Richard Bennett

Ninth plays Seventh as West Ham take on Villa

In the season that finished in July, Villa were the visitors on the final day and needed results to go their way to stay in the top flight. As it was, West Ham put in a rather lacklustre performance, having achieved safety with eleven points from their first six games in the month, and were virtually on the beach by the final game of the strangest season we had ever known, a campaign which lasted 50 weeks with no games played from early in March until late June. The game ended 1-1, and the teams could go away for the shortest of close seasons.

Villa came back with all guns firing, and despite their opening fixture against Manchester City being postponed, at one stage early on they led the league picking up maximum points from their opening four games with wins at home to Sheffield United (1-0), and Liverpool (7-2), as well as away wins at Fulham (3-0) and Leicester (1-0). The wins against Liverpool and Leicester were particularly notable and certainly not expected.

With three of their next four games at home they would have hoped to progress further. But they came down with a bump, losing all three, 3-0 to Leeds, 4-3 to Southampton, and 2-1 to Brighton. I watched that game and thought that they were totally outclassed by the Seagulls who deserved their win. Ironically in between those home fixtures, a visit to London saw them collect three points with an emphatic win at Arsenal.

So in their three away games this season they have nine points, having scored seven goals and yet to concede. Food for thought but not particularly surprising in a season that has seen its fair share of surprise results and victories on the road, possibly due to the absence of spectators in grounds. It will be interesting to see if things change when we start to see fans in the stands from next week, albeit just 2000 in ten of the Premier League grounds that are situated in tier 2. Those clubs in tier 3 cannot have any spectators of course, which some are claiming interferes with the integrity of the competition.

Following our splendid 1-0 win at Sheffield United we climbed to eighth place in the table after just nine games, with virtually a quarter of the season completed. It took our run to 14 points from the last seven games, with just one defeat in that time, the narrow 2-1 defeat at Champions Liverpool. After nine games last season we had 12 points, so we are already two points ahead of the same stage last season. But is that a reasonable comparison? It doesn’t take into account the strength of the opposition in games, and perhaps a better comparison is something called Equivalent Fixture Analysis (EFA) where the results are compared to the equivalent matches that were played last season.

It is not possible to do this exactly because three of the teams that we faced last season, Norwich, Watford and Bournemouth were relegated and replaced by Leeds, West Brom and Fulham. We collected 16 points in games against the three teams that went down, so we need to pick up at least five wins and a draw in the fixtures against the three promoted sides to match that. So far so good with the home win against Fulham.

Equivalent Fixture Analysis of our first nine games shows that we have 14 points against 3 in the same games last season (substituting Fulham for one of the relegated sides). That puts us 11 points up, and projecting forwards, if we can just match last season’s equivalent fixtures from now to the end of the season, we would finish on 50 points, which in the last campaign would have been good enough for 12^th place after 38 games. Of course, we hope we can do better than that, and at least maintain the eighth position that we have currently reached. Last time, 57 points were needed for an eighth place finish, and just three more (60) for a top six finish and qualification for Europe.

A number of pundits are beginning to tout us for a potential finish in the top half dozen, and whilst that may be premature, it must be the aim to look upwards, rather than over our shoulders. To reach 60 points we may need to better the equivalent fixtures from last season by 21, so effectively we are already halfway there after just nine games. I’ll be analysing this as the season progresses, and for the time being I have looked ahead to the end of December, after which we will have completed 16 fixtures. Ironically in the seven games until the turn of the year this time (Monday’s game followed by six matches in December), we managed 14 points in the equivalent fixtures last season, a similar record to what we have achieved in the last seven games. So we will be hard pressed to make inroads into the 21 that we need to better from last season to reach my hoped for 60. But even if we just match the results that we achieved last time in these seven games, that would put us on 28 points from 16 games, and still well on course for a potential top six finish. A win against Villa would be two more points gained on the equivalent fixture last season, and put us 13 points up after just ten games.

Of course there is still a lot of football to be played in this strange season, and who knows what will happen? We are talking West Ham after all! Nevertheless I can allow myself to dream of a top six finish can’t I?

It will be interesting to see how David Moyes picks the starting eleven for this game. Following his superb strike which must have given him a lot of confidence, Haller would be extremely disappointed to be left out. His performance in each game shows a small improvement, but we are not playing to his strengths with the way we set up. The manager doesn’t seem to believe in changing a team that is winning and performing well, so can we expect the same line up for this game? It’s hard to imagine that the back five will be changed. Diop must be itching to get back in after his Covid isolation, but Balbuena has taken his chance and performed solidly. Along with Cresswell, who was receiving massive criticism just a few weeks ago, they have made it hard for the manager to leave them out. According to the statistics that I have seen, Cresswell has created more chances than any other defender in the Premier League, and the defence (of which he is part of course) are on top of the “clean sheets league”. Ogbonna has been playing better than ever this season too.

In fact everybody is playing well. The whole team realise that we have a strong bench and cannot afford to let their performance slip. Benrahma must be keen to show what he can do, but while we continue to win he will need to bide his time. I wonder if Antonio will play if he is now fully fit? Some are calling for him to play with Haller, not just one or the other. We have been relatively fortunate so far with a lack of injuries compared to how many we normally seem to have, and long may it continue. But no doubt as the season progresses the numbers will mount, and then most of the squad will get the chance to show what they can do.

We are slight favourites to win the game according to the bookmakers, at around 13/10, with Villa at about 2/1. The favourite score is 1-1 at 5/1, no doubt influenced by the closeness of the teams in the league, and the result in the final game of last season. One intriguing bet that I saw and have taken is for West Ham to win the game, Villa to have the most cards, and West Ham to have the most corners. At 9/1 that’ll do me. An entertaining game, a good performance, and three points. That’ll do me too! What are the chances?

Can West Ham extend Sheffield United’s Second Season Syndrome Misery?

When Sheffield United began the 2019-20 Premier League season they were the favourites of many (including the bookmakers) to make an immediate return to the Championship at the end of the campaign. As we now know that didn’t happen, and they finished in the top half of the table in a very creditable ninth place, surprising a lot of teams along the way. This season has been a very different story, and they have collected just one point from their opening eight games. That came in a disappointing (for them) 1-1 draw at home against lowly Fulham. But that is exactly how our game against the Cottagers could easily have ended a fortnight ago! What a finish to a football match that was!

It got me thinking about the offside rule and also the law re fouls, and for a bit of lockdown reading I read through two of the laws of the game issued by the International Football Association Board through FIFA and also the FA. “Interesting” stuff and easy to see why they raise such controversy and discussion. Scott Parker was unhappy regarding our goal with Haller in an offside position, but was he committing an offence? The relevant point from the law (Law 11) is that a player can be penalised for offside if he is making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball. Parker’s point was that Haller affected the header of his defender which fell to Benrahma who very cleverly laid the ball for Soucek to calmly score. It becomes a subjective decision for the referee and is not a black and white situation. After the game David Moyes described the guidance as “not a good rule.” Scott Parker said that despite all the technical help we get, nobody really understands the rule in respect of interference. I agree with both of them. Fortunately for us, it fell our way this time (for a change!) and the goal stood.

Another aspect of the offside rule that continues to cause controversy is where you have offsides by a fraction of a centimetre, by a nose or an armpit, for example. A very simple change to the rule, as championed by Arsene Wenger earlier this year, was that if any part of an attacker’s body that can score a goal is in line with the last defender, they are not offside, even if other parts of the attacker’s body are in front. Effectively it would mean you have to have daylight between an attacking player and a defender for an offside offence to be committed. This would mean that more goals will stand as currently three times as many goals are being disallowed as reinstated following the VAR check, largely due to very marginal offside decisions. As DelBoy would say “you know it makes sense.” But have we heard any more about the proposal?

I am no fan of Leeds but the goal disallowed by VAR for offside scored by Patrick Bamford was a terrible decision in my view.

In my opinion we also have to try to remember why the offside rule was introduced many years before we were all born. It was to prevent goal hanging. Perhaps they should also restrict offside to the final 18 yards at each end of the pitch, instead of half the field? It would also stretch the play too, potentially making the game more entertaining.

And even after our goal in the 91^st minute it almost went wrong when a penalty was awarded against us for the “foul” by Benrahma. In this case the referee seemed to decide that our player tackled or challenged the Fulham player and was careless showing a lack of attention when making the challenge (from Law 12). Once again a very subjective situation for the referee and not too dissimilar from Masuaku’s challenge on Salah; on both occasions the referee was (in my opinion) fooled by the “theatrical” plunge to the ground. But a penalty it was, although justice was done thanks to Lookman’s appalling attempt at the Panenka. How ridiculous was that? If you are taking a penalty just follow the approach taken by Geoff Hurst, Julian Dicks, Ray Stewart, or Mark Noble, my favourite penalty takers in my time following the team. Why try to chip the ball into the goal?

More lockdown reading; I’ve been looking through the Premier League statistics regarding penalty kicks. I have my own views about penalty kicks being awarded, as I think they are given far too easily. I believe that they should only be awarded if a goal looks likely when an offence is committed, otherwise it should just be a direct free kick even if it is in the penalty area. Too many are awarded (in my opinion) when there is no real goal threat. Around 83% of penalties are scored, so in most cases they lead to a goal whether the award is justified or not. Usually the home team get around 61% of penalty awards and the away team 39%. This season so far it has been very different. Of the 41 penalties so far, only 19 have been for the home side, and 22 for the away team. Perhaps the absence of home fans putting pressure on officials is a factor? Of the 41 awarded it doesn’t pay to be a team that begins with W – Wolves, West Brom and ourselves have yet to be given one. Claret and blue shirts doesn’t fare much better – Burnley are the only other team not to yet have one, and Villa have only been awarded one. Leicester top this table with 8! I wonder why? The most ever awarded in a complete Premier League season is just 106. We are on course to smash that total this time – at the current rate the final total will be approaching 200!

So we won the game against Fulham, and just about deserved to do so. The three points puts us into twelfth position in the table after eight games with 11 points, a very good return from a difficult run of fixtures. Sheffield United can also claim that they have faced many tough opponents with their home defeats when facing Wolves, Leeds and Manchester City, and away losses at Villa, Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea. Five of those seven defeats have been by the odd goal. So we should not be complacent in this game. The Blades are not world beaters but potentially a better side than the table would suggest.

Last season we drew 1-1 in the home game against Sheffield United, and in the corresponding game at Bramall Lane we also scored a late equaliser to make it 1-1, before being “robbed” of the goal by one of the worst examples of how the handball rule was interpreted when the ball brushed Rice’s arm in the build-up. In theory they have made changes to the handball rule (also covered in Law 12) this season, but having read the Law (I know how to enjoy myself!) I can see why the officials’ job is so difficult when trying to interpret it. It still needs work to make it fairer and easier to understand.

I really can’t see any need to change the team unless Antonio is fit, in which case I would have him in the side straight away. The general consensus was that Haller had an improved game against Fulham, but the system we play doesn’t suit him. Personally if Antonio is not yet ready to return I would even consider replacing him with Benrahma, but I think the manager will stick with Haller. Unlike a number of fans on social media I am a big fan of Fornals (although not in front of goal!). I think he adds so much energy to our midfield in addition to being a threat in the creation of goalscoring chances. According to many, his place is the most under threat from Benrahma. I reckon that our Algerian recruit will be a terrific asset but it may be a little while before he commands a place in the starting eleven. But once there I don’t believe he will easily be left out.

It looks as though the use of five substitutes rule is likely to be re-introduced, which makes the game a little like rugby union in that respect. With a fully fit squad we have enough players to come off the bench and make a difference in games. But as the season progresses, too many injuries and the squad would begin to look a little thin. It’s good to read that Dawson has made a positive impact in training, and alongside Diop we seem to have decent cover at centre back at present. I’m looking forward to the game which kicks off at 2pm on Sunday. Have we had a 3pm Saturday kick off yet? I find it interesting to note that we are favourites to win an away game for the first time in ages. We are around 7/5 to win the game with the Blades around 2/1. I don’t think that this will be an easy game but hopefully the confidence gained from such a promising start to the season will enable us to (at least) pick up a draw. I’ll go for a win by the odd goal. What are the chances?

In a match with a history of goals, can West Ham maintain their excellent record against Fulham?

A trip down memory lane as we preview Fulham’s visit to take on the Hammers at the London Stadium

Saturday 3^rd February 1968. 52 years ago. It was two days before my fourteenth birthday. A morning game playing for the school under 14s was followed by a trip to Upton Park in the afternoon. We took the District Line train from Barking to Upton Park shortly after noon, bought our programme (6d – 2.5p), and our hot dogs (1 shilling – 5p) outside, before heading into the ground when the gates opened to take up our places on the “big step” about halfway back slightly to the left of the goal in the North Bank. A group of us congregated there for the home games. I can’t remember for sure how much it cost to get in. I think it was 2 shillings (10p) for Juniors, but it might have been double that?

We were expecting to win the game against Fulham who were bottom of the league and looked like they would be going down. To be fair, we weren’t world beaters at the time ourselves and sat in sixteenth place. We had been 20^th in November, and 19^th at Christmas, but a run of five wins in six games had seen us climb the table and begin to alleviate any fears of relegation.

The West Ham team that day was full of many players who were, or would become club legends. In goal we had Bobby Ferguson who had joined us at the beginning of the season for a world record fee (for a goalkeeper) of £65,000. He was never quite the keeper that we expected, a great shot stopper but not so great at crosses. However, he went on to appear 277 times for the club over a number of years.

The full backs were two youngsters. Billy Bonds who had signed in the close season for £50,000 from Charlton, a transfer which would turn out to be probably our best ever, and a young Frank Lampard who had made his debut the previous November. They would go on to become West Ham legends and the two players who made the most appearances in a claret and blue shirt, 799 and 670 respectively. The centre backs in our 4-3-3 formation were England World Cup winning captain Bobby Moore who was of course our most famous player of all time, and who made the third most appearances in our shirt (647), and John Cushley, a centre half signed that season from Scotland who never really made it with us.

The three summer signings, Ferguson, Cushley & Bonds were made to strengthen the defence following a season (1966-67) where we had conceded 84 goals. We had scored 80, so it was obvious that we made the purchases to strengthen the weakest part of the team (current administration take note!). That season had ended poorly, and was one of the examples often quoted of West Ham coming down with the lights after Christmas. On December 27^th we sat in 7^th place in the table, but only won four games in the remainder of the campaign (including three in a five day spell over Easter). We were still 10^th with just eight games remaining, but just one point in those final fixtures, three goals scored, and 19 conceded, led to a finishing position of 16^th (out of 22 in those days).

Back to the Fulham game that day, and in midfield we had three club legends, Sir Trevor (4^th most appearances for the club), Martin Peters, another England World Cup winner, and Ronnie Boyce who had scored the winning goal for us in the 1964 Cup Final. They played 643, 364, and 341 times for us.

Up front another legend and scorer of the hat-trick in the 1966 World Cup final, Geoff Hurst, who scored 249 goals in his 503 appearances for the club, Brian Dear, who was bang in form and had scored 9 goals in the 7 games before the Fulham game, and a tricky left winger John Sissons who turned out on 213 occasions for us.

What a team that was, and yet we were struggling to make an impact in the top flight, rarely finishing in the top half of the table. It was hard to believe that we lost more games than we won with those players in 1967-68. In our 42 games that season we won 14, drew 10, and lost 18. In fact we lost 8 of our home games, a number only beaten by the two clubs who were relegated that season, Fulham and Sheffield United. We scored 73 goals and conceded 69, so a positive goal difference which was helped by the game that day against Fulham. At least the season was a bit of an improvement on the one before and we eventually finished 12^th, with a better finish this time, only losing two of our final 11 games.

We won the match 7-2, with goals from Brooking (2), Hurst (2), Moore, Dear and Peters. The 11 players who played that day went on to play a total of 4,564 games for the club, and scored 660 goals for us between them. The world has changed in more ways than one, and football has changed too. I wonder if we look back in years to come at the 11 players who will start the game against Fulham this time around, and total up their appearances and goals. Of course it won’t come anywhere close to those legends I watched as a young teenager. I wonder how many of today’s team will be remembered as legends of the club?

The current restrictions mean that I am unable to be at the London Stadium for this game but I’ll be paying my £14.95 and tuning in to the TV to see if we can manage another 7-2 victory. We go into this game in 14^th place, while Fulham sit just above the relegation places in 17^th. Our position does not really reflect our fine performances in a number of games in this season so far, it is more a reflection of the strength of the opposition we have faced in our opening 7 games. All 7 teams we have played are in the top 11 of the league at this early stage of the campaign, including the top three. I think it would be fair to say that the majority of our supporters have been generally pleased with our start, and would have bitten off your hand for 8 points from the opening seven games.

We now have the opportunity to put more points on the board in the next 12 games against lesser opposition (on paper) that will take us up to the halfway point of the season on 16^th January, later than usual this time. But to do this we will need to maintain the form that we have shown so far, and find a different way to play in the absence of Antonio, whose form was a key factor in the opening six games – he was missed in last week’s game at Liverpool. An interesting statistic that I saw was that we have only won one of our last 12 Premier League games when Antonio has not been in the side. That emphasises the proof of his importance to the team, and the need to find a system that suits when he is not there.

I have no doubt that Haller will be given another opportunity to replace him in the starting eleven, but he really needs a player alongside to bring out the best in him. That would go against the system that has been successful this season so far, so it will be interesting to see if David Moyes and the coaching staff have come up with a suitable plan. Perhaps one to consider for this game against Fulham who seem to be a “keep possession side” would be to play without a recognised centre forward and flood the midfield, in a 4-6-0 formation? Whatever is decided I hope we see more of Said Benrahma than the two minutes he was given at Anfield.

In a season of more goals than usual, it is hard to imagine that the game can possibly end up goalless, especially as we have only kept two clean sheets in the 13 Premier League home games in David Moyes’ second time in charge, and Fulham haven’t kept a clean sheet in any of their last 15 Premier League fixtures against us. It would be great to see a repeat of the 7-2 that I remember so fondly from my teenage years. But games don’t end 7-2 these days do they? Oh, hold on a minute, what was the score in the Aston Villa v Liverpool game just a few short weeks ago?

In the season before our 7-2 win we beat Fulham 6-1 with our World Cup winning goalscorers netting all the goals (Hurst 4, Peters 2). I was at Upton Park that day too before going home for fireworks in the evening to follow the fireworks in the afternoon. The date was 5^th November 1966. 6-1 would be a great score too.

On the exact anniversary of today’s game – two days later on 7^th November 1966 – 54 years ago today – we had an evening game at home in the fourth round of the League Cup when we faced the mighty (at the time) Leeds United. We did even better than we did against Fulham, beating Leeds (with all their first team playing – players weren’t rested for the Cup games in those days) 7-0, with hat-tricks from Hurst and Sissons and a goal from Peters.

So what do I fancy today, the first game in the second lockdown, and the last game before the second international break? 7-2? 6-1? 7-0? So many times in the past we have failed to beat “lesser” teams that we would expect to beat. I’d just like to see an entertaining game, a good strong performance, a comfortable victory and the three points that would enable us to start to climb the table. What are the chances?

West Ham are facing Liverpool at Anfield on Halloween. Can we expect trick or treat?

It doesn’t come much tougher does it? Liverpool, the reigning premier League Champions, who in the season that ended a little over three months ago, finished 18 points clear of Manchester City, who themselves were 15 points ahead of third placed Manchester United, are unbeatable aren’t they? Just a few days ago they were made to work hard but completed a comeback win against Sheffield United to extend their unbeaten Premier League run at Anfield to 62 games, so what chance do we have? They were also not at their best against FC Midtjylland, the Danish champions, in their Champions League game in midweek and could easily have conceded an equaliser before wrapping up the win in time added on. And who can forget the 7-2 drubbing they took at Aston Villa? But as the 62 game unbeaten run shows, at Anfield they are exceptionally hard to beat.

As West Ham fans we know this only too well – we couldn’t manage it from September 1963 (at about the time Gerry and the Pacemakers were recording their soon to be number one – You’ll Never Walk Alone) right through to the end of August 2015 until we thumped them 3-0 on their ground in front of a shocked home crowd, with goals from Lanzini, Noble and Sakho. Despite only having 33% possession (not untypical at Anfield) we matched them in all areas that day and displayed excellent counter attacking, and fully deserved our victory. Slaven Bilic came out with an excellent quote after the game “we parked the bus, but we didn’t put the handbrake on”. We even did the double over them that season with a 2-0 win in the return fixture at Upton Park with goals from Antonio and Carroll.

Do you remember the game there in February last season? When Wijnaldum scored the opening goal in the first ten minutes it seemed that we would be in for a long night, but Diop equalised within a couple of minutes, and we held on for 1-1 at half time. Fornals replaced Soucek early in the second half and hadn’t been on the field long when he put us into the lead. Unfortunately Fabianski chose this game to be probably his worst in our goal, and was badly at fault as Salah and then Mane scored to clinch a 3-2 home win.

2019-20 was a strange season of course due to the lockdown because of the pandemic, which meant that the last game was played a full 50 weeks after the first, the longest Premier League season ever. It was a strange season for West Ham too, with a very good beginning and end but with a lengthy poor spell in between. There was a certain symmetry in the campaign with us picking up 12 points in the first seven games (W3, D3, L1), and 12 points in the last seven games (W3, D3, L1). If only we could have maintained a similar record in the 24 games in between where we only amassed 15 points (W4,D3, L17)! An average of 12 points every 7 games would equate to 65 points in a whole season. That would have been good enough for a fifth placed finish last season. We’re not at that point yet but that is the level of consistency we must be aiming for.

The match at Anfield is our seventh of this new season, and with 8 points so far we will be unable to match the 12 points that we had after 7 matches last time, even if we do win the game. Nevertheless, I maintain that the start to this campaign is greatly superior to the last in view of the opposition we have faced. Not only has the quality of our football been a massive improvement, but the confidence and belief is evident for all to see, and much credit must go to our manager and coaching staff for the effect they have had in turning around the club.

We all knew that it would be a difficult start when we saw the fixtures schedule. But I wonder how many of us looked at those opening seven games and worked out how many points we picked up in the equivalent fixtures last season? How many points do you think we collected from home games against Newcastle, Wolves and Manchester City, and away trips to Arsenal, Leicester, Tottenham and Liverpool? Those seven games yielded zero points, in which we scored five times and conceded 20. With Liverpool to come we are already 8 points better off than we were last time when matching up the equivalent fixtures with 12 goals scored and 8 against. Even if we only picked up similar points to last season in the other games, we would finish with 47 points. But I expect much more than that, and a top half finish.

But to achieve that we need to avoid injuries to the key players in our squad, which is a little thin in some areas. Michail Antonio has probably been the most in-form striker in the whole of the Premier League since football resumed after the lockdown, and his importance to West Ham, and the playing system that has evolved this season, is massive. He is a crucial cog in the system and the team. As an example, there was a massive difference in the performance of the team when he had to go off against Manchester City to be replaced by Haller. Haller is not a bad player, but he just doesn’t fit into the system we play, and arguably never has in his time with us. As Antonio is unable to play then we need to replace him with someone of a similar type, but we haven’t got anybody like that. The alternative will be to adopt a new approach and jettison the system that has been so successful so far.

Perhaps we might consider 4-4-2 with similar personnel? That system would have drawbacks of course. A back four of Coufal, Balbuena, Ogbonna, and Cresswell in front of Fabianski. A midfield 4 of Soucek, Rice, Fornals and Masuaku, with Haller and Bowen up front? Or perhaps a place for Lanzini, Yarmolenko or Snodgrass or maybe even Benrahma if they believe he is ready? What about Noble or Coventry? Possibly even adopting what they call the false 9 with no traditional strikers, and flooding the midfield with 6 players and excluding Haller from the starting eleven?

Do we need extra pace at the back? Almost certainly yes, but would Fredericks, Diop or Dawson get a look in? Or even Ashby who is considered to be a great prospect? Perhaps Diop’s pace would be an alternative to Balbuena? Balbuena hasn’t done too much wrong in his return to the team due to Diop’s self-isolation, but speed could be important when facing Liverpool’s attack. However, I doubt that Moyes will tinker with the players at the back, but who knows? It’s all speculation but we shouldn’t go to Anfield to roll over. We must take this new found confidence and belief into the game and give it a go. Wouldn’t it be great to come away extending our unbeaten league run to five games? It will be difficult but Liverpool themselves have their injury concerns over a number of players and certainly miss Van Dijk at the back. It’s a real shame that Antonio is not available to exploit this.

Unsurprisingly, the bookmakers don’t think we have much chance and quote odds of around 7/1 for us to pick up three points. Even the draw at 4/1 is a long shot. But our draw against Manchester City last weekend ruined many accumulators. Can we do it again? In this season of surprise results I am hoping for another one.

Can West Ham defy recent history and statistics to overcome City?

It seems a long time ago now, but the opening day of the 2020-2021 football season was just six weeks ago. And while last season was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic and described as the strangest season ever, this time around, with Covid-19 rising again, and no fans allowed into stadiums for the foreseeable future, the Premier League campaign has been absolutely bonkers! It has been full of strange results, and more goals than ever before. I’m not sure that any of us can predict what will happen next.

Who would have thought that, when we went down 2-0 at home to Newcastle in our opening game, and with an incredibly tough run of fixtures to follow, that we would be sitting in the top half of the table after just five games? The Geordies themselves are level on points with us, albeit with an inferior goal difference, whilst the other four teams we have faced currently sit in 4^th, 5^th, 6^th and 7^th places in the table (we are 9^th), so yes, we did have a tough set of games.

Who would have possibly thought, after that opening game, that when we faced Manchester City in the sixth game of this season that we would be above them in the league table? Yes, they do have a game in hand, but nonetheless, few would have put money on it. Yet we go into this fixture as massive underdogs, with odds of around 13/2 being quoted for a West Ham win, 4/1 on the draw, and 2/5 for a City win. Perhaps recent history between the two sides has something to do with that?

This is our ninth consecutive season in the Premier League since returning to the top flight in 2012. In the sixteen league matches against the Citizens (are they really called that by anyone?) we have won two, drawn two and lost twelve. Our record in cups is even worse, losing 9-0 over two legs in the League Cup in 2013-14, and 5-0 in the FA Cup in 2016-17. In recent history our record against City is probably worse than against virtually all other teams. We have lost in the last nine competitive fixtures against them with a cumulative score of 30-3 (the exact period when Guardiola has been in charge). Since moving to the London Stadium we have played them five times at home (4 league and 1 FA Cup), and the cumulative score is 22-1 against us. Who is the only West Ham player to have scored a goal against them at the London Stadium? Aaron Cresswell. I don’t think that any team has taken us apart quite as comprehensively as City have done in recent times.

Can you remember the last time we beat City? It was at their ground in 2015-16 when we beat them 2-1 with goals from Victor Moses and Diafra Sakho. Four of our current squad took part in that game – Cresswell, Lanzini, Noble and Antonio. The last time we took even a point off them was later that same season (the last time we faced them at Upton Park) when Enner Valencia scored the two goals in a 2-2 draw. The last time we beat them at home was in the 2014-15 season when we won 2-1 with goals from Morgan Amalfitano (remember him?) and Sakho.

The last time City failed to score against us was in a 0-0 draw in the first game we faced them following our return to the top flight in 2012. They have always scored at least once, and invariably a lot more, in the 18 games that have been played since then.

But there are other statistics in our favour as we head into this match. For example, the last time we played against City when we were above them in the table was back in 2009, and we won that game 1-0 with Jack Collison scoring the only goal of the game. In the calendar year of 2020 (which coincides with David Moyes in charge for the second time, we have scored 3 or more goals in 9 matches. Only Manchester City themselves can equal that record. Of course we have scored 3 or more in our last three games. The last time we managed to score 3 or more in four consecutive league games was 92 years ago!

And do you remember last week when we were looking at Moyes record against Mourinho, and the fact that he has never beaten him in 15 attempts? His managerial record against City contrasts to that, having beaten them 12 times. In fact they are one of the clubs against whom he has his most wins as a manager.

Recent history tells us we can’t win this game. Statistics say we can’t win this game. The bookmakers don’t believe we will win this game. But our confidence must be sky high following our run of fine performances, victories, goals scored, and that dramatic comeback against that team from North London last week. How good was that? It’s about time we beat City again, and perhaps we will in this season of strange results? I’ll go for 3-2.

All Said And Done: It’s Back To The Action As West Ham Take On Spurs

It was a cold February Thursday afternoon in 1979. I was on my way home from work when West Ham appeared on the radio on the sports news at the end of the main news bulletin. At the time we were a second tier side so it was very unusual for us to show up in a sports news item on a weekday afternoon. Then I heard the announcement that West Ham had broken the world record transfer fee for signing a goalkeeper. £565,000 for a 29 year-old from QPR (then in the top flight) with one England cap to his name. It was considered a bit of a risk because even then it was alleged that he had dodgy knees. But he stayed with us for over a decade and became possibly the best goalkeeper we’ve ever had. Certainly he was the best keeper I ever saw playing for West Ham. Reg Pratt, the chairman at the time, made a comment that I can’t recall exactly, but it was along the lines of the fact that Phil was too much for us to possibly afford? But it happened.

The point of relating this is that until I heard on the radio that he had signed for us I didn’t even know we were after him. I was an avid fan who liked to keep abreast of all that was happening at the club but I didn’t have a clue. Contrast this with the situation we have today where, in every transfer window, fuelled and hyped by the written media, social media, and in particular Sky Sports, there is continual speculation regarding players that we are apparently chasing. So many names appear and nearly all of them are wide of the mark, but they spark a frenzy on West Ham sites with fans seemingly believing what they read, and adding their comments pro and against as if they are experts. I prefer the first scenario – the one where I find out that we have signed an excellent player without even knowing about it until he has the shirt on.

The Said Benrahma saga is a specific example of the nonsense surrounding football transfers today. How long has the transfer window been open? As I write this with about five minutes to go until the five o’clock deadline I still haven’t seen confirmation that Benrahma is a West Ham player, although there are some sketchy reports that the deal has been done on a loan basis with an obligation to buy. Apparently the reason for this is that the two clubs didn’t have the necessary time to complete the necessary paperwork to make the deal permanent by the 5pm deadline! There was a lot of reporting about a failed medical which was disputed by David Moyes in his lunchtime press conference, but really it can only be West Ham who typically make such a shambles of transfers. The circumstances regarding the change from purchase to “loan with obligation to buy” are a complete mystery at the moment, but will perhaps be revealed in the fullness of time. As a long- time fan I was just getting ready to hear how the transfer fell through at the last minute (the kind of statement I have heard before), but was then pleasantly surprised that it doesn’t appear to be the case.

I hope that we have secured the signing because, from what I have seen when watching Championship football, Benrahma is one of the most exciting talents in that division (just as Jarrod Bowen was). I don’t dispute what a number of our fans have said when they have suggested that this was not a priority position for a new acquisition and there are other areas of the pitch that perhaps need strengthening first. But we have signed what looks like an excellent right back in Coufal, and Craig Dawson at centre back is no mug either, even if he isn’t a world class signing that some had hoped for. For me he is a better buy than Tarkowski would have been at that ridiculous price being quoted, and if that has enabled us to fork out for Benrahma then so much the better.

But did I imagine that the chairman recently made a comment regarding “too many wingers”? Many fans didn’t understand why Diangana was allowed to go, and a few still believe that Anderson would have come good again, but I believe that Benrahma may be a better proposition than both of them and I hope that turns out to be the case. The purchase still makes the chairman’s comment look a little silly though.

But enough of all this transfer nonsense, a quick recall of where we were before the unwelcome international break halted our progress. If you thought that the 4-0 win over a talented Wolves side was just another of those West Ham moments that happens once in a while, then you would have been surprised that we even surpassed that when visiting the league leaders Leicester, and comprehensively thumped them 3-0, and (just like the Wolves game) it could have been more. 7-0 in two games against two of the more fancied teams in the Premier League. As well as the host of chances that we created in each game, perhaps one of the most pleasing aspects was keeping two clean sheets, and defending as a team as well as any West Ham side I have seen in recent times. A 3-0 win away to the league leaders would have been headline news, but it barely raised a mention in the media in view of two other extraordinary results that weekend, with Tottenham winning 6-1 at Manchester United, and Villa thumping Liverpool 7-2.

Going back briefly to transfer signings, Coufal played superbly on his debut at Leicester, and looks an excellent acquisition. I was watching some international football in the week (something I don’t usually bother with much these days) and started to watch England facing Denmark. Rice seemed to be having a decent game, but I was bored with the match and switched over to watch Scotland facing the Czech Republic. Although the Czechs lost the game 1-0, they were playing really well. I was mostly interested to watch our two players, Soucek and Coufal, who along with their colleagues (most of whom seemed to be Slavia Prague players) were creating chance after chance but just failing to score. In view of the success of our two recently bought Czech players, perhaps a further raid in Prague for skilful footballers wouldn’t be the worst place to look in future?

So we look forward to another Sunday game (have we played a single game this season on a Saturday with a 3pm kick off?) against our neighbours from North London. Two in-form teams, neither of whom probably wanted the season to be disrupted at this point, will resume their local rivalry. But, despite the form of our opposition I hope that we go into the game full of confidence and continue to play as we have done in the last three league games. I know we lost at Arsenal but we could easily have won that game too. The pessimism surrounding the club has disappeared for the moment and we can be optimistic for another fine performance. We follow this game with matches against the top two from last season, and both Liverpool and Manchester City will be well up for improving on their start to this campaign.

Assuming no injuries I wonder if we will line up in the same formation with the same personnel that won at Leicester? As far I can gather the manager has a fully fit squad to choose from as he resumes his seat in the dugout, with Diop, Fredericks and Masuaku fully recovered from isolation / minor injuries. Just looking at recent history between the two clubs then the fixture looks like a home win, and the newly acquired Bale inspired Lilywhites (What kind of nickname is that? Do fans still use it?) will hope to record their fifth win in the last six meetings in all competitions against us. But as we have seen in our recent games against Wolves and Leicester, we appear to have turned the corner from a defensive viewpoint, and hopefully we will be difficult to break down. Michail Antonio is in splendid form and has a good goalscoring record against Tottenham so let us hope he can extend that in this game. The two managers have been in in opposite dugouts 14 times, and Mourinho has never lost. Well that is just the kind of statistic I like to see. There’s always a first time. Of course Tottenham are odds on to win, but you can get around 9/2 on West Ham notching a third successive league win this season. That’ll do me. P.S. It’s now 10 p.m. so I thought I’d better check to make sure that the signing of Benrahma was completed satisfactorily and it was. That’s good. With our history I wouldn’t have been surprised if there had been errors with the completion or submission of the paperwork, so I thought I’d better make sure!

Can West Ham Outfox the Foxes?

What did you expect? Were we really in the EFL (Carabao) Cup to try and win it? I don’t think so. I know that these are early days, but Everton have made a blistering start to the season and are one of only four clubs on maximum points, together with Leicester, Liverpool, and Villa. They have won their away league games at Tottenham and Palace, and demolished West Brom at home. Their team selection indicated that they meant business. Our team selection, largely a reserve side, showed that we wanted to give a run-out to the fringe players who are currently not in the starting eleven in Premier League games. And while they looked impressive in the earlier rounds against lower league opposition, this time around they were found out. Even with our strongest team this would have been a tough ask to progress to the next round. But as soon as I saw the team selections I feared the worst. Everton (first team) v West Ham (reserves) – not really a contest. And so it proved. So once again one of the “winnable” competitions passes us by. There’s always the FA Cup of course. But will that take precedence over maintaining our Premier League status? Of course not.

Disappointed as I was with our performance at Everton, the opposite is true regarding the way we put Wolves to the sword. Considering the strength of the opposition this was most definitely one of our best performances in a long time, with the whole team shining. Defensively we looked very sound, and not many teams put four goals past Wolves. In the whole of last season only Everton (3) and Chelsea (5) managed to score more than twice in a game against them. Both those games were in the month of September, so perhaps we played them at the right time, in the month when they are at their weakest? The age-old argument – did we thrash them because we were so good or because they were poor? Possibly a bit of both, but I did enjoy the entertainment last Sunday evening.

This weekend we face Leicester who sit proudly at the top of the pile with three wins out of three in the league, scoring 12 goals in the process, and conceding 4. But Arsenal eliminated them from the EFL Cup. Can we take the form from the Wolves game into this fixture? We never know with our team of course.

Historically, just as with Wolves, we have a positive record against the Foxes, beating them in more competitive fixtures than they have beaten us. That record is largely enhanced by our results against them in the 1990s, when in 14 league games spread over the top two divisions, we won 12, drew 1, and lost only once. My memory of games against them is that they were fixtures that always seemed to have a lot of goals. On Boxing Day in 1967, we were 2-0 down in the first few minutes, but fought back to win 4-2 with a hat-trick from Brian Dear. It could have been many more but for a sparkling performance from the Leicester keeper (a 17 year old Peter Shilton who had ousted Gordon Banks from their team). Four days later in the return fixture we won 4-2 again at Filbert Street, and Brian Dear scored twice in this game too. And when we beat Leicester 4-0 the following season I saw the best goal that I have ever seen live when Martin Peters blasted a volley into the roof of the net after a pitch length move started by Bobby Ferguson, our keeper.

When he was in a rich vein of form Brian Dear took some stopping. In a two month period from mid-December to mid-February that season he found the net 11 times. In 1964-65 he didn’t play a single game until the middle of March, but in the final 15 games of that season he scored 14 goals, including 5 in 20 minutes in a game I watched on Good Friday against West Brom. It earned him a place in the team for the quarter-finals, semi-finals and the winning final in the successful European Cup Winners Cup run, where he scored four goals in those five games.

Over a course of several seasons in the 1960s Brian could not get a regular place in the side, but that may have been for reasons other than footballing and goalscoring ability. He only played 82 times for the club but averaged almost a goal in every other game, a better goals per game ratio than noted goalscorers such as Cottee, McAvennie, and Pop Robson. Loan spells away from West Ham in the late sixties were followed by a return to the club, but he never played for the Hammers again after the 4-0 defeat at Blackpool in the third round of the FA Cup, when he was one of the players involved in the notorious late-night drinking incident on the eve of the game. But what a fabulous finisher he was! We could do with a goalscorer with that kind of successful goals per game ratio now.

But enough of the Brian Dear nostalgia, and back to this game. The three teams that we will have played this week, Wolves, Everton and Leicester, are probably the biggest challengers to the elite six teams that have dominated the Premier League for some years now. Of course Leicester themselves were the 5000-1 winners not so long ago, after narrowly escaping relegation the season before with a great escape similar to our own a few years earlier, and are now consistently a top half of the table side. Brendan Rogers seems to have got the best out of Jamie Vardy, and last season he was the top Premier League goalscorer. He also notched a hat-trick against Manchester City last weekend, not the first time he has achieved that against City, and is already on five goals for the season after just three games. But four of those goals have come from penalty kicks! I wonder how many games will elapse this season before West Ham are even awarded four penalties?

I see that we have a new right back! He’s Tomas Soucek’s Czech mate Vladimir Coufal from Slavia Prague. If he’s anywhere near as good a signing as Soucek then we’ll all be delighted. On the face of it he looks to be an absolute bargain. He looks to have all the right credentials so I’ll look forward to seeing him in the team. Does he have to spend time in quarantine first?

Of course with the start they’ve made, Leicester are odds on favourites to make it four wins out of four and remain at the top of the Premier League table. But I have faith in our team (the one that played Wolves anyway!) and I reckon we’ll spoil their party. 2-2 for me. What are the chances?

When this round of games is over, we will have our first international break of the season. Of course we all need a break after all the games we’ve played this season! Personally I don’t have the same interest in international football these days and hate these interruptions to the domestic campaign that appear so regularly so early on in the season. And in the current climate is it a good idea in this year in particular for players to be flying off all over the world in light of the pandemic? I’m not so sure.

Can West Ham Be Hungry Like The Wolves?

What in heavens name was he thinking? For some reason only apparent to himself, our chairman chose to go on TalkSport on the morning programme of Jim White and Simon Jordan and proceeded to put his foot in his mouth. As a public relations exercise it was up there with Prince Andrew’s recent interview on Newsnight with Emily Maitlis. In both examples (Sullivan and the Prince) they were either very poorly advised, or more likely, they weren’t as clever as they thought they were. If there were any Hammers fans left who had any time for our chairman before the interview then I reckon there are fewer now. I even spotted on the internet that it even gave rise to a “GoFundMe” set up by a West Ham fan asking for humorous comments, and raising money for the Bobby Moore fund – “Mr Sullivan needs 50K to fly West Ham to Everton”.

At least there was some cheer in the week when West Ham “Reserves” thrashed Hull City to progress to the next round of the Carabao Cup where we will face an away tie at Everton, who, as I write this, sit at the top of the Premier League with nine points from their three games, after a 2-1 win at Palace. Were our talented fringe players trying to play their way into the Premier League starting line-up, or putting themselves in the shop window?

I don’t hold out a lot of hope of going any further in the competition, but having said that, few fans had a lot of hope when we went to Arsenal last weekend. But after dominating the second half, a combination of failing to take our chances, and poor defending let us down again, and we left North London with no points from a decent performance.

Of course this is West Ham. So the bad news doesn’t stop there. 45 minutes before kick-off in the League Cup tie, our manager and two of our players found out that they had tested positive for Covid-19 and had to go home at once. They are currently self-isolating and unable to take any part in this weekend’s game.

There doesn’t appear to be any progress on the transfer-in front either with no new bodies in positions where they are desperately needed – we all know where they are! Perhaps they will all appear next week with the club keeping quiet about the impending signings. I won’t hold my breath though. In the chairman’s radio interview he appeared to be blaming David Moyes for this. In fact he appeared to blame everyone (including the fans) for the state we are now in (except the board!). Is it really any wonder that there seems to be a reluctance on behalf of footballers who might want to join our club?

My earliest memories of our opponents today go back to the late 1950s when they took advantage of a new innovation at the time, namely floodlights. They were one of the top teams in England at the time and they invited a series of top overseas teams to come over and play in friendly games. Football matches were barely shown on TV then with the exception of the FA Cup Final and England internationals, but they managed to persuade the BBC to broadcast the games. I was very young at the time and in bed, but managed to set up a mirror that enabled me to watch via open doors in the bungalow I lived in. Wolves also won the first FA Cup final that I can clearly remember watching when they defeated Blackburn 3-0 with two goals from a player I recall as Norman Deeley.

Despite their success in the fifties and early sixties they went into decline but have recently bounced back, and in the past couple of seasons they (together with Leicester, and perhaps Everton) look like they will provide the biggest threat to the elite six in the Premier League. In competitive head to head matches in history, Wolves are one of the clubs against whom we have a positive record, beating them more often than they have defeated us. In the past two seasons that hasn’t been the case however, with four consecutive Wolves wins. We haven’t managed to score a single goal in those games and have conceded eight.

So far this season Wolves have won one (2-0 at Sheffield United) and lost (unluckily I believe) 3-1 at home to Manchester City. We had better be prepared at the very start of the game – the two goals against Sheffield United were scored in the first six minutes. We are not usually known for our start to a game. We also need to be aware of Jimenez who has been a prolific scorer for them and has scored in each of their opening two games. He has also scored three times in his past three Premier League appearances against us. One statistic that I read was that no Wolves player has scored a goal in each of their opening three top flight fixtures since Derek Dougan (remember him?) did way back in 1973. He will never get a better chance of equalling that record, and you’d think that this was a banker bet for this game.

On the other hand we have never failed to score in our first two top flight home games for even longer – going back to 1971. So we are bound to score then, aren’t we? My prediction is for us to build upon our promising performance against Arsenal and draw 1-1, with Antonio equalising an early goal from Jimenez. What are the chances? It would be a good result as I believe Wolves are an excellent side, destined for a top six finish.

As a club we create a lot of our own problems, don’t we? But it’s not always us. The season hasn’t started well. No points, no new signings, no decisions going our way from officials or VAR, no opposing players (who played for us) penalised for leading with their elbow, no opposition goals chalked off for dangerous (high) boot, no penalties awarded for obvious handball, no marginal offsides going our way. And we are only two games into the new season! At least the handball rule has been clarified this season! What a nonsense that is! We need all the luck we can get. Perhaps it will start to go our way in this game. Fingers crossed.

West Ham visit the Emirates Stadium – what chance of a repeat of 2015 with a 2-0 away win?

West Ham began the final season at the Boleyn Ground (2015-16) with home games against Leicester (who would go on to become surprise winners of the Premier League, and Bournemouth. Both games were lost. Outfoxed by the foxes, and picked off by the cherries. But before then, in the season opener we travelled the short distance across North London to face an Arsenal side that had won virtually everything in pre-season, and were being strongly tipped to produce a stronger challenge for the Premier League title than they had for a while. Against the odds we came away with two goals, a clean sheet and three points from an excellent performance. That was the game where the phrase about Oxford having Ozil in his pocket was heard. Where is Oxford now? And come to think of it, what about Ozil? What a start to the season we had and sitting in a Champions League spot too! Of course we came down to earth in true West Ham style with the defeats to Leicester and Bournemouth, and then we went to Anfield and beat Liverpool 3-0!

Of course that’s what supporting West Ham is all about. As Chuck Berry sang, you never can tell. It’s the West Ham way. This season we began with a defeat at home to Newcastle. Many thought that this was our best chance of three points in the first seven games with a daunting run of fixtures to follow. Five years ago we hoped to have six points from our first four fixtures, but we all thought that they would come from the home games against Leicester and Bournemouth. None of us expected anything from the visits to Arsenal and Liverpool. But that’s where we were successful, so what are the odds of repeating our victory in the first away fixture this time around with three points just as we did then?

If I’m honest I would have to admit the odds are massively against, but they were then, too. Bookmakers have Arsenal at 1/2 to win and we are priced at 5/1 which is not as generous as you might think given the starts that the two teams have made this season. League tables produced when four sides have yet to play a game are fairly meaningless of course, but even at this stage Arsenal sit at the top and we are in the bottom three. Interestingly, there were no draws in the Premier League last weekend, so can we perhaps get a point? The odds for this happening are about 10/3, once again not very generous. But then again the bookies aren’t known for their generosity are they?

My attempt at watching the Newcastle game after an evening out “as live” just like the Likely Lads attempted in the 1960s failed miserably when I accidentally found out that the score early in the second half was 0-0. So I ignored the first half and watched the last 45 minutes. Apparently we were unfortunate to hit the woodwork more than once in the opening half, but I saw little in the second half to make me think we were going to win. Somehow it was inevitable that Wilson would score against us, but was his foot dangerously high? Some referees might have thought so. Should we have been awarded a penalty when the ball struck a Newcastle arm in the penalty area. Again some might have thought so. But neither the referee nor VAR adjudged in our favour, and we ended up pointless after conceding a second goal close to the end.

At least we progressed in the League (Carabao) Cup with a comfortable 3-0 win over Charlton on Tuesday. Those are the type of fixtures we have lost in the past, but by all accounts the players that were given a run-out looked good, albeit against lower league opposition. So Hull in the next round, and then if we overcome that obstacle then Fleetwood or Everton. This is the easiest competition to win, but we have never done so, although we have come close. Perhaps this our year? We are around 15^th favourites to lift this trophy with odds ranging from around 28/1 up to 66/1.

It’s all very depressing at the moment. I’ve lost count of the unrealistic transfer targets – with the Tarkowski story reminding me very much of stories from the past where we are supposedly chasing players well beyond our reach with no chance of it happening. I don’t know how many players we’ve been linked with but I still haven’t noticed anyone arriving. I see that the board have now allegedly taken vows of silence because of leaks from within the club. And what of all the takeover stories. Who will our new owners be? Chinese? Middle Eastern? American? I read some of this stuff but don’t believe a word of any of it until it happens. And hardly anything ever does.

I won’t speculate on the starting eleven, as last week for the first time ever I was spot on. I doubt that it can happen again. I’m sure that there will be some changes, but add the names of the players who played in the Carabao Cup tie to those who started last week, pick 4 or 5 who must start, and then perm any of the remainder into some kind of formation and hope for the best.

Almost certainly everyone is convinced that we are destined to lose to Arsenal by two or three goals at least. But I’m going to stick my neck out for an unlikely repeat of the score in August 2015. A top 4 UK hit by Napoleon XIV from the summer of 1966 comes to mind as I write this, but stranger things have happened. Well, not very often I’ll grant you, but I’m going for a 2-0 away win. Those not very generous bookmakers will only give me around a paltry 35/1 on that happening. What are the chances?

Whistling A Happy Toon: West Ham To Make Winning Start To Season

When a new football season is about to begin then I am normally full of excitement, looking forward to going along to the London Stadium for the first game. If the opening game is away from home it is still exciting to watch the progress of the matches being played on Sports Saturday on Sky. But this time around I can’t really get as interested as I normally do, which considering I’ve been following West Ham since season 1958-59 may be surprising, and perhaps disappointing. Am I losing my enthusiasm for football? Of course last season was probably the strangest one of all time for reasons that we are all aware of, and this one may well be the same. Following the lockdown we began slowly, but then ended the season on a high, securing our place in the top division for another season with some excellent performances. Perhaps once the games get underway again I’ll regain my enthusiasm, but at the moment it’s not there yet.

The interval before the new season would start was obviously much shorter than usual, but I guess we were looking forward to seeing some departures and new arrivals in readiness for the new campaign. The friendly games against lower league opposition went well enough, although by all accounts the Betway Cup performance against Bournemouth (also lower league!) highlighted our defensive deficiencies. Of course some of our players were away on international duty, but the return of Fabianski, Rice, Yarmolenko, and Soucek will undoubtedly strengthen the team. But apart from confirming the permanent transfer of Soucek there is a distinct lack of new faces. All other Premier League clubs seem to have been active in the transfer market, but the eighteenth richest club in the world has been pleading poverty, much to the annoyance of the fans, who were looking forward to some new faces, in particular to strengthen the defensive positions, especially at full back.

The departure of Diangana to West Brom, where he spent last season on loan has caused much consternation on social media, but once Mark Noble and others had joined in with their disappointment at seeing him leave it became an issue for the national broadcast and newspaper media. Although the furore has died down a little, there still seems to be a lot of anger around still, and this will increase if we fail to get off to a good start in this game.

I’m not really sure how many times we’ve faced the Geordies in our opening game of the season. It makes a change in recent times to not be facing top-six opposition, although games against top sides come thick and fast after the opener. I do remember one season in particular, and that was back in 1973-74. We had ended the previous season in sixth place, one of our best ever top division finishing positions, and hopes were high for the new campaign. But that first game at Upton Park was a massive disappointment, which was exacerbated by a friend from Newcastle joining me at the game. We went down 2-1 with ex-Newcastle player Pop Robson scoring our goal.

From that point it didn’t get any better and a succession of draws and defeats in the first eleven matches left us at the bottom of the table. Eventually we won a game (1-0 at Coventry thanks to a John McDowell goal), but we remained at the foot of the table until we won our second game of the season beating Manchester City 2-1 on December 8^th. Two 4-2 victories at Chelsea on Boxing Day and then at home to Norwich on New Years Day still left us in the relegation zone (21^st), before a run of wins and draws from the beginning of January through to the middle of March eased the pressure slightly and we eventually stayed up by one point in 18^th. Manchester United were one of the teams relegated. I’m hoping that we don’t replicate that season, which also included an ignominious defeat at the hands of Hereford in the FA Cup.

The point I’m trying to make here is that everything can look rosy before a season begins and then it all goes wrong. I can also remember pre-seasons where we have looked good in the friendly games and then performed badly once the league games have begun. The reverse has also happened at times with a disastrous pre-season leading to doom and gloom amongst the fans followed by some excellent performances. It just highlights the Forrest Gump box of chocolates story – with West Ham you never know what you are going to get. That applies from one season to another, one game to another, and frequently to the first half and second half of a game.

I’m not especially confident with everything about the club at the moment, but hopeful that David Moyes can continue where he left off at the end of the last campaign, despite the difficulties that he faces. He knows that the model of recent seasons has to change and he wants to build for the future. He doesn’t want players coming here for a good pay day in London, and if he can unearth more gems like Bowen and Soucek we will have a chance. People forget that when he arrived at Everton in 2002 they were a bit like us, often fighting the drop. When he left there eleven years later they had finished in the top eight for seven consecutive seasons. Whether he will be given the time, and even some of the resources that should be available to the eighteenth richest club in the world only time will tell.

The game kicks off at 8pm and is available to view on TV. That’s some consolation for not being able to be at the stadium. How will we line up? I expect Fabianski to be behind a back four of Fredericks (or Johnson?), Diop, Ogbonna and Cresswell. I fear that Saint-Maximin can run our defence ragged as he did at the London Stadium last season and wonder if Masuaku will be included to provide extra cover for Cresswell? It wouldn’t be my choice but it may happen. Rice, Soucek and Noble may start in midfield, with Bowen, Fornals and Antonio providing the main attacking options at the start. But will there perhaps be a place for the in-form Yarmolenko, or a hopefully rejuvenated Haller, Lanzini or Anderson? Will any of the youngsters get a chance? Who knows? What we do know is that there won’t be any new faces to bolster a defence that had one of the worst goals-against records in the Premier League last season. I’m confident that we can score goals, but can we improve defensively? Perhaps David Moyes and his coaches can work wonders on this aspect of our team, but has he got the raw materials to work with?

The bookmakers have us at around 23/20 to win the game, with Newcastle and the draw both at around 5/2. If you fancy us to win then West Ham to win and both teams to score is on offer at around 7/2. My fun bet for this game is for West Ham to win 2-1 with Tomas Soucek scoring the last goal in the game – this is priced at 60/1. Without any great degree of confidence I’m just hoping for a decent performance and three points. What are the chances?

It’s traditional for me to forecast (before a ball is kicked) how the Premier League will look at the end of the season. So here goes: 1.Manchester City, 2.Liverpool, 3.Manchester United, 4.Chelsea, 5.Arsenal, 6.Wolves, 7.Everton, 8.Tottenham, 9.Leicester, 10.West Ham, 11.Southampton, 12.Newcastle, 13.Leeds, 14.Aston Villa, 15.Sheffield United, 16.Crystal Palace, 17.Brighton, 18.Burnley, 19.West Brom, 20.Fulham. There’s optimism for you! Enjoy the game