Month: November 2023

Will Moyes Be Tasting Victory In The Kompany Of Clarets

Another Premier League reset after an international break. A routine West Ham victory or will they be hapless victims in the hosts quest to end their pointless home run?

The fixtures computer has celebrated the passing of the last international break of the year with a set of blockbuster matches for Saturday afternoon including Sheffield United – Bournemouth, Nottingham Forest – Brighton, Luton – Crystal Palace, and of course West Ham’s visit to Burnley. It promises to be an inspiring weekend of elite level football.

The Hammers have been uncharacteristically lucky with injuries so far this season. But, as news filtered back from the international camps, it looked like that was about to change . Michail Antonio, Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus all picking up worrying injuries – and Vladimir Coufal mixing up the moves to the Macarena in a Czech nightclub. Coufal reprising the famous Moore and Greaves Blackpool nightclub incident of 1971. Let’s hope that doesn’t turn out to be this season’s 3rd round draw.

Fortunately, the injuries to Bowen and Kudus do not appear to be as bad as first feared, and both should be available this afternoon. Antonio, however, is likely to be side-lined for some time. This should mean that the Hammers will start today with the same eleven that took the field against Nottingham Forest.

The injury scares have brought the ludicrous striker situation back into sharp focus. The negligence of starting a Premier League season with only Antonio and Danny Ings as your recognised strikers is truly astounding. And considering that both are well towards the sunset of their careers, it is doubly baffling. Thankfully, Bowen’s goal-scoring form has offered some compensation. If he can maintain the current rate of return he is on track to set a West Ham Premier League record for goals scored in a season – Paolo Di Canio’s 16 goals in 1999/2000 is the target to beat.

There has already been a slew of striker transfer stories online in advance of the January window – and as usual they range from the mundane to the ridiculous. However, the club’s room for manoeuvre may well be limited by the dreaded Financial Fair Play, which popped up in the week to bite Everton on the bottom. Perhaps FFP provides a blessing in disguise and forces the club to abandon its policy of buying expensive flops and selling them at a loss and rely instead on discovering young unknown talent. Over to you, Tim!

Everton’s ten-point deduction (should it stand on appeal) would seem to make it almost impossible for the Hammers to become embroiled in a relegation battle this season. With all three of the promoted sides struggling for points, the only team now below the Toffees are today’s opponents, Burnley.

Having romped away with last season’s Championship, Burnley’s return to the Premier League has proved to be a rude awakening. All four of their points have been won away from Turf Moor and defeat today would make it seven in a row at home. Of course, the patron saint of lost causes is always happy to serve up a game against West Ham in such desperate circumstances: “You haven’t scored in in a season and a half, Neal Maupay, let me see what I can do!”   

The Hammers have saved up some of their worst ever recent performances for games against the Clarets. A humiliating 3-0 thrashing in November 2019 and a home defeat by the same score in March 2018 – the game that prompted the London Stadium pitch invasion – spring to mind. Burnley are a very different proposition under the guidance of Vincent Kompany, but the omens are ominous.

The Clarets are one of only three teams in the Premier League to have conceded more goals than West Ham to date. The other two are Bournemouth and Sheffield United. That must be an uncomfortable statistic for the resilient defence obsessed David Moyes. It is interesting to compare our position after the opening 12 games of the current campaign against 2022/23. Last season a win against Bournemouth in Matchweek 12 took us up to 10th place – it would be our highest position all season – having scored 11 and conceded 12. This term, there are three more points on the board, while the team have scored 21 and conceded 22. So, has something changed in the Moyesball bag of tricks? Or can the differences be explained by individual performances?

It is difficult to put a finger on any drastic tactical change as it still comes across as the usual cautious and unadventurous fare. But if there is anyvariation, it is that the ‘low block’ of ten men behind the ball at all times has become more relaxed. More players are allowed to stay forward to assist with counter attacks. But the slightly higher press that has replaced the low block appears to be a haphazard, half-hearted affair. Despite the valiant efforts of Edson Alvarez in patrolling in front of the back four, opponents have been able to muster many more goalscoring opportunities.

At the other end of the pitch, West Ham are close to claiming back their crown as set piece supremo’s. Much of that is down to the extraordinary delivery from James Ward-Prowse plus the return to goalscoring form of Tomas Soucek. There is a trade-off from having JWP and Soucek in the side in that both have limitations in open play. If the two must play together, it works better when JWP has greater freedom in a more advanced role – not as part of a defensive midfield pivot.

The Hammers are now blessed with more creativity than they have for some time in the form of Kudus and Lucas Paqueta. Kudus is clearly still getting used to football in England and apart from a few special moments is more about potential than being a consistent performer. Paqueta is always looking for the unexpected and at times this can be frustrating when first time flicks go astray. Personally, he is the type if player I love to watch but would prefer him to keep his tricks to the attacking half of the pitch.

So, what to make of today’s game. The combination of Burnley’s shocking home run and the historic obliging nature of West Ham is a concern. On the other hand, from what I have seen of Burnley they are very vulnerable in the air at set pieces – a weakness that should tip the scales in the Hammers favour. No doubt Moyes will allow the home side most of the possession and it might just pay off on this occasion. COYI!        

Can West Ham extend the Clarets winless run at Turf Moor in the Claret and Blue derby this weekend?

Once again the international break has come along to spoil the flow of the Premier League season. There have only been twelve games played and we have already had three of them! It’s an absolute nonsense in my opinion and even more so for anyone who chose to watch England’s final two qualifying games for next year’s European Championships. Fortunately I was too busy watching some paint drying and therefore missed the spectacle of a 2-0 home win against mighty Malta and a point gained in a 1-1 draw in North Macedonia. Did I miss anything? Those I’ve spoken to who did view the games suggested not.

I’m not too sure of the injury situation for this week’s visit to Turf Moor but at one stage it was looking decidedly bad. Antonio had to be substituted after 20 minutes in Jamaica’s game, Bowen had to withdraw from the England squad and Kudus had a problem too. Hopefully it is not as bleak as was initially reported but it does make you think back to the summer transfer window, and the astonishing decision to not strengthen the squad in an attacking sense. It was inexplicable, perhaps inexcusable to sell Scamacca and not replace him before the current campaign got underway. And looking ahead to the beginning of next year and the African tournament, we could potentially lose Kudus, Benrahma and Cornet for a time. In the coming winter transfer window we have got to add to our attacking potential and hopefully with footballers who fit into the system. Perhaps Mr Steidten has a few aces up his sleeve. I certainly hope so.

In any event the comeback win against Forest in the final fixture before the break after a lacklustre first half performance means that with just under a third of the season completed we have crept back into the top half of the table in ninth position. And we sit just three points below Newcastle in seventh, the last of the qualifying places that can be achieved via league position.

There are plenty of worrying statistics to consider in advance of our trip to Burnley. Somehow we often manage to help sides to end poor runs of one kind or another. Perhaps the standout one is the fact that Burnley have played six home games this season and lost all of them. We are on a record breaking run ourselves from a West Ham point of view; our last seven games against promoted sides have been wins – we’ve never done that before. Two records that could end if it goes wrong this weekend.

I see that James Ward Prowse is the leading player in the Premier League for assists this season so far with nine. And despite his consistency over a long period and his standout form he can’t find a place in Gareth Southgate’s England squad, even one that was depleted with injuries. How Kalvin Phillips gets in despite barely playing for his club, and Jordan Henderson too now he has gone abroad for the money in a poor league is beyond me.

I see that Everton have fallen foul of Financial Fair Play regulations and been docked a record 10 points for doing so. I’m not sure too many of us fully understand the regulations, and I guess the Everton bosses didn’t either to allow themselves to get into this position. Or perhaps they did and thought they’d get away with it. They become only the third Premier League side to be deducted points after Middlesbrough; 3 points for failing to turn up for a game in 1996-97. They were ultimately relegated just two points from safety. Portsmouth went into administration in 2009-10, were deducted nine points and were relegated after finishing bottom a long way from safety. The omens aren’t great for Everton although the ten-point deduction leaves them only two points from safety at this early stage, mainly due to the poor results obtained by the promoted sides, Luton, Sheffield United and Burnley.

Many believe that we were lucky in 2006-07 to escape a points deduction when we were fined £5.5 million in respect of the signing of Tevez and Mascherano, breaking the rule regarding third party ownership. We subsequently agreed to pay Sheffield United a compensation settlement in the range of around £20 million intended to address their financial losses after they were relegated. Had we been docked just three points we would have gone down on goal difference. There is a kind of irony in the Everton points deduction in that the three man independent commission which punished them included Nick Igoe who was in charge of West Ham’s finances at the time of the Tevez / Mascherano affair.

We’ve got a busy time in the lead up to Christmas which is now just a month away. In that time we’ve got half a dozen league games against Burnley, Palace, Tottenham, Fulham, Wolves and Manchester United, as well as the final two Europa League group games and an EFL quarter-final tie at Liverpool. The league games will be very important to ensure that we stay in the race for European places next season. A poor run now could rule us out of contention leaving us to settle for mid table. It would be great to get the four points needed to top the group in Europe to progress into the knock-out stages in the second half of the season too. And wouldn’t it be brilliant if we can upset the odds at Anfield and move into the semi-finals of the EFL Cup.

Have we got the depth of squad to achieve these goals? Will we splash out in the window to help us to kick on in all fronts? How will we be affected by the loss of players to the African Nations Cup? Will we still be in the mix in the race for European qualification, and still in the cup competitions when we enter 2024? Will we go all out in the FA Cup when the third round gets underway in January? If we do have serious striker problems on Saturday will Mubama get more than five minutes playing time or will the manager stick with Ings? Can the manager adopt a more adventurous approach, or will his normal caution remain? Will the second half of the season peter out with little to play for?

An important month lies ahead beginning with Burnley. Can we inflict on them their seventh consecutive home defeat of the season? Will we extend our record against promoted sides to make it eight consecutive wins? Will we have any fit strikers? COYI!

Moyes Not-So-Merry Men Must Raise Their Game To Fend Off Forest Fire

With just four points from the last seven league games, West Ham need new ideas and fresh impetus to avoid entering into the international break as a bottom six club.

If I could turn back time, I might choose to spend the evening listening to a 1970s supermarket music playlist on Spotify rather than watching West Ham take on Olympiacos in the Europa League. Even allowing for the low expectations set for a good many of the European group games, this was especially dire. Ninety minutes of forgettable mediocrity.

The post-match baloney from David Moyes featured his greatest hits of well-worn, trite excuses. “We didn’t play as well as we had hoped”. “The opposition have years of European experience”. “Coming away with the three points was the most important thing”.  “They were defensively well organised and stopped us getting our crosses in” – if only there were alternative routes to goal, David.

There is a generally accepted rule that all successful sides will need to win ugly from time to time, but lately West Ham know no other way. Supporters should always want their team to win but don’t we also want to be entertained while they’re at it? Is there any lasting pride or pleasure to be had when resilience and organisation are valued above everything else?

In the end the Hammers wreaked their much-wanted revenge over their Greek opponents who had ended their unbeaten streak two weeks earlier. But it came from the game’s single moment of genuine quality rather than as the result of sustained assault. The presence of a simple yet beautifully crafted goal was incongruous in such a drab match. A sumptuous, chipped pass by James Ward-Prowse perfectly placed for Lucas Paqueta well-timed run into the box to volley home. The on-field decision to flag for offside was representative of the shocking officiating on show all night. Replays clearly showing that Paqueta’s faultless calculation of the angles would have made even Pythagoras proud. Good old VAR!

In one of those quirks of the fixture list, West Ham now find themselves facing two teams owned by the same shady Greek mogul, Evangelos Marinakis, within the space of three days. Despite serial accusations of match fixing and other nefarious activities, Marinakis was considered fit and proper enough to become the majority shareholder of Nottingham Forest in 2017.  His tenure has seen the former European champions return to the top tier of English football following promotion to the Premier League in May 2022.

Forest have made an acceptable start to the new season having accumulated one less point than the Hammers from their opening 11 games. They were very poor travellers throughout last season, and although their struggles on the road have largely persisted they have tasted victory at Chelsea and secured a goalless draw at Palace, where they were easily the better team. Should they win today they would leapfrog West Ham and potentially enter the international break sitting in the top half. The same outcome could see ourselves, the one-time league leaders, drop down into the bottom six.

Today’s game is the last of seven played by West Ham since the last blank international weekend. In that time, there have been two cup wins but not a single league point – having lost all three games to Aston Villa, Everton, and Brentford. It is a tough schedule but still a terribly poor return for a team that sets up not to lose. Since the start of last season, Moyes team have lost 25 and won just 15 of 49 games. This leaves a triple whammy where the club has spent bags of money on transfers, where the football remains tedious, and is not yielding results.

During his time as West Ham boss, Moyes has spoken about instilling a big club, winning mentality to the club. Just as he has talked about Red Bull models. Recently, he has again claimed to have made changes in approach to make us more expansive. This has completely passed me by. As they used to say in banking: “the words and numbers do not match!”

The squad may now contain additional flair players, but the underlying fundamentals have not changed. The overwhelming focus on compact defence and denying space to opponents means that when we eventually win the ball there are too few passing options available. Players are bunched together, are not able to create space and switch play, and become easy prey to the opposition press. Or else it results in hopeful blind first-time flicks to no-one in particular. I have to believe it is coaching rather than individual technical ability that is causing the problem, otherwise a change of manager would make no difference. Sure, upgrades are needed in certain positions, but we have seen how progressive managers have breathed new life into previously dispirited squads.

West Ham will need to up their game from midweek if they are to win today. Forest are one of a small group of teams who boast less possession than the Hammers and they will be happy to sit back and play on the break. They will have done their homework and be fully aware of the Hammer’s creative limitations when allowed the lion’s share of the ball. A ponderous build up ending with hopeful crosses into the box. Or is today the day that Moyes finally reveals a cunning new plan from his dusty box of managerial tricks? Probably not!

Kurt Zouma continues to struggle with his various injuries so it will be as you are at the back except for a return between the sticks for Alphonse Areola. There was a pyrrhic victory for Areola in the week when he picked up the Premier League save of the month award – a shame it came in a 4-1 defeat at Aston Villa.

If Moyes is considering changes it will be possible recalls for stalwarts Michail Antonio and Thomas Soucek. The unintended consequence of leaving Soucek on the bench is that Ward-Prowse is consigned to a far deeper defensive position where he is way less effective. He started his West Ham career at a blistering pace in a more advanced role but perhaps this was creating to much excitement. In midweek he was deployed even deeper than Edson Alvarez. The sublime assist apart, his contribution was mainly backwards and sideways passing reminiscent of a late career Mark Noble tribute act.

I pray to the footballing gods that Moyes again leaves Michail Antonio on the bench and sticks with Jarrod Bowen up top. But equally he needs to realise that Bowen isn’t a straight replacement for Antonio. Other changes to shape are necessary to provide the support required to make this work effectively. Bowen offers greater control and finesse plus the opportunity for interplay and darting runs that can be key in unlocking packed defences. Bowen is not the long term answer to the Hammer’s striking woes but he is the best we have for now.

A memory will have popped up on Danny Ings Facebook page during the week to remind him of his solitary West Ham league goals in this corresponding fixture last season. Ings scoring twice in an unusually comfortable 4-0 win. Divin Mubama, on the other hand, will need a rest following his midweek run-out – the one-minute manager having chosen to bring him on in the 89th minute to show what he can do.

Quite what has become of Said Benrahma in his three years at the London Stadium is beyond all comprehension. His confidence levels appear to have been shattered to the point where every move he attempts is the wrong one. If footballing decisions were a multiple-choice paper, he would regularly be scoring 0%.

I long for the days when I looked forward to West Ham games with anticipation. I find myself conflicted between wanting the team to win against the desire for much-needed change in the way they are managed. Unless Moyes pulls off a shock cup-winning treble, there can be no way he will get a new contract in the summer. With the board reluctant to act before that I fear we will limp along as we are until May. Seeing out the season will be like watching a goldfish that has jumped out of its bowl and is flapping around on the carpet until it slowly dies – and being unable to do anything about it.

We might possibly win today. But it’s not going to be pretty. If West Ham are winning at the break can we ask Kevin Nolan to lock Moyes in the toilet and prevent him sucking all the energy out of the half-time dressing room? COYI!

Ward Prowse’s Perfect Precision Pass, Paqueta Pounces, Olympiacos Overcome.

West Ham march on in Europe, but can they get back to winning ways in the league when Forest visit the London Stadium on Sunday?

VAR hasn’t received the best press in recent times. But West Ham were thankful for its intervention on Thursday evening. If we were relying on the naked eye of the assistant referee then the result of the game against the Greeks from Piraeus would most likely have been a goalless draw. West Ham were celebrating when Paqueta pounced to volley home Ward Prowse’s wonderful precision pass over the top. A beautifully crafted pass and finish was about to be chalked off when the flag was raised to indicate offside. But thanks to the VAR check Ortega was seen to be closer to his own goal than our brilliant Brazilian and the goal quite rightly stood. And how the players celebrated in front of the visiting Greek supporters, milking their revenge win. West Ham were not happy with how their opponents celebrated their win two weeks ago, and vengeance for that was high on the player’s minds prior to the game.

Thankfully Manager Moyes had made changes from the weakened team he put out that lost the reverse fixture a fortnight ago. The win leaves us at the top of the group on the basis of head-to-head against Freiburg who also had a comfortable win over Backa Topola on the night. A win against the Serbians at the end of November would mean a draw against the Germans in the final group game in mid-December would be enough to clinch top spot in the group. And top spot is important in this competition with the runners up facing a game against a third placed side dropping down from the Champions League.

Division of opinion about the merits of the manager continues in the build up to the kick-off against Forest on Sunday. Recent poor domestic form with three consecutive defeats has seen us slip into the bottom half of the table where we are now twelfth with 14 points from our eleven games, just one point and one place above our visitors who have won one and drawn three of their last five games.

A worrying statistic is that Forest have won only one away game against West Ham in almost 40 years. How we manage to end those poor runs of our opponents is a trait we seem to specialise in. In fairness however the sample size is not as big as it might be against many other teams as we haven’t always been in the same division. Another one to watch out for coming up soon – Burnley have now lost six consecutive home games – you know who their next home game is against after the International break, don’t you?

Forest’s three wins this season have been against Sheffield United, Chelsea, and last week against in-form Aston Villa. They have only lost four games (compared to our five) although all four have been on their travels. We don’t have a good record in games that follow Europa League fixtures on Thursday nights and have yet to win one on a following Sunday in this campaign.

Thanks to the BBC I was made aware that the manager who holds the record for the most defeats in Premier League matches is Harry Redknapp with 238. I’ll leave you to guess who follows close behind on 237. Another unwanted record on its way shortly I reckon.

If we are serious about becoming a top-half team then this is a game that we surely need to win. I did suggest something similar prior to the recent Everton game too. Look what happened there.

It’s a frustrating watch at the moment with all the attacking talent we have at our disposal. As Geoff pointed out recently, recent league results have been abysmal. Just four points from the last seven games, a rate of return that if continued to the end of the season would result in a total of 30 points, and a likely relegation struggle.

Here is a paragraph from my article prior to the recent Everton game:

I was interested when reading one of the social media groups of West Ham fans whose members, looking at our upcoming games, Everton, Brentford, Forest, Burnley, and Palace, were making predictions as to how many points we would be collecting from those five ‘easy’ (on paper) games. There are many optimists out there who were saying 15, and perhaps 13 while others were taking a more realistic approach, some pessimists even going as low as 3, or even lower in a couple of cases. The ‘optimists’ were then ‘attacking’ the ‘pessimists’ or ‘realists’ accusing them of not being ‘true’ supporters, suggesting they should get behind the team, or go and support someone else. The other group fought back suggesting they were entitled to their opinion and the exchange was a good example of extreme opinions that exist in many social media areas.

Two games down and no points yet I wonder how many points we will end up collecting now from that run of supposedly ‘easy’ games?

Bookmakers have us as one of eight teams who are odds on to collect three points in their games this weekend, the others being Arsenal, Manchester United, Newcastle, Villa, Brighton, Liverpool, and Manchester City. The other 7 are in the current top eight of the Premier League. Only Tottenham of the top 8 are not priced at odds on to win their game. Do you have the same belief as the bookmakers that odds on is a true reflection of our chances to win this game? So many of our games this season have ended 3-1, both wins and defeats. Perhaps a 3-1 win on Sunday is my prediction with no great conviction or supporting evidence. What are the chances?

David Moyes Olympiacos Word Salad Is All Greek To Me

Moyes was getting his excuses in early in the build up to tonight’s pivotal Europa League group revenge encounter with Olympiacos. The beleaguered manager is under intense pressure to find positive results today and at the weekend.

If David Moyes half-time team talks are as uninspiring as his pre-match press conferences, then it is no wonder his team regularly concedes shortly after the re-start. There must be a strong case for keeping him out of the dressing room during the break. Indeed, once the match has started, he is largely surplus to requirements – incapable of making in-game tactical adjustments or introducing imaginative substitutions who can offer something different. You can set your watch by the timing of the Danny Ings for Michail Antonio switch.

It was deja-vu all over again at Brentford last weekend when a typically timid second half performance snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. The highlight of the first half was a magnificent strike from Mohammed Kudus, the lowlight the sight of Antonio and Said Benrahma teaming up for the miss of the century.

The writing was on the wall as to how things might pan out towards the end of the opening period. After Emerson’s yellow card, Mbeumo was given increasingly more space out on the right to direct operations . Whereas Thomas Frank made adjustments in formation to negate the first-half threat from Mohammed Kudus, it was more of the same from the Hammers. While all three goals conceded were the result of school-boy defensive blunders that shouldn’t deflect from the woeful lack of ambition to build on the half-time lead.

Although my most significant gripe with Moyes is playing style, recent results have also been abysmal. After an impressive start, it is now just four points from the last seven games. A rate of return, which if continued to the end of the season, would result in a meagre total of 30 points from 38 games played. Having slipped into the bottom half of the table a final league position similar to last season is looking to be the likely outcome. Another season of treading water in the shallows while the more talented players instruct their agent to find something better.

Last season, the European campaign was the manager’s get out of jail card. And credit where it is due, winning any sort of silverware is a massive bonus for a club and fans starved for success. But it would foolish not to acknowledge the nature of the competition had always meant we were among the red hot favourites to win. This year’s Europa League will be a far harder nut to crack. With the potential for Newcastle and Manchester United to join Liverpool and Brighton in the knock-out stages, the Hammer’s history against those sides suggests a negligible chance of going all the way.

I had mentioned previously that the easiest route to a fourth season in Europe would by dropping down to the Conference. It was meant as a whimsical aside, but Moyes even slipped it in as a possibility in his press conference. He also talked up how three seasons of European games after Christmas would represent a major achievement for him and the players. Frankly, if he missed out on that (by finishing bottom of the group) surely he must fall on his sword.

The poor run of results now see Moyes backed into a corner for the two remaining games before the next international break kicks in. With his job again in jeopardy he has little option but to field strong sides in both games. That should mean no place for Antonio or Ings and a risky recall for Kurt Zouma to replace a shell-shocked Nayef Aguerd. A more enlightened manager would be looking to make selected use of what appears to be a very talented group in the U21s, but let’s not hold our breath on that one – unless it’s to wind the clock down in added time.

Judging just how strong an opponent Olympiacos will be is difficult. They remain second in the Greek Super League despite a devastating 2-4 home defeat at the hands of PAOK last Sunday. Apart from their Europa League victory (over a very poor West Ham side), their other results have been a home defeat to Freiburg and an away draw with Topola – throwing away a two-goal lead and going down to ten men. They are no strangers to European competition and will be looking for a third successive win in London having twice come away victorious against Arsenal in this same competition (2020 & 2021).

What usually happens when the pressure is mounting on the manager is that the team respond with a scruffy one-nil win. Taking an early lead and spending the rest of the night defending it. It certainly wouldn’t be a surprise if that happened again today. What the fans deserve though is an electric performance under the London Stadium lights to reward them for their devotion and loyalty. It’s high time there was a performance to fill up this half-empty glass. COYI!

Fifth Time Lucky: Does Moyes Have A Bee In His Bonnet About Not Beating Brentford?

An unexpected and upbeat midweek win in the EFL Cup halted the West Ham slide. Can they maintain momentum over the bogeymen of Brentford?

We are treated to a rare Saturday afternoon kick-off this weekend as West Ham set off across London hoping to bring a first ever Premier League point back from Brentford. Thomas Frank’s Bees have run out comfortable winners in each of the previous four encounters in which David Moyes men were as startled as a deer caught in the headlights in the face of the Brentford onslaught.

Following a poor run of results which saw West Ham pick up just four points from six league games – and lose for the first time in Europe in over a year – some credibility was restored by the midweek Carabao cup win over Arsenal. EFL cup games are not always a great barometer of league prospects and perhaps the lower stakes involved allowed the Hammers to express themselves more freely than is typically the case.  In Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta Moyes now has two players capable of getting fans off their seats, and their second half performances were teasing glimpses of what could be possible in the right tactical setup.

Since the early days of the season, I had advocated for Jarrod Bowen to replace Michael Antonio further forward and for Kudus to slot in wide on the right. It seemed the logical and most sensible solution given that Antonio rarely scores and does not have the engine to last a whole game these days. It was satisfying to finally see it in action.

Experience warns us not to get carried away by the occasional stunning cup victory. The cup runs during Avram Grant’s ill-fated season provide the ultimate cautionary tale in that respect. But any victory over Arsenal deserves celebration and it was a joy to witness Arteta’s dismay in losing the game. His team selection, however, gave a clear indication that commitment to this competition was not his top priority. A message that clearly got through to the players. The Gunners are not blessed with quality in depth and the hapless Kai Havertz continues to push claims as the most expensive transfer disaster of all time.

It wasn’t only the final scoreline on Wednesday that triggered parallels with the early season wins over Chelsea and Brighton. In each of those games against sides who love to dominate the ball, the Hammers combined determined and resolute defending with ruthless counter-attacking efficiency. If only there was a plan of what to do in games where opponents want to play on the break as well.

The victory added further fuel for the Moyes In/ Moyes Out debate. A dispute which is becoming increasingly polarised and promises to twist and turn as each game unfolds. If we are to believe what we read, the win serves to reset the Moyes Doomsday clock and gives him another six lifelines to play with. In the real world it would seem ludicrous to think that a Club would base its managerial hire and fire policy on ‘a six consecutive defeats and you’re out’ ultimatum – but this is West Ham, so rule nothing out.

Moyes has overwhelming support from the punditerati. What they usually overlook watching highlights from a comfy chair the hospitality box is that the debate centres more on style of play than results. West Ham is not a newly promoted club looking to scrap for the odd point here and there and most supporters want (I think) to see a team prepared to approach every game without fear – where every opponent knows they have been in a game. It’s not too much to ask.

I am not anti-Moyes as a principle and if he chose to spend the next international break on a road trip to Damascus or undergoing spot changing therapy in Leopardstown then I would be happy to support a new improved, less cautious playing style. It’s not that counterattacking football can’t be exciting or produce magic moments – the superb finishes by Bowen at Brighton and Kudus against Arsenal are prime examples – but they come along way too infrequently when the first concern is bodies behind the ball.

Brentford are another side who do not prioritise possession, but no-one could accuse them of being a negative side. The difference is that they press higher up the pitch, leave more players forward, play with twin strikers, and get wide men forward quickly in support. They were under the cosh in the first half against Chelsea last week but came away with a fine win courtesy of two second half goals. The Bees early season results stuttered in the absence of Ivan Toney but the recent form of Mbeumo and Wissa has gone some way to filling the void. Fancy having more than one striker in your squad!

Moyes has been routinely outthought by Frank in previous encounters. His opportunity to even things up won’t helped by the combined suspensions of Paqueta and Edson Alvarez. The absence of Paqueta will mean either a recall for Antonio or a start for Said Benrahma against his old club. Covering for Alvarez is a thornier issue now that he is the only specialist defensive midfielder in the squad – if only a West Ham owned player wasn’t putting in man-of-the-match performances at Southampton. The fudge will likely be a combination of Thomas Soucek and James Ward-Prowse sitting in front of the back four. I really don’t fancy Ward-Prowse in a deeper defensive role.

Emerson will return to the defence after his own one-match ban. He has been a standout performer this season and I have certainly changed my mind about him, especially as an attacking option. The centre back partnership of Nayef Aguerd and Konstantinos Mavropanos had a steady look about it and it would be good to stick with it given how fragile Kurt Zouma’s fitness appears. But can someone tell Aguerd and Dinos to cut down on the automatic hands-behind-the-backs pose. It might be OK for performing a highland reel or dancing to Come On Eileen, but not when defending in the box, please. I know there’s a risk of handball but surely doing it limits the ability of a defender to move forward and block an opponent’s shot.  

The Hammers game plan has failed miserably against Brentford in the past. Thoughts that a better outcome can be achieved by doing exactly the same again would be madness. If Moyes has a cunning plan then now is the time to use it. Else we may need another moment of Kudus magic to lift the spirits. A draw may well be the best we can hope for. COYI!

West Ham are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get

This isn’t the first time I’ve used a slight distortion of a famous quote from Forrest Gump ‘My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates’. The same is true if you follow West Ham. You never know what you are going to get from one season to the next, from one game to the next, and even from the first half of a game to the second half.

We came into the EFL Cup game on Wednesday night on the back of a three match losing run, and were tamely beaten by lowly Everton last Sunday. What a contrast when we faced high-flying Arsenal, albeit with some of their star players such as Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli, and of course the returning Rice warming the bench.

It was not the return to the London Stadium that our last captain would have imagined for his first time back. The Arsenal manager Arteta paid the price of believing that some of his fringe players would be too good for West Ham. Perhaps he’d been lulled into a false sense of security by watching our woeful performance against the Toffeemen just three days beforehand. He, and the 62,000 in the stadium and those watching at home, didn’t expect a Hammers performance that would be a night to remember. We’ve had lost of memorable games in the League Cup in the past, perhaps the 7-0 demolition of a strong Leeds side in 1966 being the pick, but this was most enjoyable too.

Personally I was saddened a little by the booing of our former captain, but everyone is entitled to express their opinion, even if there may have been an element of sheep mentality. The £105 million that we received from Arsenal has enabled us to add some excellent players to the ranks in Kudus, Alvarez and Ward Prowse. In addition to Paqueta and Bowen we have a group of footballers who excite me. I love to watch them, and all apart from the former Southampton captain, who was given a rest until the final 10 minutes of the game, turned it on against the Gunners. It was a far cry form the boring spectacle we had witnessed against Everton.

Kudus was my man of the match, closely followed by Paqueta, Alvarez and Bowen, all worthy of at least 8 out of 10 on the night. In fact I thought that the whole team had good games. In some ways I was surprised by the selection of Paqueta and Alvarez given that they are suspended for the game at Brentford.

We were perhaps fortunate that there was no VAR to intervene when White headed the ball into his own net after quarter of an hour, as Soucek could be clearly seen pulling Ramsdale’s shirt. But I guess so much of that goes on in penalty areas week in and week out.

The move and goal of the night involved an exquisite diagonal long range crossfield pass from Aguerd to Kudus, followed by excellent control before firing the ball into the bottom corner. Bowen added a third and even West Ham fans could then begin to relax a little (but not entirely given our history – remember the game against Arsenal a couple of seasons ago?). Odegaard pulled one back in the 96th minute but by then it didn’t matter.

With just a couple of days rest the attention turns to a visit to the Brentford Community Stadium on Saturday. Brentford are now in their third season in the Premier League, with an excellent manager in Thomas Frank leading them to 13th and 9th placed finishes in their first two campaigns. In a way they are a bit like Brighton in that they seem to be a bogey team in recent times. We finally beat Brighton this season at the eleventh attempt in the league and hopefully it won’t take us that long to secure a victory over Brentford.

We did win there in the FA Cup last season, but the four Premier League matches between the two sides have resulted in four Brentford wins. In each of the four games they scored two goals, whereas we have only managed to score once (in the four games combined) when Jarrod Bowen scored in the 2-1 defeat, the first time we played them in the Premier League in October 2021.

In two of those victories the Brentford goals were scored by Mbuemo and Wissa, two mainstays of my Fantasy Football team this season, who continue to be a threat. In fact Mbuemo has scored three goals against us in those four games so he enjoys playing against West Ham it would seem. Let’s hope he doesn’t do a Calvert-Lewin this weekend.

Both ourselves and Brentford have made similar starts to the season; we are ninth on 14 points whereas Brentford are tenth on 13. Both teams have scored 16 goals in the ten games played, but Brentford have only conceded 12 compared to our 17.

If the pattern of recent meetings is followed then Brentford will score twice and win the game. But a lot will depend on what West Ham team turns up. If we perform like we did against Everton then a defeat will be the most likely outcome. If we can replicate the Arsenal performance then the outcome might be different. West Ham are definitely like a box of chocolates; you never know what you are going to get. That is so often the case from one game to the next. But despite the absence of Alvarez and Paqueta perhaps we can put an end to our dismal run against Brentford on Saturday?.

We’ve been involved in six matches this season that have ended 3-1. Three were wins and three were defeats. Will the Brentford hoodoo continue or (as in the case of Brighton) will it come to an end? Will the final score be 3-1? But to who?