Tag: #watford

Seven Points Thrown Away: And So It’s My Assumption, Nuno’s Up The Watford Junction

Except for the names and a few other changes, it is the same West Ham story at Vicarage Way as slow build up, risk aversion, poor movement and a lack of penetration lead to frustration and the loss of more important league points.

Vicarage Road, Watford. Saturday 29 August 2026. 3:00 PM. Light to Heavy Showers: 19C

Pre-match Thoughts

As ever the big question when West Ham play Watford is “are Watford a London club?” The evidence is conflicting. I’m sure they appeared in a bold typeface in the old Evening News/ Standard Saturday night classifieds; and were occasionally featured on London Weekend Television’s Big Match the following day. The town is served by the London Underground, sits inside the M25 and is no further from Central London than Romford is. On the other hand, it officially remained part of Hertfordshire rather than being annexed (as Romford and indeed West Ham were) during the expansion of Greater London in 1965. So, there you have it. The answer is “possibly”.

The other big question is what lessons, if any, will have been learned from last Saturday’s woeful effort against Charlton and the noticeable midweek improvement at Southampton? We’ll know fairly soon.

This will be the penultimate game before the transfer window closes as West Ham will again be playing on the actual night. Although the Boardroom has lost some its reputation for having more leaks than soup in a basket, the window has largely played out much as it always has. Better prices have been received for departures admittedly, but progress on signings has been as hesitant, haphazard and protracted as usual.

Alongside the transfer window, the pre-emption round for the purchase of the Gold family shares also slams shut over the coming week. The widespread belief is that Daniel Kretinski will emerge as the main buyer, but we can’t know that for certain. Maybe he has seen enough over the last few weeks to have a change of heart and pass the poison chalice onto the Staveley consortium.

The Teams Are Announced

Nuno’s team selection shows three changes from the side that started against Charlton. Out go Mavropanos (injured), Scarles and Piroe. In come Veltman, Golambeckis and Mukasa. On paper it looks like a 4-2-3-1 with Mukasa deployed as the creative attacking midfielder. Walker-Peters is switched to left back ahead of Mayers and Scarles.

A surprise after the midweek performances is that it is Kante who gets the nod over Orford. This may be due to Nuno’s preference for height in centre of midfield – the same rationale for Soucek’s frequent starts last season. The absence of a quick, mobile and tactically aware deep lying midfielder to protect the defence continues to stick out.

Match Report

Watford 1 (Nabizada 19) West Ham 1 (Pollock (OG) 27)

There was too little action this week to divide the match report into its separate halves.      

West Ham had a brightish opening ten minutes but with only another blocked shot from Bowen to show for their efforts. The early momentum then switched as the home side began to grow in confidence and into the game. The Hornets took the lead on 19 minutes with a neat lobbed finish that a proper goalkeeper with normal sized arms should easily have saved. For a while, Watford’s ascendency suggested they might well double their lead to add to visitor’s woes. However, the Hammers survived and largely control possession for the remainder of the game. Apart, that is, from a short spell of Watford dominance just after the break as the Hammers recovered from Nuno’s inspiring half-time team talk.

The game had returned to all square by the break thanks to an unnecessary attempt to play out from the back by Keben in the home defence. Full marks to Taty for not giving up the chase but the goal came gift-wrapped rather than as a reward for any incisive claret and blue play.

The second half was almost entirely without incident. The Hammers created little from their near 70% possession or from the succession of corners which floated carelessly into the night. Watford’s occasional forays up field, while executed with purpose, rarely caused meaningful danger.

It was textbook low intensity football from West Ham. The apparent formation change made little material difference and played out as a hybrid of the anticipated 4-2-3-1 and the 4-4-1-1 that has plagued our approach since its unexpected short-term success at the start of the year.

Transition was again painfully slow; defined by a pointless back and forth in the defensive third. The theoretically most dangerous outlets (Bowen and Solomon) typically received the ball in deep, static positions with a full defensive line reformed in front of them – given ample time get back into its shape.

For the most part, our wingers do most of their work well away from the danger areas. Cutting inside before running out of space and being forced to play sideways or backwards. It is a rarity to have a ball played into space for a wide man to run onto. And if (and when) a ball is eventually delivered into the box, there are never enough bodies arriving to attack it.

Everything we see is a consequence of the low-risk mindset at the heart of Nuno’s footballing philosophy. It might occasionally work when the opposition is attack minded (as it did at Southampton) but is hopeless when confronted with a low block or intense pressing. The sad fact is that this will be case in the majority of Championship games this season.

Of equal significance is the lack of movement this risk averse attitude engenders. Where are the runners, who is creating the space for others to exploit? Mukasa struggled to make any impact – as other attacking midfielders have before him – due to an obvious lack of passing options and movement in front of him. It is a team playing on their heels rather than their toes. This has been a long running West Ham problem relieved only temporarily during the Lingard/ Rice purple patch of 2021.

Supporters are right to want and expect more signings before the window closes. But those signings should be to convert a squad already good enough for top four into certainties for promotion. The fact is we currently sit in 19th place having dropped seven points from the nine available. The only reasonable conclusion is that the underlying problem lies in the dugout. A mindset that was complicit in last season’s relegation and refuses to budge or adapt.

Will bringing in different players make the necessary improvements if nothing else changes. Marginally perhaps but not to the level required to achieve automatic promotion. It would the equivalent of signing up more A-list actors for a movie where the Director is clueless and the script and screenplay are an abomination.

The writing must surely be on the wall for Nuno. There are five more league games and an EFL third round encounter before the international break. It will need a massive turnaround for the manager to survive the chop at that point. We can officially launch the six games to save his job countdown, starting with Tuesday night’s clash with Wolves.

One bright spot from the game was the assured performance of Golambeckis in the centre of defence. He has the look of a very intelligent centre-back with good pace and great awareness. It will be interesting to see how he fares against the more agricultural of Championship strikers. COYI!

A Fistful Of Transfer Fees: A Time To Spend, Spend, Spend? Plus Preview of West Ham at Watford

The lows of last Saturday were partly offset by a youth inspired Carabao Cup high at Southampton. What now for West Ham as they return to league action in the last weekend of the transfer window?

It’s been a fairly typical week in the life of a West Ham supporter. From the anger and despair of that submissive performance against Charlton at the weekend to the delight of a youth inspired Carabao cup romp on the south coast a few days later.

People say that following West Ham is roller coaster ride. But it’s the reverse really. On a roller coaster the thrills come on the way down while in football they are felt on the way up. Perhaps ultimately neither truly live up to expectations or last long enough in the memory.

We should really have learned our lesson by now or accepted that our support is no more than an annual subscription to disappointment. Wouldn’t it be refreshing if the club marketed it in this way? Upgrade your Casual Sufferer free trial to enjoy the full benefits of our Frequent Flagellant membership. A special limited time offer which must end when the transfer window closes.

One of the accidental benefits from relegation is the opportunity to survive an extra round or two in the Carabao Cup before the obligatory autumnal elimination comes around, usually away at Liverpool. Even so, an away tie with Southampton looked like no easy task on the evidence of form to date. The Saints boasting an impressive home record at the St Mary’s Stadium.

However, despite the best efforts of master spy, Tonda Eckert – the miniature microphone hidden behind the Piri-Piri sauce bottle in the Rush Green canteen, motion tracking cameras installed on the top of training cones or sending Sammy Saint along with a pair of Meta glasses – he was unable to prepare his side for the youthful exuberance of the West Ham performance.

Once again, the early signs were not encouraging. A lack of awareness and tenacity in the Hammers defence allowing the home side to grab a soft early lead. Gradually, the youngsters grew into the game, drew level just before the break, and blew the hosts away in the second period. Josh Ajala stole many of the headlines with a debut brace but there were also fine contributions from Lewis Orford, Divine Mukasa and Airidas Golambeckis. It was pleasing to see four very well taken goals.

It would be premature to bet the remainder of our season on these young lads but they can surely play an important part and become part of a brighter home-grown future. For me, seeing Mukasa carry the ball forward with confidence was a reminder of how much this has been missed from the Hammers line-up – unfortunately, he is not our player.

I have seen suggestions that Nuno can use the victory as a blueprint for the rest of campaign. If he does let’s hope he doesn’t have it back-to-front or upside down.

With the transfer window still having several days to run, the club is mired in a phoney squad building phase. Not knowing who can be shifted and who can be recruited during the final days as the clock ticks down. The scale of problem has been magnified by circumstances at West Ham this time around. The finances were in a godawful mess even before relegation and will have been giving the bean counters double entry nightmares ever since thanks to a huge drop in revenues, a boardroom stalemate and the need to comply with the 85% squad cost ratio rules. Untangling the gordian knot of inherited chaos, outstanding debt, and ongoing transfers while remaining competitive cannot be underestimated. A bit like attempting to repair a cassette tape that had got mangled up in the tape player with only a pencil for assistance – but harder! Will it ever play properly again?

The good news is that the completed and pipeline transfers out will have saved tidy sums on player wages and amortisation, as well as generating significant player sale profits – which can be added back in to revenues for SCR purposes. Hopefully, it is clear by now what is left in petty cash to strengthen the squad in the final days of the window – assuming there is money left over after meeting outstanding cash flow obligations from previous seasons.

I doubt it’s going to be spend, spend, spend but those gaps in the squad won’t fill themselves. I still want to see reinforcements at centre back and defensive midfield as a minimum – whether that means spending a portion of the transfer windfall or raiding the loan market. As long as no-one is daft enough to sign Reiss Nelson.

Saturday sees West Ham’s first return to Vicarage Road since December 2021, a game the Hammers won 4-1 and featured Nikola Vlasic’s only goal for the Hammers. In fact, the last three visits to Watford have each ended with comfortable away wins at an aggregate of 11 goals for and 3 against.

Can we assume that Nuno has finally seen the light and abandons his 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 obsession for good. It was only ever an expediency to cater for the inclusion of winter signings, Taty and Pablo. A 4-2-3-1 formation makes far more sense in ensuring we are not overrun in midfield and vulnerable through the centre. My own pick for a starting eleven would be: Areola • Veltman Mavropanos Kilman Mayers • Engels Orford • Bowen Mukasa Solomon • Taty (or Piroe).

Watford have started the season with a home win against Southampton and an away draw at Wrexham in the league. In midweek, a much-changed team were thrashed 5-1 Peterborough at Vicarage Road. With a recent history of constant upheaval, being a Hornet’s fan must be equally as frustrating as being a Hammer.

A scene from the Comic Strip’s spoof spaghetti western “A Fistful Of Travelers Cheques” predicted perfectly how the club would later be run under their current owners:

Carlos: Which football team do you support?
Miguel: Eh… Watford.
Carlos: [spits] Watford can’t play to save their lives, amigo!
Miguel: I agree.
Carlos: Oh. Oh, well then, I don’t agree! I think they can play. They just need a new manager!

Any many a new manager have they had. Current incumbent, Alessio Dionisi, is the 25th to hold the title since the Pozzo family assumed control in 2012. Do they bother putting a name on the door? Hiden away on the list are some familiar old names including Glenn Roeder, Gianfranco Zola and Slaven Bilic. Of all the managers employed, it is Zola who holds the record for surviving the greatest number of games.

Other West Ham connections are one time director Jack Petchey who owned Watford during the 1980/90s – buying from and then selling back to Elton John – and current CEO, Scott Duxbury, who held the same role at Upton Park prior to the Gold & Sullivan takeover.  

According to the internet, Dionisi’s style revolves around building from the back, attacking overloads, intense pressing and pushing bodies forward. Basically, the same as most sides outside of West Ham. It should allow space at the back for the Hammers to exploit. It will be a good opportunity to see how young players react to an intense pressing opponent.

What we will get on the day is anyone’s guess. Can we maintain a decent level of intensity over 90 minutes, can we not only pass accurately but with purpose, can we manage to defend a lead without dropping deeper and deeper? Come on Nuno, you know it makes sense. COYI!       

After A Fortunate FA Cup Win West Ham Will Need More Than Rice and Luck To See Off The Hornets

It’s back to league action after a disappointing transfer window and then scraping past Kidderminster in the FA Cup. Time for the players to show they are more than a one-man band

I’m still not sure what to make of that performance against Kidderminster Harriers. How could a non-League side pass better, be more confident on the ball and have more ideas than a highly paid team from the Premier League’s top six? Was it just a case of poor attitude on the day against very committed opponents? Or are the Hammers reverting to type? If David Moyes had ordered a slice of luck before the game, he got a far larger portion than was deserved.

The first half was possibly the worst 45 minutes from West Ham for several years. I don’t recall any meaningful chances being created. It was a collective failure by all the players to impose themselves and their supposed superiority on the game. The performance of fringe players was a clear reminder of just how thin the squad is. Mark Noble was pedestrian and played far too deep; Nikola Vlasic was so anonymous it was easy to forget he was on the pitch; Andriy Yarmolenko was lethargic and disinterested throughout the whole two hours; Alex Kral was obsessed with playing first time passes without ever looking up; Issa Diop looked terrified of the opposition Number 9, while he and Ryan Fredericks looked like rabbits startled by the headlights each time the ball came to their feet. Neither did Alphone Areola do himself any favours in his quest to claim the Number 1 spot.

Incredible to think that the likes of Yarmolenko (106 caps), Vlasic (33) and Kral (29) are seasoned international players. This was the type of game they (as well as Said Benrahma) should be taking by the scruff of the neck and demonstrating their class. And whose daft idea was the short corner routine?

It was only the introduction of Declan Rice that eventually raised the tempo above comatose. What a poor side we look without him. Not a reassuring glimpse of a post Decxit future. We can’t always expect him to do all it by himself, even if he will try to. What a player! Surely, one of the best ever and an automatic choice in everyone’s all-time West Ham XI.

It was a heart-breaking way for Kidderminster to lose. They didn’t deserve to lose at all, and the timing of the goals must have been particularly distressing. Still the Hammers live to fight another round, although I am not confident on the chances of overcoming our next opponents. Maybe every cup run deserves a stroke of luck somewhere along the way. We may already have used ours up.

It’s back to league action tonight with Watford the visitors to the London Stadium. A quick re-match to follow on from the Hammers 4-1 win at Vicarage Road five weeks ago. Five weeks is a long time at Watford Football Club though and in that time they have swapped one ageing manager for another – Roy Hodgson replacing Claudio Ranieri. They have a very different concept of Manager of the Month in the Hornet’s boardroom.

Hodgson seems an odd choice to me. No doubt his team will be better organised and more difficult to beat than the shambles put out by Ranieri, but that may not be enough. The relegation race still looks like a four-horse race to me – Burnley, Newcastle, Watford, and Norwich – and the one that gets away will be the one able to score enough goals to win games. Difficult to imagine Hodgson’s Watford doing that.

As amusing as it would be, I can’t see Lampard Jr’s side getting dragged into the equation. Having crunched the numbers through the algorithm with my AI Predictor Pin TM I suspect it will be big spending Newcastle who will survive the drop.

Watford survived a drab goalless draw with fellow strugglers Burnley at the weekend and I doubt they will turn up tonight with entertainment on their minds. They are able to welcome Dennis back from suspension but are again without Sarr who has yet to return from AFCON.

Just as we were about to celebrate Kurt Zouma’s recovery from his worrying injury at the weekend, the dreadful story broke of his cat kicking exploits. Why anyone would do that is impossible to understand. Why they would also want it to be filmed for posterity is staggering. Zouma has made what passes for an apology these days – sorry I was caught out or sorry you were upset – but I would be surprised if he is included in today’s squad. His absence would have a huge impact, but the club need to make a stand for decency, even if it means playing Diop again.

Moyes will know he doesn’t have many options in team selection. His decision making will be limited to Coufal or Johnson at right back and which two of Benrahma, Pablo Fornals, and Manuel Lanzini joins Jarrod Bowen in the attacking midfield three. All that supposes Michail Antonio is fit and ready to resume the striker role. Bowen is not a viable alternative and his use there just weakens the team in two positions.

Predicted team: Fabianski, Coufal, Dawson, Diop, Cresswell, Rice, Soucek, Bowen, Fornals, Benrahma, Antonio

West Ham need to quickly get back to winning ways in the league if they are to build on an excellent first half of the season. A home fixture against Watford would have seemed straightforward some weeks ago. But to win they will need to break down what will be a determined and committed Watford rear-guard action. Unfortunately, there is scant recent evidence the Hammers are capable of this. Apart from the skipper, creativity and ideas are in very short supply.  Could a set piece once again be our best opportunity? Not if they persist with short corners, it won’t!

It’s a half-hearted uncertain prediction, this time around, but I will go West Ham to win 2-0. COYI!    

Hesitant Hammers Hoping For Upset In Hornet’s Nest: Moyes Won’t Be Buzzing

Can West Ham arrest their recent slump against an injury hit and rusty Watford? Or will Dennis prove too much of a menace for the tentative Hammer’s defenders?

Football has long been a game of binary emotions. A run of victories and it’s euphoria. Consecutive losses and it’s a disaster with calls for heads to roll. Our view of individual players lurches from world-class to rubbish over the course of a few weeks. Managers are either buzzing or fuming and supporters can swing effortlessly from ecstasy or outrage in the time it takes to post on Twitter.

There’s no doubt that West Ham are having a major wobble right now. On cloud nine after defeating Liverpool, the team has never really recovered from the international break that followed it. The sparkle and swagger that was shaped during a four-game winning run mysteriously disappeared, even if there was a win over Chelsea in the interim.

The Boxing Day game was arguably the worst West Ham performance for many months, particularly in the first half. It was an odd team selection by David Moyes although his decisions not to name Ben Johnson and Michail Antonio in the starting line-up may have been due to fitness concerns. I think many of us were stunned that Arthur Masuaku had kept his place at left back. But the Hammers recent woes are not all down to Arthur’s erratic interpretation of full-back play. We have seen equally poor performances from Craig Dawson, Issa Diop, Pablo Fornals and Said Benrahma. Even the usually reliable Vladimir Coufal has been well below par.

There have read various online theories about the Hammer’s downturn. From doom merchants proclaiming that Moyes has lost the dressing room as opponents have rumbled his dinosaur tactics. To pundits suggesting it has been a Europa League inspired burn-out. Personally, I think it is almost entirely down to the successive injuries suffered by Angelo Ogbonna, Kurt Zouma and Aaron Cresswell. That and the inadequate depth in the squad, other than as emergency cover, that has shattered the confidence and created indecision in our play. Any team that relies on Andriy Yarmolenko as its impact substitution is going to be found wanting.

Which direction the season goes from here will be dictated by how quickly the wounded recover, and what reinforcements (if any) arrive during the transfer window. If I were the manager, I would be banging on the boardroom door for an additional centre back, left back, attacking midfielder and striker. I would want players ready to hit the ground running and I would want them as soon as the window opens, not in the final hours before it closes. It is a strange idea that a player might spend the first year of a three-year contract just to settle in.

As we reach the final game of the calendar year, we should not forget that 2021 has been a very positive period for the Hammers. In 40 Premier League games, there have been 21 wins and seven draws earning a total of 70 points with a goal difference of 19. It is a tremendous achievement given the relatively modest resources. Maybe the return can be improved further after the Watford fixture.

The added dilemma for Moyes today is the one match ban picked up by Declan Rice following a clumsy and unnecessary challenge against Southampton. I believe Moyes will opt for Mark Noble as Rice’s replacement given that Alex Kral has yet to experience a single Premier league minute. He may well get the final 15 or 20 today, though. Johnson must replace Masuaku as the only probable change at the back. In the midfield attacking positions I imagine we will see Jarrod Bowen, Manuel Lanzini and Said Benrahma. While Nikoli Vlasic was no worse than Fornals or Benrahma on Sunday it is still difficult to see what his game is all about. He did look fitter and stronger this time, but I have yet to see what attributes he has to justify the large transfer fee?

Watford have not played since losing at Brentford on December 10 – West Ham have played four games since then. They have several players still missing through injuries and Covid including the potentially dangerous Sarr.  The Hornet’s most impressive player this season has been Dennis with seven goals and a handful of assists to his name in the Premier League. There is also King who can potentially be just as irritating to West Ham as a Hornet as he was during his earlier career. The makeshift Hammer’s defence will need to remain on full alert.

Until recently, my opinion was that VAR was having a far better season. Though it now seems not to have been happy with its much lower profile. I still don’t get how the Dawson foul was a penalty against Southampton. Dermot Gallagher says it was a good call as the foul continued into the box. That’s a new interpretation on me and I look forward to seeing similar and consistent awards in the future. Would it have been given to an away side at Anfield, for example? Added to the other Dawson incident at Molineux and the Coufal penalty against Arsenal, and we see that VAR has done us few favours.

West Ham need a win, any sort of win, to begin rebuilding confidence. On paper a visit to an injury hit Watford is as good a time as any to turn the corner. Watford have looked a poor side and have lost their last four league games. There is little likelihood of Ranieri qualifying for a long service award at Vicarage Road – although he will see this as a winnable game. West Ham of old were the ideal opponents to put an end your winless streak against – as Southampton did on Sunday.  Hopefully, we won’t fall back into those bad old ways.

A scrappy 2-0 win will do for me. COYI!