The FA Cup never fails to bring romance back into the game of football. In classic David versus Goliath fashion, Leeds United relived moments of their past glories by shocking a strangely subdued Manchester United. That win brought about feelings of "can do" while approaching the subsequent FA Cup 3rd round match of the weekend, West Ham United versus Arsenal. Could West Ham do what Leeds had done to the Mighty Reds?
Well for about 65 minutes, West Ham were working hard to preserve a lead given by a well-taken first half Diamanti goal. It was inevitable really, as much as the workrate and effort was close to herculean (especially from Behrami!), West Ham could not sustain that kind of energy throughout the 90 minutes. And so in the last 25 minutes, the Hammers were pinned too deep in their half and were repeatedly chasing shadows as Arsenal finally penetrated the stout defence that West Ham had put up. Replacing two young potential stars with two experienced international (Diaby and Nasri) definitely tipped the balance in Arsenal's favour.
More interestingly was that this FA Cup 3rd round match allowed us to catch a glimpse of what's in store for the future as both teams blooded the youth. Young players who could be key players for their respective clubs in the next few years. Here, I want to assess their capability and readiness for the Premier League based on their performance in this game.
