Tag: #luton

Luton Intolerance: Multitasking Matchday Madness For Moyes and his Men in the Friday Night Game

West Ham travel to Luton with a chance of returning to the Premier League summit for another 24 hours. But will the action on the pitch be overshadowed by the last knockings of the transfer window?

Pineapple and pizza; football and Friday. Neither belong anywher near each other. What might have been OK for a Division 4, Southend United versus Northampton Town clash in the 1960s to get a few more punters through the turnstiles, is an abomination in the Premier League. Friday Night’s Not Alright for Football!

These days, I am no more enamoured with Monday night games either. What had started out as a major televised event is now largely used (like Fridays) to satisfy TV quota obligations for the live coverage of teams who generate little interest outside their own fan base. When your team doesn’t play on Saturday or Sunday there is a sense exclusion – overlooked in summaries of the weekend talking points, and ruled out of Garth Crooks team of the week – although the latter is de-rigueur for West Ham players.

This particular evening’s scheduling is the perfect storm of sensory overload for Hammers followers. Especially those unable to cope with the challenges of multitasking. First, to keep an eye on the Where’s Tim ™ mobile tracking app to discover where in the world Technical Director, Tim Steidten will pop up next to complete those much needed last gasp signings. Second, to interrogate Skyscanner, working out the best routes and cheapest deals on flights to Baku, Molde, Częstochowa, or wherever the UEFA suits decide this season’s Europa League group stage games will lead us. Third, to prepare for the small matter of a Premier League fixture against plucky Luton Town and eagerly awaiting team news. Which of the new signings will be starting? How many keepers will David Moyes have on the bench?

We are promised a cauldron so intense and raucous at Kenilworth Road tonight that not a single person will be able to hear the transfer window slamming shut.

Pre-match chatter for the game will be dominated by anticipation of Luton’s first topflight home match since they were relegated along with West Ham in 1992. Just our luck that once again the Hammers are cast as the supporting act for the big attraction. Pundits will be gushing over the Hatters unbelievable rags to riches story. How the phoenix rose from the ashes and how fans must access the stadium through someone’s pantry. Of course, it is a great story but not every fairy-tale has a happy ending.

During the 1980s and early 1990s Luton were a recurring thorn in West Ham’s side, unable to get to grips with the plastic pitch that was laid between 1985 and 1991. In their last 21 games against Luton (all competitions), the Hammers have come out on top only four times. A Luton side comprising such luminaries as Ricky Hill, Brian Stein, Mark Stein, Colin Foster, Mick Harford and (of course) Tim Breacker would even go on to win the 1988 League Cup, defeating Arsenal in the final at Wembley.

The last meeting with Luton was a sixth-round tie in the 1994 FA Cup campaign. A goalless draw at Upton Park was followed by a replay at Kenilworth Road a week later where three strikes to heaven from Scott Oakes saw First Division Luton pull off a giant killing against Premier League West Ham by three goals to two.

The expected Hammers starting line up today should be much the same as the one starting the second half at Brighton last Saturday. Konstantinos Mavropanos and Tomas Soucek are ruled out while Moyes will need to decide if more pace is required in the centre of defence than Kurt Zouma and Angelo Ogbonna can offer. Nayef Aguerd is an option after serving his one match suspension.

The manager’s new signing protocol will ensure Mohammed Kudus starts the game on the bench until he comes on to replace Said Benrahma at the 70-minute mark. I’m really excited at the prospect of seeing Kudus and Lucas Paqueta lining up together.

There is a smattering of former Hammers to be found in the Luton squad. Reece Burke made 15 appearances in claret and blue between 2014 and 2018 before finding his way to Luton via Hull City. Pelly Ruddock Mpanzu had one League Cup outing as a Hammer prior to moving to Luton where he has featured throughout their rise from National to Premier leagues. Finally, Dan from the Potts dynasty has been at Luton since 2015 but is unfortunately injured at the present time. Potts made 12 West Ham appearances.

The passion of the occasion will ensure a fiercely competitive game which will be a fascinating test of the Hammer’s credentials. Are we witnessing a renaissance of Moyesball, or were the last two wins a coincidental blip? The victories over Chelsea and Brighton saw a return to the faster form of the manager’s counterattacking style that was a feature of the 2020/21 season. More players getting forward and better goal scoring positions engineered. It clearly worked well against two teams desperate to dominate possession, but how will it pan out against teams equally prepared  to play without the ball, like Luton. This was where Moyesball floundered previously. The lack of guile and creativity unable to open up organised and compact defences. Maybe the presence of Paqueta, Kudus, and James Ward-Prowse can ask more testing questions this time around.

What happens off the pitch today may be far more important in defining the Hammer’s season than the game itself. If the window fizzles out without additional striker options and without upgrading the full/ wing back positions, then another opportunity will have been missed – just as it was in the January window of 2022. It is quite baffling how it has come down to the final hours to resolve such significant deficiencies.    A West Ham would take them back to the top of the table. A second one day spell at summit until Manchester City play Fulham on Saturday afternoon. Another screenshot captured for posterity. Make it happen. COYI!

With the transfer window about to slam shut West Ham can go back on top of the Premier League with a win at Luton on Friday night

Prior to the game at Brightonlast week I asked the question if there was another shock result on the cards to follow the unexpected win against Chelsea the week before. It was written more in hope than expectation but I did have a gut feeling that it might be 13th time lucky against the Seagulls and so it turned out. It was a classic smash and grab reminiscent of a couple of seasons ago coupled with a resolute defence and some excellent goalkeeping added to superbly taken goals that propelled us to the top of the league, albeit for 24 hours. We might have still been there now but for Manchester City’s 89th minute winner against Sheffield United. But in our third away game of the season on Friday evening at newly-promoted Luton (out of just 4 games – how does the fixtures computer come up with that?) we have the opportunity to once again claim the top spot, albeit probably for just a day again. But never mind, I’ll take that.

The debate rumbles on with regard to the style of play and lack of possession contrasting with the apparent effectiveness of Moyes’ tactics dividing supporters despite our early season success. But it’s hard not to enjoy the goals we scored last weekend with Ward-Prowse scoring his first to add to his assists against Chelsea, Bowen’s sublime running and finish to the brilliant assist from Benrahma (what a super game he had too when he came on), and Antonio’s attempt to replicate the excellent goal he scored against Chelsea. And we could, perhaps should have added more with further clear-cut chances. Brighton, on the other hand were restricted, and when they did get some good shots on goal they were denied by the impressive goalkeeping of Areola, demonstrating why he should be first choice. By the end of the game I had a contented smile on my face. Just 22% possession goes to prove that it is an over-rated statistic. The Chelsea game was similar. We won’t get away with it all the time. 

It would be easy to believe that we just need to turn up at Kenilworth Road to claim three more points. But seasoned West Ham fans will recognise the potential banana skin facing us against a side deemed to be (on paper) more lowly opponents. A defeat in these circumstances has happened before. Luton will be fired up for their first Premier League game at their home ground. It is amazing to remember that just ten seasons ago they were playing non-league football and their rise to the top flight has been just as remarkable as that of last week’s opponents, Brighton. They are one of four teams who have not yet picked up a single point, although they have only played twice, losing 4-1 at Brighton and 3-0 at Chelsea, co-incidentally the two teams we have successfully beaten.

The transfer window ‘slams shut’ on the day of the game, and after a slow start where we were the last Premier League team to complete a signing, many now consider that it has been a successful window in the end. When the window opened we knew that we would be losing our star player and the task of replacing him with a player of similar calibre looked to be an impossible task. But what have we done? We’ve replaced him with three ‘midfielders’ who provide very different aspects of the role.

Alvarez is the one perhaps closest to Rice’s conventional role of sitting in front of the back line and breaking up play. Ward-Prowse (a favourite of mine) has a tremendous engine, lots of skill, and will be the box-to-box midfielder that we always wanted Rice to develop into, except that he was often tied to more defensive duties. He will also surely be more of a goal threat too. I look forward to free kicks awarded to us in range of goal. Kudus arrives with a massive reputation and will hopefully fill what is called the number 10 role in modern football. The categorisation of roles in recent times is interesting, but I guess Alvarez is the 6, Ward-Prowse the 8, and Kudus the 10. Without knowing the exact details the £105 million that we received for Rice has been spent almost exactly on those three. And on the face of it is money that appears to have been spent wisely. Time will tell of course. We have to remember that both Lanzini and Downes have departed the midfield area too, although neither were first choices to start regularly last season. The three in to replace the three out has hopefully given us a stronger squad in that area of the pitch. And the potential addition of Lingard would improve it still further if he can replicate the impact he had when he was last here.

Additionally, Mavropanos has been signed as a central defender and perhaps we need further full back cover as there may be squad departures in those positions? The big need now seems to be a replacement for the departed Scamacca and a number of players are being touted to arrive. Will Steidten come flying in on a private jet sitting alongside a Brazilian international forward or perhaps Ekitike will arrive from Paris or En-Nesri from Seville, or even Moyes favourite, Broja of Chelsea? The complications of ownership would seem to be an area we wouldn’t want to get into (remember the Tevez affair?) so surely the Alberto deal would be a no-go. We must have learned from the past? We do however need another top class goalscorer to add to Antonio, Ings and Mubama. Talks to acquire Maguire seem to have surfaced again, as has an interest in promising young Peterborough defender Edwards. A full back or two wouldn’t go amiss either So many possibilities as the closing of the window gets nearer.

The acquisitions in the transfer window added to the excellent results to start the season seem to have deflected the moans and groans visible on social media before the season began. At least for the time being. It took us eight games last season to reach seven points, whereas this time we have reached that total in three. Let’s hope that we are not complacent on Friday night and once again look down on all the other Premier League teams from the top of the table at the end of the game. COYI!