Tag: #leicestercity

The Quick Bowen Prod Bumps Over The Lazy Fox

West Ham make it back-to-back Premier League wins and clean sheets in what must be a candidate for the most uneventful game of the year. Not even a single yellow card.

It turned out to be a good week for West Ham and Graham Potter as the Hammers followed Saturday’s heroic victory at the Emirates with a stroll past relegation bound Leicester City at the London Stadium. Back-to-back wins and clean sheets are a rarity for the club, even at the best of times.

The two opponents presented very different challenges for the coach, and he elected to face them with an identical setup and personnel. Following a brief period of experimentation and a good look at what is available, Potter may now have settled for the time being on the 3-5-2 formation that has seen his personal points return boosted to ten from seven games.

The principal takeaway from those last two games is that he has settled on a system that plays to the strength of the players involved. An encouraging change following an era of square pegs and round holes. Max Kilman looks more comfortable in a three, the returning Jean-Clair Todibo looks a class act, and even old-man Aaron Cresswell has looked fit and assured. Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Oliver Scarles have looked the part and excelled in their respective wingback roles. The midfield three work hard, look compact and have complemented each other despite an underlying absence of pace and guile. Up front, Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed Kudus have demonstrated great movement and energy; and are a threat to any defence. It is a setup better suited to counterattacking than breaking down opponents but that’s where we are at moment – until the deficiencies can be addressed in the summer.

The display at Arsenal had been a masterclass in frustrating the hosts with the type of hardworking, low defensive block that we have become to know and love. But unlike late period Moyes it retained the ability to launch rapid counterattacks through the pace and industry of Wan-Bissaka, Bowen and Kudus. With the Hammers defending in numbers and providing outstanding support and backup to each other, the hosts had run out of ideas well before the end. Not even two minutes of added time at the end of eight minutes of added time could produce a worthwhile attempt to alarm Alphonse Areola. If anything, it was the visitors who created to the more clear cut opportunities to add to the goal tally.

In contrast to the lung-busing efforts at the Emirates, last night’s encounter with Leicester was something of a stroll from start to finish. The visitors offered no clues to suggest they were a team fighting for their Premier League lives. They were low on quality, fight and spirit; and look doomed to a quick return to the Championship next season. The Hammers needed only to be competent to earn the three points, knowing that sooner or later the Foxes would gift them a couple of goals.

A kind man might give Cresswell the benefit of the doubt that his was a clinical pinpoint pass to set up the first goal. But it really looked like a shot to me. The move had started with good interplay bewteen by Bowen and Tomas Soucek on the right. Leicester failed to take several opportunities to clear their lines before Cresswell’s shot, the keeper’s save from Kudus, and Soucek arriving on the scene to claim a birthday goal – his sixth of the season.

The second goal just before half-time realistically ended the game as a contest. A mis-hit James Ward-Prowse corner (which should probably not have been given) was bungled by the visitor’s rearguard allowing Bowen to nip in smartly between three defenders – his shot from a tight angle hitting Vestergaard on its way into the net.

The second half was as drab as anything. The inoffensiveness of the match was underlined by the absence of a single yellow card award – a great disappointment for the residents of Paqueta Island. When was the last time that happened? As Potter said after the game this was not champagne football. In the circumstances we must simply take the win and focus on the positives in the knowledge that stability has returned to the playing side of the club. The players look far happier than in the early part of the season, and a sense of structure, organisation and movement has returned to the pitch.

It was surprising that the second half wasn’t seen as an ideal opportunity to take a better look at Luis Guilherme. He looks fully involved and engaged in the training session videos posted regularly by the club, so a bit of a mystery why he wasn’t given a 30-minute run out last night free from any pressure. Surely, it would have added a modicum of interest to the evening’s ‘entertainment’.

Meanwhile, the Evan Ferguson situation continues to bemuse. He looks as rusty as anything and is going to need a lot more time than is available to get up to speed. Without knowing how the situation might eventually pan out, it looks the most peculiar loan arrangement for West Ham.

The Hammers are now in a weird situation where they play just two games in the next 32 days. In all, there are 11 Premier League games left to play – at home to Newcastle, Bournemouth, Southampton, Tottenham, and Nottingham Forest; and away to Everton, Wolves, Liverpool, Brighton, Manchester United and Ipswich. A chance then to improve our league standing although a 4-way battle for 13th place with Tottenham, Manchester United and Everton might be as good as it gets. At least its in our own hands.

Ironically for the end of February, the Premier League season is effectively done and dusted as far as the major issues are concerned. Liverpool will almost certainly be champions, and it will take a huge turnaround in fortunes if any of Southampton, Ipswich and Leicester are to avoid the drop – none of them is on course to break the 30 point barrier. And what are the odds that Arsenal, Manchester City and Chelsea finally nab the remaining Champions League spots away from the plucky challengers. A Super Sunday Damp Squib beckons for the end of May.

Next up for West Ham is yet another exile to the Monday night graveyard slot (on March 11) against a Newcastle side who may well have one eye on the EFL Cup Final which takes place on the following Sunday. We can hope for another win – and a little more entertainment, perhaps. COYI!

West Ham’s Tale Of Three Corners: One Unturned and Two Undefended

Rumours of a West Ham revival under Julen Lopetegui were mercilessly squashed in a dismal first half showing against Arsenal at the London Stadium on Saturday evening

Expectations prior to Saturday’s London derby with Arsenal were less about possible victory as putting in a performance that would demonstrate Monday’s victory at Newcastle was no fluke. A sign to unconvinced supporters that the Lopetegui revolution had finally discoverd traction and a direction of travel. We were to be sadly disappointed.

Tentative and unconvincing from the start, it was if coach and players had written the game off before a ball had even been kicked. A gut had been busted at St James Park and a more winnable appointment was scheduled for Tuesday evening at the King Power Stadium. Let’s just go through the motions today, then! It’s a strategy that might suit a newly promoted team focused solely on survival – but don’t we deserve better than that?

A case could be made for calling out the decisions made by referee Anthony Taylor that resulted in three of the Arsenal goals. And that is what Lopetegui resorted to. But it was nothing more than an attempt to deflect attention from what looked to be poor preparation and ineffective tactics. The promising foundations established at Newcastle crumbling on their first encounter with a determined and energetic opponent.

Nowhere were the shortcomings more evident than in midfield where the new partnership of Tomas Soucek, Lucas Paqueta and Carlos Soler failed to exert any of the composure tht had been exhibited the previous Monday. Control was meekly surrendered to the strength, skill and tenacity of Odegaard, Rice and Jorginho. Soucek huffed and puffed but was slow, lost and lumbering; while Paqueta served up one of his frustratingly casual displays that verge on the cusp of liability. Soler was the brightest of the three – and what a stunning pass it was to set up Aaron Wan-Bissaka for the first West Ham goal – but was deployed too far forward to stamp any authority on the game. Collectively, they failed to compete, unable to provide a platform for retaining possession or building forward momentum -especially during that woeful opening 36 minutes.

Some observers saw a sliver of positivity from the more even exchanges of the second period. The introduction of Edson Alvarez certainly added spark to the midfield but doing so at the expense of Crysencio Summerville was a damage limiting call rather than a brave one. Although Alavrez may well have made a difference had he started, would he have made it to half-time given his love of the rash callenge and the ease and drama with which Arsenal players fall to the ground?  

They say that football is a game of opinions and that is increasingly becoming the norm for refereeing decisions. At one time a push in the back was an obvious offence but now it is down to the official’s calculation as to the degree of force exerted. The shove on Paqueta by Timber for the visitor’s opening goal was overlooked by the referee and VAR declined to enter the debate. Likewise, penalty decisions have become increasingly subjective and impossible to judge – harsh say the Hammers; stonewall say the Gunners – as matches become more concerened with generating content for post-match analysis than for the beauty of the game itself. The new directive for VAR to defer increasingly to on-field decisions makes one wonder what purpose it is now serving.

Arsenal’s corner tactics would have made Don Revie a proud man. As would the way the Gunner’s have embraced the cynical dark arts of diving, cheating and time-wasting. Arteta comes across as a deeply unlikeable character and he has successfully created a team in his own image. Still, in the world of win-at-all-costs football it has helped them get results. As long as they continue to be runners-up, let them get on with it.

Lukasz Fabianski is far from the ideal candidate to cope with the agricultural Arsenal corner routine. A far more commanding keeper is required, and it is a position that West Ham must address sooner rather than later. The Hammers have long been suckered by opponents attempting overloads at set pieces with several Brentford reverses springing to mind. Ultimately, the Set Piece Defensive coaches (if there is such a thing) up and down the land must find a way of coming to terms with the tactic. Possibly finding a way to avoid adding to the general confusion and congestion by defending zonally or building a wall at the back post to block the runners. It was a mystery what Max Kilman’s role was supposed to be when Gabriel headed in the opener – but apparently it had been practised on the training ground.

The Lopetegui circus now moves on to Leicester tomorrow night for what some have billed as another ‘must win’ game. The Foxes were abysmal in their defeat to Brentford on Saturday but will have new manager, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, in the dugout for Tuesday’s game. If the Hammers are to resist the new manager bounce, they will need to wake their ideas up sharpish. Vardy’s eyes will have lit up watching the Havertz goal at the weekend and it will not have escaped his attention that Kilman and Jean-Claire Todibo have been consistently vulnerable to the simple ball over the top.

Something else to watch out for tonight is the FA Cup Third Round draw. West Ham are ball number 43 and will be hoping to avoid the traditional poisoned chalice of a trip to Manchester or Liverpool. I must add a ‘very well done’ to the Daggers for reaching the third round. A trip down the road to Victoria Road would do very nicely. COYI!

As the final game of the Premier League season approaches, how will we look back on West Ham’s 2022-23 season?

We visit Leicester this weekend for the final league game of (domestically at least) a disappointing season. Until a couple of games ago we weren’t mathematically safe from relegation, although personally I have been confident for some time now, despite some inconsistent performances that have meant that we didn’t pull away from potential trouble as quickly as we might have done. From dropping into the bottom 3 (18th) with 15 games to go, the season since then has seen us in varying positions, never higher than 13th or lower than 17th. We are 14th as we head into the final game, and realistically (ignoring ridiculous goal difference swings) we can only finish between 13th and 15th. Disappointing after two seasons finishing 6th and 7th.

The final league table splits very neatly into a top half and bottom half with Fulham in 10th well clear of the teams in the bottom half. I had a look back at the predictions I made before the season began. To a certain extent the Premier League is predictable these days with money being an important factor. I still managed to put three teams in the top half (Chelsea, West Ham and Wolves) who will finish in the lower half, and conversely I forecast Villa, Brentford and Fulham to be in the bottom half, and they have all had good seasons and are comfortably in the top 10. At that time I predicted Southampton, Forest and Bournemouth to be relegated so I only got one right. I’m also in a score prediction competition where I predict the scores of all West Ham games. Although I’ve correctly predicted some of the results I haven’t got the score correct once all season! The closest I got was to forecast a 0-0 draw in the away lag in Alkmaar. That was close.

But my predictions weren’t all that bad. When there were still a dozen or so games to go I did say that 37 or 38 points would be enough to escape the drop and even 34 or 35 might be. And at the time I suggested 3 from 5 to go down, namely Southampton, Leicester, Forest, Everton and Leeds, so pretty accurate there too. One comment from a reader on my predictions suggested I didn’t have a clue and that West Ham, Forest and Bournemouth were the ones for the drop. Their predictions didn’t turn out to be too accurate! It just shows how difficult it can be to make predictions in football. I did also predict that Manchester City would win the Premier League. That one wasn’t too difficult to forecast though!

It is a fascinating end of the season in terms of who will be relegated, and Sky will obviously be delighted that as many as three teams are still fighting to stay up. Everton will survive if they beat Bournemouth. If they only draw or lose then Leicester can survive by beating West Ham. Leeds, who had survival in their own hands after 25 minutes of last week’s game at the London Stadium, need to beat a poor Tottenham team to have any chance of staying up, and hope that neither Leicester win nor Everton win or draw, unless they can beat Spurs by three goals if Everton do draw. Here’s my prediction – all three teams might win their final games meaning Leicester and Leeds will be relegated. But then again they might not! I hope that we beat Leicester, as I always hope we win games, but I’m not feeling too confident. Of the three teams in trouble I’d like to see Leicester survive in some ways as I dislike the other two more, but I don’t think they will. I just have a feeling that whatever Leeds and Leicester do it won’t matter as Everton will beat Bournemouth.

There has been much conjecture as to the team David Moyes will select for this last league game. With an important European final to come ten days later does he pick a team to continue the recent momentum, or does he rest the majority of the team he wants for the final to avoid any unnecessary injuries? Or somewhere in between? How important is the £2.2 million for each incremental position in the final table when compared to the prospect of a second European trophy for the club and automatic entry into next season’s Europa League? If we do manage to beat Leicester this weekend it would only be the second time this season when we have won two league matches in a row (the first was at the beginning of October beating Wolves and Fulham at home).

Our performances in Europe have been in stark contrast to our domestic form, partly perhaps due to the strength (or lack of it) of opposition, but nevertheless still impressive. How will we reflect on the season if we win the Europa Conference whilst finishing 13th-15th in the league? It will certainly be some consolation, and a gateway to a third successive European campaign, but would we have taken that before the season began?

For me, it has not been so much about the league results, although they have mostly been poor or inconsistent, but the performances themselves. For the most part the football played has not been pleasing on the eye. The lack of ambition, the lone striker, the fear of the opposition (particularly top sides), the reliance on set pieces, the inability to hold on to the ball, the lack of players with pace, and an unnecessarily over-cautious approach to games all contribute to the disappointment.

After we went a goal down in a lethargic 25 minutes at the start of the Leeds game, the shackles came off and for more than an hour we played some delightful stuff against a tiring opposition. But why couldn’t we start the game on the front foot? It’s almost as if the players are told to be cautious, don’t concede, and only have a go if we do fall behind. Perhaps they are? And what an excellent game from Paqueta! He really has begun to look the part in recent games.

It seems certain that Declan Rice will be on his way to new pastures. What a superb player he has been for us; it would be great to round it off lifting the Europa Conference trophy on June 7th. He really is irreplaceable and it will be interesting to see who we can manage to attract to the club this summer. James Ward-Prowse, Kalvin Phillips and Harvey Barnes are three of the names already being touted, all England internationals, and two of them play in central midfield, but I’m sure there will be many more suggested once the transfer window opens. I read these names but after so many years now of reading about players we are allegedly linked with I wait until I see the photo of a new recruit in a claret and blue shirt with their arms crossed before I believe it. If (when) Rice goes, wouldn’t it be good to do the necessary transfer business and have replacements in place well before the new season begins? We never seem to achieve that though, do we?

What will happen in the game at Leicester? I’m sure David Moyes would like to beat them for his own professional pride to ensure West Ham finish as high as possible in the final table. It wouldn’t do his old club on Merseyside any harm if that were the case either. My final prediction of the league season – a 2-2 draw. What are the chances?

West Ham entertain Leicester in the final game before the 2022 World Cup

West Ham United met Leicester City 54 years ago this week when I witnessed my favourite ever goal being scored

On Saturday 16th November 1968 West Ham met Leicester in a First Division game, almost exactly 54 years ago this week. It was a game I remember well and one I refer to in my book, Goodbye Upton Park Hello Stratford that was published in 2016. One of the chapters was entitled ’60 Favourite West Ham Goals’ and number 1 at the time and still my all-time favourite was scored by Martin Peters in that game. I stood on the North Bank behind the goal that it went in. I asked the question “what constitutes a great goal?” and two key elements that I identified, a spectacular volley, and a team goal were present in this goal being scored.

Bobby Ferguson was our goalkeeper and he had the ball in his hands at the South Bank end of the ground and rolled it out to Martin Peters on the edge of the penalty area. Peters advanced forward a few yards then passed it out to John Sissons on the left wing. Sissons, a tricky winger, moved forward and from just inside the Leicester half played a long diagonal cross into the penalty area where it was met by Peters on the volley as it came over his shoulder. His thunderous shot from about 12 yards almost decapitated Peter Shilton, the Leicester keeper as it sped into the roof of the net. He hadn’t stopped running from the moment he passed the ball out to Sissons.

The game ended 4-0, which included a brace from Brian Dear and came a fortnight after we had beaten Queens Park Rangers 4-3 with goals from Moore, Hurst, Peters and Redknapp. Harry’s goal in that game was number 3 in my favourite goals chapter, and Bobby Moore’s goal in the game was at number 8. Two weeks prior to the QPR game we had beaten Sunderland 8-0 when Geoff Hurst scored 6. Oh for a return to those free scoring days!

The QPR game as well as Martin Peters spectacular volley against Leicester can be seen on You Tube with commentaries from Brian Moore from the Big Match Sunday TV highlights programme, although sadly Martin’s goal doesn’t show the whole move, just the end of it. I’ve written about it before but even to this day it still remains as my favourite. I met Martin in 2007 at a book signing when I bought his book ‘The Ghost of ‘66’. He was a lovely man and we had a long chat. He couldn’t remember the goal and in fact could barely recall any of the many goals he had scored in his career. Sadly it was perhaps the beginning of the symptoms of the Alzheimer’s disease which brought about his untimely death at 76. I took along my programme from the game which I dug out of my collection and he very kindly signed it for me as well as his book.

Some interesting features from the programme:

  • The cost 1 shilling (5p)
  • The proposed teams on the inside cover (with no number 7) – of course no squad numbers in those days. The West Ham team that day was actually Ferguson, Bonds, Charles, Cushley, Stephenson, Moore, Peters, Boyce, Dear, Hurst, Sissons – it didn’t really pay to predict the team in advance, although there were fewer changes of personnel from game to game.
  • An interview with 22 years-old Billy Bonds
  • Trips by Lacey’s coaches to the forthcoming away game at Ipswich (70p)
  • A quote from Ron Springett the QPR keeper prior to the game a fortnight earlier where he said that West Ham was one of his favourite grounds, he never had a bad game there, he was leaving himself wide open to look a proper Charlie, he’d probably let four goals in (And he did!)
  • The league table prior to the game showed West Ham in 7th place (5 points from the top), with 21 points from 18 games (7 wins, 7 draws and 4 defeats) – only 2 points for a win in those days. Goals for 34, conceded 21. Only Liverpool and Everton (top and 2nd) had scored more (35 and 36)
  • Leicester were 2nd from bottom.

At the end of the season we had finished 8th, Leeds were champions, and Leicester were relegated despite reaching the FA Cup Final. We scored 66 goals, the third highest (exactly the same number as the champions Leeds, although we conceded 50 compared to Leeds 26)

So now we face Leicester 54 years on in a season that isn’t going particularly well so far, certainly on the domestic front. A look at the league table shows us in 15th place with 14 points from 14 games, having lost 8 times, and just two points above the relegation zone. The league is very tight with just 7 points separating Liverpool (19) in 8th from Southampton (12) in a relegation place (18th). If we had beaten Palace last weekend we would be in the top half, but after an inept performance we sadly didn’t. A look at the six teams immediately above us tells the story for me – Fulham, Palace, Brentford, Leeds, Villa and Leicester – all teams I would have expected to be on top of. It would take a very unlikely set of results, but if we lose to Leicester in this game it is mathematically possible for us to go into the break for the World Cup in the bottom 3. A defeat on Saturday is unthinkable, isn’t it?

The manager is getting increasingly tetchy in interviews and articles are beginning to emerge regarding his position. After two successful seasons and eight wins out of eight in Europe surely that is unthinkable too. Isn’t it?

Two West Ham games against Leicester appear in my book among my 20 favourite West Ham matches. The 4-0 game that I referred to earlier is at number 16, and at number 11 I recount the 4-2 win that took place on the morning of Boxing Day 1967 which kicked off at 11am. We came from two goals down in the first quarter of an hour to win the game thanks to the first Trevor Brooking goal that I remember seeing, and a hat-trick from Brian Dear.

Either of those scorelines would be a great result going into the break, but there is little logic in expecting that to happen given our recent form and performances. Leicester have picked up after a poor start and sit immediately above us in the table. Perhaps we can repeat the Boxing Day 1967 result? I say that more in hope than expectation. What are the chances?