Tag: #westham

Moyes Not-So-Merry Men Must Raise Their Game To Fend Off Forest Fire

With just four points from the last seven league games, West Ham need new ideas and fresh impetus to avoid entering into the international break as a bottom six club.

If I could turn back time, I might choose to spend the evening listening to a 1970s supermarket music playlist on Spotify rather than watching West Ham take on Olympiacos in the Europa League. Even allowing for the low expectations set for a good many of the European group games, this was especially dire. Ninety minutes of forgettable mediocrity.

The post-match baloney from David Moyes featured his greatest hits of well-worn, trite excuses. “We didn’t play as well as we had hoped”. “The opposition have years of European experience”. “Coming away with the three points was the most important thing”.  “They were defensively well organised and stopped us getting our crosses in” – if only there were alternative routes to goal, David.

There is a generally accepted rule that all successful sides will need to win ugly from time to time, but lately West Ham know no other way. Supporters should always want their team to win but don’t we also want to be entertained while they’re at it? Is there any lasting pride or pleasure to be had when resilience and organisation are valued above everything else?

In the end the Hammers wreaked their much-wanted revenge over their Greek opponents who had ended their unbeaten streak two weeks earlier. But it came from the game’s single moment of genuine quality rather than as the result of sustained assault. The presence of a simple yet beautifully crafted goal was incongruous in such a drab match. A sumptuous, chipped pass by James Ward-Prowse perfectly placed for Lucas Paqueta well-timed run into the box to volley home. The on-field decision to flag for offside was representative of the shocking officiating on show all night. Replays clearly showing that Paqueta’s faultless calculation of the angles would have made even Pythagoras proud. Good old VAR!

In one of those quirks of the fixture list, West Ham now find themselves facing two teams owned by the same shady Greek mogul, Evangelos Marinakis, within the space of three days. Despite serial accusations of match fixing and other nefarious activities, Marinakis was considered fit and proper enough to become the majority shareholder of Nottingham Forest in 2017.  His tenure has seen the former European champions return to the top tier of English football following promotion to the Premier League in May 2022.

Forest have made an acceptable start to the new season having accumulated one less point than the Hammers from their opening 11 games. They were very poor travellers throughout last season, and although their struggles on the road have largely persisted they have tasted victory at Chelsea and secured a goalless draw at Palace, where they were easily the better team. Should they win today they would leapfrog West Ham and potentially enter the international break sitting in the top half. The same outcome could see ourselves, the one-time league leaders, drop down into the bottom six.

Today’s game is the last of seven played by West Ham since the last blank international weekend. In that time, there have been two cup wins but not a single league point – having lost all three games to Aston Villa, Everton, and Brentford. It is a tough schedule but still a terribly poor return for a team that sets up not to lose. Since the start of last season, Moyes team have lost 25 and won just 15 of 49 games. This leaves a triple whammy where the club has spent bags of money on transfers, where the football remains tedious, and is not yielding results.

During his time as West Ham boss, Moyes has spoken about instilling a big club, winning mentality to the club. Just as he has talked about Red Bull models. Recently, he has again claimed to have made changes in approach to make us more expansive. This has completely passed me by. As they used to say in banking: “the words and numbers do not match!”

The squad may now contain additional flair players, but the underlying fundamentals have not changed. The overwhelming focus on compact defence and denying space to opponents means that when we eventually win the ball there are too few passing options available. Players are bunched together, are not able to create space and switch play, and become easy prey to the opposition press. Or else it results in hopeful blind first-time flicks to no-one in particular. I have to believe it is coaching rather than individual technical ability that is causing the problem, otherwise a change of manager would make no difference. Sure, upgrades are needed in certain positions, but we have seen how progressive managers have breathed new life into previously dispirited squads.

West Ham will need to up their game from midweek if they are to win today. Forest are one of a small group of teams who boast less possession than the Hammers and they will be happy to sit back and play on the break. They will have done their homework and be fully aware of the Hammer’s creative limitations when allowed the lion’s share of the ball. A ponderous build up ending with hopeful crosses into the box. Or is today the day that Moyes finally reveals a cunning new plan from his dusty box of managerial tricks? Probably not!

Kurt Zouma continues to struggle with his various injuries so it will be as you are at the back except for a return between the sticks for Alphonse Areola. There was a pyrrhic victory for Areola in the week when he picked up the Premier League save of the month award – a shame it came in a 4-1 defeat at Aston Villa.

If Moyes is considering changes it will be possible recalls for stalwarts Michail Antonio and Thomas Soucek. The unintended consequence of leaving Soucek on the bench is that Ward-Prowse is consigned to a far deeper defensive position where he is way less effective. He started his West Ham career at a blistering pace in a more advanced role but perhaps this was creating to much excitement. In midweek he was deployed even deeper than Edson Alvarez. The sublime assist apart, his contribution was mainly backwards and sideways passing reminiscent of a late career Mark Noble tribute act.

I pray to the footballing gods that Moyes again leaves Michail Antonio on the bench and sticks with Jarrod Bowen up top. But equally he needs to realise that Bowen isn’t a straight replacement for Antonio. Other changes to shape are necessary to provide the support required to make this work effectively. Bowen offers greater control and finesse plus the opportunity for interplay and darting runs that can be key in unlocking packed defences. Bowen is not the long term answer to the Hammer’s striking woes but he is the best we have for now.

A memory will have popped up on Danny Ings Facebook page during the week to remind him of his solitary West Ham league goals in this corresponding fixture last season. Ings scoring twice in an unusually comfortable 4-0 win. Divin Mubama, on the other hand, will need a rest following his midweek run-out – the one-minute manager having chosen to bring him on in the 89th minute to show what he can do.

Quite what has become of Said Benrahma in his three years at the London Stadium is beyond all comprehension. His confidence levels appear to have been shattered to the point where every move he attempts is the wrong one. If footballing decisions were a multiple-choice paper, he would regularly be scoring 0%.

I long for the days when I looked forward to West Ham games with anticipation. I find myself conflicted between wanting the team to win against the desire for much-needed change in the way they are managed. Unless Moyes pulls off a shock cup-winning treble, there can be no way he will get a new contract in the summer. With the board reluctant to act before that I fear we will limp along as we are until May. Seeing out the season will be like watching a goldfish that has jumped out of its bowl and is flapping around on the carpet until it slowly dies – and being unable to do anything about it.

We might possibly win today. But it’s not going to be pretty. If West Ham are winning at the break can we ask Kevin Nolan to lock Moyes in the toilet and prevent him sucking all the energy out of the half-time dressing room? COYI!

Ward Prowse’s Perfect Precision Pass, Paqueta Pounces, Olympiacos Overcome.

West Ham march on in Europe, but can they get back to winning ways in the league when Forest visit the London Stadium on Sunday?

VAR hasn’t received the best press in recent times. But West Ham were thankful for its intervention on Thursday evening. If we were relying on the naked eye of the assistant referee then the result of the game against the Greeks from Piraeus would most likely have been a goalless draw. West Ham were celebrating when Paqueta pounced to volley home Ward Prowse’s wonderful precision pass over the top. A beautifully crafted pass and finish was about to be chalked off when the flag was raised to indicate offside. But thanks to the VAR check Ortega was seen to be closer to his own goal than our brilliant Brazilian and the goal quite rightly stood. And how the players celebrated in front of the visiting Greek supporters, milking their revenge win. West Ham were not happy with how their opponents celebrated their win two weeks ago, and vengeance for that was high on the player’s minds prior to the game.

Thankfully Manager Moyes had made changes from the weakened team he put out that lost the reverse fixture a fortnight ago. The win leaves us at the top of the group on the basis of head-to-head against Freiburg who also had a comfortable win over Backa Topola on the night. A win against the Serbians at the end of November would mean a draw against the Germans in the final group game in mid-December would be enough to clinch top spot in the group. And top spot is important in this competition with the runners up facing a game against a third placed side dropping down from the Champions League.

Division of opinion about the merits of the manager continues in the build up to the kick-off against Forest on Sunday. Recent poor domestic form with three consecutive defeats has seen us slip into the bottom half of the table where we are now twelfth with 14 points from our eleven games, just one point and one place above our visitors who have won one and drawn three of their last five games.

A worrying statistic is that Forest have won only one away game against West Ham in almost 40 years. How we manage to end those poor runs of our opponents is a trait we seem to specialise in. In fairness however the sample size is not as big as it might be against many other teams as we haven’t always been in the same division. Another one to watch out for coming up soon – Burnley have now lost six consecutive home games – you know who their next home game is against after the International break, don’t you?

Forest’s three wins this season have been against Sheffield United, Chelsea, and last week against in-form Aston Villa. They have only lost four games (compared to our five) although all four have been on their travels. We don’t have a good record in games that follow Europa League fixtures on Thursday nights and have yet to win one on a following Sunday in this campaign.

Thanks to the BBC I was made aware that the manager who holds the record for the most defeats in Premier League matches is Harry Redknapp with 238. I’ll leave you to guess who follows close behind on 237. Another unwanted record on its way shortly I reckon.

If we are serious about becoming a top-half team then this is a game that we surely need to win. I did suggest something similar prior to the recent Everton game too. Look what happened there.

It’s a frustrating watch at the moment with all the attacking talent we have at our disposal. As Geoff pointed out recently, recent league results have been abysmal. Just four points from the last seven games, a rate of return that if continued to the end of the season would result in a total of 30 points, and a likely relegation struggle.

Here is a paragraph from my article prior to the recent Everton game:

I was interested when reading one of the social media groups of West Ham fans whose members, looking at our upcoming games, Everton, Brentford, Forest, Burnley, and Palace, were making predictions as to how many points we would be collecting from those five ‘easy’ (on paper) games. There are many optimists out there who were saying 15, and perhaps 13 while others were taking a more realistic approach, some pessimists even going as low as 3, or even lower in a couple of cases. The ‘optimists’ were then ‘attacking’ the ‘pessimists’ or ‘realists’ accusing them of not being ‘true’ supporters, suggesting they should get behind the team, or go and support someone else. The other group fought back suggesting they were entitled to their opinion and the exchange was a good example of extreme opinions that exist in many social media areas.

Two games down and no points yet I wonder how many points we will end up collecting now from that run of supposedly ‘easy’ games?

Bookmakers have us as one of eight teams who are odds on to collect three points in their games this weekend, the others being Arsenal, Manchester United, Newcastle, Villa, Brighton, Liverpool, and Manchester City. The other 7 are in the current top eight of the Premier League. Only Tottenham of the top 8 are not priced at odds on to win their game. Do you have the same belief as the bookmakers that odds on is a true reflection of our chances to win this game? So many of our games this season have ended 3-1, both wins and defeats. Perhaps a 3-1 win on Sunday is my prediction with no great conviction or supporting evidence. What are the chances?

David Moyes Olympiacos Word Salad Is All Greek To Me

Moyes was getting his excuses in early in the build up to tonight’s pivotal Europa League group revenge encounter with Olympiacos. The beleaguered manager is under intense pressure to find positive results today and at the weekend.

If David Moyes half-time team talks are as uninspiring as his pre-match press conferences, then it is no wonder his team regularly concedes shortly after the re-start. There must be a strong case for keeping him out of the dressing room during the break. Indeed, once the match has started, he is largely surplus to requirements – incapable of making in-game tactical adjustments or introducing imaginative substitutions who can offer something different. You can set your watch by the timing of the Danny Ings for Michail Antonio switch.

It was deja-vu all over again at Brentford last weekend when a typically timid second half performance snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. The highlight of the first half was a magnificent strike from Mohammed Kudus, the lowlight the sight of Antonio and Said Benrahma teaming up for the miss of the century.

The writing was on the wall as to how things might pan out towards the end of the opening period. After Emerson’s yellow card, Mbeumo was given increasingly more space out on the right to direct operations . Whereas Thomas Frank made adjustments in formation to negate the first-half threat from Mohammed Kudus, it was more of the same from the Hammers. While all three goals conceded were the result of school-boy defensive blunders that shouldn’t deflect from the woeful lack of ambition to build on the half-time lead.

Although my most significant gripe with Moyes is playing style, recent results have also been abysmal. After an impressive start, it is now just four points from the last seven games. A rate of return, which if continued to the end of the season, would result in a meagre total of 30 points from 38 games played. Having slipped into the bottom half of the table a final league position similar to last season is looking to be the likely outcome. Another season of treading water in the shallows while the more talented players instruct their agent to find something better.

Last season, the European campaign was the manager’s get out of jail card. And credit where it is due, winning any sort of silverware is a massive bonus for a club and fans starved for success. But it would foolish not to acknowledge the nature of the competition had always meant we were among the red hot favourites to win. This year’s Europa League will be a far harder nut to crack. With the potential for Newcastle and Manchester United to join Liverpool and Brighton in the knock-out stages, the Hammer’s history against those sides suggests a negligible chance of going all the way.

I had mentioned previously that the easiest route to a fourth season in Europe would by dropping down to the Conference. It was meant as a whimsical aside, but Moyes even slipped it in as a possibility in his press conference. He also talked up how three seasons of European games after Christmas would represent a major achievement for him and the players. Frankly, if he missed out on that (by finishing bottom of the group) surely he must fall on his sword.

The poor run of results now see Moyes backed into a corner for the two remaining games before the next international break kicks in. With his job again in jeopardy he has little option but to field strong sides in both games. That should mean no place for Antonio or Ings and a risky recall for Kurt Zouma to replace a shell-shocked Nayef Aguerd. A more enlightened manager would be looking to make selected use of what appears to be a very talented group in the U21s, but let’s not hold our breath on that one – unless it’s to wind the clock down in added time.

Judging just how strong an opponent Olympiacos will be is difficult. They remain second in the Greek Super League despite a devastating 2-4 home defeat at the hands of PAOK last Sunday. Apart from their Europa League victory (over a very poor West Ham side), their other results have been a home defeat to Freiburg and an away draw with Topola – throwing away a two-goal lead and going down to ten men. They are no strangers to European competition and will be looking for a third successive win in London having twice come away victorious against Arsenal in this same competition (2020 & 2021).

What usually happens when the pressure is mounting on the manager is that the team respond with a scruffy one-nil win. Taking an early lead and spending the rest of the night defending it. It certainly wouldn’t be a surprise if that happened again today. What the fans deserve though is an electric performance under the London Stadium lights to reward them for their devotion and loyalty. It’s high time there was a performance to fill up this half-empty glass. COYI!

Fifth Time Lucky: Does Moyes Have A Bee In His Bonnet About Not Beating Brentford?

An unexpected and upbeat midweek win in the EFL Cup halted the West Ham slide. Can they maintain momentum over the bogeymen of Brentford?

We are treated to a rare Saturday afternoon kick-off this weekend as West Ham set off across London hoping to bring a first ever Premier League point back from Brentford. Thomas Frank’s Bees have run out comfortable winners in each of the previous four encounters in which David Moyes men were as startled as a deer caught in the headlights in the face of the Brentford onslaught.

Following a poor run of results which saw West Ham pick up just four points from six league games – and lose for the first time in Europe in over a year – some credibility was restored by the midweek Carabao cup win over Arsenal. EFL cup games are not always a great barometer of league prospects and perhaps the lower stakes involved allowed the Hammers to express themselves more freely than is typically the case.  In Mohammed Kudus and Lucas Paqueta Moyes now has two players capable of getting fans off their seats, and their second half performances were teasing glimpses of what could be possible in the right tactical setup.

Since the early days of the season, I had advocated for Jarrod Bowen to replace Michael Antonio further forward and for Kudus to slot in wide on the right. It seemed the logical and most sensible solution given that Antonio rarely scores and does not have the engine to last a whole game these days. It was satisfying to finally see it in action.

Experience warns us not to get carried away by the occasional stunning cup victory. The cup runs during Avram Grant’s ill-fated season provide the ultimate cautionary tale in that respect. But any victory over Arsenal deserves celebration and it was a joy to witness Arteta’s dismay in losing the game. His team selection, however, gave a clear indication that commitment to this competition was not his top priority. A message that clearly got through to the players. The Gunners are not blessed with quality in depth and the hapless Kai Havertz continues to push claims as the most expensive transfer disaster of all time.

It wasn’t only the final scoreline on Wednesday that triggered parallels with the early season wins over Chelsea and Brighton. In each of those games against sides who love to dominate the ball, the Hammers combined determined and resolute defending with ruthless counter-attacking efficiency. If only there was a plan of what to do in games where opponents want to play on the break as well.

The victory added further fuel for the Moyes In/ Moyes Out debate. A dispute which is becoming increasingly polarised and promises to twist and turn as each game unfolds. If we are to believe what we read, the win serves to reset the Moyes Doomsday clock and gives him another six lifelines to play with. In the real world it would seem ludicrous to think that a Club would base its managerial hire and fire policy on ‘a six consecutive defeats and you’re out’ ultimatum – but this is West Ham, so rule nothing out.

Moyes has overwhelming support from the punditerati. What they usually overlook watching highlights from a comfy chair the hospitality box is that the debate centres more on style of play than results. West Ham is not a newly promoted club looking to scrap for the odd point here and there and most supporters want (I think) to see a team prepared to approach every game without fear – where every opponent knows they have been in a game. It’s not too much to ask.

I am not anti-Moyes as a principle and if he chose to spend the next international break on a road trip to Damascus or undergoing spot changing therapy in Leopardstown then I would be happy to support a new improved, less cautious playing style. It’s not that counterattacking football can’t be exciting or produce magic moments – the superb finishes by Bowen at Brighton and Kudus against Arsenal are prime examples – but they come along way too infrequently when the first concern is bodies behind the ball.

Brentford are another side who do not prioritise possession, but no-one could accuse them of being a negative side. The difference is that they press higher up the pitch, leave more players forward, play with twin strikers, and get wide men forward quickly in support. They were under the cosh in the first half against Chelsea last week but came away with a fine win courtesy of two second half goals. The Bees early season results stuttered in the absence of Ivan Toney but the recent form of Mbeumo and Wissa has gone some way to filling the void. Fancy having more than one striker in your squad!

Moyes has been routinely outthought by Frank in previous encounters. His opportunity to even things up won’t helped by the combined suspensions of Paqueta and Edson Alvarez. The absence of Paqueta will mean either a recall for Antonio or a start for Said Benrahma against his old club. Covering for Alvarez is a thornier issue now that he is the only specialist defensive midfielder in the squad – if only a West Ham owned player wasn’t putting in man-of-the-match performances at Southampton. The fudge will likely be a combination of Thomas Soucek and James Ward-Prowse sitting in front of the back four. I really don’t fancy Ward-Prowse in a deeper defensive role.

Emerson will return to the defence after his own one-match ban. He has been a standout performer this season and I have certainly changed my mind about him, especially as an attacking option. The centre back partnership of Nayef Aguerd and Konstantinos Mavropanos had a steady look about it and it would be good to stick with it given how fragile Kurt Zouma’s fitness appears. But can someone tell Aguerd and Dinos to cut down on the automatic hands-behind-the-backs pose. It might be OK for performing a highland reel or dancing to Come On Eileen, but not when defending in the box, please. I know there’s a risk of handball but surely doing it limits the ability of a defender to move forward and block an opponent’s shot.  

The Hammers game plan has failed miserably against Brentford in the past. Thoughts that a better outcome can be achieved by doing exactly the same again would be madness. If Moyes has a cunning plan then now is the time to use it. Else we may need another moment of Kudus magic to lift the spirits. A draw may well be the best we can hope for. COYI!

West Ham are like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get

This isn’t the first time I’ve used a slight distortion of a famous quote from Forrest Gump ‘My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates’. The same is true if you follow West Ham. You never know what you are going to get from one season to the next, from one game to the next, and even from the first half of a game to the second half.

We came into the EFL Cup game on Wednesday night on the back of a three match losing run, and were tamely beaten by lowly Everton last Sunday. What a contrast when we faced high-flying Arsenal, albeit with some of their star players such as Saka, Odegaard, Martinelli, and of course the returning Rice warming the bench.

It was not the return to the London Stadium that our last captain would have imagined for his first time back. The Arsenal manager Arteta paid the price of believing that some of his fringe players would be too good for West Ham. Perhaps he’d been lulled into a false sense of security by watching our woeful performance against the Toffeemen just three days beforehand. He, and the 62,000 in the stadium and those watching at home, didn’t expect a Hammers performance that would be a night to remember. We’ve had lost of memorable games in the League Cup in the past, perhaps the 7-0 demolition of a strong Leeds side in 1966 being the pick, but this was most enjoyable too.

Personally I was saddened a little by the booing of our former captain, but everyone is entitled to express their opinion, even if there may have been an element of sheep mentality. The £105 million that we received from Arsenal has enabled us to add some excellent players to the ranks in Kudus, Alvarez and Ward Prowse. In addition to Paqueta and Bowen we have a group of footballers who excite me. I love to watch them, and all apart from the former Southampton captain, who was given a rest until the final 10 minutes of the game, turned it on against the Gunners. It was a far cry form the boring spectacle we had witnessed against Everton.

Kudus was my man of the match, closely followed by Paqueta, Alvarez and Bowen, all worthy of at least 8 out of 10 on the night. In fact I thought that the whole team had good games. In some ways I was surprised by the selection of Paqueta and Alvarez given that they are suspended for the game at Brentford.

We were perhaps fortunate that there was no VAR to intervene when White headed the ball into his own net after quarter of an hour, as Soucek could be clearly seen pulling Ramsdale’s shirt. But I guess so much of that goes on in penalty areas week in and week out.

The move and goal of the night involved an exquisite diagonal long range crossfield pass from Aguerd to Kudus, followed by excellent control before firing the ball into the bottom corner. Bowen added a third and even West Ham fans could then begin to relax a little (but not entirely given our history – remember the game against Arsenal a couple of seasons ago?). Odegaard pulled one back in the 96th minute but by then it didn’t matter.

With just a couple of days rest the attention turns to a visit to the Brentford Community Stadium on Saturday. Brentford are now in their third season in the Premier League, with an excellent manager in Thomas Frank leading them to 13th and 9th placed finishes in their first two campaigns. In a way they are a bit like Brighton in that they seem to be a bogey team in recent times. We finally beat Brighton this season at the eleventh attempt in the league and hopefully it won’t take us that long to secure a victory over Brentford.

We did win there in the FA Cup last season, but the four Premier League matches between the two sides have resulted in four Brentford wins. In each of the four games they scored two goals, whereas we have only managed to score once (in the four games combined) when Jarrod Bowen scored in the 2-1 defeat, the first time we played them in the Premier League in October 2021.

In two of those victories the Brentford goals were scored by Mbuemo and Wissa, two mainstays of my Fantasy Football team this season, who continue to be a threat. In fact Mbuemo has scored three goals against us in those four games so he enjoys playing against West Ham it would seem. Let’s hope he doesn’t do a Calvert-Lewin this weekend.

Both ourselves and Brentford have made similar starts to the season; we are ninth on 14 points whereas Brentford are tenth on 13. Both teams have scored 16 goals in the ten games played, but Brentford have only conceded 12 compared to our 17.

If the pattern of recent meetings is followed then Brentford will score twice and win the game. But a lot will depend on what West Ham team turns up. If we perform like we did against Everton then a defeat will be the most likely outcome. If we can replicate the Arsenal performance then the outcome might be different. West Ham are definitely like a box of chocolates; you never know what you are going to get. That is so often the case from one game to the next. But despite the absence of Alvarez and Paqueta perhaps we can put an end to our dismal run against Brentford on Saturday?.

We’ve been involved in six matches this season that have ended 3-1. Three were wins and three were defeats. Will the Brentford hoodoo continue or (as in the case of Brighton) will it come to an end? Will the final score be 3-1? But to who?

Dyche Outwits Moyes In Brothers Grimm Horror Story: Here Are Five Fairy Tale Takeaways

Another dull, low quality and instantly forgettable encounter between the Premier League’s two Cinderella clubs where nobody is interested in going for the ball.

Entertainment Goes Missing In Action

What a sorry excuse for an elite level football match that was. A tumultuous battle of trench warfare between two sides equally determined not to lose. A game as grey as the Everton shirts where nothing exceptional occurred during the entire ninety minutes. It was so grim even VAR fell asleep and couldn’t be bothered to intervene. Was this entertainment worthy of the extravagant ticket prices charged? Are dour, old-school managers like Moyes and Dyche, who got left behind by the game some years ago, really the best that clubs like West Ham and Everton can find? In the end, Everton deserved their win by default, scoring with the type of goal that the Hammers concede all too frequently. Along with Areola’s fine save to prevent an even more embarrassing defeat it was a brief flicker in an otherwise dull afternoon. If Dyche can be cut some slack some slack because a) his brief is probably survival at all costs in perilous circumstances; and b) because his side were playing away, what is the excuse for Moyes? Into his fourth straight season at West Ham, having spent hundreds of millions to shape a side in his own image and what we get is a run of shambolic, disjointed displays explained away by a barrel load of implausible excuses. Nice work if you can get it!

Team Selection and Its Unintended Consequences

The West Ham team selection may well have raised a few eyebrows when it was first announced. The replacement of the suspended Emerson with the ageing Aaron Cresswell was expected, but Mohammed Kudus starting in place of the hitherto undroppable Thomas Soucek came out of the blue. It was high time Kudus was given a start, but had expected it to be as replacement for goal shy Michail Antonio. Kudus began full of promise, his energy and neat footwork threatening to give the crowd something to cheer but then faded as the game progressed. The omission of Soucek required James Ward-Prowse to drop deeper and he rarely impresses there – his passing laboured, his lack of pace apparent. His best work is done further forward where opponents are required to keep a careful watch, providing others with space. It was no shock when he was taken off. Cresswell did nothing particularly wrong but equally he didn’t do much right – at least creatively. Emerson is the only full-back at the club who supplies width and offers invention going forward – he was sorely missed yesterday.

The 21 Day David Moyes Low Intensity Workout Plan

Having to play seven matches in 21 days must always be a challenge. But that is not a reason to approach each game with such low levels if intensity. West Ham have now played three of those games and in each they have been weary and woeful. Even making wholesale personnel changes for the Europa League didn’t change the lacklustre, half-hearted attitude that has ben seen on the pitch. Unless it is a case of getting back quickly into their defensive shape, the team appears to have no apparent plan. Pre and post-match, Moyes claims he knew what to expect from a Dyche Everton team. Yet he was seemingly clueless on how to combat it. His hangdog caution and negativity must surely transfer to the players taking the field? Last season it fell to Declan Rice to galvanise and inspire through words and example. Kurt Zouma isn’t that guy. In the early exchanges there was hope that Kudus and Lucas Paqueta might have the tricks to unlock the visitors defence, but as Kudus faded, Paqueta became frustrated and increasingly over-egged the showboating. In the final knockings when we should have expected everything but the kitchen sink to be thrown at Everton, the game petered out with a whimper.

David, You Have Three Games To Save Your Job

The clocks have gone back and the nights are drawing in – so it must be time for a brand new season of You’ve Got Three Games To Save Your Job. We already know the script for episode one. Routine defeats to Arsenal in Wednesday’s EFL Cup tie and at Brentford in the League will be be followed by a scruffy victory over Olympiacos in the Europa League. The clock is reset and off it goes again. Rinse and repeat until we are mathematically safe from relegation. Must we live through the same charade again? Can’t those in the boardroom not see that Moyes is Yesterday’s Man? That his continued presence is doing nothing more than sucking any remaining joy out of the club. I have to believe that the squad of expensively assembled players are more talented than they look most weekends. That with a more enlightened coach they would prosper and be viewed in the same positive light as Tottenham, Villa, and Brighton. Thanks for the Conference cup win and a top six finish, Dave, but that was then, and this is now. Time for a change before the season becomes a meaningless slog.

Down With The Halloween Decorations

Ten points from the first four games and then a mere four from the next six. It is common to look at form over the last six games and just one win against the hapless Blades is poor in anyone’s book. With Edson Alvarez and Paqueta now suspended for the visit to Brentford, the Oracle Cloud Computer will struggle to calculate a positive West Ham win probability for that one. It is becoming more apparent that the early season wins were a quirk, and that the trajectory is downwards – and at speed. It can now safely be seen as a poor start to the season.

Matchday 10 will mean a quarter of the season completed, and sees the visit of lowly Everton to face West Ham at the London Stadium

Someone once said that you shouldn’t bother looking at the league table until at least ten games have been played. At that time teams would have faced roughly half of the other teams in the league, hopefully a representative sample in terms of difficulty, and you should by then have a good idea as to how the season is progressing, and how it may end.

Of course, even at that stage there is a lot of football still to be played, but as Premier League teams will have completed ten games at the end of this round we already have a pretty good idea which teams will be fighting for places in next season’s Champions League and other European competitions, and which ones will be in the relegation dogfight. And which ones (like ourselves?) will be in midtable.

Today’s game against Everton will be our tenth match, and after a promising start of ten points from four games, the relative slump in fortunes since has seen us slip to ninth before the game, with four wins, two draws, and three defeats. Mid-table perhaps seems more appropriate than our lofty position early on. A win today would take us up to 17 points, which would equate to 65 points over a whole campaign if that was maintained, a figure that would have equated to a sixth-place finish last season.

Have we played a representative sample of teams in terms of difficulty? So far we have faced teams currently sitting in 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th in the table, as well as 17th, 19th and 20th. Everton are 16th, so we will have faced 5 of the top 7, and 4 of the bottom 5. The only mid-table side we have faced so far are underperforming mid-table Chelsea.

I was interested when reading one of the social media groups of West Ham fans whose members, looking at our upcoming games, Everton, Brentford, Forest, Burnley, and Palace, were making predictions as to how many points we would be collecting from those five games. There are many optimists out there who were saying 15, and perhaps 13 while others were taking a more realistic approach, some pessimists even going as low as 3, or even lower in a couple of cases. The ‘optimists’ were then ‘attacking’ the ‘pessimists’ or ‘realists’ accusing them of not being ‘true’ supporters, suggesting they should get behind the team, or go and support someone else. The other group fought back suggesting they were entitled to their opinion and the exchange was a good example of extreme opinions that exist in many social media areas.

The same extreme opinions exist with regard to David Moyes. On the one hand he is lambasted for poor tactics, poor team selection and formation, poor use and timing of substitutes, lack of coaching and so many other things. I did enjoy a comparison between Moyes supporters and those who believe the Earth is flat. Moyes supporters retaliated with the usual stuff – look at the record, 6th and 7th place finishes and a European trophy etc. When did this happen in three consecutive seasons?

If you haven’t yet read Geoff’s article previewing the Everton game then take a look now. Like Geoff I was astonished by some of Moyes comments when he spoke to the media this week. He seems to believe that everything is difficult. The Olympiacos game was always going to be difficult he suggested, this year’s group is the hardest group we’ve been drawn in, every Premier League game is difficult, Everton will be a tough nut to crack, they are a resilient team who keep at it and have players capable of scoring goals.

The season so far suggests that the game shouldn’t be as daunting as our manager believes. Everton have won two and lost six of their nine games, have scored nine goals and conceded 14, are just above the relegation places and you would have to suspect that this will be another long season for them, probably once again facing a relegation battle, and definitely if there is any truth in the potential sanctions and a twelve-point penalty being suggested.

What must Moyes think of all the other, better placed, teams in the league? As Geoff suggests, how must his uninspiring demeanour and positive talking up of the opposition come across in the dressing room?

How will we fare today? Everton always used to be one of our bogey teams, and prior to the last three seasons we’d only beaten them three times in 24 attempts. However, in recent times we’ve done much better winning four of the last six. Our home form against all teams is impressive in that we’ve only lost three of our last 14 league games at the London Stadium (covering this season to date and last) and they were to Manchester City, Liverpool and Newcastle. Those are the positives.

To take the negative viewpoint (as our manager so often seems to) how often do we face teams and players who have a better record against West Ham than against other Premier League clubs? Everton have won more Premier League away games against West Ham than against any other opponents; Dominic Calvert-Lewin hasn’t scored more goals against any other team than he has against West Ham.

Despite our less than impressive recent form I believe that this is a game that we should win and will go for one or two nil. What are the chances?

Fast Fading Hammers Must Get Stuck Into The Toffees Or Risk London Stadium Meltdown

Dreams are starting to fade and die at West Ham as consecutive defeats in League and Europe suggest the promising start might have been another false dawn. Can they bounce back in style against a stubborn Everton side?

West Ham’s bright start to the season has officially been downgraded to mediocre after the Hammers began their demanding schedule of seven games in 21 days with two well-deserved defeats. Disappointingly poor performances in Birmingham and Athens putting prior victories against Brighton and Chelsea in the category of freak early season anomalies.

The two lame losses have switched the focus back to future of David Moyes, whose contract expires at the end of this season. Humiliation at Villa Park was especially exasperating and made worse by the manager’s post-match comments which suggested the hosts were well-ahead of his own side in their development. An analysis that conveniently overlooks the respectively tenures of the two managers. Moyes is no new boss on the block having been in charge at the London Stadium for almost four years now while Unai Emery is only just celebrating his first anniversary at Villa Park.

For a veteran of over 1100 games as manager, Moyes is remarkably thin-skinned and tetchy at press conferences on the rare occasions questions stray from the banal. He reverts to a dour and uninspiring demeanour that would make Dad’s Army’s Private Frazer look like an optimist. The worry is that this is how he comes across in the dressing room pre-match and at half-time – talking up the opposition and fixating on how to stop them rather than on how to beat them.

The current West Ham side are with no shadow of doubt a team that Moyes built. Its shortcomings – whether in personnel or tactics – fall squarely on his slippery shoulders. It can surely no surprise to even the most casual observer that failure to bring in additional striker resources in the summer would prove to be a disastrous decision. Michail Antonio has form for fading away after a bright start and who could have imagined Danny Ings playing as an isolated lone striker when he was scouted. Unai Emery must be having a good chuckle about that one!

Perversely, the Hammers goalscoring form this season has been surprisingly decent, despite it needing a huge slice of luck to to keep the run of scoring in every game going last weekend. Rather it is in defence where the team have been exposed, conceding 16 goals in the first nine games. This is by far the worst defensive start to a season under Moyes. The compact and narrow defensive ploy of inviting long shots and crosses has come unstuck as players endeavour to push forward more quickly. A central defence recruited to head away crosses all afternoon are dangerously vulnerable to opponents attacking them with pace. The historic solution for a leaky defence will be to pack it even tighter.

Not much can be read into the result at Olympiacos. Moyes gambled with a clutch of second-string players who quite frankly are either past it or not very good. Was that because he underestimated the Greek league leaders or was willing to write-off the game with more important fixtures coming up? It must have occurred to others that the Hammers best chance of more silverware (and a fourth consecutive Europe campaign) would be to drop down into the Conference. A Europa League knock-out stage that could potentially include Manchester United and Newcastle as well as Liverpool and Brighton would be formidable – can anyone see West Ham beating any of these over two legs?

Tomorrow, the London Stadium visitors are founding members of the Premier League Calamity Club, Everton. Already embroiled in what has become an annual relegation battle, the Toffees are also facing sanctions as a result an FA investigation into their finances. It was reported this week that the penalty could be as harsh as a deduction of 12 Premier League points. If that happened it would be a massive blow to survival hopes even allowing for the other hopeless cases likely to be fighting the drop.

Everton now have the look of a typical Sean Dyche team. They work hard, are difficult to break down, and share Moyes infatuation with resilience. The two managers are cut from the same old piece of cloth that should have been thrown out years ago. Unfortunately for them, the Toffees score very few goals. Leave aside the graft and there is little to get the fans off their seats in what will be a desperate campaign for them. The biggest threat tomorrow will come from Doucoure who managed to pop up to score important goals at just the right moment last season. Or perhaps Calvert-Lewin will finally recover the goalscoring form that made him such a hot property three or four years ago.

The challenge for Moyes will be to put out a team capable of breaking through a rugged Everton rear-guard. Faced with an organised defence the Hammers attacking efforts can lack creativity and urgency and another insipid display is not going to go down well with supporters. Everton will be well aware that frustrating the home side will get the fans on their backs.

After the Villa game it was expected changes would be necessary but having seen the potential replacements struggle to make an impact in Athens nothing is now certain. There will be at least one enforced change, however, due to the suspension of Emerson, plus there are also concerns over Vladimir Coufal’s fitness.

It is difficult to imagine Moyes making radical selection changes, just as it is unlikely that he will make early switches if it looks like things are not working out. We can expect the standard pre-planned substitutions around the 75 minute mark – Ings on for Antonio, Said Benrahma replacing Lucas Paqueta or Thomas Soucek. It begs the question as to why Divin Mubama is left on the bench as an unused substitute each week – or getting a 2 minute cameo deep into injury time if he is lucky? Young players need a 20 – 25 minute run-out to make it a worthwhile experience. But with Moyes approach to game management not allowing matches to be killed off when on top, that luxury is never available.

Having seen what a breath of fresh air can do at clubs like Tottenham, Brighton and Villa it is dispiriting to have to plod along under the dark cloud of a cautious and unadventurous manager. The mood isn’t helped by talk of Mourinho as a replacement next summer. Surely that is just media tittle-tattle and aspirations at the club go beyond another tactical has-been. COYI!

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?