Richard Bennett

Can West Ham repeat last season’s successful trip to Turf Moor?

The Hammers go looking for a repeat of last season’s success away to high flying Burnley

When Sean Dyche saw the opening games produced by the Fixtures Computer in June I wonder how many points that he thought Burnley would accrue in the first seven matches, four of them away from home? He would probably have bitten your hand off to achieve an average of one point a game at this stage. The fact that they lie sixth in the table with twelve points is one of the stories of the Premier League season so far.

Their four away games have all been against teams that finished in the top 7 last season. An opening day 3-2 win at Chelsea was followed by 1-1 draws at Tottenham and Liverpool, and then a 1-0 victory at Goodison Park. Incredibly, that is eight points from four of the toughest away games (on paper) that they would expect to face in a season. They have already exceeded their points tally on their travels for the whole of last season, when they only picked up seven points from their nineteen games with one win (at Palace), and draws at Hull, Manchester United, Middlesbrough, and Sunderland, three of the four relegated sides.

Their home form, for which they were renowned last season when winning more than half of their games, has not been as successful. They lost their first home fixture 1-0 to West Brom, before beating Palace (as everyone has done!) 1-0, and then they had a goalless draw against Huddersfield. So after three home games they have picked up four points, with just one goal scored and one conceded.

But an overall record of three wins and three draws from their seven matches played, placing them sixth in the table, is way beyond the expectations of even the most optimistic of Burnley fans. Our record matches them in just one respect. We, too, have scored seven league goals so far this season. The difference is that whereas Burnley have conceded just four goals, we managed that in the very first game, and in total we have let in thirteen!

All of Burnley’s seven goals have been scored by players who have been on international duty in the break, and either faced intense games or a lot of travelling. Sam Vokes (2) was on duty for Wales in their elimination from the World Cup by Ireland who had Jeff Hendrick (1) and Stephen Ward (1) in the side. Scott Arfield (1) turned out for Canada against El Salvador on Sunday, and Chris Wood (2) scored for New Zealand against Japan. Wood, a big money signing from Leeds as the summer transfer window was drawing to a close, is the second highest goalscorer in New Zealand history with 24 goals in 54 games, despite being only 25 years old. Let’s hope that Winston Reid can keep his fellow countryman quiet.

Our last visit to Turf Moor was on the final day of last season when, with a side depleted by injuries (as usual), we came from behind to clinch a 2-1 win. Vokes scored the Burnley goal midway through the first half, but we equalised shortly afterwards with a fine team goal where several players were involved in the move before Feghouli scored. This was a most unusual West Ham goal because it started from a quickly-taken free kick near the halfway line. On so many occasions free kicks in a similar position end up back with our keeper. Ayew headed the winner from close range after the ball came back off the bar from a Fernandes shot.

Our overall historical record against Burnley is a positive one, with 36 wins, 17 draws, and 31 defeats in all 84 competitive matches. This hasn’t always been the case, however, as our opponents were once a formidable club, winning the league twice, which is two times more than we have. Not many people will know that Burnley once reached the quarter-final of the European Cup, which was the forerunner of the Champions League.

But in recent years we have been by far the stronger in head to head games against them, winning 14 of the last 20 games. We have only lost once at Turf Moor in almost 40 years and that was in 2010, when we were on the receiving end of a 2-1 scoreline, with our goal being scored by Ilan (remember him?). To demonstrate how the make-up of a football team can change in less than eight years I will remind readers of the West Ham line-up that day.

Green
Faubert, Upson, Tompkins, Spector,
Behrami, Noble, Parker, Collison,
C.Cole, McCarthy.
Subs. who came on: Mido, Stanislas, and Ilan
Manager: Zola

Ilan and McCarthy each played eleven league games in their time with us. Ilan scored four goals whilst McCarthy failed to find the net. Mido played nine times and he, too, failed to score a goal.

Apparently it has been reported that we have an entirely fit squad for the manager to choose from, with the exceptions of Collins and Quina. I have given up trying to read the manager’s mind, and have absolutely no idea what the starting line-up will be, and will not even attempt to hazard a guess.

When you consider that an in-form team lying sixth in the league are playing at home to the side in fifteenth place, then the odds being offered on the game don’t really reflect that. Burnley are at around 13/8 to win, we are 15/8 to take all three points, and the draw is not much over 2/1. The most likely score according to the bookmakers is 1-1, offered at about 5/1. I can see their reasoning as both Burnley and ourselves are averaging scoring exactly one goal a game this season. Nothing to get really excited about. I would have hoped for more generous odds on a West Ham victory considering our poor start to the season.

I’m going to get out my trusty optimistic hat and bet on us to win the game. I’ll also have a fun bet on West Ham to win the game 3-1 at odds of 22/1. I might even try an additional one where the game is goalless at half-time, but we run out 3-1 winners at the end, with odds of 200/1 on that most unlikely outcome. A half-time scoreline of 1-1, with us winning the game 3-1 at the end is 90/1. You can bet on hundreds of different markets on every game of football these days, but in reality trying to predict the outcome of games, and correct scores / goalscorers is a minefield.

As for me, as usual I’ll be attending both days of the Dubai Future Champions horse racing meeting at Newmarket on Friday and Saturday, which includes my favourite race the Cesarewitch, which starts in Cambridgeshire and ends in Suffolk, with 34 runners tackling the two and a quarter miles course. The race itself is as difficult to predict as guessing the line-up that our manager will select. My ante-post selections are Withhold, Time To Study and Lagostovegas, although I’ll probably choose another for my bet on the day. But I’ll be keeping one eye on the football from Turf Moor, and hoping for a victory that will take us into a more comfortable mid-table position in the league.

What has been going on in the Second International break?

I’d prefer to watch a re-run of the West Ham v Swansea game (or even paint drying) rather than watch England play

I’ll begin my international break review with my usual rant. Why do we have to put up with these breaks so early in the season that totally disrupt the Premier League campaign? OK, so England have qualified for the finals tournament of the World Cup to be held in Russia next summer. Is that really much of a surprise when we were in a group of world football powers such as Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania and Malta? The combined population of those five countries when added together totals around 16 million.

The biggest surprise is the fact that we haven’t actually won all of the games in the qualifying group. With one game to go we haven’t even averaged scoring two goals a game! When you compare our 17 goals against the other leading European nations it is clear that we are nowhere near their level, and if we continue to struggle to score goals against such weak teams in qualifying, then what chance will we have in the finals themselves? To be fair though, our goals conceded record is not bettered by any other team in any of the qualifying groups, so look forward to some low scoring games when England are playing in the tournament.

Fortunately I was playing football myself on Thursday evening when we clinched qualification, so I missed what must have been a performance equivalent to watching paint dry. I saw that Joe Hart was named as man of the match, so that says it all really. One wag wrote that Southgate comes from the same school of football tactics as our manager, in that a free kick in our opponents half ended up with Joe Hart after a succession of sideways and backwards passes, and then possession was given away by a long aimless kick upfield. Southgate was quoted as saying that we are “a work in progress”. A bit of an understatement?

So what else has been happening on the club front? I see that Reece Oxford is back after what appears to be an unsuccessful loan spell in Germany. I wonder if he can recapture the early promise that he was showing a couple of years ago? Or is he going to be one of those players that appears to have it all at a very young age, and then fades from the scene?

The manager seems to have survived the rumours that suggested he could be on his way out during the break, although constant speculation as to his successor continues in the media. The latest names that I’ve seen linked are Sean Dyche, who has done an excellent job at Burnley, our next opponents, and Carlo Ancelotti who is said to be taking a break from football for the remainder of the season, making him available for recruitment at the end of the season. Who knows? I reckon that provided we have an OK run from here and don’t dabble with relegation, then perhaps our owners are prepared to let our manager continue until the end of his contract. It would probably take a final league position of around seventh or eighth for him to be given an extension, and based upon what I’ve seen so far this season I would say that is extremely unlikely, though I would love to be proved wrong.

There hasn’t been much in the way of original transfer speculation, although I read that Everton are prepared to bid £20 million for Carroll in January! Walcott and Wilshere from Arsenal are names that we are constantly linked with, but we shall see what happens when the next window opens.

Many West Ham fans have been complaining on social media regarding our ticket allocation for the next round of the Carabao Cup against Tottenham at Wembley. I believe that they have failed to realise that Tottenham and the police have put a maximum crowd for the game, and as such the allocation is exactly what should be given to us.

Apparently there is much speculation that Sky Sports want to televise our game against Newcastle just before Christmas, and want to put the game back to a 1.30 kick-off on Christmas Eve. I can imagine that going down well with the Westfield authorities, not to mention the travelling support who would have rather a long journey at a time when all the transport systems will be closing down for the Christmas break. If true, it reinforces the belief that the TV companies who sponsor Premier League football to the tune of around £11 million a game, have no regard whatsoever for football supporters.

Our former captain, Kevin Nolan, has made an excellent start to his career as manager of Notts County and has won the League Two Manager of the Month award. The award itself is usually the kiss of death to a manager and it remains to be seen if he can follow this up throughout the season.

There have been many calls for both Sakho, and particularly Masuaku to be in the starting line-up in the Burnley game. I’m assuming that the majority of our injured players will be back available for selection in the near future, so soon we will have a fully-fit squad, which is most unusual. It will be interesting to see our line-up and formation for the forthcoming run of fixtures, which (on paper) is as easy a run of games that you can get in the top flight. If we don’t manage to start climbing the table in the next month then the speculation concerning the manager will once again reach a crescendo.

Premier League clubs will be voting soon on the distribution of overseas broadcasting TV rights. At the moment this money, which is expected to rise considerably at the next renewal in 2019, is shared equally among all clubs in the top division, but the elite teams want to see a change (unsurprisingly) such that it is based upon finishing positions. Reports initially suggested that we would be voting for this change, but latterly I have read that we intend to vote against, and quite right too in my opinion. The revenue received by the top teams is already way ahead of the rest, and this would exacerbate the divide still further if passed. Fortunately, it requires a majority of around two-thirds to go through so I can’t see it happening.

Some commentators are speculating that failure to make the change will result in the acceleration of the set-up of a European League for all the top clubs in Europe. Let it happen I say. Perhaps then our domestic football will be more of an equal contest among the remaining clubs. We are already seeing the boring predictability of the same six clubs dominating the Premier League season after season, and more games are finishing with these teams easily beating the rest by three or four goals in unequal contests. It is becoming rarer for the “also-rans” to beat the top sides, and I, for one, would much rather see closer games of football. I’m not sure that it would be beneficial for the national team, but as I grew up in an era of Moore, Hurst, Charlton, Greaves, Peters, Banks, Ball etc., then current international football leaves me cold anyway.

A preview of West Ham v Swansea

Will Swansea be the swansong for our beleaguered manager? Plus a few thoughts on the continuing effect of the London Stadium hosting the World Athletics Championships in August.

It’s a weird feeling isn’t it? A home league game that kicks off at 3pm on a Saturday. The first one of the season, so make the most of it if you are a fan of the traditional kick-off time, as it won’t be happening again until at least 9 December. The second international break of the season is upon us, and begins after the Swansea game. I wonder if it will be a swansong for our beleaguered manager who seems to be under more pressure than ever if media reports are to be believed.

I wondered about the derivation of the word swansong. Legend has it that swans are mute throughout their lives, but they sing beautifully and mournfully before they die. Let us hope that the team performs beautifully for the manager on Saturday, and that we pick up the much needed three points that would take us out of the relegation zone.

We only have one home game in the month of October (Friday 20 October 8pm v Brighton), and by the end of the month 10 league games will have been played (four at home and six away). November is a more balanced month with two home games (Saturday 4 November v Liverpool 5.30pm kick-off, and Leicester (Friday 24 November 8pm), and two away. Of course the third international break takes place in that month to continue the stop-start to the Premier League season that we endure every year now.

Seven games are scheduled for December, with just three at home and four away. The next potential Saturday 3pm kick doesn’t happen until the 9^th when Chelsea are our visitors, but once the Sky / BT schedules are announced that may of course change. By the time we sit down for our Christmas lunch we will be exactly half way into the season, having played 19 games, 9 at home and 10 away, but visits to Bournemouth on Boxing Day, and the return fixture at Tottenham four days later, mean that we will once again be in the position we were in just three games into the season, that is having played three more games away from home than at the London Stadium!

We are forever behind, and the effect of the World Athletics Championships being held at our stadium will be a significant one if we are still lingering in the lower reaches of the table by then. The home / away balance doesn’t even itself out until the end of March, at which time we will have played 16 games at home and the same number away, with just six games left in the season at that time.

If you look back on the history of Swansea visits to West Ham, we have an overwhelming superiority. But I’m not sure that statistics such as these are a good thing! In almost 30 home games against them we have only lost on two occasions. The first of these was in 1956 when we were both in the second tier, but that was too long ago for even me to remember.

The second I can recall very clearly though. It was of course the penultimate game at Upton Park and the last to be played on a Saturday. We went with high expectations as a record-breaking season was coming towards a close and were thrashed 4-1, with a certain Andre Ayew scoring one of the Swansea goals. Of course this massive disappointment was soon forgotten in the following week when we met Manchester United in that never-to-be-forgotten final game at the old ground.

Last season we beat them in April with that terrific strike along the ground from Kouyate from outside the box which was the only goal of the game. That left Swansea in big trouble in the bottom three with just half a dozen games of the season to go, but they escaped the drop with a fine finishing run.

This season, their seventh consecutive one in the top flight, they (like ourselves) have not started as well as they would have hoped. They have lost all of their three home games at the Liberty Stadium, 4-0 to Manchester United, 1-0 to Newcastle, and 2-1 to Watford. But we need to be wary, as their form on the road has been excellent. A goalless draw at Southampton to begin the season, a 2-0 win at Palace, and then another goalless game at Tottenham has given them five points, all away from home. This puts them in 15^th place, just one point above ourselves. It is a bit early I know, but we could perhaps call this a “six-pointer” this weekend, as well as an extremely important (must win?) game for our manager.

I rarely manage to accurately predict our starting line-up, as the manager always seems to throw in a surprise or two that I wasn’t expecting. But this time I am confident that he will start with the following eleven:

Hart, Fonte, Reid, Ogbonna, Zabaleta, Noble, Kouyate, Cresswell, Ayew, Arnautavic, Chicarito.

If the manager subscribes to the “horses for courses” theory then he will be tempted to include Carroll in view of his fine goalscoring record against today’s opponents. Apparently Lanzini is now fit, but I expect him to start on the bench, although I would personally include him from the start in place of Ayew. But I reckon Ayew will get the nod, particularly as the game is against his former employers. Depending on how the game is going I would expect important contributions as substitutes from Lanzini, Carroll, Masuaku, or Rice. I don’t think anyone else will get a look in.

The bookies make us favourites to win the game and we are slightly odds-on to do so. Swansea are around 3/1 plus, and the draw is around 5/2. Given Swansea’s away form, especially the fact that they have yet to concede a goal on their travels, the game is likely to be a tight one. Despite the tension surrounding the manager I hope that we can win a close game, possibly by the odd goal, just as we did about six months ago. A repeat of that scoreline, with the same goalscorer, is on offer at around 33/1.

West Ham 2 Tottenham 3

A spirited comeback from West Ham but nothing to show for it.

Saturday’s result means that we move back into the bottom three in the Premier League. Six games played, four points. Four games away from home have yielded just a single point, and a win plus a defeat at home give us another three. To get back on to an average of a point a game we must win at home to Swansea next Saturday. The pressure is once again back on the manager, and this will increase still further if we don’t collect all three points in that game.

The Tottenham game was a strange one in many ways. I was there to watch it live as usual, and then saw re-runs of the game on TV later and the usual analysis on Match of the Day. I guess that each time you watch you pick up something new.

For much of the game we matched Tottenham for effort, but were lacking when it came to skill, and a tactical plan. Of course it didn’t help that Antonio picked up another muscle injury before half an hour had elapsed, and I was as surprised as those around me that Carroll was the manager’s choice to replace him. Once again Chicarito was moved to a wider position which, although he possesses a lot of skill it is not his forte. So much of football depends on the officials and their interpretation of events, but I could see quite clearly from a distance of 100 yards away that Arnautavic was having his shirt tugged when put through by Noble fairly early in the game. To my mind it was a clear penalty, (and even possibly a sending-off offence?) and if it had been converted, a 1-0 lead would have put a totally different complexion on the game.

But referee Oliver thought otherwise. He could see that the tackle was clean enough but apparently couldn’t see the shirt pulling. In many ways Oliver is a fine referee, although many social media views from West Ham fans suggested otherwise. They say that if you are good enough you are old enough, but I’m not entirely convinced that this applies to football match officials, particularly at the highest level. He wasn’t any older than some players on the pitch, and I’m not sure that he seems to have the authority necessary to handle a game.

Poor defending let us down, and I hope that when they look back at the game, then Carroll, Kouyate, Cresswell, Reid, and Fonte, will all feel that in different ways they could have done better for the first Tottenham goal. Similarly Carroll and Ogbonna for the second. And everyone back for the free-kick when Kane hit the post seemed transfixed when Eriksen stroked home the third.

But that wasn’t the end of the game, and our heads didn’t go down. A spirited comeback picked out a particular weakness of Tottenham for the ball in the air, and the headed goals from Chicarito and Kouyate led to an exciting climax. I felt that Carroll was moving at speed to head in the equaliser at the end when he was pushed just enough to put him off, in a similar way to Zabaleta conceding the injury-time penalty at Southampton that cost us a point. But once again referee Oliver thought otherwise, and our late pressure petered out with some handbags in the middle of the field that wasted endless time that stifled our momentum.

For me, Zabaleta was our best defender, but nobody else really stood out in the team apart from the short cameo from Masuaku in the latter stages, who showed good ability and looked dangerous going forward wide on the left. Cresswell can cross a decent ball at times, but doesn’t have Masuaku’s ability or pace to go past players. But neither are the best left-sided players around from a defensive point of view.

If you watch the game again you can measure how much time elapsed for each of the three goals scored in the second half and when the game was restarted. Add that to all the second half substitutions, the time taken for players to leave the field, and the Tottenham timewasting in the last twenty minutes and then try to reconcile that with the paltry four minutes that were added. The first half also had two goals, one substitution and Antonio’s injury, yet a mere two minutes was added. The sooner the authorities change the timing system in games, so that the clock is stopped every time the ball goes out of play or the game is halted, and then only re-started when the game resumes, the better. As spectators we are getting short-changed, and teams with a narrow lead are getting away with blatant timewasting.

We could possibly have got a point out of the game, but our shortcomings and contentious decisions not going our way let us down once again. Tottenham showed in many respects why they will probably end up in the top four or five in the league once again, although I cannot see them challenging the two Manchester clubs or Chelsea for a tilt at the top three. I believe that our lowly position is a false one, and that we have the quality of players to be a side challenging for a position in the top half of the table, but no better than that. But I’m not sure that we have a manager with the ability to motivate, and tactical awareness necessary, to go any further than that.

I’d love to see him prove me wrong, but unless we pick up three points against Swansea, then with the second international break following that game, I wonder if the board will lose patience and will give him the opportunity to do so.

A preview of West Ham versus Tottenham

Five Visits to Wembley in One Season for West Ham?

The draw for the Fourth Round of the Carabao Cup has paired us with our North London neighbours who are visiting us this weekend. The away tie, to be played in the last week of October, whilst not the kindest, guarantees at least two trips to Wembley this season. And when we go there for the Carabao Cup final, in addition to the FA Cup semi-final and final, that will make five trips to the iconic North-West London venue in one season. OK, so it is a long shot I’ll agree. I wonder what odds the bookies would give for us making the five visits to Wembley in one season? But we have to dream, don’t we?

The 12.30 kick-off is yet another “non-standard” time for a game of football, just as last season when we played Tottenham at 8.00 pm on a Friday night on May 5. We went into that game as vast underdogs. How much would we give for a repeat of the performance and result that we achieved just 141 days ago?

We moved up into 17^th place in the table, and just outside the bottom three, when Everton were hammered by Manchester United last week. Tottenham, despite their (typical?) slow start to the season still manage to occupy fifth place, albeit five points adrift of the two Manchester clubs just five games into the season.

Much has been written about their inability to adapt to playing their home games at Wembley, but they have gone some way to rectify this with a convincing win (3-1) against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League last week, and scraping home 1-0 against Barnsley in the Carabao Cup this week. But in the league their results have been disappointing to say the least, with a home defeat (2-1) to Chelsea, and draws (1-1) with Burnley, and (0-0) v Swansea.

On the other hand, their away form has been excellent and has given them their two wins in the league with victories at Newcastle (2-0) on the opening weekend, and at Everton (3-0). So they come here with a 100% away record which we will be hoping to end. The bookies don’t give us much chance of doing so, and we are quoted at around 5/1 to win the game, with Tottenham around 4/6, and a draw at 3/1. But in the equivalent fixture last May we were even longer odds at 13/2 to win, with the draw at around 4/1, and a Tottenham victory was even shorter than it is this time. I took a punt on us winning the game then, and I’ll be doing the same this time.

The convincing win over Bolton with mostly fringe players was good for confidence, and a third clean sheet in a row. Bolton were poor, but the performances of the players should have given the manager some food for thought when he is selecting the team to face Tottenham. However, despite that I wouldn’t expect to see many changes from the team that played at West Brom last weekend.

Of course, Collins is out and will need to be replaced, but how the manager does this is the £64 million dollar question. Will we revert to a back four of Zabaleta, Fonte, Reid and Cresswell? Or if he wants to continue with three at the back, could Zabaleta be one of the three, or will he want Ogbonna to partner Reid and Fonte? Or might he even be bold and include Rice in his favoured position?

Apparently Obiang has a slight injury and is likely to miss the game, so he will need to replaced too if he doesn’t make it. Perhaps there will be a return for Noble in this position? That would certainly increase the traffic on social media. Or Fernandes even? After his performance in midweek, I also believe that Bilic may want to bring Arnautavic into the starting team to give us much-needed creativity, although many would argue that it is difficult to do this without weakening the team from a defensive viewpoint. Some media outlets suggest that he may come in at the expense of Chicarito, but personally I’d like to see them both in the team. We cannot go into games (even ones against top sides like Tottenham) without the means to create chances and score goals. Somehow the manager has to find a balance between defence and attack but this is what he is paid for. The best teams always defend in numbers without the ball, and attack in numbers when in possession, and we have to find the right personnel and strategy to achieve this.

We will find out the make-up of the team at about 11.30. We will need a performance of high intensity and total commitment to match the result from last May. A draw would be a good result but the optimist in me hopes that we might just sneak the win.

West Ham v Bolton: Hammers Breeze Into Round 4

West Ham march into the last 16 of the Carabao Cup

I am old enough to remember the early days of the League Cup, currently the EFL Cup, and as a result of sponsorship known as the Carabao Cup this season. It has been a competition with a number of guises (mainly drink ones), the Milk Cup, the Littlewoods Cup, the Rumbelows Cup, the Coca Cola Cup, the Worthington Cup, The Carling Cup, and the Capital One Cup, and perhaps others that I have forgotten, but essentially the competition has remained unaltered since its inception, being open to the 92 clubs in the four divisions of the Football League.

The first Wembley final was in 1967, when third division Queens Park Rangers produced a comeback of Lazarus proportions against West Brom to win 3-2, after being two goals down at half-time. Prior to this the final was a two-legged affair. With effect from then, the winners gained a passport into Europe, initially the Fairs Cup, and now the Europa League, provided that they were in the top flight of English football, although that rule has since been relaxed.

Despite this, it continues to be perceived as a lower priority tournament than the more prestigious FA Cup, although it is surprising that many teams outside of the elite do not appear to take it more seriously with the carrot of Europe on offer to the winners, especially as it is perhaps the only realistic chance of qualifying.

West Ham’s first ever game in the competition was 57 years ago next Tuesday with a comfortable 3-1 win over Charlton. But in the next round we began a long history of being dumped out of the tournament by lower ranked teams when we lost 3-2 at Darlington, despite fielding a full strength team. It is a competition that we have never won and it is about time that we did.

So far this season the draw has been kind. In the last round we were drawn at home to Cheltenham, almost bottom of League Two, but of course had to play away from home as the stadium was not yet ready for football. A 2-0 win created the opportunity to progress further when we were handed another home draw, this time Bolton being the visitors. It is hard to believe but Bolton have made a worse start than ourselves, with two draws and six defeats leaving them rooted to the foot of the Championship. It was therefore a formality that we would move into the Fourth Round, or last 16, leaving us just two wins away from a two-legged semi-final appearance.

And a formality it was with an excellent commanding performance from an almost wholly changed team, including younger players being given their chance. Everyone played well, especially Arnautavic who played as if he owed the supporters something, and ran the show. Almost certainly I can see him filling in Lanzini’s position while our diminutive Argentinian remains injured. I hope the manager can see the same. And how good was it to see a centre back so comfortable on the ball with excellent distribution, as well as defending well, albeit against weak opposition. I wonder if Declan Rice will be given another chance as a starter, but this time in his natural position?

Ogbonna’s early goal was a boost and gave the side confidence from the start. Once Sakho had doubled the lead the game was over as a contest, and Masuaku’s thunderbolt at the end was the icing on the cake. Despite the impressive performances all over the pitch it is unlikely that more than two or three of the team will be in the starting line-up when Tottenham are our visitors next Saturday lunchtime.

In the meantime we move into the last sixteen of the competition hoping for another kind draw, which takes place at 10pm this evening. After the farce of the second round draw where John Salako confused the issue, and then the third round draw taking place in the early hours of the morning in China, I wonder what they have in store this time? Perhaps it could take place in a rocket orbiting the earth if they can overcome the gravity issue? Or even under water in Thailand? Anything that can boost the name of the sponsors is usually the order of the day.

Last Saturday we took part in one of the most uninspiring games in the Premier League when we came away from the Hawthorns with a goalless draw. My web colleague Geoff Hopkins wrote an excellent review of this game and I don’t propose to add anything further. Since then our manager is reported to have said that he is finding it difficult / it is challenging / he is struggling / he is finding it almost impossible to pair Carroll and Hernandez up front in the same team. Yes, the “big man / little man” combination has never worked in football has it! Come on, let’s make it work! Hernandez is a goalscorer of the highest calibre and we need him up front, and not cast aside out of his best position on the left wing. Surely it cannot be rocket science. Work on it and find a way to get the best out of both of them if you want them both in the side. Don’t just accept the situation. How long did it take to realise that Antonio was not a right back? We need to play to players’ strengths, and fit them into a workable formation.

West Brom v West Ham Preview

A look forward to our trip to the Hawthorns, and a look back at our first win of the season at home to Huddersfield on Monday night

I have been watching West Ham for almost sixty years now, and when I go along to a game I hope for a West Ham win, a convincing performance, an entertaining game, a clean sheet, good conversation with fellow supporters, and a trouble-free journey both to and from the game. On Monday evening I saw a West Ham win, a very good performance, albeit not totally convincing, decent entertainment, good conversation, and a trouble-free journey to the game. I won’t dwell too much on the return journey other than the fact that two significant road closures meant that I didn’t arrive home until almost 2am, when I would have been in before midnight without the M11 and A12 being totally closed off for road works at important junctions, with no advance warning that I was aware of.

My blog colleague, Geoff Hopkins, wrote an excellent review of the game and I couldn’t add much to his article. In my view, by West Ham standards in recent times I felt that some of our movement and passing was slick, and I also felt that our organisation and set up was good, and appropriate for the opponents we faced. I liked the way the defence worked as a unit. Fonte and Zabaleta combined well on the right, as did Collins and Cresswell on the left. Reid was almost an old-fashioned sweeper, mopping up. Zabaleta and Cresswell went forward well to provide width on the flanks, as we had five defenders without the ball, but reverted to three when we were in possession.

If only Kouyate had managed to get on the end of Carroll’s splendid cross in the first couple of minutes, or if Chicarito’s shot against the bar had been inches lower, then an early goal might have set us on our way to a more convincing victory. As it was we needed a lucky break for the opening goal, but it was certainly well deserved. Huddersfield were well organised defensively and came looking to stifle us, but they lacked adventure and flair going forward, and I believe they got what they deserved from the game, which was absolutely nothing.

Anybody who has read this blog in the last couple of seasons, or who may have read my articles in Over Land and Sea, or in my book Goodbye Upton Park, Hello Stratford which covered the final season at Upton Park, will know that I am not a fan of West Bromwich Albion. The majority of our fans will, of course, put forward Tottenham as the team that they most dislike, and I don’t particularly care for them either, but when I consider which teams I just wouldn’t want to watch because of the way that they play football, then the Baggies top my list, having taken over the mantle from Stoke in recent seasons. The common denominator is, of course, their manager Tony Pulis. For me, there is so much to dislike about his approach to the game, and how his teams are set up, although I cannot argue with the effectiveness and results that are obtained. I watched a little of the televised West Brom v Stoke game earlier this season, but turned it off to go and watch some paint drying which was much more entertaining.

Last season was a particularly effective one for them, as they remained in the top half of the table almost throughout. In fact they were clear in eighth place for much of the second half, but had a disastrous run-in with seven defeats and a draw in their final eight games which relegated them to tenth, one place above, and level on points with us, but with a superior goal difference. They lost all of their four final home games of the season without managing to score a goal, losing every one of them to a single strike. In fact they failed to score a single goal in eight of their final twelve games of the season, their solitary victory in these dozen games being a 3-1 win over Arsenal.

This season began well for them results-wise with a (predictable?) 1-0 home win against Bournemouth, followed by another 1-0 win at Turf Moor. They were then held 1-1 by Stoke in their third game, before losing their unbeaten record in a 1-3 reverse at Brighton last weekend. From their viewpoint they have put an end to their failure to score at the end of last season, by finding the net once in each game. And seven points from four games puts them in the top half of the table once again, in ninth place.

Our manager has some interesting decisions to make in respect of team selection this weekend. I assumed that Lanzini, Fernandes and Noble would be fit, but this is apparently not the case. But of course Arnautavic has served his suspension for his lunacy at Southampton, and will therefore be pressing for a place in the starting line-up. The future dilemma for the manager will be how he can possibly fit players like Lanzini and Arnautavic back into the side to add much-needed creativity, whilst at the same time not losing out on the solidity in a defensive sense that was so evident in the Huddersfield game. Ayew’s contribution from the bench last Monday was an important, albeit surprisingly good one, and he will be hoping for his name on the team sheet today, too.

I have no idea what Mr. Bilic will decide to do, but personally, for the West Brom match I would retain the same team that started against Huddersfield, with Arnautavic and Ayew sitting eagerly on the bench waiting to enter the fray if we fall behind. I can see West Brom keeping up their record of scoring one goal in every game, and the question remains for me, will we manage to score one or even more goals? I’m hoping that we avoid complacency after our first win of the season on Monday. We need to watch for West Brom on set pieces as they are possibly the tallest side in the league, and try to use this to their advantage. Providing we can nullify this threat I can see us winning our first away game of the season by the odd goal in three.

West Ham v Huddersfield Preview

A top v bottom clash as the team third in the league following Matchday 3 visits the London Stadium for the first time.

When Huddersfield successfully negotiated the Championship play-offs at the end of last season, they, along with Brighton, became the 48^th and 49^th teams to play in the Premier League, following the restructure of the Football League in 1992. Previously, of course, those of us over the age of 30 will remember the top flight being named Division One. Many people, being influenced by Sky TV no doubt, believe that football only began in 1992, and so many records and statistics published today only refer to the top division since that date.

But the Football League was founded in the nineteenth century (1888), and Division One was the top level league in England until the Premier League was formed. Huddersfield Town, despite not playing in the Premier League until this season, are one of the clubs that like to keep the old records alive. They were formed in 1908, elected to the Football League three years later, and by the 1920’s they were probably the top team in English football. The Terriers, as they are now affectionately known, roared through the 1920’s, with a domination of English football that has rarely been matched since.

After finishing third in Division One in 1922-23 (the same year that we played in the first Wembley Cup Final), they were champions for the following three years in a row, a feat that has been equalled, but not surpassed, since. They followed this up with runners-up finishes in the following two seasons, too. For good measure they won the FA Cup in 1922 (the final was played at Stamford Bridge), and were losing finalists in 1920, 1928 and 1930. So the 1920’s belonged to Huddersfield Town in football terms.

However, a gradual decline began from there, and by 1952 they were relegated from the top flight for the first time. They did regain their Division One status shortly afterwards but were soon relegated again, and spent some years yo-yoing in the bottom three divisions. A brief resurgence saw them win the second division title in 1969-70, and for two seasons they were in Division One before finishing bottom in 1971-72, when they disappeared from the top level, not to return until this season.

My first and most vivid memory of playing against them was when they knocked us out of the FA Cup in the third round in 1960. I wrote about this in my previous blog article where I recalled seasons 1958-59 and 1959-60. I have only scant memories of our top flight meetings in 1970-71 and 1971-72. We were both relatively poor sides at the time. In the first meeting in Huddersfield, Geoff Hurst scored a penalty to secure a 1-1 draw, and then in the final game of that season they beat us 1-0 at Upton Park. That win elevated them to a 15^th place finish, two points ahead of us in 20^th. Fortunately only two teams were relegated then, so we just survived.

In the following season we lost the away game 1-0, but thumped them 3-0 in the return game at Upton Park with two goals from Clyde Best and another from Pop Robson. Unfortunately Huddersfield were once again a bogey team in the FA Cup just a week before our league win over them, when goals from Best and Robson were not enough to save us from a 4-2 defeat.

For a number of years beginning in 1966 we had a horrific record in being eliminated from the FA Cup by teams who were either relegated that season or from a division below us. The full horror story reads:

1966 – lost in a fourth round replay to Blackburn Rovers who went on to finish bottom of the table

1967 – lost in a third round replay to Swindon Town of the third division

1968 – lost in the fifth round at home to Sheffield United who went on to be relegated

1969 – lost in the fifth round to Mansfield Town of the third division

1970 – lost in the third round at Middlesbrough of the second division

1971 – lost (infamously) in the third round to Blackpool who went on to finish bottom

1972 – lost in the fifth round to Huddersfield who went on to finish bottom

1973 – lost in the fourth round to Hull of the second division

1974 – lost in a third round replay to Hereford of the third division

It seems incredible to think that after that miserable run of nine years in the FA Cup we went on to win the FA Cup the following season! In fact, between our two FA Cup wins in 1964 and 1975, we were only once knocked out of the competition in the intervening seasons by a team above us in the league (Chelsea in 1965). There were some highly embarrassing League Cup defeats in that period, too, amongst others to Huddersfield(!), Coventry, Stockport County, and Fulham.

So our meetings with Huddersfield have been relatively rare, especially in recent times. Our overall record against them in competitive matches is poor and reveals just 10 wins, 7 draws and 22 defeats in 39 games. Clutching at straws, one fan on social media wrote that Huddersfield have not won on our ground for 46 years. We all know what happens when statistics such as these are quoted in relation to our team!

So many teams when promoted into the Premier League tend to start the season well, especially those who come up via the play-offs, and Huddersfield are no exception. They may not have had the most difficult of fixtures, but nevertheless they have acquitted themselves excellently with an opening day 3-0 victory away at Palace, followed by a 1-0 win at home to fellow promoted team Newcastle, and then a goalless draw at home to Southampton. Seven points from the three games with four goals scored and none conceded represents a start they we could only have dreamed of.

After the third round of matches they sat in third place in the league, and although they have fallen a little following this weekend’s matches played so far, they will hope to regain third spot with a victory at the London Stadium. It is a little ironical that West Ham, at the very foot of the table, are generally quoted as odds-on by the bookmakers to win the game, whilst punters betting on Huddersfield, riding high, can get odds of up to 7/2 to come out as victors! The draw is generally around the 5/2 mark.

Whilst writing this I have no idea of Mr. Bilic’s plans for the game, but he has hinted at changes to personnel and approach. I am hoping that we score an early goal, but I’ve seen that our visitors have an organised approach to defending and will be looking to frustrate us, especially in the early stages. I hope that our fans don’t get too restless if we fail to score early, as this could have a negative impact on the atmosphere in the stadium. If only we could produce a performance such as the one against Tottenham at the end of last season, then much of the negativity surrounding the club could begin to disappear. A win would still leave us in the bottom three, but nevertheless it is a must to get our season up and running, and not become one of the teams detached at the bottom.

West Ham are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.

Recalling seasons 1958-59 and 1959-60, which included a “memorable” visit from Huddersfield Town

Having been a regular visitor for almost sixty years to Upton Park, and now the London Stadium, I continually have a wry smile to myself when I read our fans comments on social media bemoaning our performances, with comments such as “worst ever”, and “it’s never been this bad.” I have to say that, believe me, it has. The thing about supporting our team is the sheer inconsistency. If Forrest Gump’s mother had been a fan then I’m sure she would have said that West Ham are like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get. When we go to watch them play, we never know what will happen from one season to the next. We never know how we will perform from one game to the next. And what is more, we never know if our second half performance will bear any relation to what we have seen in the first forty-five minutes.

So, for example, compare our first season under Bilic, when we were impressive for much of the time, eventually finishing seventh, but if some dubious refereeing decisions had gone our way, it could have been much higher; to last season, when we started badly, flirted with relegation, before finally finishing eleventh, just a point off eighth place.

For a “one match to the next” example of inconsistency, look back to the end of last season, and that Friday night at the London Stadium just four months ago when we hammered our disliked North London rivals with probably our best performance of the season, before collapsing at home to Liverpool (4-0) just a week later. We then travelled up to Burnley, who had one of the best records at home in the Premier League, and beat them 2-1 to round off the season.

For an example of “one half to the next”, you can look back to Middlesbrough last season when an abject first half performance was followed by a dominating second-half one. You can even see massive inconsistency in a shorter time frame than that. In the first 30 minutes at home to Watford last season we really turned it on and raced into a two goal lead before collapsing defensively, and losing the game 4-2.

To demonstrate further how topsy-turvy our performances have been for so long now, I’ll take you back to when I first started to visit Upton Park to watch the team as a young boy, and recall my first two seasons as a supporter. My first season was 1958-59, our first back in the top division (Division 1 it was called at the time). We finished sixth in the end, an excellent achievement, although we topped the league in early September following an excellent 3-2 win over Manchester United, but dropped to 14^th just before Christmas with a defeat to Manchester City. The City game was the final game in a 6 match winless run, including four consecutive defeats, which we then followed up with five straight wins on the bounce over the Christmas / New Year period.

Home league attendances that season varied from as low as 21,000 who witnessed our 6-0 demolition of Portsmouth the week before Christmas, to over 37,000 for the visits of the champions Wolves (who we beat 2-0) and Arsenal. The average home crowd was a little over 28,000 and our top scorer was my favourite, John Dick, with 29 goals in all competitions. Two notable youngsters made their debuts that season, Bobby Moore and Geoff Hurst. We were dumped out of the FA Cup in Round 3 by a poor Spurs side that finished fifth from bottom. Wolves finished as champions for the second season running, and Forest beat Luton 2-1 in the first FA Cup Final I remember watching.

1959-60 was less successful as we finished in 14^th place (just four points above a relegation place), despite topping the league towards the end of November. This was quite a dramatic fall in the second half of the season. I hoped I wouldn’t see that again! It was my first taste of the “coming down with the Christmas decorations” legend that existed for many years, although in truth it is perhaps a myth, and on a number of occasions the second half of the season has been better than the first.

On a cold Saturday afternoon in November 1959 I had watched Johnny Dick score a hat-trick as we beat reigning champions Wolves 3-2 to stay at the top of the league. The following Thursday I had to go into hospital for the removal of my adenoids. I was five years old when I went into St. Mary’s in Paddington. Hospitals were very different in those days – parents couldn’t stay with their children and I was left in this frightening place with just early evening visits from my mum and dad. Some of the nurses were very nice and some were very formidable ladies.

I had been in for three days, my adenoids had been removed, it was Saturday afternoon and I was due to come out the next day. I asked one of the nurses if the TV could be put on so that I could see the football results at five o’clock. I was told no, the TV is only turned on for childrens programmes. However when I burst into tears a kindly nurse took pity on me and switched it on. I was desperate to find out how we had got on. When the classified football results came on the screen I looked down the list of games to find West Ham (we were playing away to Sheffield Wednesday) and was horrified to see that we had lost the game 7-0! I burst into tears again and vaguely remember the kindly nurse who had put the TV on for me being admonished by one of the scary nurses and told to turn it off. This was one of my first examples of the “one game to the next” inconsistency that I’ve witnessed for the past sixty years.

But we were really a leading (despite the inconsistency) team at the time, and following our poor performance in the FA Cup the previous year, I was looking forward to an exciting run this time, and being just a small boy, I was hoping to see us at Wembley in May! We were drawn away to Huddersfield Town, who were one of the top teams in the second division at the time. Two of their star players were Denis Law, who went on to have a top career as a legend in Italy and Manchester, and Ray Wilson, who following a move to Everton in 1964, was England’s left back for a while, including when we won the World Cup in 1966.

A tricky game, but we came away with a 1-1 draw thanks to a John Dick goal. Surely the replay the following Wednesday would be just a formality? But on a snowbound frozen Upton Park pitch, in playing conditions that would not see a game go ahead today, I can recall West Ham players slipping and sliding all over the place, whereas Huddersfield seemed to have footwear that enabled them to breeze through the game on their feet. Huddersfield scored two early goals, and despite our left-winger Malcolm Musgrove pulling a goal back, we were 3-1 down at half-time. By the end of the game we trudged off the pitch having lost 5-1 to a team from the division below us. This was the first time I remember, but by no means the last time, that we exited a cup competition at the hands of a team from a lower division.

The Carvalho saga lingers on for West Ham

As if we didn’t have enough of the William Carvalho saga for the whole of the last month of the transfer window, we find that it continues even though the window has slammed shut.

I dislike the international breaks that disrupt the domestic football season. It is a bit like starting off any activity and then finding that it continually gets interrupted. It wouldn’t seem so bad if the breaks were spread more evenly throughout the season, but no, we have to have a break for World Cup qualifiers (or Euro qualifiers) every year. The first one has arrived (as usual) just as the season has got underway, this time after just three games. We play four more games before the next break, and then a further four prior to the following one. So we will have only played eleven games and had a weekend off three times! At least it might help West Ham’s players to combat the tiredness that was put forward as a lame excuse following the disastrous performance in our last match in Newcastle.

The transfer window itself was seen by many, before a ball had been kicked, as being a relatively successful one for West Ham, although the evidence of the first three games has suggested to quite a few of us that the jury is out on our new recruits, with the possible exception of Chicarito. Lots of theories are put forward as to why we are currently bottom of the table, and the real reason is probably a mixture of all of them.

But one glaring weakness (of many) in the team from where I sit, is the number of goals that we are conceding. Poor defending is just part of that, which may be down to the individuals themselves that occupy those positions, or may be down to the way that they are organised, and the lack of consistent selection which suggests that the manager doesn’t really know his best defence. Of course this was not helped by the injury to Reid, but nevertheless we have a whole range of international defenders at our disposal.

But a modern football team needs to defend as a whole unit, and this means everyone in the side playing their part when we don’t have the ball. And this happens a lot as we have a tendency to give the ball to our opponents more easily than we should. A vital position in most successful teams is that of the central midfielders, and the ideal players in this position are those that can give cover to the defence whilst at the same time being comfortable in possession, and able to launch attacking moves. Last season’s champions, Chelsea, had Kante and Matic fulfilling this important role. They’ve lost Matic, but bought Drinkwater to resume the partnership with Kante that was an integral part of Leicester’s title winning season the year before. This season’s early leaders, Manchester United, have Pogba and Matic. The great Arsenal side of a few seasons ago had the dream pairing of Vieira and Petit.

In my opinion our best two players in this position in the current squad are Obiang and Kouyate. They haven’t yet started a game as the central pairing this season, with Obiang inexplicably only starting one of our three games, and Kouyate playing just twenty minutes as a substitute at St James Park. Incredibly we began the game at Newcastle with Rice and Noble as the partners in the middle. Now I see Rice as a very promising central defender, and Noble has looked a shadow of his previous self for over a year now. Both Obiang and Kouyate were warming the bench. I just didn’t get it myself, but the manager picks the team and stands or falls by his decisions. The way things are going then falling might come sooner rather than later.

According to the multitude of transfer news in the media during the window, our key target for the last month was William Carvalho, an experienced Portuguese international footballer, who would presumably fill one of the two central midfield slots. And from what I’ve seen of him he would be a perfect addition to the team. I would compare him in style of play to Patrick Vieira. Allegedly we continued to make bids for him, never quite reaching the figure that Sporting Lisbon supposedly wanted us to pay. As time went on I could see that it was unlikely that it would happen, and I was genuinely disappointed when we failed to land him as he looked to me just the type of player we needed.

At the last moment, just as it appeared the transfer wouldn’t happen, we apparently switched our target to Gomes from Barcelona, yet another Portuguese international midfielder, who at 24 (a year younger than Carvalho) was another who might satisfy the demands of fans as an exciting new recruit. Now while this may be the case I would question our strategy in the transfer market. Did we really want a (primarily) defensive midfielder (Carvalho), or one who fulfils a more attacking role? Whilst both would have been excellent acquisitions, we seem to be just trying to get good footballers, rather than looking to fill specific positions in the line-up.

Some West Ham fans have taken to social media slamming the board (in particular David Sullivan) for once again failing to bring in another top level signing, and at the same time Sporting Lisbon are now claiming that we didn’t even lodge a bid for Carvalho. Whatever the truth of the matter, it seems destined to fill some pages during the international break, and will continue to do so until the Premier League resumes next weekend and we can once again concentrate on football. The whole saga though just seems to me to be a typical West Ham transfer scenario, and doesn’t shed a good light on the club.

We must move on now, and if rumours are to be believed, then we need to start performing and picking up points very quickly if we are to move away from the bottom, and for the manager to keep his job. Mr. Sullivan issued an unusual statement last week saying that the manager got exactly the players he wanted in the window, and that to me suggested he was preparing to show him the exit door very soon if the results don’t arrive very soon. We shall see.