. He has to fumble a lot more to make me look for Carlo. Terry, Carvalho, Belletti and Bridge at the back. Essien the Engine will be the defensive midfielder. I’m sure he can shrug off a poor last match. Ballack and Lampard being the other two midfielders. They can play together. I’ve seen them play well together last season. The central attacking midfielder will be Joe Cole. Drogba and Anelka will be the strikers. Essien will not join in attacks, he will concentrate only in breaking attacks and supplying Lampard and Ballack. Belletti and Bridge will have freedom to attack. And Anelka does not get a free role. He should not wander out of position. Principally, we should channel our attacks through the centre as much as possible. This system and the players we have, are more suited for central attacks than wing attacks. Bridge and Belletti can provide some varierty from the flanks once in a while.

So, what I’ve done here is to pick the best eleven to play West Ham. That’s because these set of players should be able to play two demanding matches in a space of 5 days. Also the result of this match can have a direct influence on the morale of the team. If we rest players on form and drop points at Upton Park, there would be more tension and pressure on the players to come up with a good show against Olympiakos, which again, should be possible by normal standards.

I’d hope Grant reads the game early and makes quick changes in players or formations or tactics. Last season against Spurs, I remember JM subbing Ferreira only after 30 minutes and replaced him with SWP and made him play as the right back and rescued the match. Also once he brought on Boulahrouz at the 40th minute and subbed him at 55 minutes and avoided a disastrous defeat. Like this, Grant needs to show some urgency in his tactics and methods instead of hoping for things to get better.

West Ham are no pushovers, especially at Upton Park. When they play big teams at home, they rise up to the challenge well. They have another important premier league match against Liverpool on Tuesday night. I guess Curbishley would take a cautious approach while fancying their chances against Chelsea as well as Liverpool. Expect both Arsenal and Man Utd to win their matches. If we don’t win this match, we should stop saying that ‘we’re still in three competitions’. As long as you don’t see Chelsea beating both Arsenal and Man Utd at the Stamford Bridge, this statement is already a fake.

John Terry has taken the team a day out as a clear team building/bonding exercise. Only Grant and Ten Cate were missing in that group. How do I understand this! Anyway, there is some realisation about the need for such a thing and some efforts are being made. Despite the troubled times, the quality of our players should prevail. I remember this match against West Ham where Chelsea went a goal down and had Maniche red carded within 20 minutes and ended up winning 4-1. That was a blast. I don’t need a 4-1, just a 1-0 would do. That’s what the result would be I think. A safe 1-0 for us, unless the team wants to show their reaction to the final loss and choose West Ham as their punch bag. Let me put these thoughts to rest. Just 1-0.