Tag: #WHUFC

Can West Ham beat Arsenal for the third time this season?

It has only been a little over three months since we faced Arsenal for the first time this season in the EFL Cup. On the evening of 1st December Arsenal were below par, they left some key players including our old captain on the bench and VAR was on our side by not being there. If it had been in operation the opening goal might have been ruled out for Soucek holding Ramsdale’s shirt. The outcome of the game might have been different.

Arsenal’s domination of possession (72%) meant nothing when Kudus superbly controlled Aguerd’s 50 yard pass and fired home, and then Bowen made it three. Odegaard pulled one back with the final kick in the game but this meant nothing and we were through to the next round.

A little under two months later we travelled to North London to face them in a Premier League game. Once again we won the game. Arsenal’s undoing was their inability to convert possession (up to 74% this time) and domination (30 shots to 6) into goals. Some controversy over the first goal but VAR was unable to confirm whether or not the ball had gone out before Bowen hooked it back for Soucek to score. Mavropanos added a second with an excellent header early in the second half. The score line could have been even worse for the Gunners when Rice gave away a last minute penalty, but Benrahma’s effort was comfortably saved by Raya. That was the halfway point in the season and we were on 33 points, our highest ever total at this stage of a Premier League campaign. 

Six weeks later and we are meeting them for the third time. Two wins, a 5-1 aggregate, how can we go wrong? Well, since that win at the Emirates we haven’t won a game in six attempts, as poor a start to a calendar year as we have made in more than 25 years. We have not been at full strength and unfortunately without our first choice eleven we struggle.

The 3-0 defeat to Manchester United last Sunday was perhaps a slightly improved performance when compared to recent games. We had almost 50 percent possession and 22 shots on goal, but as proved in the Arsenal games, possession and shots counts for nothing in the end, only goals count. Our xg was better than theirs too so do we get consolation points for that? Of course not. The game is full of statistics but until they start tinkering with the points system (and let’s hope they don’t!) it will remain as goals that count and nothing else.

Talking of tinkering have you read this week about the forthcoming trials for blue cards to be introduced alongside the yellow and red ones that currently exist? As I understand it for certain misdemeanours (cynical fouls or dissent) players will be shown a blue card and sent to a sin bin for 10 minutes. I have also read many positive comments by some who want this to happen. Is it me – am I the only person who think the idea is bonkers and will ruin the game? I may be wrong but I can just imagine teams with a player sitting out for 10 minutes attempting to waste time, taking as long as they can get away with to take goal kicks and throw ins, and perhaps trying to keep the ball near the corner flag? Just because they do it in rugby doesn’t mean it would be right for football. But based on what I have read I am in the minority with my view. Or am I?

I’ve also read that the Premier League don’t intend to use semi automated offside technology next season as they don’t think it is accurate enough. Wasn’t it used in the World Cup in Qatar? Don’t they use it in the Champions League? But not good enough for the Premier League eh? They prefer their people in Stockley Park taking an age to draw lines. Mmm.

If you haven’t yet read Geoff’s article published on Friday then take a look now. The Moyes love him or hate him debate continues among our fans. Will he get a new contract? If Paqueta returns soon and we keep a fit first eleven then we might just do enough in the remainder of the season for the board to give him one. I think that would be a mistake. Results wise he has done a good job. Entertainment not so. I don’t believe that the two are mutually exclusive. The two can co-exist. I believe that football managers have a limited shelf life with individual clubs. With few exceptions I believe that both the clubs and the managers themselves benefit from moving on elsewhere. It’s probably true of many jobs.

So can we beat Arsenal for the third time this season? It would put a dent in their chase for the title if we did. Bookmakers don’t give us much of a chance. You can get odds of around 5/1 if you fancy our chances; Arsenal are around 2/1 on. I’d love it if we did win but I just can’t see it based on our recent form since the turn of the year. Seven consecutive winless games certainly won’t help the manager in his contract negotiations! It’s almost twenty years since we did the league double over Arsenal. When did we last beat them three times in a season? In 1924-25 we actually played them six times. We won both league games by an odd goal, we knocked them out of the FA Cup at the third time of asking after two drawn games, and in the London FA Challenge Cup we beat them again. Four times in one season! 

Football Is A Contract Sport: Will It Be Deal Or No Deal For Moyes As West Ham Welcome Arsenal To The London Stadium

With a transfer window that promised much and delivered little now closed we can all turn our attention to the question of the manager’s contract. What will it all mean as West Ham seek to resist the title-chasing Gunners

I dreamed of seeing a newspaper headline that the West Ham board had taken out a contract on David Moyes. That did seem a rather extreme reaction to a run of typically lacklustre performances when other less painful remedies were possible. But given the Hammer’s record of recruiting hitmen they would most probably have fired high and wide anyway.

The will-he/ won’t he be offered a new deal plotline is one that looks destined to run and until the end of the season. It’s more interesting than the football after all. I don’t see what benefit there is for the Board in renewing early and arguments of players becoming unsettled appear spurious. It would be surprising if the manager’s future was not in jeopardy amid ongoing supporter disquiet and threats not to renew season tickets. Failure to secure a further season of European football may well be enough to seal his fate.

For me, it has always been a question of performances rather than results. I understand that not everyone sees things the same way and that some are happy to trade entertainment for relative success. Indeed, many outside the club are genuinely puzzled as to why so many supporters want to see a fresh approach to what Moyes has been offering. This week it was the turn of Jim Beglin who urged supporters to ‘get real’ and be thankful for the scraps being served up. It was a surprising comment given that he must have actually seen us play a few times this season. Football so boring that when you watch it on an internet stream even the computer goes to sleep.

Prior to the Manchester United game, I was expecting West Ham to begin a gradual slide down the Premier League table. After the game I am even more convinced it will happen, and have doubts that even top half is within our grasp – unless something drastic happens or Lucas Paqueta makes a rapid return to save the day. Just as Slaven Bilic’s side were toothless in the absence of Dimitri Payet, so it is now without Moyes and Paqueta.

At least the performance at Old Trafford showed some improvement from the Bournemouth game a few days earlier. Up until the break it had been a reasonably well contested match – but the routine of conceding just after the half-time pep talk killed off any thoughts of a stirring comeback. The hosts were nowhere near as good as the media reports excitedly suggested, even though they were comfortable winners. Despite almost unheard-of levels of possession (49%) and 22 touches in the opposition box ,West Ham rarely troubled the Red Devils defence from open play. The best chances were the opening Emerson created and then squandered for himself and the ball over the top to Jarrod Bowen who hesitated a moment too long. On a weekend of record Premier League goalscoring, the Hammers were one of just two teams failing to find the net.

With the chance of a first league double of the season missed at Old Trafford, another presents itself when Arsenal visit the London Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Having also knocked the Gunners out of the League Cup an unprecedented third West Ham win in a season is a possibility – albeit a slim one.

Arsenal announced themselves back in the title race last weekend by beating Liverpool 3-1 at the Emirates. Post match reports paid tribute to Arteta’s tactical genius of playing Karl Havertz as the most advanced player for securing victory. From what I saw, though, the result hinged mightily on a brace of howlers by Alisson in the Liverpool goal. There’s no doubt that Arsenal have a collection of excellent first choice players but they lack the requisite strength in depth to truly worry eventual champions, Manchester City. I really hope players like Nketiah and Nelson are not on the Hammer’s radar when they are finally cleared out in the summer.

We must wait to see whether Moyes has a brilliant tactical plan of his own for dashing the Gunner’s hopes. Or whether he will play the same way that he has for the past 25 years. The relative freedom seen last Sunday will almost certainly revert to the lowest of low blocks in the hope that Bowen or Mohammed Kudus can deliver a get out of jail card. With Kalvin Phillips providing more evidence that he is a long way away from match sharpness, the manager has few options for mixing up his limited squad. But if there’s any way to fit a square peg into a round hole then Moysie is the man to find it.

It is easy to become cynical following West Ham and the feeling is particularly acute right now. My deja-vu moment is that we are in a familiar cycle where Moyes reacts to pressure for a more expansive style by allowing a little more space between the lines for a one or two games. When that inevitability fails to work due to slow, elderly or infirm defenders he claims to have tried and reverts to his tried and tested tactic of all-bar-one behind the ball. It is philosophy rather than formation that needs to change.

Naturally, it would be great to complete a treble against Arsenal (or a quadruple if you count the West Ham Woman’s victory) but the odds of it happening must be very long. Unfortunately, all the pointers are for the winless start to 2024 continuing for another weekend. I so wish it could be different. COYI!

History and current form suggests that West Ham will not win at Old Trafford on Sunday

The Hammers haven’t yet won a match in 2024 in five attempts. They haven’t gone winless in six games at the start of a calendar year for 25 years.

It is difficult to add to Geoff’s excellent article published yesterday. It seems incredible that we are sitting sixth in the Premier League after 22 games of the season, and on current form (the last five matches) we are one of only three teams who haven’t been beaten, the other two being Liverpool and Manchester City. But we haven’t won a single game in 2024 at five attempts either. And not exactly the toughest fixtures.

A goalless draw at home to Brighton to begin the year with the Seagulls being the better team, two games against a mediocre Bristol City team that knocked us tamely out of the FA Cup, outplayed at the bottom club Sheffield United, albeit robbed by some atrocious officiating, and then finally lucky to snatch a draw at home to a Bournemouth side who looked far more dangerous but saved by a mixture of poor finishing and some excellent saves from Areola. The headline writers loved having a go at Phillips for the Bournemouth goal – for me Zouma was far more culpable.

At the same time the entertainment is dire, and despite all the rumours, nobody was added to the squad to boost our attacking options in the transfer window which closed this week. And what was all that nonsense that led to the delayed departures of Benrahma and Fornals? The manager is allegedly on the verge of signing a new two-and-a-half year contract which will delight the Moyes luvvies and the “careful what you wish for brigade” whilst enraging supporters looking for more entertainment who believe that we have players who could achieve so much more with a less cautious approach.

Manchester United are next, and there isn’t a lot of history or current form to suggest that we’ll achieve anything in this game. We haven’t won there in the league for many years, not since the infamous Tevez goal that kept us in the top-flight in 2007. That was the last time we did the double over them too. In fact we beat them in three consecutive league fixtures at that time for the first time since the 1970s. An unlikely win in this game would enable us to match the three wins in a row once again. We have beaten them eight times since 2007, but seven of those have been home fixtures, and our only away win came in the league cup a couple of years ago.

In 55 Premier League meetings they have won 33, 13 have been drawn, and we have won 9, including the last two, both at the London Stadium. They have scored more than 100 goals against us in those games and we haven’t yet scored 50. Late goals from Bowen and Kudus did however enable us to win a fairly drab game just before Christmas.

If we avoid defeat then that would be seven league games in a row, but conversely if we don’t win then that would be six games in all competitions at the beginning of a calendar year without winning a game, something that hasn’t happened for 25 years!

David Moyes time at the helm for Manchester United lasted just 34 league matches, and this will apparently be the 34th Premier League game where he is taking charge against them. When facing them he has never won a league game at Old Trafford.  

You have to go back to the record-breaking season of 1985-86 to find a West Ham victory over Manchester United in the month of February when Cottee and Ward scored the goals in a 2-1 win at Upton Park in front of just 22,000 fans. Our sole February victory in a league game at Old Trafford came in 1929, 95 years ago this week. The attendance that day was a mere 12,000!

So there is very little to suggest that we can win this time. But I’m forever hopeful! What are the chances?

West Ham Log 2024: It’s Football Dave But Not As We Know It, Moyes Out!

Do we really need another two years of dour Dave’s drab and dreary caution? Does anyone enjoy watching West Ham play these days? How much longer can the manager cling on?

It’s a question that’s been asked before but is there anyone left who genuinely looks forward to watching West Ham play right now? Sure, there may be those who follow the results from a distance and take quiet satisfaction of seeing the team sitting sixth in the standings and having reached the last 16 of the Europa League. But does any fan who takes the time to watch games closely believe what they see is good value. That a game plan built on caution and attrition is worthy of the beautiful game. Does anyone ever say to their mates “Going to the game? I never get tired of watching West Ham’s resilience”?

David Moyes has been at West Ham for just over four years now. After a slow start, he hit a purple patch with a sixth place finish in his first full season. The swift counter-attacking football took opponents by surprise and, for a while, was exciting to watch. While the form carried over into the first half of the following season, West Ham had become a known quantity by now. Opponents worked that a high press cancelled out the counterattacking threat and without a tactical plan B, Moyes approach became increasingly cautious.

Fans desperate to see a fresh face and fresh ideas in the London Stadium technical area are routinely accused by the pundit community of being deluded or entitled. “Careful what you wish for” is the stock response. West Ham supporters should be grateful they are not in a relegation battle. That showing greater ambition would without question replace grim one goal victories with assured 4-3 defeats. Media outlets likewise are loathe to be critical of the manager, fearing losing access for their next big story. Even so, some have started to openly admit that watching West Ham is not easy on the eye – although preferring to describe the style as pragmatic, rather than boring. The well-worn phrase that football is a results business misses the point that it is also meant to entertain.

The elephant in the dressing room is, of course, the Europa Conference league win. After 43 trophy-less years it was amazing to experience the club winning something again. For many supporters it would have been a first ever taste of success. But in the cold light of day we cannot ignore the relative strength of the competition that we were in. The scenes in Prague at the end of the night and in east London the following day demonstrated how much it meant to the Hammer’s faithful. But Moyes can’t dine out on that result forever in the face of growing fan unrest. Surely, the Board are aware of that.

This season has been a weird one in many respects. It almost came as a surprise to find us sitting in sixth place at the turn of the year, so unremarkable were our performances. There have been several notable results – winning away at Brighton, Tottenham and Arsenal were all unexpected– that owed much to dogged defensive resistance. But in very few of the ten league wins to date have West Ham been a dominant force. They say that a good team needs to know how to win ugly, but it shouldn’t be the default model.

The Hammers remain without a win in 2024. Having been knocked out of the FA Cup by Championship opposition, they have drawn each of their three Premier League games. They were outplayed by both Brighton and Bournemouth at the London Stadium and despite being rightly aggrieved at the poor refereeing in Sheffield, did not deserve to come away with more than a point on the balance of play. With games against Manchester United and Arsenal on the horizon, the chances of extending the stay in the sunlit uplands of the top six may very well be limited.

There are parallels between this season and 2021/22 where the team were also handily placed to push on as the January  transfer window opened. Just as the club failed to act then, little was achieved this time around either, aside from the loan signing of Kalvin Phillips. Even more unexpectedly, a squad which was woefully thin anyway was allowed to become a net three lighter following the belated departures of Said Benrahma and Pable Fornals. Both players clearly went backwards during their time at West Ham – did they become worse players or simply get disillusioned – but have still been among the most used substitutes from the bench this term. Is Moyes now going to turn to youth or just make even fewer in-game changes?

The team selection for the Bournemouth game was bizarre to say the least. The decision to select all his favourites even if it meant playing them out of position must have seemed a good idea in the manager’s head. Would none of his assistants dare challenge him on the madness of putting JWP on the left wing and pushing Tomas Soucek forward as a Number 10? That Kalvin Phillips might be a tad ring rusty came as no surprise to the average fan but was apparently beyond an experienced manager with a thousand plus games under his belt. In fairness the real culprit for the Bournemouth goal was Kurt Zouma but digging out Phillips made for a better headline.

Sunday sees Moyes take his Hammers side to Old Trafford to face an erratic Manchester United side. The Red Devils victory in their topsy-turvy midweek encounter with Wolves moved them to within a point of West Ham. Moyes has never won as a manager at Old Trafford in 17 attempts and Carlos Tevez was the last Hammer to score a league winner there in 2007.

It is not difficult to predict that we will see a backs to the wall low West Ham block which will be described as a defensive masterclass if we win, but as tame surrender if we lose. Definitely less than 30% possession and fewer that ten touches in the opposition box – mostly headers.

I can see Moyes dropping Phillips to the bench for this one, allowing Soucek to drop back and Danny Ings to reprise his Bramall Lane role behind Jarrod Bowen. The most probable outcome is a comfortable home win unless further heroics from Alphonse Areola and Mohammed Kudus earn a point as they did on Thursday. It could well be the start of a Hammers slide down the table and its not difficult to imagine being overtaken by Manchester United, Newcastle, Brighton, and Chelsea before the season is out. It really is time for a change. COYI!

West Ham Versus Bournemouth Preview: Thursdays, Transfers and Takings

It’s Thursday night and so it must be time for a West Ham game. Will events on the pitch be as exciting as the live feed from the transfer window?. Or will both end in disappointment?

Once again, the schedulers have seen fit to shunt the Hammer’s forthcoming Premier league fixtures to the graveyard Thursday/ Sunday slots. As if we don’t already have enough of that during the weeks of European competition. It is a consequence, perhaps, of West Ham not being the easiest of watches under the current pragmatic regime.

Still David Moyes team continue to hold on to sixth spot in the standings and would have been even handier placed had it not been for the scandalous antics of the Stockley Park VARmin ten days or so ago. They must have already shut down their monitors to have missed the late penalty area assault on Jarrod Bowen in the final seconds.

Today’s game is also scheduled to coincide with the ceremonial ‘slamming shut’ of the transfer window – just as it had in the summer when West Ham were featured in the Friday night game at Luton. Why interrupt the evening’s nail-biting excitement by playing a football match?

As usual the January window is proving to be a triumph of hope over expectation. I had mentioned previously that precious little happens in this window, especially at West Ham. It’s almost as if all those reports of players being linked, bids being made, and talks being held are made up. Despite all the evidence, we still like to imagine something will happen.

As things stand the first team squad is one man down on its pre-window strength if persistent rumours that Said Benrahma and Pablo Fornals might join the exodus then the bones will be even barer. New recruits are badly needed but time is rapidly running low – short-term, squad filling panic buys are not what is wanted. A whole month has passed to make a move, yet here we are scrambling around looking to grab a bargain in the final minutes.

The lack of activity has focused attention once again on the presumed mismatch of priorities between manager David Moyes, recruitment guru Tim Steidten and bean counter David Sullivan. Cheap, young, talented footballers with extensive Premier League experience appear to be in short supply for some reason. It must be a frustrating environment for Steidten who had been employed on the strength of the magic he had performed at Bayer Leverkusen – but at a club that lacks the courage of its convictions. It now appears that Liverpool are sniffing around for his services and who could blame him if he jumped onboard the Mersey ship? I doubt we need worry so much about Moyes being headhunted in light of the Liverpool and Barcelona jobs about to become vacant?

The annual Deloitte Football Money League was published recently and emphasised how big the financial gap is between the also-rans (like West Ham) and the six rich clubs of English football. The standings, based on annual revenues, show Real Madrid as the world’s richest club with Manchester City just behind. A total of eight Premier League clubs are in the top twenty with West Ham slipping down to 18th after a poor league season in 2022/23.

The following table shows the breakdown between Matchday, Broadcasting (including prize money) and Commercial revenues for each club in the top 20, plus revenue totals for the other English clubs ranked between 21 and 30. All the figures reported are in Euros.

What immediately stands out – apart from the size of the gap – is how poor West Ham’s matchday and commercial receipts are in comparison with the big clubs. How and why do Tottenham earn three times the matchday income and five times the commercial income compared to the Hammers. And, of course, those revenues directly influence the size of recruitment and salary budgets. The big stadium bounce has not enriched the club’s coffers anything like imagined and, in relative terms, we are not far ahead of the clubs ranked just below.

Turning to tonight’s game, West Ham face a Bournemouth side much improved from when the two teams met on the opening day of the season. It had taken time for Andoni Iraola to mould the team in his image, but they had hit a rich vein of form before falling to consecutive league defeats against Tottenham and Liverpool. The decision to replace Gary O’Neil with Iraola was controversial but appears to have improved both Bournemouth and Wolves. While the Cherries rely heavily on the rejuvenated Solanke for goals, they have looked a very capable side  going forward, although less certain at the back. Semenyo, Tavernier, and Scott will all carry a threat to a rearguard easily unsettled by pace.

Moyes has remained tight-lipped on his own selection options and there are ongoing fitness concerns over Edson Alvarez and Lucas Paqueta. Mohammed Kudus has returned following Ghana’s early exit from AFCON and surely must be ready to start. New arrival Kalvin Phillips is available but with little game time under his belt for the past two season is unlikely to last 90 minutes of competitive football. Ordinarily, his situation would mean several weeks on the bench, but all indications are that this is a Moyes signing who will go straight into the starting eleven. Welcome and good luck, Kalvin.

My hope is that we will eventually see Phillips and Alvarez as a double defensive midfield pivot releasing JWP for more offensive duties behind a front three of Paqueta, Kudus and Jarrod Bowen. It would be an exciting prospect if allowed to flourish. The stumbling block is whether Moyes is prepared to relegate long-term favourite Tomas Soucek to extended bench duty. It would be no surprise if the manager fudged this decision today by allowing Alavarez extra recovery time.

Assuming Paqueta is not yet ready to return then it will be another outing for Danny Ings following his lively performance at Bramall Lane. The one enforced changed will be Ben Johnson replacing the suspended Vladimir Coufal.

A win tonight will put daylight between ourselves and the collection of teams below, but whatever happens the chances are we will remain sixth until the weekend. I don’t have a high degree of confidence its a position that canbe maintained with the current squad strength, but while there’s hope let’s cling to it.

On the opening day of the season West Ham failed to press home their early advantage against Bournemouth and in typical Moyesball style offered the opposition a route back into the game. All it needed was a lucky deflection and two points were dropped. Nothing suggests the underlying approach to games has changed much since then. So a narrow West Ham one goal victory is probably the best a fan can get. COYI!   

Robbed by the officials at Sheffield United, can West Ham push on in the league when Bournemouth visit on Thursday evening?

The Post Office Horizon scandal is one of the worst miscarriages of justice I can recall. It involved faulty accounting software creating false shortfalls in the accounts of many sub postmasters leading to over 900 convictions of theft, fraud and false accounting, and at the same time destroying thousands of lives. It took a TV series (Mr Burns versus the Post Office) to speed up the system of getting justice to all those who had been wronged.

Whilst not wishing to classify football in the same way, the officiating of our game at Sheffield United, particularly in the latter stages of the match, was in my opinion a scandal in footballing terms, and was one of the worst examples of poor refereeing and lack of use of VAR I’ve seen. Unfortunately, there are far too many recent examples of ineptitude in this respect. How can officials and VAR get so much wrong? It defies belief.

I’ll start by saying that based on our performance in the game I don’t believe we deserved to get more than a point. The lack of depth in the squad when we have injuries and lack of availability of first choice players was highlighted clearly in our failure to dominate against a team at the foot of the table and staring relegation in the face. I’ll also add that I am a fan of VAR too. But I’m not a fan of the clowns who operate the system. However we would have had three points from the game if the officials and VAR had done their job.

I’ll start with the penalty awarded to us about ten minutes before the end of the ninety. This was a straightforward decision for a referee who gave it when Ings (who had a surprisingly good game based on what we’ve seen from him so far in a West Ham shirt) was clearly caught. VAR seemed to take quite a time to ratify that the decision was correct. Why?

As we entered time added on, Brewster launched himself at Emerson, off the floor, out of control at speed, the clearest of sending off tackles you’ll ever see. Incredibly the referee (Salisbury) only showed him a yellow card. At least on this occasion VAR sent him to the monitor and he upgraded the card. We had the correct decision eventually, but how he didn’t give it in the first place was amazing.

We now had a 2-1 lead and 11 v 10. Surely the three points were safe? Coufal continued with his angry mood of recent games and once again seemed to enjoy fouling opponents and looking innocent when penalised. Reacting angrily to the shocking tackle earned him a yellow card and then he unprofessionally stamped on McAtee’s foot and we were 10v10.

The game was well into overtime when a ball was launched into the West Ham area, and as Areola went to punch it clear he had an arm into his face from substitute McBurnie and was left with a bloody lip and had to be treated and leave the field. For me it was a clear free kick to us and yet somehow the referee saw it another way and awarded a penalty. Never mind I thought to myself, thank heavens we’ve got VAR to rectify this nonsensical decision. They keep banging on with the phrase ‘clear and obvious error’ and this was as clear and obvious as it gets. I looked back on the timing afterwards. From the point that the penalty was awarded it was a further 4 minutes and 28 seconds before the kick was taken. How frustrating is it that in all that time that VAR had to look at the incident with all the camera angles and the evidence clearly showing on Areola’s mouth, they stood by the original decision, and didn’t even suggest that the referee had a look on the monitor.

We were now more than 12 minutes overtime when the penalty went in and we thought it was all over. But there was still time for us to kick off and in no time at all yet another astonishing refereeing decision which even capped the one a little earlier was to happen. In an attempt to get to Ben Johnson’s cross Bowen was wrestled to the ground by Ahmedhodzic who wasn’t even looking at the ball coming over. The referee awarded a free kick to Sheffield United. If a referee can honestly believe that McBurnie was fouled and yet the rugby tackle on Bowen wasn’t a foul then something is clearly wrong with the standard of officials and VAR.

Perhaps a TV series, Mr Burns versus referees and VAR would highlight to the nation that something needs to be done? Had the penalty that we should have been awarded been converted, and I’ve no doubt that JWP would have been successful then we would now be sitting on 37 points in sixth place, five clear of seventh place Brighton. In form terms relating to the last five league matches we would have had 13 points, a total that no team in the Premier League can better. The ineptitude of officials and VAR leaves us on 11, still the third best in the league.

Looking at our form I’ve gone back to Wednesday 1st November to see the results of our games in the three months prior to our meeting with Bournemouth coming up on 1st February. It has been a busy three months in which we’ve played 18 games. We’ve won 10 of them, drawn 4 and lost 4.

In the Premier League we have played 11, won 6, drawn 3 and lost 2. In the process we have defeated Burnley, Forest, Tottenham, Wolves, Manchester United and Arsenal. The two defeats were disappointing affairs losing 3-2 at Brentford after leading 2-1 and getting thrashed 5-0 at Fulham.

In the Europa League we won all our three games with 4 goals scored and none conceded to progress to the last 16.

The domestic cups have been disappointing. After a convincing win over Arsenal we surrendered at Liverpool in the EFL Cup, and then failed to beat Bristol City in two attempts in the FA Cup.

With 17 league games to go, the addition of an experienced England international to the squad (Phillips), and players returning from AFCON and injury, then surely we can push on to qualify for Europe once again? We will if we can retain our current league position of course. But can we?

As I write this on Tuesday evening prior to the five games being played tonight we have the usual West Ham situation as the transfer window closure approaches; we are no nearer to knowing if we will add any more new players to the squad. Jota and Osman in, Benrahma and Fornals out are the main rumours but who knows? There are always complications of one sort or another where West Ham are concerned.

This is one of those games that it is important to win if we are to maintain our challenge towards the top of the table. I’m on a roll as I predicted a 2-2 draw at Sheffield United (my first correct West Ham result forecast this season). I’ll go for a 3-1 win. What are the chances?

Can West Ham End A Dry January By Stealing The Points In Sheffield?

Injuries, absences, cup exits, and the perennial transfer dithering have produced an inauspicious start to 2024 for the Hammers. Is their visit to basement dwellers Sheffield United a chance to get the show back on the road?

To paraphrase the Lloyd Bridges character in the Airplane movie: “it looks like I picked the wrong month to quit drinking.” The good intentions of keeping off the booze in January being thoroughly tested by lethargic performances on the pitch and (so far) by the lack of activity in the transfer window. With winter breaks and cup exits, today’s visit to Sheffield is a last chance saloon for David Moyes to sidestep the worst manager of the month award.

As Richard described so eloquently in these columns yesterday, the cup exit to Bristol City wouldn’t have come as a great surprise to seasoned supporters of a club that has cornered the banana skin market for many years. The real damage for this year’s ignominy was done when sitting back to defend the early goal advantage in the original tie. What the replay confirmed (as if it needed confirming) was how thin the squad is in quality, how the team lacks leadership on the pitch, and how clueless Moyes is with his use of substitutions.

It is an unusual situation we find ourselves in at West Ham. Sitting an impressive sixth in the league and in the last sixteen of a European competition but riddled with discontent on style of play and entertainment value. Although ‘outsiders’ might be understandably baffled by the reaction of fans, their ‘careful what you wish for’ warnings mistakenly suggest it is a binary choice. That the only options for West Ham are the limited crumbs of success that dour, backs-to-the-wall, unimaginative Moyesball can deliver, or the inevitable relegation battles that would follow a move to a more progressive, open, and expansive approach to the game. There is plenty of ground in between if the club gets to grips with its youth development and scouting strategies.

As ever, we are seduced by the notion that solutions to current problems might be at hand from the winter transfer window – even though experience tells us that little business is ever done in January. That doesn’t prevent the rumour mills, live blogs, and clickbait sites going into overdrive on potential links, talks, deals, and swaps. Perhaps this year will be different and we will be pleasantly surprised for once. With Thilo Kehrer already gone and exits predicted for Said Benrahma, Ben Johnson, and others then the next ten days may well be busier than usual. The suggestion from Moyes that West Ham need to sell before they can buy was an unnecessary message to put out. It only encourages the brinkmanship and delays that so often lead to deals collapsing in the final hours of the window. The seat of the pants approach has rarely worked in the past, so why not get business done early for a change?

We are none the wiser as to what the club’s transfer priorities might be this month. There is no chance that each of the many squad shortfalls can be addressed in a single window. If the plan is to strengthen the starting eleven rather than the squad then an upgrade on Tomas Soucek would be my personal starting point. When Soucek is not scoring, he becomes a passenger whose control and passing are well below Premier League standards. In that respect, a loan move for Kalvin Phillips makes a lot of sense. But Phillips will want a guarantee of starts in advance of the Euros. Will Moyes give him those assurances?

In defence, there are surely growing concerns over the long-term fitness of Kurt Zouma. His mobility seemingly deteriorates on a weekly basis. The rearguard is not built for speed in any case which is a problem for any manager preferring to play a higher defensive line. But I don’t see any centre-back changes for now unless Nayef Aguerd leaves for Saudi Arabia once his AFCON duties are over. Should Johnson – who is out of contract in the summer – depart then cover at full-back would be seriously compromised.

The forward positions continue to be an enigma. The trident of Jarrod Bowen, Lucas Paqueta, and Mohammed Kudus has been the standout feature of the Hammer’s season to date. Clearly better backup options than Michail Antonio and Danny Ings are required but is a new Moyes-style target man exactly what is needed right now? How would Bowen and Kudus be accommodated in that scenario? In fact, it is interesting to speculate how things might have developed had Antonio not picked up a long term injury. Spending big money on a player like Broja from Chelsea would be a big mistake in my view. The ideal would be unearthing a Tim Steidten pearl or, failing that, giving a proper opportunity for Callum Marshall to stake a claim with regular bench appearances.

The apparent pursuit of Wilfried Gnonto is an interesting development. I do have a phobia about speedy wingers who can do little else other than running fast but maybe there is much more to his game – I haven’t seen him enough to judge. He would certainly be an upgrade on Benrahma although as a principle we should be looking to pick up exceptional players, not simply finding someone who is marginally better than what we have already got.

Games against Sheffield United have taken on a pantomime quality ever since the Tevez affair, and no doubt there will be plenty of booing and hissing at Bramall Lane this afternoon. Even at this stage of the season, the Blades look to need snookers to avoid relegation. Their most realistic escape route might be if three clubs above them get hit with massive points deductions as a punishment for financial irregularities. They have yet to see a new manager bounce from the return of Chris Wilder but are facing traditionally generous opponents today as they seek to finally put their points tally into double figures. One-time alleged Hammer’s striker target Brereton Diaz will be making his Premier League debut for the hosts. Always a worry!

West Ham have a good recent record in this fixture having won the last three encounters without conceding – including a dreary 2-0 win at the London Stadium in September. Apparently, if the Hammers keep a clean sheet today it will make it five in a row setting a new record for the club in the Premier League era – an achievement that Moyes would surely love to add to his CV.

Recoveries from injury will be key if West Ham are to return from the steel city with a point or three. The team that got intimidated and outmuscled in Bristol would surely meet the same fate against a determined Sheffield side. Our hopes, therefore, are pinned on at least some of Bowen, Edson Alvarez and even Pablo Fornals being fit and ready to start. Benrahma is, of course, suspended but reading the names Ings and Cornet on the team sheet will see me reaching for the bottle of wine which was being saved to celebrate the closing of the transfer window. COYI!

How much of a surprise was West Ham’s defeat to Bristol City in the FA Cup?

Last Tuesday night the BBC took their cameras to the Ashton Gate stadium. I wonder why they went there? No, in fact I know why they went there. They just love it when a lower division team knocks a team from the Premier League out of the FA Cup and this game was one that stood out as a potential win for the Championship side. I’ve read reports since that described the game as a shock result, a surprising result or an upset. Was it really?

We went into the game without our most influential players Kudus, Paqueta, Alvarez, Aguerd and Bowen. Key fringe players like Antonio and Fornals were missing too. We lined up at the start with a front three of Ings, Cornet and Benrahma, none of whom had scored a goal this season, but all of whom have been capped by their respective nations.

Ings, an international footballer (hard to believe if you’ve seen him in a West Ham shirt) has scored just three times in over 40 games for the Hammers, admittedly many as a substitute. He just does not fit into the West Ham style, and his alleged vast salary seems to make him even more of a target to the Hammers faithful. The early promise of Benrahma when he signed from Brentford has now seemingly totally disappeared. His form is very poor and he was quite rightly sent off for kicking out after he had been fouled, although conversely Taylor Gardner-Hickman was very lucky to escape with only a yellow card for his assault on Cresswell.

Cornet is a mystery to me. An Ivory Coast international with 30 caps he seems to have been frequently injured, but not picked when available, and the nearest he has come to scoring in a claret and blue shirt in East London was hitting the post in one of his early appearances for us against Chelsea when it would have been easier to score. Before the game it looked like we would have difficulty scoring with those three up front, and so it proved. Ings did make a turn and shot from outside the area that went wide, but that was his only real contribution that I can remember.

The game was barely underway when Mavropanos (for the second time this season) tried a suicidal back pass which resulted in an early goal for the opposition. Our Greek defender had a sorry night. His defensive duties (apart from being the culprit for the goal) were OKish but his distribution was woeful. Look back at the game and see how many of his forward passes were successful. He frequently gave the ball to our opponents. Zouma and Cresswell, never the fastest players, seemed to be running in sand all night and were frequently outpaced. Fabianski didn’t have a lot to do as Bristol City weren’t much of an attacking threat either, but he did OK with what he had to save. But was he a little slow off his line for the backpass? Would Areola have been there quicker?

Coufal continued with his angry mood of recent games and once again seemed to enjoy fouling opponents and looking innocent when penalised. Soucek had a frustrating time too, failing to control the ball and passing waywardly far too often.

So that just leaves JWP of the starting eleven who had an OK game I thought, at least his passing generally went to a team-mate. And finally Emerson who was the stand-out performer for us in my opinion (not much to beat though!) who had a good game as a wing back with some probing runs forward, but with not a lot of help from others. Johnson looked surprisingly good going forward too when he replaced Coufal, and our other two substitutes, Marshall and Mubama were given little time to impress. I couldn’t believe how long it took for our two forward substitutes to be introduced given our lack of effectiveness in an attacking sense with less than 10 minutes of the 90 remaining. In the few minutes available Mubama’s control and passing didn’t look too great, but Marshall did enough in that short time to suggest to me he should be given further opportunities.

One set of ratings I saw on BBC Sport had Emerson as the standout player for us with 5.77, followed by Fabianski 4.86, Johnson 4.8, Marshall 4.68, JWP 4.62, Soucek 4.53, Zouma 4.14, Coufal 4.08, Cresswell 3.8, Mubama 3.57, Cornet 3.27, Mavropanos 2.88, Ings 2.8, Benrahma 2.39. The ratings are based on fans giving players marks out of 10 and averaged. I couldn’t disagree too much with the overall findings but they do reflect how poorly we played according to those who bothered to add their scores.

The post-match statistics said that we had two goal attempts on target. A Soucek volley straight at the keeper and … you’ll have to remind me of the other one. Rightly or wrongly that was how I saw the game, and once again the anti-Moyes and pro-Moyes keyboard warriors were out in force after the match. In his post-match summary Moyes highlighted looking forward to the European games and our good position in the league. How convincing was he when he said it was disappointing to go out of the Cup?

An eight-man bench comprising two goalkeepers and five academy players highlighted the need (which many of us fans have known for a long time) for greater depth to be added to the squad. Our first eleven when all fit is a decent side, but beyond that this game demonstrated that we are lacking quality to come into the side when injuries and lack of availability are taken into account.

But how much of a surprise was the result? We have ‘form’ in this respect. A ‘non-scientific’ study of West Ham’s performances in domestic cup competitions in the 65 or so years that I have followed the team suggests that we have ‘probably’ been knocked out of the FA Cup or League Cup more times by lower league opposition than any other team in England.

Beginning in 1960, a list of just some of the teams who have eliminated us reads as follows: Huddersfield, Stoke, Darlington, Plymouth, Rotherham, Blackburn, Swindon, Huddersfield (again), Coventry, Mansfield, Middlesbrough, Blackpool, Huddersfield (yet again), Stockport County, Hull City, Hereford, Swindon (again), Newport County, Wrexham, Watford, Birmingham, Barnsley, QPR, Luton, Norwich, Oldham, Torquay, Oxford, Norwich (again), Sunderland, Crewe, Barnsley (again), Luton (again), Bolton, QPR (again), Grimsby Town, Stockport County (again), Wrexham (again), Northampton Town, Swansea, Tranmere, Sheffield Wednesday, Reading, Oldham (again), Bolton (again), Chesterfield, Watford (again), Middlesbrough, Aldershot, Sheffield Wednesday (again), Nottingham Forest, Sheffield United, Wigan, and now Bristol City. Quite a list.

I have probably missed one or two but the teams listed above were I believe either in a lower division to ourselves, or perhaps relegated (or finished very close to bottom) from the same division in the season in question. Of course, cup upsets happen, but I wonder if there are any other top-flight clubs who can match this record in domestic cup competitions?

Dig Out The Claret Ribbons: The Road To Wembley Starts Today As West Ham Entertain Bristol City

It’s the thrill and tradition of the FA Cup despite the third round matches being stretched over five days. Will it be West Ham or Bristol City who grab the number 6 ball in Monday’s 4th round draw.

Did you know that every time West Ham have won the FA Cup they had to beat a team with a bird nickname along the way. It was the Robins of Swindon in 1964 and 1975 and the Swans of Swansea in 1980. And you could also throw in the Throstles if you were inclined to resurrect the West Bromwich Albion’s traditional pre-Baggies monicker. In fact, both abortive final appearances had the same avian connection. The Hammers seeing off the Seagulls in 1923 and the Canaries in 2006. A 3rd round draw against the Robins of Bristol City is therefore conclusive proof that the famous trophy is destined to be festooned with claret and blue ribbons come the end of May.

The road to Wembley is just 16 miles by car from the London Stadium – or just five football matches, excluding replays. But it has been a road less travelled for West Ham since they last lifted the trophy in 1980. In the interim, they have bowed out 12 times in both the 3rd and 4th rounds, 9 times in the 5th round, 8 in the 6th, and lost once in each of the semi-final and final. Going all the way typically involves decent performances, a touch of good fortune, and a favourable draw. Here’s hoping the big six can knock each other out before the big day.

Today will be the third time West Ham and Bristol City have met in the FA Cup. On both prior occasions, it was Hammers who progressed into the draw for the next round. In 1969, goals from Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters (2) helped West Ham to a 3-2 win in a 3rd round tie – a campaign that was later ended by a 3-0 5th round drubbing on a wet Wednesday night in February by 3rd division Mansfield. More recently, Sam Allardyce’s Hammers managed to scrape a fortunate 1-0 win in a 2105 4th round tie courtesy of a goal from substitute Diafra Sakho, who had controversially returned from AFCON due to a back injury.

For two seasons between 1977 and 1978, the two teams competed together in the old First Division (the top tier at the time) where Bristol City won two and lost one from four prior to the Hammers relegation. The Robins were themselves relegated in 1980 and have yet to return to the top flight. This season they are occupying mid-table obscurity in the Championship.

A surprising number of players have turned out for both clubs over the years including George Parris, Ryan Fredericks, Paul Allen, Marlon Harewood, Nicky Maynard, Bobby Gould and Leroy Rosenior. To add to the familiarity, West Ham manager David Moyes was a Bristol City player between 1985 and 1987 while Robin’s boss Liam Manning managed West Ham’s Under 21s from 2015 to 2019.

Manning replaced Nigel Pearson as Bristol City manager as recently as November 2023, having previously worked at MK Dons and Oxford United. According to Wikipedia, his management style is based on a high press and high possession, which might suggest what we are in for today. It’s a little worrying that the weekend has yet to see any of the usual big cup shocks before the masters of the banana skin take the field.

With no game for two weeks, we can expect Moyes to put out a strong side today, subject to the latest injury situation. The performance against Brighton illustrated how poor the team are in possession when the creativity of Lucas Paqueta and Mohammed Kudus is missing. With Kudus away at AFCON it could be a really difficult watch again if Paqman is not available to fight the Robins. Perhaps Moyes will finally give outings to the elusive Maxwell Cornet, Conor Coventry or Ben Johnson – maybe one or two from the Under 21’s – but it is more likely to the same tired old guard of Danny Ings, Pablo Fornals, and Said Benrahma who struggle to step up as usual?

Anyway, let’s be positive. Our name could well be on the cup once the missing stars return and the January cavalry signings arrive. West Ham to win 1-0 with 39% possession. COYI!

After conceding five at Fulham, three clean sheets in a row for West Ham who face the visit of Brighton to begin the New Year

Three defeats in consecutive games have been followed by 19 points from our last eight league games. Meet the unpredictables!

We travelled across London to Brentford on the day before Guy Fawkes. We fell behind, then went in front, then lost the game 3-2 to slip into the bottom half of the Premier League table for the first time after a promising start to the 2023-24 season. What came next in the eight remaining league games of the calendar year wasn’t something that many of us would have predicted.

Four home games against Forest, Palace, Wolves and Manchester United yielded ten points. Not the toughest run of fixtures but nevertheless a good haul and a big improvement on the previous four home league games which had produced just four points. It was disappointing to miss out on the maximum from the four home matches where the Palace equaliser was a gift. Beware Greeks bearing gifts they say.

The four away league games were at Burnley, Fulham, Tottenham and Arsenal. Once again three were won and one was lost. Not just lost, we were slaughtered. Before the games you would have taken nine points wouldn’t you? But if you knew beforehand that three of those games would be won with scores of 2-1, 2-1 and 2-0 and one would be lost 5-0, I don’t think you’d have guessed which one was the defeat.

So there we are, an eight game run in the league with six wins, one draw and one defeat. 15 goals scored and 10 conceded, half of them in one disastrous game. And amazingly three clean sheets to finish off the year. We’d only had one in the 16 previous league games. The halfway point in the season; 19 games, nine at home and ten away, sixth place with 33 points. A year ago after 19 games we had 15 points. That’s one hell of an improvement. But that’s West Ham as all of us long standing supporters will know. We never were, and probably never will be the most consistent team around.

Oh, and in between those last eight league games we all but gifted Liverpool a place in the semi-final of the Carabao Cup, once again conceding five in a 5-1 defeat, but conversely progressed to the last 16 (knock out stage) of the Europa League comfortably beating Freiburg to top the league group for a third year running in Europe.

A European trophy to end last season too, but still the natives (or a proportion – I’m not sure exactly how many) are restless. A trawl through social media sites reveals a continual issue with the manager, the style of play etc. If you’re reading this you know how it goes. There’s quite an unnecessary nastiness among some of the conflicting groups (the Moyes luvvies and the Moyes haters as I’ve seen them called).

Football is a game of opinions and everybody is entitled to their own. Lively debate is good fun and in the end it’s great when people can have their say but then accept that others have opinions that will differ from their own. It’s a pity that some have to resort to personal, often rude remarks rather than debate, but that’s life, and exaggerated throughout social media. Unfortunately there is a culture in football (and life generally) that everything is black or white, love or hate, with no in between.

This is the 32nd season of the Premier League and we’ve been in 28 of them. Fifth is our highest finishing position with 57 points in 1998-99 when we won 16 games but had a negative goal difference for the season. Harry Redknapp was manager and in four of his six seasons in charge we finished in the top half, but we never managed a positive goal difference. In fact we’ve only scored more goals than we’ve conceded three times in those 28 seasons, in the final season 2015/16 at Upton Park when we finished 7th under Slaven Bilic (diff +14), and twice under David Moyes in 2020/21 (6th – diff +15), and in 2021/22 (7th – diff +9).

This season at the halfway stage we have won 10 games, have 33 points and have scored 33 goals. If we can replicate this performance in the second half of the campaign we will end up with 20 wins, 66 points, and 66 goals, all three figures would be new best figures for West Ham in our 28 seasons in the Premier League. The wins and points best figures were both achieved with David Moyes as manager. Having said that we’ve conceded 30 goals so far, so if we don’t improve on that and end up conceding 60 that would be a figure beaten only 5 times in those 28 seasons. The most was 2009/10 under Avram Grant (70) plus the worst goal difference (-27). Incidentally the least goals conceded in a Premier League season was in 2008/09 when just 45 went into our net. Who was the manager then? Gianfranco Zola.

So what will happen when we face Brighton? I haven’t a clue. As always I’m hoping for a win, lots of goals scored and a clean sheet. It would be great to repeat our 3-1 win there in August. But this is West Ham. There can’t be many teams as unpredictable as we are. Happy New Year!