"I don't want to blame my team-mates, but there are some players who didn't show their quality and committed 70 percent, not 100."
The words of Paolo di Canio following West Ham's 7-1 spanking at the hands of Blackburn Rovers last weekend. Few would accuse the Italian of not giving his all in every match for the Hammers, the team he claims is the love of his life. This weekend he will attempt to get them back on track against another struggling side - Southampton.
Of course, the Saints themselves are likely to have been stung by criticism of their poor performance at home to Arsenal last weekend. Another player who is known for giving 100 percent in each game for his club when fit is Marian Pahars, and he will be hoping to create more trouble for the east Londoners this weekend with a goal or two of his own.
Pahars is one of only two players to have scored for the Saints this season, but with three goals already himself he can hold his head up high in the side. Pahars' shooting accuracy has been excellent - 63% of his attempts on goal have forced the goalkeeper to react, a fine ratio for any top-class attacker.
Di Canio has been almost as efficient, troubling the 'keeper with 60% of his attempts on goal. It is perhaps a more impressive ratio than that of the Southampton man, given that di Canio has attempted almost twice as many shots, and yet the Italian has managed to score just twice so far. Furthermore, one of those strikes was from the penalty spot, as West Ham's difficulty in scoring goals this term spreads throughout the side.
However, di Canio has of course been known as much for being a provider of goals as a scorer, and this season his support play has been as outstanding as ever. The 33-year-old has provided 22 key passes leading to clear goalscoring chances - only Arsenal's Robert Pires has managed more so far in 2001-02. This more than anything else highlights the effort di Canio puts into his performances for West Ham, and gives him every right to fume at such a disastrous performance as last weekend's.
Pahars has often turned provider himself, but this season has been patchy for the Latvian in this respect. He has attempted 14 crosses so far, but unfortunately for the Saints just one has been successful, as their own inability to score has got steadily worse.
With both of these two sides relying heavily on certain players to score goals, it seems likely that if the deadlock is to be broken at some point in the afternoon, it will be by one of these two men. whufcbet.co.uk are offering 50/1 on Pahars opening the scoring, helping the Saints on their way to a much-needed 2-1 win.
Chris Green.