Tag: #AVLWHU

As West Ham visit Aston Villa in the Third Round of this season’s FA Cup the debate continues – has the competition lost its magic?

My first recollection of the FA Cup goes right back to the 1958-59 season. West Ham were drawn away to our local rivals Tottenham in the third round. This was our first season back in Football League Division One, the top flight of the English game, and we were flying high. When the game was played on Saturday January 10th we were a very respectable tenth in the 22 team division, having been top after six games. By the end of the season we had climbed to sixth. Tottenham were poor that season eventually finishing eighteenth, although they were to finish third a year later and champions (and double winners) the year after that. What is more, we had faced them on Christmas Day, beating them 2-1 at Upton Park (the day I saw my first ever league game), and then thrashing them 4-1 at White Hart Lane on Boxing Day (the following day – and players today complain about the number of games!). A little under two weeks later they got their revenge beating us 2-0 on their home ground to knock us out of the cup.

This was the first of my personal FA Cup competition disappointments losing to a team lower placed than us. In the ensuing (approaching 70) years there have been so many more. The following season we went out in Round 3 again in a replay losing 5-1 at home to second division Huddersfield Town. The season after that round 3 again losing to second division Stoke City in a replay, and the following year the third round once again to lowly Plymouth Argyle! The list goes on – name the most embarrassing – Swindon, Mansfield, Blackpool, Hull, Hereford, Newport County all knocked us out in the sixties and seventies. The amazing thing is that we won the competition three times by 1980, 1964 v Preston North End, 1975 v Fulham, and 1980 v Arsenal. Three great final memories that live with me all these years later.

Back in those younger days the FA Cup was a magical competition for me, and I suspect most fans. Apart from the odd England international the final was the only game that we could see live on TV each season. But has it lost it’s magic? I guess this is a question that has been a recurring topic in football discussions for some years now.

Certainly, there has been a decline in prestige. The rise of the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League and other European competitions has overshadowed the FA Cup. Top clubs prioritise these competitions over domestic cup games.

‘Bigger’ clubs often field weakened sides, especially in the early rounds, which sends out a signal that the FA Cup is not a priority, leading to the perception that it’s less important than it used to be. And it’s not just the so called ‘bigger’ clubs. All the Premier League clubs have big squads and want to keep all squad players happy. And with an ever-growing calendar the FA Cup sometimes feels like an afterthought in the crowded schedule, especially for those clubs involved in multiple competitions. Clubs involved in the relegation struggle prioritise league games, and mid-table clubs (like us?) seem to believe that finishing a place or two higher in the league is more important than a good cup run. I don’t believe that fans agree with that.

However, analysis of the eventual winners in the last twenty years shows that in general ‘big’ clubs win the trophy. Two notable exceptions in that time are Portsmouth (2008) and Wigan (2013). Perhaps you could add Leicester in 2021? Otherwise it has been Chelsea (5), Arsenal (5), Manchester City (3), Manchester United (2), Liverpool (2).

Another aspect relates to TV and scheduling issues. These days, kick-off times prioritise national and global television audiences over match-going fans. In theory late-night or weekday games have perhaps alienated some traditional supporters. But fans still attend games in vast numbers so football authorities are not concerned and are happy to spread the games for maximum TV coverage.

In my younger days the FA Cup third round was another magical day in the football calendar. It was the day that the top two divisions joined the other clubs from the top ten levels of the English football league pyramid who had competed through up to six qualifying rounds to reach the First Round proper and then two further rounds when teams from Divisions Three and Four (now equivalent to Leagues One and Two) also joined in. 64 teams playing 32 matches that all kicked off at 3pm on the same Saturday afternoon.

What happens now? Well this season there were 3 games on Thursday 9th, there’ll be 2 games on Friday 10th, including our own trip to Villa Park, 19 games on Saturday, 7 games on Sunday, and one on Monday. All in all 15 different kick-off times spread over five days for the 32 games.

One aspect that has grown over the years is the financial disparity. The prize money and financial impact of the FA Cup pales when compared to league placements or European competitions, reducing the monetary incentive. This season, the FA Cup winners will collect a prize of £2 million, whereas for each incremental position in the Premier League teams benefit by more than £3 million. In financial terms alone it’s a no-brainer. Unfortunately too many decisions regarding football are based on money.

Having painted a picture of a loss in the magic, the competition still retains it to some degree. The FA Cup continues to throw up underdog stories where smaller clubs upset the giants of the Premier League, moments that can capture the essence of why we love football. Unfortunately, this year’s format has removed replays from the First Round Proper onwards making it harder for lower league teams to secure financial windfalls. FA Cup replays were once part of the magic of the competition.

I still recall with fondness the memories of our semi-final replay over Ipswich in the snow at Stamford Bridge in 1975 on our way to lifting the trophy, and the semi-final replay in 1980 at Elland Round where we beat Everton on our way to winning the Cup in 1980 (remember Frank Lampard dancing around the corner flag!). You have to remember we were one of the ‘smaller’ clubs in 1980 (in league division terms we were second tier) – these games can sometimes create lifelong memories for fans, that few league games do.

As the oldest national football competition in the world the FA Cup still carries a unique historical and cultural significance, certainly for those of us who recall moments of pure football romance. The FA Cup may not hold the same stature it did in its heyday due to changes in the football landscape, but it still provides moments of magic, particularly for smaller clubs and traditionalists (like me!). The “magic” may now be more selective rather than universal, but it hasn’t completely disappeared. Whether it has truly “lost its magic” often depends on what we as fans value most in football today.

Our third round tie this season is on 10th January, exactly 66 years ago to the day from when I remember my first, way back in 1959. So many disappointments in those intervening years as well as three great memories on winning the trophy. By the time I was just 26 years old we had been FA Cup winners three times, but now as I approach 71, it hasn’t happened again, the closest we came was in 2006 when we were just a minute away before Steven Gerrard intervened.

We have only faced Villa three times previously in the FA Cup. In 1913, our first ever match against them, they beat us 5-0 in front of 51,000 at Villa Park. In 1977 (I remember this one) in front of 47,000 at Villa Park we were on the end of a 3-0 defeat.

But the one that really sticks in the memory came in the quarter final of the 1980 tournament in front of a full house at Upton Park. Geoff and I watched that game from the front row of B block in the old West Stand. We were just a second division outfit at the time, but ironically it was one of the best times ever to watch West Ham. Incredibly we only managed a seventh place finish in Division Two that season, with a team that boasted Phil Parkes, Alvin Martin, Ray Stewart, Frank Lampard, Trevor Brooking, Alan Devonshire, Stuart Pearson and David Cross. Billy Bonds also, but he was absent for the Villa game. Of course we rectified it the following season when we were runaway champions and gained promotion back to the top flight.

There was only about a minute of the game to go (it was goalless at the time) when Sir Trev swung in a corner from below the West Stand at the South Bank end and a Villa centre back (McNaught) rose and handled the ball as Alvin Martin challenged. The referee gave a penalty with the Villa defender complaining vehemently that Alvin had pushed his arm above his head onto the ball. There was no VAR of course and once the referee had made up his mind that was that. I do remember the incident being discussed at length by Brian Moore on the Big Match on Sunday afternoon. Ray Stewart, one of our master penalty takers in my time of watching West Ham, fired it hard and low to the keepers right and we led 1-0. In typical West Ham fashion there was still time in the minute remaining for Villa to win a free kick on the edge of our area and Phil Parkes was needed to make a save which saw us through to the semi-final. The rest is history. But memories of Cup games (especially of good ones) remain.

Villa are one of the teams against whom we have a positive record with more wins than defeats in history. But in the past couple of seasons they have been on the up. When they beat us 4-1 at Villa Park last season it ended a run of ten games where they had failed to win against us. And of course you will remember the opening game of this season at the London Stadium when we went behind to a header from Onana (who we apparently wanted to buy a couple of years ago) in the opening few minutes. Paqueta converted a penalty to equalise in the first half, and then of course their substitute Duran (who we had seemed to spend the whole summer wanting to buy) inevitably scored the winner. And he has gone on to have an excellent season, sometimes selected ahead of Watkins.

We go into today’s game without the head coach who has been in charge. The season has seemed like a wasted one so far with little prospect of climbing into the top half of the table or challenging for a European place next season. We desperately need a cup run to lift us. Wouldn’t it be great to progress to Round Four? Can the new boss bring a little magic to the club?

Czech Complete: Moyes Certain To Give Soucek The Nod For West Ham Trip To Aston Villa

Waking from the slumbers of another international break, West Ham’s good recent record at Villa Park takes on Aston Villa’s phenomenal run of straight home wins.

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!

West Ham’s first Claret and Blue Derby of the season is a visit to Aston Villa for the televised game on Sunday

Someone said to me this week that watching football in the Premier League is like watching ITV. What he was getting at was that the season is barely underway with just eight games gone and there have already been two international breaks. He’d prefer the Premier League to be modelled on the BBC and have no breaks. I could see his point as I don’t like the breaks myself, especially so early in the season, barely giving teams the opportunity to get into a rhythm or build momentum. I don’t really mind the breaks on commercial television though. These days with Smart TVs and a host of features you don’t have to watch anything live. You can arrange to fast forward through advertisements, or even use the gaps to get a drink or have a toilet break if you wish.

Of course if you are a fan of rugby union or 50-over cricket there are World Cups in both in progress at the moment so that takes the edge off missing your weekly dose of Premier League football. Having said that it was no fun to watch England capitulate to Afghanistan in the cricket, although the England rugby team have progressed well, partly as a result of a favourable draw. They’ll be doing well to get past South Africa this weekend though.

But I’m glad to say that Premier league football is back and we are away to Villa in the TV match at 4.30 on Sunday afternoon. That won’t be an easy fixture either. Villa have progressed enormously since we won on their ground early last season with Pablo Fornals’ deflected goal. Having said that, we too have made significant strides in this campaign and after eight games sit just two points and two places below them. They have lost twice (as we have) but they have won five and drawn once compared to our four wins and two draws.

They suffered heavy defeats to both Newcastle and Liverpool and were (surprisingly?) dumped out of the EFL Cup losing at home to Everton. After qualifying for the group stage of the Europa Conference (8-0 on aggregate v Hibernian) they have won one and lost one of the group games.

I was interested to read an article on the BBC Sport website this week assessing how Premier League teams have started the season. Recent years have seen the proliferation of statistics in football, and whilst I am not totally averse to some of them, there is one that really gets to me and that is expected goals (xg).

The article quite rightly pointed out that results are what matter most, but it went on to say that “taking a look at teams expected goals numbers can help us see how much permanent class they’ve shown so far and get an idea of how the rest of their season could pan out”. It went on to say that “comparing teams actual goal difference with their expected one we can see whose foundations for the season are built on stone and whose are built only on sand.” What a load of …..

Their ”form v class – gd v xGD” graphic had Newcastle and Manchester City at the top of the tree. Not for me I’m afraid. The last time I looked at the league table Tottenham and Arsenal led the way, both unbeaten. Manchester City have lost two games and Newcastle three out of just eight and sit below us in the table.

The conclusion concerning West Ham was that “early-season enthusiasm might be a bit premature with the Hammers outperforming their expected goals more than any other side.”

I’ll concede that expected goals may have some value in football analysis but let’s not go over the top. One of the games in the Premier League this season was won by 6-1. It involved our opponents this weekend hammering Brighton. But which team came out on top in expected goals (xG)? That’s right – Brighton.

Expected goals has so many limitations. The sample size, number of games played and strength of opponents when doing analysis after just eight games might not reflect true ability. What about the specific context of a match, such as the scoreline, the time remaining, the importance of the game, all of which can significantly impact the likelihood of scoring?

xG doesn’t account for the skill and performance of goalkeepers which can vary widely. A top keeper may save shots that would be goals against others. xG doesn’t measure the level of defensive pressure faced. A player facing intense defensive pressure may have a lower chance of converting a high xG opportunity.

What about the skill level of the attacker? A highly-skilled striker might convert low xG chances more often than one with lesser skills. xG is based on historical data so it might not account for players who can score in unconventional ways or from unexpected positions.

xG doesn’t differentiate between set-piece situations and open-play chances. Set pieces often have different dynamics and conversion rates. As West Ham fans in recent times we are well aware of this.

Football is inherently unpredictable, and even high xG chances can be missed and low xG chances can be converted. I could go on. Let’s not go overboard about xG. Just as a team with the highest percentage of possession will not necessarily come out on top in a game of football the same is true for the xG statistics.

Similarly past performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance in terms of results. The fact that David Moyes is unbeaten in his last 14 games against Aston Villa has no real bearing on what will happen at Villa Park on Sunday afternoon. It is a piece of information that surprised me when I read it though.

We are unbeaten in our last five visits to Villa Park in the Premier League, winning the most recent three by 1-0, 4-1 and 3-1 scorelines. Pablo Fornals got the only goal at Villa Park last season and has a good record of scoring against them. Will that have any importance in the manager’s team selection for this game? Probably not.

With 13 points from their last six games Villa are one of the form teams in the Premier League with only Tottenham and Arsenal at the top of the table with better form records than that. Having said that only the top 5 teams can better our impressive haul of ten points in our last six games.

It will be a difficult game. I really don’t care about xG but I hope we can continue our early season form with at least a point and hopefully three. I am loving the players bought to replace Rice this season. Alvarez, Kudus and especially Ward-Prowse have really settled well and Paqueta has shown why he is a regular starter for Brazil (until recently of course!). We still have a way to go, and are light in some positions, but squad-wise we are as healthy as we have been for a while. What are the chances of three points?

Hammers At Villa Park: Any Plan To Address The Energy Crisis In The West Ham Midfield?

I never felt more like singing the claret-and-blues. Two of the leagues disappointing and downcast sides go head-to-head at Villa Park as West Ham take on Aston Villa

I’ve just opened my Golden Goals ticket for the time of West Ham’s first goal. I’ve got October, so could be in with a very good chance of winning.

These are strange times at the club with the Hammers sitting rock bottom of the fledgling table with ‘nul points’ from three games played. It is not unheard of to see clubs in the lower leagues with points deductions for some financial irregularity or the other. But these deductions are rarely self-imposed by the clubs themselves, as it is in our case. A failure to act quickly in strengthening the squad and then refusing to play those we have brought in has saddled us with a unwanted nine point penalty.

As there is so much nonsense written during the transfer window it’s not easy to get to the bottom of exactly what has been going on. Slowly but surely, sizeable amounts of money is being spent, but why it it such a long drawn-out process with West Ham. And why do do many supposed deals simply fizzle out? Sure, it would be foolish to simply pay the asking price as the window would end with the club getting far less for their money, at a time when the squad is painfully thin. But that shouldn’t mean that negotiations get interminably bogged down haggling for the greatest deal. Thankfully, it will all be over this week.

If the Lucas Paquetta transfer goes through as anticipated it would represent an eighth summer signing for the club. And with chatter of even more to come. In terms of numbers, it is largely in line with what many fans were calling for. Our recruits look to be mainly mid-career signings rather than the unearthing of young, unknown talent that might have been anticipated with the guidance of Rob Newman. Perhaps our scouting network is still too flimsy for that to happen. Big money signings have an uneven track record at West Ham but the balance between proven ability and future potential is a tricky one to negotiate.

With more options to choose from, we must wait to see how (and at what speed) David Moyes goes about implementing the transition. It is often said that introducing more that three of four new players into a team at one time is fraught with difficulties, especially where organisation is one of your major strengths. But the Hammers current indifferent form stretches way back into the final three or four months of last season as well as the start of this one. Bringing in replacements would hardly be upsetting a finely tuned machine.  While Thilo Kehrer was given an entire game due to a centre back shortage, only 85 minutes for Gianluca Scamacca, 22 for Maxwell Cornet, and 1 for Flynn Downes, in a run of three defeats, is a puzzling outcome.

Today’s game at Villa Park is the latest opportunity to get much needed points on the board. The Hammers face an Aston Villa side who have also failed to impress in their early matches – maybe because I had tipped them to have a good season. After this game, West Ham face London rivals Tottenham and Chelsea in quick succession and the prospect of played six/ no points must have occurred to most supporters. If ever, there was a time for a performance, it is today.

Moyes will have plenty of credit in the bank after two top seven finishes and two European campaigns, but that won’t make him bullet proof if the ‘Relegation’ word starts getting mentioned repeatedly. Remember Claudio Ranieri was sacked by Leicester less than a year after winning the Premier League title. Moyes will be safe up until the World Cup whatever happens. Hopefully a Paquetta inspired side will be marauding into the upper reaches of the league by then!

It will be hugely disappointing if significant changes are not made for today’s game. A massive dose of energy and fluidity must be injected into the side and the playing style has to far less predictable than it has become. Relying solely on counter attacks and set pieces has to be eliminated. And Declan Rice cannot be the single conduit through midfield.

None of the following players merit a starting berth today based on recent and current form: Vladimir Coufal, Aaron Creswell, Tomas Soucek, Pablo Fornals and Manuel Lanzini. Is it also time for Alphonse Areola to be handed the keeper’s jersey?  For me, Scamacca, Cornet and Emerson Palmieri must be guaranteed starters today. And Ben Johnson is a far superior option at right back than Coufal.

Villa have their own problems with Stevie G struggling as much as FLJ to impress from the managers seat. The hosts record in the final months of last of last season and into this is as indifferent as the visitors. Does that indicate a share of the spoils in a tame draw?  In theory, the Villains have enough firepower in Ings and Watkins to test an unsettled Hammer’s defence, but it is the running of players such as Ramsay and Bailey that often cause our defence to be exposed.

It has the feel of one of those games that will be decided by mistakes rather than inspiration. Both defences are as shaky as a three legged chair and Moyes must make his selection to exploit that weakness in the opposition. More of the timid, one-paced, unambitious approach of previous games won’t work and has to be replaced with energy, width and movement. With a few isolated exceptions it has been many months since the Hammers demonstrated sparkle and swagger out on the pitch. It’s return is eagerly awaited. And today would be the perfect time. COYI!   

The Thriller At The Villa. Hammers Looking To Extend Amazing Awayday Advantage

Unbeaten on the road for over six months, the West Ham tour bus rocks up in Birmingham to face a faltering Aston Villa

The two big domestic transfer stories during the summer were the prospective moves of Tottenham’s Harry Kane and Aston Villa’s Jack Grealish to the money-no-object ranks of Premier League champions, Manchester City. As we know, only one of these transfers came about when the Kane move was blocked when the selling club’s Chairman failed to honour an alleged gentleman’s agreement.

In a week where West Ham encountered each of the three clubs involved in those sagas it is interesting to reflect on how they worked out for all concerned.

Peak schadenfreude has almost been reached from the dramas currently playing out in N17. Getting one over on the old rivals, as we did last week, is always sweet, and to see it followed up with another pitiful performance yesterday has been spectacular. From self-styled European Super League heavyweights to crisis Premier League makeweights in the blink of an eye. Riddled with debt, saddled with an unsuitably dull manager and a group of players who look like they would rather be anywhere else, the situation is priceless. If Daniel Levy thought he had a gentleman’s agreement requiring Harry Kane to ‘give a toss’ during the remainder of his enforced stay, he now knows he was very much mistaken. Kane’s work-to-rule is a reminder that it is the players who now have the upper hand.

Few would be surprised to see Kane heading up north to the Etihad once the new year sales start. It is quite remarkable that despite the richness of their resources, Manchester City have even fewer strikers than West Ham. The Hammers gave an excellent defensive performance in midweek to finally put an end the visitor’s League Cup domination. But City do appear a lot less threatening at the moment, even if you know they will dominate the ball for long periods. For all Guardiola’s presumed tactical genius, his players recruitment has been very hit and miss. Hopefully, none of that is down to Rob Newman.

Ultimately, league cup success came down to a tense penalty shootout with Phil Foden wayward attempt being the sole failure. Does anyone look more like a ‘Manc’ than Foden? If he fails to get over his spot kick miss, there is a role in the remake of the Royle Family waiting. Huge congratulations to all the West Ham penalty takers for holding their nerve in the shootout. A quarter final tie at Tottenham now awaits.

The one who, of course, got away in the summer was the big money transfer of Grealish to Manchester City. Not sure he has yet provided value at City but as Villa’s talisman and overwhelming creative force, he has been a tough act to follow. The cash was quickly used to bring in three big money signings – Danny Ings, Leon Bailey, and Emiliano Buendia – but attempts to shoehorn them into an effective formation has so far proved to be a struggle. The Ings/ Watkins partnership looks formidable on paper but has yet to take off. Hopefully, it will remain grounded again today.

Things have rarely been better at West Ham. To the extent that I worry they may be going too well. Has David Moyes sold his soul to the devil in return for seven wishes. Will it all fall apart when the wishes run out?

It is an unfamiliar feeling approaching any game with a high degree of positivity – an expectation that West Ham might win rather than a forlorn hope that they won’t lose. I’m not sure that my anxiety levels have reduced come kick-off, however. Though they are anxieties about losing touch with the leading pack rather than getting sucked into a relegation battle. A win today and it will be halfway to the forty point minimum from just ten games.

Success breeds confidence but it can also lead to complacency. The manager’s balanced public persona provides some reassurance. Happy to praise the performance while looking for certain aspects of our game to improve. The return of the set piece threat is very welcome, but more goals are also needed from open play.

There will be no surprises in the starting eleven today with the team pretty much picking itself. Right back may be the only area of contention assuming both Valdimir Coufal and Ben Johnson are available to play. Johnson would be very unlucky if he has to settle for a place on the bench after recent performances. But competition for places is great!

Central attacking midfield is still the problem position for me. Both Pablo Fornals and Said Benrahma have done their best work when playing out wide and struggle to impose themselves enough in the central role behind Michail Antonio. Nikola Vlasic may be better suited to that position but needs to be fitter and faster (in both body and mind) before being considered a realistic starter.  

The other major development during the week has been the apparent interest in buying a stake in the club by Czech businessman and billionaire (and Sparta Prague President), Daniel Kretinsky. New investment rather than new ownership is more in line with David Sullivan’s immediate objectives and is more credible than an outright sale. How it might work in practice depends very much on the personalities of those involved and how they would get along. Do they have a shared love of Cossack hats? At face value, the deal is more appealing than being owned by a despotic overseas state. The Hammers go into today’s game in high spirits, having won four consecutive games in all competitions, as well as being unbeaten on the road this season. In contrasting fortunes, Villa have lost three on the trot since their win at Old Trafford at the end of September. Dean Smith is something of a gung-ho manager, hoping to outscore the opposition to compensate for weaknesses in defence. With Ings and Watkins they have the potential to do that but are currently lacking the creativity in midfield. Their open style of play should play to the Hammers counter-attacking strengths, as witnessed in last season’s 3-1 win. I’m hoping for a repeat score-line today. COYI!

What next West Ham? Carabao Cup reflections and a look ahead to Villa

I am old enough to remember when the League Cup was called the League Cup. Of course it’s now called the EFL Cup or is currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons. For the first 20 years or so there was no sponsor but since then there has been a succession of them, Rumbelows, Coca Cola etc. Back in the early days teams used to put out their strongest sides, but in recent times it has been considered the least important of the trophies on offer, and managers make wholesale changes, even in the latter stages of the competition.

On Wednesday night Guardiola made nine changes from the side that started their last game, but he was still able to field ten full internationals plus Cole Palmer, a top prospect who has already featured and scored in the Champions League and as an under 21 international, such is the quality of the strength in depth of the Manchester City squad.

Not to be outdone David Moyes made eight changes himself which is an indicator of how far West Ham have come in the last year or so. The game itself was described by some as one of the best 0-0 draws they had seen. It says something when perhaps our two most influential players, Declan Rice and Michail Antonio were rested completely and not even on the bench. I loved a tweet from Rodney Marsh before the game that would have come back to haunt him. It was along the lines of ‘No Rice, No Antonio, No Chance’.

It was no surprise that City had the greater possession and shots etc., but we gave them a good game and defended relatively comfortably to deny them a goal. We had our chances too, but when the game ended at 0-0 I feared the worst, knowing that City had not lost a penalty shootout for 13 years, which was seven successful ones in that time.

But our penalties were superb, Foden dragged his one wide, and as a result we progressed to the quarter-finals. One thing that came out of the penalties for me was that Aaron Cresswell, who I have long advocated should be high on our list of potential penalty takers, should definitely be on the shortlist, as should Craig Dawson if he is on the pitch.

23 different teams have won the League Cup but we are not one of them. We’ve been in the final twice, in 1966 (the last season that the final was a two-legged affair) and 1981, but runners-up is the best we’ve managed, although we were unlucky in 1981 in particular, when as a second-tier side we took Liverpool to a replay. Will this be our year?

It’s back to Premier League action this weekend when we visit Villa Park. Villa, who cashed in on Grealish in the summer, have made a disappointing start to this campaign and currently sit in 13th place, having lost their last three games. On the other hand we have remained undefeated in our last seven Premier League away games (3 at the end of last season and 4 to begin this one). When did that last happen? I doubt that it ever has in the Premier League. I looked back to our record breaking season of 1985-86 (my go-to when looking at records) and found a run of nine unbeaten away league games in succession which stretched from a defeat at Old Trafford on August 26 to a loss at White Hart Lane on December 26. Let’s hope that we can stretch our current unbeaten away run to eight this weekend.

Thinking back to the City game in midweek, the whole team defended as a unit to keep our opponents from scoring but particular credit must go to the keeper, Areola (arguably man of the match) and the back four of Johnson, Diop, Dawson and Cresswell, who all had excellent games. Ironically, after such good performances, perhaps only one of the five aforementioned players (Cresswell) may be in the starting line-up against Villa. I fully expect Fabianski, the fit-again Coufal, Zouma and Ogbonna to resume their places in the eleven chosen to start the game. That’s yet another testament to the strength of the squad being put together by the manager.

Last season (in February) we won 3-1 in the corresponding fixture with a couple of goals from Lingard. Surely he must be frustrated to get so little game time in the Manchester United team that has performed so poorly of late? I wonder if he will be one of the players that we target in the upcoming transfer window? It would be great to think that our owners wanted to splash out to strengthen our strong squad still further. But will the new Head of Recruitment be allowed to do so? Once again we are favourites with the bookmakers to win the game. A repeat of last season with West Ham winning the game 3-1 is priced at around 20/1. What are the chances?

We Got Knocked Down, But Can West Ham Get Up Again For Their Visit To Villa Park

Reality called at the weekend with an emphatic defeat to the league champions. The Hammers must now show their character in tonight’s tough Aston Villa test

Ultimately it was a bridge too far. It was meant to big our big moment. Talked up in the media, the final game of a perfect January, a place in the top four beckoning, and facing a jaded, injury ridden opponent struggling to find enough competent defenders. The higher the expectations built, the more disheartening the fall when it came.

It was no disgrace to be outplayed by what turned out to be a very good Liverpool performance, but it was disappointing that West Ham didn’t give a better account of themselves. Where the visitors passing was smart, crisp and incisive, the Hammers were unable to break the press, were funnelled into cul-de-sacs and invention was limited to hopeful first-time flicks.

Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek found themselves outnumbered in midfield and were unable to offer the usual solid foundation to build upon. Not the first time this has happened against an opponent playing 4-3-3, so perhaps a Plan-B is required for such occasions.

As the game progressed, it seemed a scoreless draw was the best we could hope for, but a moment of poor judgement by Aaron Cresswell allowed Salah the gilt edged opportunity needed to put an end to his scoring drought. The goal played out like watching an accident in slow motion. We all knew what Salah was hoping to do and yet he was allowed to execute it without challenge. After that, there was no way back.

In different circumstances, the last two Liverpool goals would have merited a polite round of applause, even from opposition fans. The breakaway goal was a thing of beauty and a more worthy goal of the season contender, in my opinion, than the usual 30-yard pile-driver.

What we need now from West Ham is to see a positive reaction. It is not uncommon, once the momentum of a good run is lost, that it has a debilitating effect on the player’s mentality. The last thing we want is to do a Southampton – and the next few games will be a true test of the player’s character. Bouncebackability as Iain Dowie once termed it.

No surprise that the transfer window came and went without putting a dent in the West Ham war chest. An already skeletal squad ending the day a net one down in its senior player complement (Haller and Snodgrass out; Lingard in). It turns out that the myriad worldwide striker links in the media and the teasing in-the-know insights from ExWHUtealady and others, were all just made-up in someone’s bedroom.

I do understand David Moyes pragmatic position on transfers. Better to spend what limited money might be available in the summer than on a Sullivan-special now. Sullivan loves to parade an exotic name in a misguided attempt to impress and appease the fans. Moyes has done a fantastic job with the resources he has to work with, but progression at the club is constrained by ongoing mismanagement in the boardroom – and the consequences of the big sums wasted by Pellegrini on players patently unsuited to the Premier League.

Perhaps the inactivity will provide an opportunity for selected academy players – Ben Johnson, Jamal Baptiste, Connor Coventry, Nathan Holland, Mipo Odubeko – to stake a claim during the remainder of the season. High time that the ‘Academy of Football’ delivered the goods.

Today’s opponents, Aston Villa, leave me heavily conflicted. They are having a fine season, have invested (mostly) wisely in the squad, play attractive and enterprising football and can boast arguably the most creative midfielder in the country. Yet all those positives are undone by their ever whinging manager, Dean “VAR ate my hamster” Smith, and the unashamed cheating antics of Jack Grealish. The outlandish dive by Grealish in this season’s reverse fixture, conning the referee into awarding a yellow a card to Pablo Fornals, simply has no defence. Any self-respecting sport that was interested in cleaning up its act would find a way to take retrospective action over such incidents.

Tonight, is going to be a tough game. I don’t see many changes to the West Ham line-up except a first glimpse of Jesse Lingard in a West Ham shirt, probably from the bench.  Goals will again prove a problem for the Hammers and any thoughts that Villa are vulnerable at the back are dispelled by their having the second lowest goals against in the league right now. We will do well to come away with a point and I am liking the look of 1-1 draw. COYI!

The Hammers visit Villa Park hoping to start another winning run

Our run of consecutive winning games (which had reached six in number) had to come to an end at some stage, and I guess it was inevitable that the Premier League champions, who had found some form when visiting our North London neighbours just a few days ago, would be the team to end the sequence. We went into the game full of confidence, but right from the outset appeared to me to show the Merseysiders too much respect. We didn’t play as well as we might, and our lone striker (Antonio), despite having an excellent season so far, seemed a bit below par for the second game running. Perhaps he needs a rest, although the lack of alternatives to fit into the lone striker role is a definite worry for the remainder of the campaign.

Liverpool’s first goal came as a result of allowing Salah to come inside and curl a shot into goal with his left foot. He should have been forced to go on the outside; a defensive error. The second goal resulted from an excellent counter attack from our corner as we chased the game from a losing position, but despite the brilliant execution of the goal I was disappointed that we let it happen. It reminded me of other counter attacks where we have conceded in recent seasons (goals from Arsenal and Manchester City come to mind).

The game and the result provided a reality check to those fans talking us up into a potential top four finish and showed the gulf between the very best (Liverpool and Manchester City in my opinion) and those chasing them. Liverpool showed that not only their best eleven are a very good side, but that they have strength in depth that we do not possess.

Nevertheless we need to put the game behind us, learn from our mistakes, and move on to the Villa match, and try to recapture the form that has enabled us to climb the table. The Midland claret and blues, like ourselves, have performed beyond expectations in the season to date. But when you look at the form table for the last five games, they have lost three of them, whereas we have twelve points, second only to Manchester City in the Premier League.

It will be interesting to see if the manager makes any changes for this game to try to freshen up the team, although I’ll be surprised if he does. He tends to stick with largely the same players who have taken us to fifth place, and it is hard to argue against the success of the season to date. I’m always surprised by the substitutions he makes (or doesn’t make), but he stands or falls by those decisions.

As far as the bookmakers are concerned Aston Villa are favourites at 6/5 to take the spoils, with both a West Ham win and the draw available at around 23/10. The favourite “correct score” is a 1-1 draw, and this is a likely outcome, although wearing my optimistic hat, I’ll take us to sneak a 2-1 win. I just hope that the referee is not fooled by diving antics which were a feature of the game when the sides met at the London Stadium, with one player in particular (and we all know who he is) guilty of falling to the ground very easily.

So 2-1 is my prediction plus we are overdue being awarded a penalty kick. What are the chances?