It was sad to hear the news that Manchester United and England legend Bobby Charlton had died. He was undoubtedly one of the greatest and best-known English footballers of all time who stood alongside Bobby Moore and Gordon Banks as the truly outstanding players from England’s 1966 World Cup winning team. A sign of time’s relentless passage is that Sir Geoff Hurst is now the sole survivor from the eleven that took the field for England in July 1966. Out of interest, their West German opponents have fared rather better as far as longevity is concerned with six out of the eleven still with us.
Much has changed in football since 1966 when international games were few and far between. There were, of course, the hotly contested Home Internationals but opportunities for a glimpse of more exotic players such as Pele, Eusebio, Yashin, and Beckenbauer were rare. Now we can see most of the world’s top stars in our own league on a weekly basis – at least when it isn’t being interrupted by bothersome international breaks. Surely, there must be a less disruptive way of scheduling the growing number of often pointless qualifying matches. Perhaps others are more excited by international games than I am.
The absence of any domestic action has not meant any let up in the stream of West Ham related news from the pesky clickbait sites who provide a daily blast of latest tittle-tattle allegedly emanating from sources close to the Chairman, reliable journalists, and rent-a-quote pundits. The internet abhors a vacuum and although the head is telling you the story will be a load of old of hogwash, the fingers can’t resist clicking anyway.
As a public service – in case you missed any of it – the summary of the highlights is as follows: West Ham are either in pole position to sign any number of new players in the January transfer window, or the kitty is empty and there are no further funds to spend until the summer; David Moyes must drop Vladimir Coufal due to his poor pass completion rate for the Czech Republic against Albania while Tomas Soucek was either their best or worst player on the pitch when the Czechs saw off the mighty Faroes courtesy of his second half penalty; the Hammers are enjoying an excellent start to the season or else they are in a false position due to an eXpected Goals anomaly (as Richard reported here yesterday); and the West Ham Board will or won’t be offering David Moyes a new contract at the end of the season.
There’s a strong chance that the manager situation will rumble on right until the end of the season. The unexpectedly positive start to the campaign has seen Moyes recover from everyone’s favourite for the sack to become the holder of one of the safer seats. Which way the dust finally settles on his West Ham career may well depend on what happens between now and May. With a better squad of players available his team are looking far more assured, but as someone commented on a previous article here, “Moyes will always be Moyes”. His unshakeable caution constraining momentum by having one foot touching the brake at all times. The question is not whether Moyes is doing OK but is there someone out there who can achieve more with the same resources.
Today the Hammers begin a run of seven games in 21 days (less an hour for when the clocks go back) with a visit to Aston Villa. At the end of that phrenetic sequence comes yet another International Break.
Villa Park has been something of a happy hunting ground for West Ham in recent years and a win today would make it four on the trot. Yet the hosts are now a very different proposition today to Steven Gerrard’s erratic team who gifted the Hammers their first win last season.
Villa’s home form has been particularly strong since Unai Emery’s appointment in November 2022. They go into today’s match on a ten game Villa Park winning streak in the league. But all records come to an end eventually and it may as well be today. Hopefully, the Villains will put in a performance closer to what was on show at Newcastle and Liverpool earlier in the campaign. Here they were more like Dick than Unai Emery – they really were that awful. On both occasions the tactics were naïve, allowing their opponents far too much space between the lines and with a suicidal high defensive line that was forever vulnerable to balls over the top. They do seem to have plenty of goals in them this season though and both Watkins and Diaby are likely to be a handful.
The big debating point for the Hammers is whether Mohammed Kudus gets a start today or not? Spoiler alert – the answer is not! His introduction for the last 15 minutes of the 2-2 draw with Newcastle was mesmerising. Great touch, control, flair, confidence, and a goal were all packaged into a quarter of an hour cameo. Moyes has said that he is close to a start which is not so subtle code for him being on the bench. A long round trip to North America will serve as convenient justification. Personally, I can’t wait to see a few games with Kudus and Lucas Paqueta weaving unorthodox magic in the claret and blue, but it probably makes the manager dizzy just thinking about it.
Reading and listening to the thoughts of fans on who Kudus might replace in the starting lineup is fascinating. There are two main schools of thought. One that he should replace Thomas Soucek, the other that he should replace Michail Antonio. The idea that Moyes will disrupt his defensive shape and leave out Soucek seems fanciful to me, especially now that he is back in his old role, looking more motivated, and scoring goals again. He is the complete Moyes type player and I’m convinced he remains one of the first names on the team sheet where the manager is beguiled by defensive headers, interceptions and aerial threat at set pieces.
Kudus as a replacement for Antonio sounds more credible. Not as a direct replacement but requiring juggling in other positions. I had fancied Jarrod Bowen moving to the centre and Kudus playing wide right, but during games when Antonio has been subbed it is Paqueta who has been pushed further forward. Can Kudus and Paqueta playing as a pair of false nines be the Moyesiah’s great innovation? There is an irony that Kudus may finally get his chance if/ when Paqueta receives a one math ban for picking up his fifth yellow card. Whichever way this pans out, the clear inference is that Danny Ings doesn’t look to feature in any plans for Premier League football.
This is another tough game to call between two teams who will be competing in Europe in midweek. Victory for either side will leave them in the top six and there are sure to be goals in this game. Emery’s Villa don’t really do draws so I will go for 2-2. COYI!
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