Season – Page 2 – Under The Hammers

It was the worst kept secret that Julen Lopetegui would be leaving West Ham, but why did it take so long?

I was reminded on social media this week of Mark Noble’s comments on finishing his playing career at the club: “West Ham aren’t run like a circus anymore.” Some might suggest that this week’s shenanigans involving the sacking of head coach Lopetegui would differ from that. I guess all clubs should have succession planning, but somehow ‘the West Ham way’ of doing it did seem a little unsavoury being played out in public. Or was that just how I saw it? Anyway, as with all managers / head coaches who lose their job I am sure he and his staff will be well compensated for the remaining terms of their contracts.

Because just as I began to write this article the news that we knew was coming has finally been confirmed officially and Julen Lopetegui has been sacked. And he can have no complaints. Like so many I was underwhelmed by his appointment in the first place. But unlike many of our fans who are so called experts in who the club should appoint I didn’t know enough about him and was happy to see if he really was a good choice. Unfortunately he wasn’t and he has since proved that he was the wrong person right from the start.

We have not improved from a defensive point of view this season, and just like the last campaign under Moyes we have the poorest record in respect of goals conceded outside of the bottom three. Has it been poor recruitment in the summer or poor coaching / management since as we brought in Kilman, Todibo and Wan-Bissaka at the back to hopefully improve in this area? Wan-Bissaka has been relatively successful, but we don’t know about Kilman and Todibo yet.

But teams defend as a whole and I believe a key reason for our poor defensive record lies with the lack of pace in midfield which does not offer sufficient protection for the back four. Rodriguez just doesn’t seem to fit the Premier League, Alvarez (for whatever reason) seems to be getting slower and he wasn’t that fast to begin with, and Soucek for all his effort just doesn’t have the pace or quality. Paqueta has looked poor and disinterested for much of the time and has Soler got what it takes to be a success here, and why was he so easy to recruit and not wanted by PSG?

From the outset it just didn’t seem right. The players lacked direction or didn’t seem to understand what was required of them. What were the tactics? They weren’t very clear or again not understood. The team selections were baffling as were many of the substitutions. Inexplicably to me a player like Summerville just wasn’t given a chance, never given a full 90 minutes, hauled off when playing well then on the bench for the next game with no opportunity for continuity.

Prior to our game against Newcastle towards the end of November I wrote a poem entitled The Head Coach. I was expecting him to be dismissed very soon. I tried to predict the outcome of the game and was completely wrong as we won the game 2-0. My forecast was a 2-0 defeat. Pleased though I was (and always am) that we had won the game it didn’t really change my thoughts that he was the wrong choice. He was given more time, but even then I was convinced that he wouldn’t be around for too much longer. It has taken a further six weeks for the inevitable to happen. I repeat the poem here. Let us hope that this time we get it right.

The Head Coach

In the quiet of the changing room there’s tension in the air,
The head coach sits alone, lost in silent prayer,
The team, once full of promise, now struggles in the fight,
The season’s hopes are fading, slipping slowly out of sight.

In the cold winds of November under the floodlights glare,
The head coach stands in silence, with a burden hard to bear,
The team’s form has faltered, each defeat a painful blow,
The whispers growing louder, from the boardroom to below.

The night is cold, the winds are strong, the stadium lights are bright,
Two Premier League teams clashing on a freezing Monday night,
The Magpies on the front foot, their wingers standing wide,
The Hammers block is narrow, they fight to halt the tide.

He paces on the sideline, staring at the pitch,
Hoping to find the magic to turn this losing glitch,
He wonders about his lineup, he rethinks every play,
Hoping for a miracle to chase the doubts away.

One down at the interval, fans patience growing thin,
Every formation has been tried to bring the wins back in,
The half time talk determined, he rallies one more time,
A second goal goes in the net, the finish quite sublime.

After the game he faces the press, he knows not where to start,
Questions probing for cracks within, have the players got the heart?
He talks of faith and unity, of turning it around,
But shadows of the sack loom close, a win just can’t be found.

The players lack direction, the tactics quite unclear,
And baffling team selections, departure must be near,
Behind the scenes the murmurs rise, of replacements lined in wait,
Another loss, its Arsenal next, the coach awaits his fate.

West Ham face Wolves on Monday night. A six pointer this early in the season? We recap the season to date in rhyme.

On a summer’s day in August the new season began,
At home to Aston Villa, on the bench was Jhon Duran,
It only took four minutes, Onana with his head,
A simple goal it looked so easy and now the Villa led.

Then Soucek fouled by Matty Cash in the area, what fun,
Paqueta took the penalty to make the score one-one.
The second half on came the sub – Duran was his name,
You know the rest, a twist of fate, and Villa won the game.

So on we went to Selhurst Park to visit the Eagles nest,
Last time we conceded five so this would be a test,
Would we lose to Palace again? I’ll put your mind at rest,
Soucek and Bowen both scored, we won 2-0 you guessed.

The EFL Cup was next, two teams were evenly matched,
Bowen’s late handball goal was scored, the Cherries were dispatched.

August ended when City came, 1-0 when Haaland struck,
Then Bowen crossed, Dias deflected, the Hammers were in luck.
But you can guess what happened next, Haaland having fun,
Two more goals against us, and City won 3-1.

The international break came next, and then to London West,
To Craven Cottage off we went to face another test,
Jimenez put the hosts one up – it looked like we were done,
But Ings popped up on 95, to make the score one-one.

The London Stadium next, Chelsea came across the town,
Before we blinked Jackson scored two and we were looking down,
Palmer scored another, we needed General Custer,
We lost again, 3-0 it was, the performance was lacklustre.

Off to Anfield next, the EFL cup next round,
We took the lead on 21, were we Wembley bound?
3-1 down by half time, who was there to blame?
By the end it climbed to five to add to West Ham’s shame.

The GTech was next – Brentford then beckons,
Mbuemo scored first in just 40 seconds,
Soucek struck next to bring hope anew,
But a draw was all the Hammers could do.

October came next ‘twas Ipswich I hear,
Antonio in one, oh how we did cheer,
Delap replied to make it one-one,
We then scored three more to bring us some fun.

Next to North London, once White Hart Lane,
They built a new stadium and then changed the name,
Kudus scored first, then they netted four,
Then he got sent off, three Spurs on the floor.

Then Manchester United, much to our delight,
When Summerville scored, a new shining light,
A VAR penalty, who saw it? No-one?
Bowen converted and we won two-one.

Then on to the Forest, a header Chris Wood,
Alvarez sent off – he was up to no good,
Two more for Forest it was now all uphill,
And when it had ended we’d lost it three-nil

And next came the Toffees and no-one could score,
The game ended goalless, a real dreary bore,
The fans were cheesed off, and how they did whine,
The players were booed off at half and full time.

St James Park the venue for West Ham’s next game,
We didn’t expect much, just more of the same,
Soukek’s header, Wan-Bissaka’s rebound,
It came as a shock to win on their ground.

Was this a new dawn? Arsenal was next,
But four goals in no time to stray from the text,
Wan-Bissaka again, and Emerson’s free kick,
But we lost 5-2, were they taking the mick?

And then on to Leicester, we should have done better,
He changed round the team, and left out Paqueta,
31 shots, but still we were done,
Vardy scored early and we lost 3-1.

And next up come Wolves, Matchday 15 already,
We need someone new to come in and steady,
We’re down in fourteenth, 15 points to our name,
We should really be higher, who can we blame?

Wolves even lower, what do they lack?
They face relegation, they need to bounce back,
We’re both down the bottom, which one will crack?
Two bosses in trouble and facing the sack.

(They say) Fools Rush In where angels fear to tread,
A new head coach came – he’s in way above his head,
What next for West Ham to end all our troubles?
We’ll find out real soon and start blowing bubbles.

We all love our team but they do make us fret,
With West Ham you never know quite what you’ll get,
We need to get better, start playing like lions,
With the fans all behind us, come on you irons!

Here We Go Again – Season 67 as a West Ham Fan begins with a 5.30 kick off on Saturday for the visit of Aston Villa

It all began for me on Saturday 23^rd August 1958. 1958-59 was the first football season I remember. West Ham had just been promoted from the second division and I believe this was the first time back in the top-flight since the 1930s. After 6 games we were on top with a win and a draw against the champions from the previous season Wolves and a win against runners up Manchester United. It was a successful campaign finishing sixth, a feat we have only bettered twice since.

This season will be my 67^th as a fan and I’m looking forward just as much as ever to see what it will bring. We were warned to be careful what we wished for but I am hoping for a more enterprising brand of football than that we have witnessed in the last couple of years. The appointment of a head coach who had been in charge at Seville, Real Madrid and the Spanish national team was not especially welcomed by many but I am happy to wait and see. I hope that he can deliver a more progressive style of football than his predecessor. I read some statistics (which I have not verified) which suggested that Moyes has a better goals scored per game record than Lopetegui, but concedes more goals per game on average than our new Spanish boss. Whatever, it was time for something different.

The recruitment in the close season after a sluggish start has picked up in the past couple of weeks (with eight new recruits at the time of writing and perhaps one or two more to come if some existing players can be moved on) and on paper it would appear we have a much better, bigger, (younger? I’m not sure) and more balanced squad than the previous manager had left. Tim Steidten would seem to have done a superb job bringing in the likes of the Championship player of last season, an Argentinian World Cup winner, a current German international centre forward, a highly rated French international centre back, and the head coach’s number 1 pick from Wolves into the squad. Guilherme has also arrived from Brazil with a big reputation (and price tag considering his experience) but he would appear to be one for the future, we shall see.

All the new recruits have joined us without the prospect of European competition this season. The lack of the Thursday / Sunday fixtures should however be an advantage in one respect though given the reduced number of games to play – our record in Sunday games (partly due I suspect due to the small size of the squad) was poor last time. Ten Thursday games in Europe were followed by just two wins on the following Sunday. Perhaps with a fresher and bigger squad we can have a better tilt at the domestic cup competitions than of late.

Of course, this is on paper (and as Brian Clough and others have said the game is not played on paper). It remains to be seen how quickly the new boss can integrate the players into a cohesive unit. Many fans writing on social media are perhaps going a little overboard expecting a challenge for Champions League places but I believe that this may be a little premature. It would be great of course but it is likely to take time for the team to produce consistent results with so many new faces at once.

I am especially excited by Summerville who looked superb when I watched Leeds games on TV last season. He should hopefully provide the balance on the left that has been missing. With Bowen on the right and Kudus perhaps in a central ‘number 10’ role behind a goalscoring centre forward then our attacking threat should be potent and balanced. We have a number of alternatives in midfield – let’s hope that Paqueta can show his skills and best form alongside whoever plays there, probably Rodriguez to begin with while Alvarez is out. Unlike many fans (it would appear) I am a fan of JWP but he is likely to struggle to make the starting eleven such is the depth of the squad in the middle. For the times he does get onto the pitch I hope he rediscovers his free kick shots on goal speciality.

The central defence looks more solid than before with Kilman and the highly rated Todibo, and Wan-Bissaka should hopefully be an upgrade on Coufal, certainly in a defensive sense where he is highly regarded especially in one-on-one situations facing attacking wingers. Hopefully as a result we can improve considerably on our poor goals conceded record – the worst in the Premier League after the three relegated clubs. 74 was the biggest number we have ever conceded in the Premier League and the most ever since 1966-67! I’ve seen last season’s defence described as Swiss cheese – very apt.

The club were hoping that Zouma, last season’s strange choice as captain, could be offloaded to Saudi Arabia saving around £7million in wages. His legs seemed to have gone some time ago and it was no surprise when he ironically failed the CAT scan!

The squad as a whole should give us a much stronger bench than Moyes’ thin numbers could ever achieve, and I wondered if any of the promising youngsters would find their way into it. There were high hopes for three or four of them to do so, but with the strength in depth that we are likely to have it seems that there may be loans to lower league clubs to ensure that they gain experience that they would not have if they stayed this season.

In his relatively short time at the club the new head coach has completely managed to revamp the team from front to back with just days to spare before the new campaign gets underway. A big improvement on previous campaigns where late arrivals in the transfer window after the season had already begun was the order of the day. Nevertheless not a lot of time for the players to gel as a team and it may take a while before we see the best of the new recruits.

Where will we finish? Last season we were ninth so with the changes and investment we’ve got to hope for an improvement. Seventh or eighth perhaps or even better pushing for a place in Europe the following season. And wouldn’t it be great to have long runs in both the League and FA Cups with perhaps a trip to Wembley in one or the other (or both!)?

The season may well turn out to be a transitional one but I’m hoping for visible progress, a desire to retain the ball and not give it away so cheaply, and football that is better to watch than it has been for the past couple of years. I fear that if it takes too long for the team to adapt to Lopetegui’s methods then the fans will get restless. We’ve got to be patient and allow some time for it all to come together.

Aston Villa, newly qualified for the Champions League, will be a stiff test for the first game. We’ve already had one Duran score against us this season (for Celta Vigo), let’s hope that Villa’s Colombian Duran doesn’t do the same on Saturday after all the early transfer window shenanigans! Some fans have complained about our pre-season performances and results but I seem to recall that we had a poor lead into the 1985-86 season where we achieved our best ever finish. Conversely in the Avram Grant year the pre-season went quite well. It’s not always a good indicator of what is to follow, especially this year with the late returners from international football and also the late transfer incomings. Aston Villa have also lost a number of games pre-season too by the way.

So here we go again. My prediction for the starting line-up: Areola, Wan-Bissaka, Kilman, Todibo, Emerson; Rodriguez, Paqueta: Bowen, Kudus, Summerville: Fullkrug. That would mean just five of last year’s regulars added to six newcomers.

That leaves a bench to be chosen from the following: Fabianski, Coufal, Aguerd, Mavropanos, Cresswell, Irving, Soucek, JWP, Guilherme, Ings, Antonio, Cornet plus any of our promising youngsters who haven’t been loaned out. Hopefully I haven’t forgotten anyone. I’m not used to a full squad!

The new head coach may have other ideas, but whatever team is selected I’m excited and looking forward to season 67 as much as my first back in 1958. Who knows what we have in store? I’ll start this year’s score forecasts with a 2-1 win.

West Ham Season 2024/25: Hopes, Dreams and Expectations

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. But in the wake of the big kick-off will it be the hap-happiest season of all for the Hammers?

The numbers are in, the deals are done, and the collection of new home, away and 3^rd kits have been revealed. Now it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty business of the 2024/25 curtain raiser.

It will be a team of virtual strangers who take the field for West Ham at the London Stadium late on Saturday afternoon and then into the opening games of the new campaign. At best the coach’s preferred starting eleven will comprise only five or six survivors from last year’s ever presents. It is an unprecedented level of change usually only seen when a newly promoted club is desperately seeking to consolidate its place in the top flight. The extent of renewal that was necessary in the squad is a sad indictment of the mess left by the previous managerial incumbent. I still have to scratch my head when I read comments as to how he left the club in a good position, was underappreciated, or will be sorely missed. I trust I never have to witness a West Ham low block ever again.

On paper, the work done by Julen Lopetegui and Tim Steidten to refresh the squad on a tightish budget – without little in the way of saleable assets – looks impressive. How that translates onto the pitch will only become apparent over time. Once the players have become familiar with each other and the new style of play. A possession based game not only requires players to be comfortable on the ball but also needs far more movement off the ball than we have been used to. Attempting to play out from the back without at least a couple of passing options would be courting disaster.

The modern football supporter needs to understand finance and the intricacies of PSR and FFP as much as getting to grips with formations and tactics. While the media focuses mainly on transfer spend, the impact of player salaries cannot be overlooked. As an example, the recent transfer of Aaron Wan-Bissaka has been reported as £15 million (amortised at £3 million per annum over 5 years) while his earnings might well be in the range of £3.5 to £4 million (my estimate) for each of the seven years of his contract. Quite a commitment.

Views on the West Ham board are rarely positive but it is difficult not to be impressed by the sumer investment. And this time the spending looks to have been undertaken in a reasoned manner. In the past money has been spent, but unwisely. The current estimate of the club’s net transfer spend this window is £85.1 million. So what do we now have for the money?

The assumption is that Alphonse Areola will retain the keeper’s gloves with Lukasz Fabianski as deputy. Poor old Wes Foderingham will become the forgotten man of the transfer window like leftover Toffee Pennys in the Quality Street box at the end of the Christmas holidays. If there is a concern with the keepers, it is how well they can adapt to the passing out game having become so used to hoofing it long during their West Ham careers. Neither look the most comfortable with the ball at their feet.

With the exception of Emerson it will an all new back line. New recruits Wan-Bissaka, Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo making up the defensive quartet. The two full backs offer very different styles of play and it will be interesting to see how they are integrated into the Lopetegui’s system. We may well witness a great deal more fluidity in formation than in the past with Wan-Bissaka dropping into the centre a lot more often than he is bombing down the flanks. Todibo is an exciting prospect who will hopefully adjust quickly to the physical demands of the Premier League. There has already been a little negativity over Kilman (and the price paid for him) on the strength of a few kick-about friendlies but it is obviously far too early to draw any conclusions.

Backup defenders are in short supply. Vladimir Coufal and Aaron Cresswell can provide emergency cover as full backs but the situation in the centre is more confused. Both Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd are being ushered towards the exits while Dinos Mavropanos has proven accident prone inmost of the games he has played. If one or more are shifted, then there is still time to bring in another centre-back. Of those still being linked I like the sound of Nathan Zeze. Who wouldn’t want to nip down to the club shop to buy a Zeze top?

From what we have seen in pre-season, West Ham will be adopting a high defensive line. This will requires pace and alertness to deal with the ball over the top. In this respect, the Kilman – Todibo partnership will be key to plugging the leaks in the Hammer’s defence.

Defensive midfield duties will fall primarily to Edson Alvarez and Guido Rodriguez although we don’t yet know whether Lopetegui sees them playing as a pair of as cover for each other’s suspensions. At least one must remain deep to provide numerical support to the centre backs. I expect plenty of variation in the midfield while, in practice, most progressive sides now attack and defend as a team rather than being setup in rigid formations. Maybe Lucas Paqueta will also be deployed deeper in certain games where circumstances dictate.

Remaining candidates for defensive midfield duties are Tomas Soucek, James Ward-Prowse and potentially Andy Irving – provided they survive the transfer window cull. None have the look of regular starters to me but can make valuable contributions from the bench.

Attacking midfield provides the greatest selection conundrum with Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus, and “Jimmy” Summerville competing for three starting berths – with Luis Guilherme waiting in the wings to get Premier League minutes under his belt. Finding the right balance will be a challenge, especially in getting the best out of Kudus who (until now) has looked at his least effective when deployed on the left. But it would be a huge call to play him in place of Bowen or Paqueta on the right or in the centre resepctively.

This leaves finding a way to accommodate Summerville who is the one player capable of thriving out left while also contributing a decent goal return. It’s great to have option as long as the coach is able to keep everybody happy.

The signing of Niclas Füllkrug is the one that has most divided opinion among supporters, largely based on an apparent lack of pace. If the most pessimistic reports are to be believed he ranks somewhere between a snail and a glacier in speed of movement. He may not be a glamourous squad addition, but Lopetegui and Steidten clearly favoured experience over the potential of unproven alternatives. Hopefully attributes of strength, anticipation and instinct will see him make a valuable contribution in an exciting attacking line-up. It’s not only about pace!

There are outstanding decisions to be made on the futures of Michail Antonio and Danny Ings. One is likely to leave before the window closes. For me, Antonio still has something different to offer if he is happy to stick around in the role of impact sub. Ideally, I would still like to see an additional (younger) striker brought in as backup using any additional funds freed up by shipping out fringe players.

Hopes for the season are for West Ham to be in with a shout for the European places come the end of the season. A cup run would also be nice. So much will depend on how long the new look team and tactics take to hit the ground. Offensively we should be capable of causing any opponent problems but cutting out the mistakes and the giveaways further back may take more time to eradicate. I can foresee plenty of gnashing of teeth in the opening weeks where a keeper mis-controls or a defender earns the assist for an opposition goal.

Overall, I am excited for the new season. Then again, the opening day is always the time of peak optimism. Typically, the optimism doesn’t survive past August Bank Holiday but who knows? This could be the start of something big. COYI!

What Do You Think Of It So Far: A Sign Of Great Things To Come Or Just A Lucky Start To The Season?

West Ham’s early season form has defied all expectations. Great signings and a return to the swashbuckling counterattack style of two years ago, or a few lucky breaks in the unpredictable opening exchanges of the new campaign?

If the Premier League season was a YouTube video then international breaks would be the annoying advertisements that pop up just as things are getting interesting to interrupt the flow, but without the ability to ‘skip’ after five seconds. And if you are hating this one, there are two more still to come before Christmas.

At least a break allows a moment to reflect on what has happened so far in West Ham’s embryonic season. I doubt even the most optimistic claret-and-blue spectacled Hammer would have forecast ten points from four games when the fixtures were first announced. But is this a springboard for a memorable campaign at home and in Europe, or is the current league position as good as it gets for the rest of the season? The upcoming matches against Manchester City and Liverpool are sure to put a more measured perspective on matters.

There are two schools of thought on the Hammer’s stellar start to the season – if internet chatter is anything to go by. And opinion is largely split depending on whether you are in the pro or anti David Moyes camp. Unfortunately, the loudest voices invariably originate from the extremes where everything is either black or white, yes or no, true or false.

The pro-Moyes camp view the start as a wholehearted endorsement of the Board’s decision to stick with the manager. The team has been strengthened by exciting new signings, is displaying a welcome return to the fast, counter-attacking style of two years ago, and have been good value for three excellent wins out of four. In the other corner, the Moyes-out camp see a typical early season distortion in the league standings. West Ham have been lucky. Chelsea should have buried us before half-time, Brighton had enough chances to have equalised, Luton are a terrible team and deserved a penalty at the end. We could just as easily be sitting bottom half with two or three points by now.

It would be wrong not to take at least a few of positives from the four games played, even if the sample size is way too small to make any bold predictions – I can still remember Carlisle United topping the old Division One at the start of the 1974/75 season and eventually getting relegated. But the team have started the campaign with confidence high, boosted by the success that comes with winning the Europa Conference. There is an excellent spirit in the squad, they are well drilled, and most importantly, they are getting more players forward (and more quickly) in support of counter attacks. Last season it took ten games to score the nine goals that have been buried so far.

The recruitment of James Ward-Prowse and Edson Alvarez are looking to be inspired, great value signings. Michail Antonio, Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta have started the season in blistering form. And there is more to come with anticipation of the delights that Mohammed Kudus and Konstantinos Mavropanos can bring to the table.

Naturally, being West Ham supporters, we are genetically programmed to expect everything to go horribly wrong at any moment. In that respect, the next three games will present fascinating insights.

Against Manchester City and Liverpool, we can expect classic Moyesball with narrow, compact defending and 20-something percent position. Success depends on whether the low-block defence is capable of snuffing out the abundant firepower both sides have available for an entire 90 minutes. And whether enough numbers are committed forward in support of counterattacks on the rare occasions the opportunity arises.

Defending narrow and getting numbers behind the ball does a fine job of closing down space between the lines, but it does allow opponents plenty of opportunity to ping in crosses and to shoot from range. They only need to get lucky once, as we saw with the Bournemouth equaliser in the season opener. While the current approach to defending persists there is little chance that Moyes will be weaned away from the ever-present Thomas Soucek. His defensive contribution – headed clearances and interceptions – should not be overlooked, but with the ball at his feet he is below top-half Premier League standard. Unless he returns to the goal scoring form of 2020/21 his net value to the team is questionable.

There is also a suspicion that the concentration levels required to defend with backs to the wall for extended periods will inevitably take its toll in terms of fatigue – especially with the manager’s tendency to delay substitutions for as long as possible. It was clear that Alvarez was tiring towards the end of the Brighton game and yet no relief was forthcoming until after the hosts scored. It may not be a coincidence that three of the four goals conceded to date have come in the last ten minutes.

The attacking strategy in these games is wholly dependent on the efforts of Antonio. At his best, it is easy to see why he unsettles defenders unaccustomed to opponents with such pace and power. But how long can he keep it up? Antonio delivered an equally impressive start to the 2021/22 season where he scored six times in the opening eight matches, but his ensuing lean spell coincided with the team’s lost momentum. It is astounding that no obvious replacement has been added to the squad.

The Sheffield United fixture will present a very different challenge. It is a game where West Ham will be expected to take the initiative. If there is a desire to play a more fluid frontline, then potentially this is the opportunity to do it. Perhaps by leaving Antonio on the bench with Bowen through the middle and Kudus coming in on the right. It was clear from the Luton game that Antonio’s style of play is far less effective when the team have more possession. I hope Moyes sees this as a chance to be less rigid in setting up for games where we should dominate the ball.

So far, West Ham have yet to suffer from any major VAR eccentricities – although the disallowed Emerson goal at Luton didn’t appear to receive the level of scrutiny often reserved for such events. In fact, many felt that VAR had done the Hammers a favour by not intervening in the Ward-Prowse ‘handball’ incident in the closing seconds at Kenilworth Road. Personally, I never regarded handball as a particularly contentious issue in the good old pre-VAR days. But in their wisdom PGMOL have made it so with a dog’s breakfast implementation – both from an attacking and defending point of view – that now nobody really understands the rules – just like in Rugby Union. COYI!

Have West Ham’s bubbles burst before the season has even begun?

The euphoria of our European success is just a distant memory as the club are mocked by a pizza company

It is barely two months since Lucas Paqueta’s superb through ball in the ninetieth minute put Jarrod Bowen clear on goal for a winner that produced our greatest moment since 1980 when we lifted the Europa Conference League trophy. Surely that should have been a catalyst for the club to build upon? But what has happened since has induced the biggest bout of pessimism amongst most West Ham fans before a ball has been kicked in anger that I can remember. And my memories go back to the late 1950s.

Of course we didn’t have the internet at that time but even then you could sense that there was optimism amongst supporters as a new season dawned that this was going to be “our year”. It’s something that I haven’t recognised at all this time as I scoured the West Ham groups for a sense of current feelings. These groups have always had their fair share of moaners even in the good times, but these were balanced by alternative (positive / optimistic) views. I have found very few who seem to believe that we are in a good place at the start of this campaign.

It didn’t take long for everything to begin to unravel as the players headed for their holidays after the euphoria of the European success. Within days we lost two first team coaches in Mark Warburton and the highly rated Paul Nevin. A clash of footballing philosophies with David Moyes? Not a good start to the summer.

Never mind, by early July Tim Steidten joined the club as technical director. Our chairman David Sullivan believed that this would drive the football strategy of the club in a forward direction. I cannot see any evidence of this yet. To me the club has engaged reverse gear. Of course, you never know what to believe when you read social media or the press, but one view is that Moyes and Steidten are at loggerheads. Moyes, whose future relies largely on short term results apparently wants to buy tried British players first before spending any surplus on longer term, perhaps younger prospects from abroad. Steidten on the other hand has the opposite view and some have claimed he has blocked Moyes attempted buys. Alternatively, some reports claim that he and Moyes are best buddies in full agreement as to how to take the club forward. Who knows? I do wonder how the types of players Steidten has in mind would fit with the Moyes way of playing?

Within a couple of weeks of Steidten’s appointment the long running saga of Rice to Arsenal was finally over. Surely nobody believed he would be staying? Surely the club would have a plan in place to replace him and all would become evident as soon as the transfer was completed, and in good time before the new season began? This is West Ham remember!

With just seven days to go before the serious business of the Premier League began we faced Bayer Leverkusen in the final pre-season warm up game. The Germans, managed by Xabi Alonso, finished sixth in the Bundesliga last season (level on points with Eintracht Frankfurt – remember them?) and qualified for the Europa League (like ourselves). This would surely be a good test to see how ready we were for the new season. We were comprehensively outplayed and lost 4-0, sending West Ham fans on social media into overdrive.

By Monday afternoon, just five days before kick-off I looked on NewsNow (always good for entertainment!) to see if there were any transfer developments on any of the 88 players that we have been supposedly interested in this window. You know the ones, the ‘incredible’ 29yo, the ‘exceptional’ magician, the ‘unbelievable’ powerhouse, the ‘monster’, the ‘brilliant’ midfielder. It seems that Edson Alvarez is close at this time, and Ward-Prowse, Maguire and McTominay continually feature but I don’t believe anything I read until the West Ham website shows a new recruit with crossed arms in a claret and blue shirt.

Saturday’s Daily Mail quoted a tweet (or is it now an X?) from Domino’s Pizza – ‘Just Had West Ham come in again …. and not buy anything’

It seems hard to believe that anybody new will be here in time to feature on Saturday. The window continues for a while yet but how much better would it be to get our business done before the season begins? Remember the start we had last season? Three losses in the first three games, bottom of the pile and playing catch up for months while our new players were slowly integrated into the team. Some of the football was awful to watch and we were still in the bottom three with 15 games to go. Of course, all’s well that ends well, and the season certainly ended well with our European success. And Bournemouth for the first game is a more hopeful opener than Manchester City was last time. Can we repeat 4-0? You can get around 50/1 or 60/1 from the bookmakers if you think so. Not particularly generous odds for such a big away win. We are marginal favourites to win the game.

Traditionally I make a prediction before the season gets underway as to the final league positions. So here goes – Manchester City, Arsenal, Liverpool, Newcastle, Manchester United, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Brighton, Tottenham, West Ham, Brentford, Burnley, Everton, Crystal Palace, Fulham, Wolves, Forest, Bournemouth, Sheffield United, Luton.

Tenth for West Ham. That’s about as optimistic as I can get!

Carry On Up The Transfer Window: A London Stadium Farce

Just over a week to go and the omens are looking bad for a new season of discontent. Who’s to blame for raining on the cup-winning parade?

A theoretical debate that occasionally comes up online is whether supporters would choose a cup win over being relegated. Personally, I’d consider it too big a sacrifice, but others have different perspectives. After all, there’s no greater joy in football than the thrill of a cup final success.

In many ways, what we have now at West Ham is a watered-down variant of this dilemma. Although attempting to second guess what goes on between David Sullivan’s ears is dangerous territory, there is every chance that our manager would now be down the job centre had his team not been victorious in Prague.

Finding a David Moyes advocate among West Ham supporters is now as rare as spotting the abominable snowman. If they exist in any significant numbers among the fan base, they are keeping quiet about it. From the outside it must look strange that a manager who delivered a first trophy in 43 years and has overseen three successive European campaigns is so widely unappreciated. But theirs is a view formed independently of emotional attachment with the uninspiring style of football served up on the pitch.

Moyes is a relic of bygone age of managers. Footballing fogeys such as Allardyce, Pulis, Bruce, Hughes, and Warnock whose tactics and horizons rarely ventured beyond survival. He is the last man standing, attempting to defy the rising tide of progressive play like a modern-day Canute. Even Roy Of The Palace leaves Moyes in the shadows when it comes to fresh ideas. Whichever way you look at it, there surely cannot be any future for him at the club beyond this season – the last year of his contract. Making it until the end of the year would be astonishing.

And that brings us to the simultaneous tragedy and farce of the summer transfer window. An apparent recruitment by committee that at time of writing has yet to yield a single result – and the new season just over a week away. We are still no closer in understanding who is responsible for what on transfers, or what the priorities are. The Venn diagram of players acceptable to both Moyes and Tim Steidten that also satisfy Sullivan’s bank balance features only Dennis Zakaria at its intersection.

The standoff is presumably between Moyes desire to bring in players capable of hitting the ground running and Steidten’s brief of introducing a forward-looking transfer strategy. The two clearly don’t need to be mutually exclusive despite being presented that way. There are plenty of options out there between the extremes of untested teenagers and sunsetting 30-year-olds. The squad already has a wealth of experience. What it is lacking is youth, pace, mobility, and flair.

A club like West Ham should not be paying big money for players at the end of their careers. There is no future in such an approach and Sullivan is right not to pay over the odds for those with no likely resale value in a year or two’s time. Equally, the record of signing expensive established ‘flops’ – Anderson, Haller, Vlasic, and the soon to be departed Scamacca – and selling at huge discounts is just as unsustainable.

The promise that Steidten’s appointment could herald a methodical, reasoned, and professional approach to recruitment is threatened by the hubris of Sullivan and the stubbornness of Moyes. Unfortunately, the only person who can clear the blockage is Sullivan himself. If the alleged Moyes veto on transfers is a contractual stipulation – didn’t Curbishley have something similar that allowed him to claim constructive dismissal – then it or he needs to be removed immediately. Why let a lame duck manager dictate transfer spend and allow him to burden the club with the hefty wages and long contracts of declining players for years to come?

What will happen between now and the end of the window on September 1^st is anyone’s guess. Where clubs are desperate to sell then asking prices will reduce. But where there is no imperative to sell, prices may just as easily go up as buying clubs become more desperate. No doubt there will be signings, but the probability of panic buys rises as the deadline approaches. With even more rumoured outgoings on the cards – Scamacca, Cresswell, Antonio – the risk of a below strength squad is high, both in numbers and quality. To my mind the squad is short of six or seven quality players, but I see no way that such a target can be achieved on past performance .

I see no other scenario than a shockingly poor start to the season from an under prepared side. If, and when, signings are made, Moyes will be hesitant to play them for the opening month or so. With vacancies on the coaching staff also unfilled, it has the feel of a season written off before it has begun. Two or three points from the opening half a dozen games if we are lucky.

Creating such a pessimistic state of affairs within a few months of wining the Conference League final is quite staggering. But West Ham has been a terribly run club for as long as I can remember. The irony being that the level of competence and ambition shown is inversely proportional to the loyalty and passion of the fans. It can’t get any worse, can it? COYI!

Europa Champions, Silverware, Moyes and Rice: Where Do West Ham Go From Here?

A week of untold joy for Hammers fans across the globe. Is this just a random act in history, or can it be the start of lasting east-end legacy?

Oh, what a night. Why’d it take so long to see the light? The thrill, the buzz and the pinching ourselves after last week’s famous victory has slowly started to fade away – but how sweet to witness the pent-up joy and emotion that was released when the final whistle blew in Prague on Wednesday night.

Any doubts that the Europa Conference League wasn’t a major trophy were swept away in a wave of a celebration and euphoria that spread from the Fortuna Arena to the streets of east London to the hordes of happy Hammers living around the world. What a fabulously supported club this is. And what devotion, passion, and commitment from a following that has been starved of success for so many years.

A first European trophy for 58 years, the first silverware for 43 years and West Ham joining the alternative big six of Premier League clubs to have won a UEFA title. There was no questioning what victory meant to players, coaches, and supporters alike.

As with many finals, the game itself was instantly forgettable – aside from the manner of victory, that is. A last-minute winner and the anxious wait for VAR couldn’t have been better scripted. As the dust settled, several new generations of West Ham fans (anyone under 50) can now proudly tick-off experiencing a West Ham trophy win from their lifetime to-do lists.

But the world of football does not stand still. The fixtures for the new season are revealed tomorrow morning and the 2023/24 season starts in just 60 days’ time. Those two months may prove to be a pivotal time at the club as they seek to refresh an ageing squad into one capable of competing in both Premier and Europa Leagues.

It was no surprise in the aftermath of the historic trophy win to learn that David Moyes would stay to fight another season at West Ham. It would have been a harsh decision to remove the manager who had just delivered a first trophy since 1980. But that victory does not erase what was otherwise an atrocious league season. In terms of defeats (20 out of 38 games) and goals scored (42) it was among the Hammers worst ever Premier League seasons.

There is a disconnect between those who regularly sit through games and those who follow the results in the media. On paper, the achievements of the last three seasons look excellent – two top seven finishes and three European campaigns on the trot is unprecedented for the club. But on the pitch we are not seeing entertainment and the approach is riddled with caution and fear. Unless that changes, Moyes will never be able to win over the fans.

Despite being critical of Moyes brand of football, it would be churlish not to share his excitement or acknowledge his role in achieving victory in Prague. It’s a fact of modern footballing life, with its concentration of power in the few, that not many managers get to add a major honour to their CV these days. And it was apparent from the celebrations that a great spirit exists between the manager and his players – contrary to the dour and distant reputation that is often painted.

The West Ham board have received widespread praise for sticking with Moyes and maybe the outcome did justify the decision. We can never know for sure. A change of manager may still have won the Conference and finished half a dozen places higher in the league. Or we may have been relegated! Impossible to tell with any certainty!

Sadly, I don’t have high hopes that Moyes is open to new ideas as to how to play football. He maintains that he had tried something new in the early part of last season, but whatever it was it passed me by. As he enters the final year of his contract it will be interesting to see if he becomes any less cautious. I fear not but possibly there will be clues in the player recruitment?

A few weeks before the end of the season, the manager was talking about tweaks in the transfer window rather than the wholesale arrivals seen the previous summer. With the imminent departure of Declan Rice, question marks over the future of Gianluca Scamacca, and several other players – Manuel Lanzini, Angelo Ogbonna, Michail Antonio, Aaron Cresswell, Danny Ings, and Lukasz Fabianski – all at the wrong end of the age and fitness scale, that sounds like a recipe for disaster. Add in an injury prone Kurt Zouma and the rebuilding task feels massive. I make that a minimum of six new players for the first team squad.

It seems it will only be a matter of time before Rice is being paraded in an Arsenal/ Manchester United/ Chelsea shirt. He has been very diplomatic and respectful in stating that he is a West Ham player, until he isn’t. But the tactless Chairman has already spilled the beans that he needs to be sold as the club cannot afford to let him run his contract down any further. Rice has been the heartbeat of the side for the past three seasons and will be a hard act to follow. His importance on the pitch is so much more than as a defensive midfielder – where he has excelled with a sublime ability to read of the game. He has also been the main man for carrying the ball forward and central to orchestrating the lion’s share of attacking plays.

There is so much nonsense written about transfers in the media, making it impossible to separate the feasible from the fanciful. We can only speculate whether the club has a well-thought-out plan to improve the squad – one that has an eye on both immediate needs and longer-term development. Past performance suggests that is unlikely and that we will again rely on agents rather than a comprehensive scouting network. The talk of bringing in a Director of Football has suddenly gone quiet with The Guardian now reporting that it is being reconsidered following discussions between Sullivan and Moyes.

A recurring theme has been that the focus of transfer activity will be on players with Premier League experience. A reaction, no doubt, to the poor return from last summer’s transfer window. But I do wonder how much of the failure to ‘hit the ground running’ was due to the absence of that experience. Or whether the integration was badly planned or managed. With football increasingly ‘systemised’ adjustment might equally be attributed to adapting to a system rather than a country – Jack Grealish taking a year to flourish at Manchester City is an example.

Buying the right players to fit specific needs or positions on the pitch is the ideal and sensible solution, regardless of where they now play. The £100 million from the sale of Rice will not go far when restricting your options to proven PL players – unless there are fire sale bargains from relegated clubs to be had, or we want to pick a few more past their bests (see D Ings).

It will be an interesting couple of months. As well as finding a suitable replacement for Rice, we cannot forget the club’s long running and continued struggle with striker recruitments. It is the most difficult position to fill in the best of circumstances but in the way that West Ham currently play, finding a suitable candidate becomes close to impossible.

It is tempting to see winning the Europa Conference as the springboard for a golden era of success. But cup wins can just as easily be no more than a blip in history. Hard work and inspired decisions are required if the cup win has any hope of leaving a legacy. Let’s hope the board and management are up for it. COYI!

The (not quite) Half Term Review for West Ham United

In a normal season around this time of year, Christmas / New Year, we would be at the halfway point of the Premier League campaign. Of course this is not a normal season with interruptions to the fixture list following the death of the Queen and a World Cup played in our winter as opposed to the summer.

As we go into the final fixture of 2022 at home to Brentford we still have three league games to play before the halfway point is reached. Following Brentford we have away games at Leeds (4 Jan), and Wolves (14 Jan), with a third round FA Cup tie at Brentford in between (7 Jan).

In a normal season we would play all the other 19 teams first before embarking upon the reverse fixtures in the second half, but this time around it will not be quite like that, as our 19^th fixture at Wolves will be the second time we have faced them. We haven’t yet faced high flying Newcastle as that game was postponed in Matchweek 7.

After 16 Premier League games we have lost 10, winning just 4 and drawing 2. That means we have 14 points and sit in 16^th place in the table, just ahead of Everton based on goals scored (we are level on points and goal difference with them). Any team that is averaging a point a game or less is involved in a relegation situation. We are most definitely involved. Although Declan Rice believes the current position is just “a bump in the road.”

Everton are one of just three teams to have scored fewer goals than us. We have 13, Everton 12, Forest 11, and Wolves 10. Conversely our goals conceded record is much better with only Newcastle, Everton, Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool having conceded fewer goals than us. That demonstrates where the problem lies. We are not scoring enough goals, especially away from home where we have managed just four and never more than once in any game.

At home we have 10 points from our 8 games with 3 wins by two goal margins, 2-0 v Wolves, 3-1 v Fulham and 2-0 v Bournemouth, and a 1-1 draw v Tottenham. Four home games have been lost conceding two goals in each, 0-2 v Manchester City, 0-2 v Brighton, 1-2 v Palace and 0-2 v Leicester.

Away from home this week’s 1-3 reverse at Arsenal was the first time we have been beaten by more than a single goal, with four 0-1 losses at Forest, Everton, Liverpool and Manchester United and a 1-2 reverse at Chelsea. The four points we have picked up on our travels are from a 1-0 win at Villa and a 1-1 draw at bottom club Southampton.

Current form is woeful with four league defeats in a row (the same as Southampton who have recently sacked their manager); our last win was 2-0 at home to Bournemouth (24 Oct). Said Benrahma is our leading league goalscorer with 3 (2 of which were penalties). In fact he has scored our last three league goals. The last time any other player has scored a goal was when Zouma scored (a controversial?) header just before half time in the win over Bournemouth.

Bowen, Scamacca and Antonio haven’t scored since 9 October when they all scored in the 3-1 win over Fulham. Bowen’s goal was a penalty in that game; he subsequently missed one at Liverpool on 19 October. They have each scored just twice this season.

The 14 points we have amassed from our first 16 games is exactly half of what we had achieved after 16 games last season when we had 28 points from 8 wins, 4 draws and just 4 defeats, and sat in 4^th place in the table. This highlights our decline since then with the final 22 games from last term and the first 16 from this one (a full season’s worth of 38 games) producing just 42 points.

The only real positive from this season has been our 8 wins from 8 games in the Europa Conference League. You can only beat what is in front of you but these victories say more about the quality of the opposition in those games than anything else.

The pressure is building on David Moyes as we have lost four games in a row, the ten defeats are equally the most in the top flight, and we are just one point and two places above the bottom three. The next three games to the halfway point of the season are crucial.

Can we win all three to move on to 23 points from 19 games and mid-table?
If we lose all three and / or fall into the relegation places will David Moyes still be the manager? Or will two top seven finishes in the last two seasons, reaching the Europa Cup semi-final last time, and qualification for the round of 16 in the Europa Conference League this season buy him more time?
If he goes, who might replace him?
Will we still be in the FA Cup after the third round matches?

The mood on fan groups on the internet certainly seems to have shifted. The numbers calling for the manager to be replaced are growing, and the number of fans supporting him seems to be diminishing rapidly. That will escalate if the current slump does not get turned round quickly.

The list of complaints about him include:

losing the dressing room,
picking his favourites however poorly they seem to be playing,
a lack of tactical ideas,
no plan B or C,
setting up to not lose or to hold on for a win if we do get in front,
making strange substitutions,
making substitutions too late,
an inferiority complex especially regarding the top teams,
giving too much respect to the top teams especially when we are away (he has a poor managerial record against some top clubs never having beaten them away after numerous efforts),
turning good players into average ones,
buying players not suited to the club, the Premier League or his playing style,
opposition teams have now found us out and he has failed to adapt or recognise this,
failure to give academy players a chance

Those are just a random selection – there may be more.

He was well supported in terms of finance in the summer but the newcomers have not (yet?) proved to be a success. Aguerd has been injured (is he injury prone – time will tell?), Paqueta is obviously a good player but does not seem to be suited to playing in the Premier League, Scamacca is Haller mark 2 and not suited to our style of play, Emerson is Masuaku mark 2, Cornet seems to be injury prone, Kehrer seems to make a lot of mistakes for a current German international defender, and Downes looks a good player but doesn’t get selected.

This evening’s game against Brentford is vital if we are going to start to recover from this disappointing start to the season. We haven’t beaten them for almost 30 years, although we have only played them twice in that time when they did the double over us last season. Despite our recent form, bookmakers still have us as evens favourites to win the game. What are the chances?

West Ham Season 2022/23 Half-Term Reports – Part One: Players F to Z

Concluding our two part half term report on the West Ham first team squad before Boxing Day’s return action at Arsenal

Fabianski: Lukasz: Hanging on as the club’s Number One despite his advancing years and the challenge from Areola. His powers have not yet shown significant decline and his strengths and weaknesses remain as they were. One of the better shot stoppers in the league but liable to be vulnerable in the air. There have been several goals this season where he ‘could have done better’ (© Jim Beglin, Tony Gale and others) but no alarming clangers have been dropped. In the context of modern day goalkeeping his kicking and distribution are woeful. A deficiency amplified by the number of rushed back passes that are made in his direction. Grade: C+

Fornals, Pablo: Impossible to fault Fornal’s energy but difficult to pinpoint what his core competencies are other than non-stop running. Too frequently deployed as Cresswell’s minder, he lacks the pace to offer true offensive threat out wide. Plays the occasional sublime through ball but otherwise his passing is as erratic as his finishing. His strength is inversely proportional to his stamina – invariably loses every challenge and seemingly lacks the power to make successful long-range passes. Always looks very happy though. Grade: C-

Johnson, Ben: At one time I would have described Johnson as the best defensive full-back at the club. But this season, performances have fallen away worryingly to a point where he has looked lost and is frequently stranded in no-mans-land. A string of injuries has not helped his development nor has being asked to switch between right and left back and as part of a makeshift central defence – not easy in a struggling side. Hopefully he can rediscover his defensive mojo but has yet to show that he has much to offer from an attacking perspective. Grade: C

Kehrer, Thilo: With the received wisdom being that players need time to adjust to the Premier League, Kehrer should be allowed some slack for a less than impressive start to his West Ham career. Thrown in at the deep end, played in every game and switched between full-back and center back, there has been little time for him to settle. Has a tendency towards recklessness but there may be a touch of confirmation bias when apportioning blame his way to goals conceded, which are rarely down just to individual error. He should improve to become a valuable squad member. Grade: C

Lanzini, Manuel: Never the same player since his unfortunate injury on duty for newly crowned World Cup champions, Argentina. He was approaching his peak at the time but these days Lanzini is more sloppy than messi. Has the occasional better game when sitting deeper and is capable of the spectacular strike. But the days of tricky runs and probing passes are filed under historic record rather than current affairs. Grade: D+

Ogbonna, Angelo: Another of the wily campaigners with a decent West Ham career to his credit. Now 34 and recovering from a bad injury that ruled him out for most of last season, Ogbonna is at the tail end of his career. Used mainly in European games, he has been limited to 27 Premier League minutes this season. However, given the hoodoo surrounding the fitness of fellow central defenders, he may well be called upon more in the coming months than originally anticipated. A huge risk as to whether he will be able to manage the pace and physicality if thrown into the mix. Grade: C-

Palmieri, Emerson: The strangest of signings which was presumably meant to be either backup or competition for Cresswell. Left back has been a long-term problem position and that was the best option available? Has the feel of a last-minute panic buy, equivalent to Moyes buying saucepans as his wife’s Xmas present. Emerson is neither a left back nor a particularly effective wing back. In that sense the ideal replacement for Masuaku. Grade: D

Paqueta, Lucas: It would be an understatement to say that Paqueta has not lived up to the hype surrounding his £50 million summer transfer. Early signs are that he is not the game-changing, playmaker that was advertised. No doubt there is talent there but one that favours one-touch flicks and killer passes rather than crafting openings, running with the ball, and directing operations. It is a frustrating style to shoehorn into a team of such limited movement and pace. Does have a couple of assists to his name while looking indecisive in front of goal. Grade: C

Rice, Declan: Continues to be the club’s best and most influential player, despite not quite reaching the heights of previous campaigns. Has the added responsibility of being captain taken its toll or was he distracted by the glamour of the world cup? One of the most exceptional players to pull on a West Ham shirt in recent history there are so many facets to his game – tackles, interceptions, passing, surging runs – that will be sorely missed if, and when, he leaves. Has carried the team more and more to the point of over-reliance. The only player capable of carrying the ball forward at pace and under control. Quite possibly his last half-season as a Hammer is coming up. Grade: B+

Scamacca, Gianluca: On evidence to date Scamacca is a candidate to join the very long list of West Ham strikers failing to deliver in the penalty area. It’s a prophecy that’s guaranteed to come true if he remains as isolated as he has been until now. To prosper he needs others close by, playing off and around him. If the counter attacking style of football was not going to change then a player with pace prepared to run and run would have been a more suitable option – not one more comfortable playing with his back to goal. His attitude seems OK but frustration must be building. Despite everything, he is the club’s joint top scorer (alongside Bowen, Benrahma and Antonio) with two apiece. Grade: C

Soucek, Tomas: The 2021 Hammer Of The Year has seen a rapid fall far from grace as his limitations have been exposed. He is the type of player that you don’t want to have involved in the middle third where he has made a major contributor to poor ball retention and the slowness of build-up play. Still does a lot of great work defensively protecting the backline but has lost the knack of ghosting in to score at the other end – now that he is a known quantity. When the goals dried up his value dropped like a stone. Can’t think of another Premier League midfielder who looks anywhere near as awkward when on the ball – not even Kouyate. Grade: D+

Zouma, Kurt: Zouma is a solid and dependable centre back, whenever he is not injured. Rarely does a game go by when he doesn’t appear to be in some degree of agony. Will his recent surgery sort him out or will he be forever injury prone? Very strong in the air and not easily bullied, he is adept at making clearances all day long. The potential partnership with Aguerd is appealing but will they ever both be fit at the same time? Not the greatest on the ball but competent enough. Grade: B

Click here to read part one of the half-term report.