Tag: #WHUMCI

West Ham face the stiffest Premier League test of all when Manchester City are the visitors on Saturday

Last Weekend at Palace

Before last Saturdays game at Selhurst Park I asked the question as to whether more of our summer signings would make the starting eleven. The answer was no. That was disappointing but I guess the head coach either believes they are not ready or he wants to give every chance to existing players to stake a claim. I was unable to see the game so had to make do with highlights. From those I would deduce that both Soucek and especially Bowen took their goals well in the second half, Kilman had yet another excellent game and looks to be a superb acquisition, and Wan-Bissaka too looked very good in the limited time he was on the pitch.

Kilman’s drive forward with the ball and well timed pass showed what a good ball-playing defender can add to a team. And Wan-Bissaka (ironically described as a world class one on one defender but limited going forward – not good enough for Manchester United anyway!) proved doubters wrong with some fine work down the right flank which led to Soucek’s goal.

There seemed to be chances at both ends in the first half with Eze (unluckily hitting the bar with Areola well beaten), Edouard missing a relatively easy chance, and both Antonio and Kudus missing chances where they could have done better.

I would also assume that Health and Safety people will be visiting the ground in view of the barrier that gave way when West Ham fans were celebrating Soucek’s goal. Well done to both Soucek and Bowen for rescuing what could have been a very serious situation.

That was my interpretation of the highlights. What did I miss?

Carabao Cup v Bournemouth

 I was disappointed (I suspect not the only one) when the starting line-up was revealed for the Palace game. I had hoped for Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Fullkrug and Summerville to be in the starting eleven in place of Coufal, Mavropanos, Antonio and Soucek. But I am told that Mavropanos had a decent game (benefitting from playing alongside Kilman perhaps), and of course Soucek scored the opening goal so the right result was achieved. An important three points.

The summer signings who have yet to be involved from the start (or had minimal minutes on the pitch) will have been chomping at the bit to show what they can do in the all-Premier League cup tie against Bournemouth. The four I referred to all started in the game. The whole team looked rusty in the first half and it showed that they are not really up to speed yet in many cases. It didn’t improve much (if at all) in the second half until the substitutes appeared.

Wan-Bissaka was the pick of the four for me, I thought that he looked an absolute bargain for £15 million, once again showing attacking qualities as well as well-known defensive ones despite having to fill in at left back. For me he will provide so much more than Coufal. Once again Kilman looked very impressive. Alvarez was right on the ball from the off. For everyone else I’ll reserve judgement for the time being, although I thought that Coufal, Soucek and Mavropanos had very poor games.

Incredibly this is a competition that we have never won (although we have come close) yet in theory it is possibly the easiest trophy to lift with just a few wins needed to reach a Wembley final. Traditionally clubs field weakened teams in the earlier rounds to keep squad players happy and with the stronger squad that we appear to have assembled this time around you would hope that we would not be too disadvantaged, but at times in this game our team played like strangers who hadn’t played together (which I guess was the case!).

Bournemouth were rightly aggrieved to go out of the competition in the way that they did. After being robbed of a win last Sunday against Newcastle when VAR controversially disallowed a winner which went in off a shoulder, they would almost certainly have been saved by VAR this time, except it wasn’t in operation. Bowen was probably offside when the ball went in (it seemed) off his elbow, but neither of the two reasons that VAR would have found to disallow the goal were spotted by the officials and hence we went into the next round after a game that gave us little to get excited about.

The controversy doesn’t end there though. Winning the tie meant that we were ‘rewarded’ with a trip to Anfield in the next round, after a ‘rigged’ draw kept all the sides playing in the Champions League and Europa League apart. I remember the days when draws for domestic cup competitions were purely random! And don’t get me started about the draw for the Champions League and the other European competitions. To accommodate 36 teams in the Champions League which means more games (189 up from 125) and added revenue (£4.1 billion up from £3.1 billion) the draw for the new format (where ‘every game counts’) with a league phase replacing the traditional group games, was done using Artificial Intelligence. Apparently if the draw had been done in the traditional manual way with people unscrewing plastic balls taken from a bowl, it would have taken four hours with 1000 different balls in 36 bowls!

Historical memories of games v Manchester City

We have faced Manchester City 17 times in the Premier League since we last beat them in September 2015. Moses and Sakho put us 2-0 up in the first half that day before De Bruyne pulled one back just before half time. But we held on for a 2-1 win. Cresswell, Antonio and De Bruyne are the only survivors from that day that remain in the squads today. We did beat them 5-3 on Penalties in a League Cup tie in 2021 after drawing 0-0, and we have managed draws at Upton Park in 2016 and at the London Stadium in 2020 and 2022.

Back in March 1996 Niall Quinn deprived me of £400 in the fixture at Upton Park. City were a softer touch around that time and I had placed a £5 bet at 80-1 on us beating them 4-1 in the game. Unfortunately, Quinn scored with the last kick of the game and it ended 4-2! I should have repeated the bet four years later when, despite being 1-0 down at half time at Upton Park, we ran out 4-1 winners with goals from Lomas, Sinclair, Pearce, and a 90th minute penalty converted by Di Canio. But I didn’t.

In December 1994 Tony Cottee scored a hat trick in a 3-0 win at Upton Park. A year earlier in November 1993 we beat them 3-1 with goals from Burrows, Chapman and Matty Holmes. I remember that game as one of the first I can recall on Monday Night Football on Sky – it came shortly after Julian Dicks joined Liverpool in a swap deal which involved full back David Burrows and Mike Marsh coming to West Ham. To add some power to the forward line Lee Chapman was bought from Portsmouth.

A memory from the 1980s from September 1982 – at Upton Park we beat City 4-1 (that score has featured a few times hasn’t it in history) – Sandy Clark notched a brace (do you remember him?), Paul Goddard and our skilful Belgian Francois Van der Elst scored the goals.

In March 1970 we were struggling in the league and were 17th in the table. A new goalscorer was needed and one arrived when a swap deal was arranged with Tottenham as Martin Peters joined Spurs and the legendary Jimmy Greaves arrived at Upton Park. Greaves first game was at Maine Road in pouring rain on a mudbath of a pitch and was covered by Match of the Day in the days when only one game was shown on the programme. Greaves scored twice, Geoff Hurst scored twice and Ronnie Boyce scored from 50 yards volleying back City keeper Joe Corrigan’s kick from his penalty area straight into the net. An unforgettable game.

My memory stretches back even further to the 1962-63 season. We met fellow strugglers (we were 19th at the time) Manchester City early in the season (September) and beat them 6-1 at Maine Road. We faced them again on the final day of the season and again beat them 6-1 to relegate them from the top-flight. We had improved as the season progressed and finished twelfth.

Although City were co-founders of the initial Premier League when it was created in 1992 (they finished ninth in the first season) they then struggled and were relegated in 1996 – the season I referred to earlier writing about the late Niall Quinn goal – I won’t forgive him! After two seasons they then fell to the lowest point in their history when they were relegated to the third tier. Younger fans will find it hard to believe that City were that low at the end of the twentieth century, just a quarter of a century ago.

This Saturday’s Game v Manchester City 

Of course facing the modern Manchester City is an entirely different proposition to the fixtures against them in the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s that I highlighted above. The revival began at the turn of the century and following purchase by the Abu Dhabi Group in 2008 they have gone from strength to strength with massive investment.

Following the appointment of Pep Guardiola in 2016 they have achieved unprecedented success. In the seven seasons from 2017 to 2024 they have won six league titles and finished second once. In 2022-23 they achieved the treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. In short, they are almost unbeatable and, as I wrote earlier we haven’t beaten them in our last 17 attempts in the Premier League going back nine years.

They already top the Premier League after just two games this season following a comfortable 2-0 win at Chelsea and then beating newcomers Ipswich 4-1 last Saturday. Six points and six goals already – Haaland has four of them. He has also scored four times in four league games against us and is an obvious danger once again, although they are so strong throughout the team, we will have to be at the very top of our game and hope they are below par to stand any chance.

Once our newcomers have bedded in I have no doubt that we will be a stronger team (and have a stronger squad) than we have been in under the previous manager. However, these are still early days and perhaps it would have been better for us to face the stiffest test of all in the Premier League after more time together. Undoubtedly we have some excellent attacking players – let’s hope for an early season surprise on Saturday. Bookmakers don’t think there will be. We are quoted at about 6/1 to win the game with City at 1/3 and the draw at 4/1. Can we defy the odds? We’ll need to improve considerably on our performances in the past week to do so.

Respect All But Fear None: West Ham Belief Will Rest On The Courage Of Moyes Pep Talk

A huge top of the table clash sees England’s two European Champions lock horns at the London Stadium. Will the Hammers believe they can put an end to their long winless run against Manchester City?

Two of the Premier League’s unbeaten teams meet in a ‘top-of-the-table’ clash when champions Manchester City take on West Ham at the London Stadium this afternoon. The Hammer’s unexpectedly bright start raising the optics of the game from routine defeat to potential upset.

There are six sides yet to have tasted defeat in the embryonic table. The usual suspects of City, Liverpool, and Arsenal plus West Ham, Tottenham, and Brentford. As bookmaker odds for ending the season unbeaten are only available for the first three, there must be a different worthy cause for my 5-bob stake money.

As Richard pointed out in his article yesterday, Manchester City are a fantastic side but they are not invincible. Last season they lost five times in the league, including four while on their travels. Of those defeats, we should pay particular attention to the games against Brentford, who beat them both home and away. In concept, Thomas Frank’s approach to games last season was not too dissimilar to the Hammers. Both are well-drilled, direct, favour long balls to a target man and do not obsess about possession stats. The difference – apart from the suspended Ivan Toney probably being the best in the business at the target man role – is in the mental attitude of the two sides. Brentford play each game without any fear, regardless of opposition. West Ham over emphasise caution and pay far too much respect to the bigger teams – to the extent that they appear resigned to losing in many cases.

There is no problem in principle with setting up to be organised, resilient and hard to beat. But it was a philosophy that turned out very badly last season. Only Bournemouth and the three relegated clubs lost more games than West Ham. But that was then, and this is now. Moyes says he wants to achieve a balance between resilience and being expansive and time will tell how well that works out in practice.

It would be reckless for any team to be totally open and expansive against City – they have too many top-quality players to be gifted time and space in which to operate. But when possession is won, Moyes gameplan needs to ensure his side have plenty of bodies getting forward – that there are enough passing options – to keep hold of the ball and create goal-scoring opportunities. Simply clearing the lines in the hope that Michail Antonio can latch onto it occasionally will encourage wave after wave of opposition attacks. A tactic that only ends one-way against a side capable of producing goals from all over the pitch.

West Ham’s recent league record against the Champions is a miserable one. Since the last victory in September 2015, the winless run stands at 15 – with just three home draws in that time to boast of. If we also take account of Moyes generally poor managerial return in fixtures against top sides, then the omens are not good.

Having said that, the confidence in the Hammer’s squad must be sky high. The storming start to the season has exceeded all expectations and they will be determined to give a good account of themselves today, and next week at Anfield. The early signs suggest astute recruitment has enabled a return to the fast counter-attacking formula that worked so well in the 2020/21 season. The important thing is to maintain momentum and that can only be achieved with a plan that focuses as much on how to hurt the visitors as it does on stopping them playing. We have seen glimpses that the current squad know how to pass the ball slickly when given the opportunity, but it needs to be on show far more frequently.

Mental preparation may be the key to taking anything from the game. Ambition must be greater than hoping to keep a clean sheet and nicking one form a set piece. The attacking options now available in the squad are capable of posing problems and keeping the City defence occupied and unsettled throughout the afternoon – if allowed to. The game can’t be lost as soon as the two teams line up in the tunnel and, whatever the outcome, the visitors have to know they have been in a proper game.

Assuming everyone is fit and available the anticipated lineup is the one that started at Luton but with Thomas Soucek replacing Said Benrahma. I doubt Moyes will be able to resist the lure of the Czechs added height in the face of an expected City bombardment. I would love to see Mohammed Kudus feature from the start but fear 20 minutes or so is the best we will get. Hopefully, it is not too late by then. Similar some minutes from Konstantinos Mavropanos would also be appreciated.

The weakest link is defence today is likely to be at left back. Although I like the look of Emerson as a more adventurous wing-back, he is vulnerable aerially and to runners when asked to play in a more conventional defensive role. Where Vladimir Coufal is smart at using his body to block taller opponents, Emerson is regularly isolated and left compromised.

The visitors have an endless supply of talent to call on. It is ominous that they have had a strong start to the season when their speciality has been strong finishes. It would be no surprise if they went on to lift their fourth consecutive title at the end of the season. Can we give them something to think about? As a wise man once said: There is nothing to fear but fear itself …………. and Erling Haaland. COYI!

How can West Ham beat Manchester City this weekend?

While Manchester City has been a dominant and formidable team in recent years, no team is invincible and they can be beaten or stopped from winning. Upsets happen in football. If we have a well-thought-out game plan and execute it effectively then of course we have a chance. That is not to deny that it will be difficult against the best club side in England, Europe and probably the World. But they are not immune to defeats and do not win all the time. In their 19 Premier League games on the road on their way to yet another title last season they won 11, drew 4 and lost 4. That means that they didn’t win in 42 per cent of their away games.

Like any football team Manchester City can be beaten through a combination of strategies and factors, which do include luck. I think we can all guess David Moyes’ tactical approach to the game? It has been successful to date in this campaign but have we done our homework? We know their playing style but have we identified any weaknesses in their formation or strategy? Can we adjust our tactics to exploit these weaknesses? Make no mistake, as good as they are they do have weaknesses.

Four teams did beat City last season, Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham, and Brentford (twice – home and away!). I’d like to think that we have the resources to study all our opponents in detail but especially those games to try to understand how they were beaten and formulate our plans to achieve this ourselves. Also, there were five drawn games. How did Newcastle, Villa, Everton, Forest and Brighton avoid defeat in games against the champions? They do have areas of vulnerability. Can we capitalise on them? Can we exploit gaps in their defence, pressurise their midfield, disrupt their game plan and create opportunities to score ourselves?

A highly organised defence and disciplined marking are hallmarks of Moyes’ tactics. Narrow defending and numbers behind the ball are key elements that he believes in, with defenders who are able to deal with crosses all day, and hopefully limit shots to long range. Effective pressing can disrupt City’s attacking flow and limit their goal-scoring opportunities, but how deep will we try to defend? Despite our excellent start to the season we haven’t yet kept a clean sheet, conceding one goal in each of our four games. Late goals conceded (in the Bournemouth, Brighton and Luton games highlight the difficulty of maintaining defensive concentration for the full 90 (or 100) minutes. Areola has demonstrated why he is now Moyes’ number one choice and has already made numerous crucial saves. This game should be a real test.

Manchester City always dominate possession whereas our plan generally involves being happy to concede the ball. They attack in numbers and as a result could be susceptible to quick counter attacks. The key to this is the speed of the counter attacking which has been a key feature of our early games. Teams with fast, skillful players have exploited the spaces left behind by City’s attacking players and caught them off guard. Do we have the players who can emulate this? Antonio is a key component of our counter attacking strategy, but the pace of Benrahma and Bowen and the support from Ward Prowse are important too.

Set pieces such as free kicks and corners were a feature of our success a couple of seasons back, but much less so last time. Capitalising on these opportunities and utilising effective set-piece strategies can lead to goals and put Manchester City under pressure. In James Ward-Prowse we have now acquired a master of the set-piece delivery which has already proved fruitful. Also, in the past four games I have been itching to see us get a free kick around 20-25 yards from goal where he is second only to Beckham in his ability to score but alas it hasn’t happened. Perhaps in this game?

I’ve often wondered in the past if we have been fully mentally prepared in advance of games against the top sides. Moyes’ record as a manager in such games is not the best. Approaching the game with a positive mindset, belief in our abilities, and tactical discipline can and will make a difference. Confidence and focus are essential when facing a formidable opponent like City. The confidence in the team appears to be sky-high, perhaps as a result of winning a European trophy last season, and perhaps as a result of the key new signings to replace the loss of Rice. We haven’t yet seen the surprise element of potentially the most exciting signing of them all, Kudus. I have read articles suggesting that he can bring something extra to the team in the same way as Payet did a few years ago. If he can then that will be great, but we will see. Whether or not he will be unleashed from the beginning against City we don’t know yet.

Football is an unpredictable game. If you’ve supported West Ham for any length of time you’ll know that we can be unpredictable from one season to the next, from one game to the next, and even from the first half to the second half of a game. But upsets can happen. Our wins against Chelsea and Brighton were good examples of that. According to the bookmakers’ odds it would be an even bigger upset if we were to win this game. We are upwards of 6/1 to win whilst City are around 2/1 on, with the draw (which wouldn’t be the worst result for us) at 7/2.

While Manchester City are a strong team, perhaps the best around at the moment, and the toughest opponent we are likely to face this season, they are not unbeatable. Can we defy the odds? COYI!

Scouting For Moyes: Same Again Hammers Look Unprepared For New Season Challenges

A summer of hesitation and haggling in the transfer market leaves the West Ham squad little changed from two seasons ago. Will treading water see them swept away by Manchester City?

The life of a football supporter is not always a happy one. No sooner had we hung up our bobble hat and rattle in May than we are bombarded with a daily onslaught of speculative transfer stories. From the sublime to the ridiculous, exciting to depressing. Where is the time to unwind on the beach with a pina colada and a Harold Robins paperback? Then suddenly the new season is on us, as premature and uninvited as the strains of Noddy Holder in a shopping mall in early November. The start of interrupted campaign, severed in two by the misguided award of the World Cup to Qatar.

By any measure, the Hammers give the impression of being ill-prepared for their new task. Lack lustre friendly performances can rationally be overlooked, but the struggle to reinforce an already threadbare squad before of the opening round of matches brings consternation to all but the most delirious of optimists.

I did write in a previous blog that I wouldn’t be shocked if no more than two new signings featured at the London Stadium pitch on the opening day of the season. With the window not closing until the end of August, it is no surprise that clubs with a fetish like ours for haggling would continue to-ing and fro-ing until the final knockings. On the one hand it is reasonable to want value for money but it is also a risky strategy as the clock ticks down and desperation sets in.

As it is, with unfortuante injuries and fitness concerns, the starting eleven on Sunday now looks limited to those who palyed out the end of last season. Or, for that matter, those we ended the 2020/21 season with plus Kurt Zouma. And all without the option to call on Noble, Yarmolenko, Fredericks and Masuaku from the bench.

As there is so much nonsense written about transfers in the media it is difficult to separate fact from fantasy. Does David Moyes keep changing his mind about his targets? Is David Sullivan continually throwing curve balls into negotiations at the last minute, demanding easy payment terms and quadruple green shield stamps? Who knows? I don’t believe we have been pursuing unattainable targets but there is a sense of spending too much time and effort pursuing some deals when it would have been more sensible to insist on a time limit and move on.

On paper, the deals that have been completed look encouraging. Both Gianluca Scamacca and Nayef Aguerd should strengthen the first team and provide Moyes with more options to vary fornations. Flynn Downes may well turn out to be an astute purchase but will likely be limited to cup competitions, for the time being at least. And, of course, Alphonse Areola has finally become permanent heir apparent to Lukasz Fabianski – it’s only a matter of time! At time of writing it is also widely being reported that Maxwell Cornet will also be signing.

We are told that further signings will definitely happen before the end of August. Ideally that would be a minimum of four or five additions although past performance with progressing deals in parallel does not inspire confidence. The outstanding priorities in my opinion would be a left back (crucial), a touch of finesse in central attacking midfield, pace wide on the left of midfield (may be Cornet), an additional backup striker option and further cover either in defensive midfield or at centre back.

How well we recruit will determine what is achievable during 2022/23. We have enjoyed two exceptional seasons, by West Ham standards, but there can be no room for complacency. The manager and team have overachieved through effort, team spirit and a canny organisation of limited resources, but the style of play and its weaknesses are now known quantities to even the dimmest of opposition managers. Failure to adapt and pose different problems for opponents will lead to gradual decline, following Leicester down the Premier League table. Improvement requires more creativity in the final third and greater athleticism at the back, where Aaron Cresswell, despite an admirable Hammers career, is an obvious weak link. Although it’s great to see West Ham compete against the big boys it is needlessly dropped points to teams in the lower half that must be eliminated if the run of top half finishes is to be continued.

In what could well turn out to be a sticky run of opening games, the Hammers curtain raiser couldn’t be much tougher than entertaining serial Champions, Manchester City. The Citizens are sporting something of a new look up front with Haaland and Alvarez replacing the departed Sterling and Jesus. Also newly recruited is Kalvin Phillips who presumably takes over the tactical fouling role vacated by Fernandinho – the Brazilian joining a large exodus from the Etihad along with Zinchenko and a dozen others I’d never really heard of.

It is difficult to see past City or Liverpool for the title, or past the usual big spending suspects for the remaining top six placings. Outside the big six, Newcastle will surely be the most talked about and over-hyped club of the season – with flabby bare-chested Geordies rarely away from our TV screens and internet streams. Clearly, they are now best placed in terms of financial clout to mount a challenge to the ‘natural’ order things, but that may take a few seasons to emerge. I have an unaccountable feeling in my water that Aston Villa will be the surprise package of 2022/23. My other tip is for Ralph Hasenhuttl as the first managerial casualty of the season. My full predicted final league placings are as follows:

1 Liverpool, 2 Manchester City, 3 Arsenal, 4 Chelsea, 5 Manchester United, 6 Tottenham, 7 Aston Villa, 8 West Ham, 9 Newcastle, 10 Brighton, 11 Leicester, 12 Crystal Palace, 13 Nottingham Forest, 14 Everton, 15 Wolverhampton Wanderers, 16 Brentford, 17 Leeds, 18 Southampton, 19 Fulham, 20 Bournemouth

The best hope for Sunday’s game is that City’s new boys are still finding their feet and are not yet ready to click. Football folklore is littered with marquee signings running riot on their debuts against West Ham. The story of a Haaland debut hattrick is one that every headline writer and pundit will be looking out for. Can we keep him quiet? It is a classic case of hope versus expectation. My fingers and hammers are crossed!

The Premier League Champions visit the London Stadium for the season opener. Is this the ideal time for West Ham to entertain Manchester City?

It seems like only yesterday when season 2021-22 drew to a close. It has barely rained since then! Of course being a year divisible by two we would normally expect a major competition in the summer break, and this time around it would have been the World Cup. But that is not the case as due to temperatures in Qatar the 2022 tournament is being played in the weeks leading up to Christmas which will have a big impact on the 2022-23 season. We’ll get the mid-season break that so many campaign for but with a difference in that many of the leading players will not be resting but exerting themselves in the heat of the Middle East.

We did have a tournament to watch though and I have to say I enjoyed it immensely, especially the climax last Sunday. Euro 2022 for women filled our football gap and the Lionesses did us proud with their excellent victory over the Germans. It remains to be seen whether the legacy of the competition will be a higher profile for the women’s game at the top level, although I’m sure it will lead to greater participation of girls at junior levels.

Anyway, it’s back to the Premier League with West Ham entertaining the champions Manchester City in the opening fixture which will be televised this Sunday, 4.30 pm kick off. What with TV plus our involvement in the Europa Conference League on Thursdays, it will be some time before we get to see a Saturday 3pm kick off at the London Stadium. Is the first game of the season the best time to be playing the team that are odds-on favourites to finish on top again? Perhaps it is. They took a while to get into their stride last season, and we gave them a good game in the 2-2 draw towards the end. I’ll begin this season’s match predictions by going for another 2-2 this time.

It has been the usual summer in respect of speculation regarding incoming (and outgoing) players at the club, and at the time of writing I remain to be convinced that the squad will be anything other than paper thin once again. But I fervently hope to be proved wrong. Nayef Aguerd seems to be a good acquisition but we know what happened in the friendly at Rangers, and following his operation it seems unlikely we’ll be seeing him for a while, possibly not until after the mid-season World Cup?

Gianluca Scamacca too is an international footballer and we’ve been crying out for ages for a top-class number 9 (who I understand will be wearing number 7). I am hopeful that he will turn out to be one of our better buys. Some of our forward purchases in the past decade (or even longer) have not really been up to scratch have they?  The last high profile Italian international centre forward (Zaza) joined us on loan from Juventus at the beginning of the 2016-17 season, our first at the London Stadium. He played eight times and didn’t find the net once before he was shipped off to Valencia, and then ended up at Torino. In 145 games since leaving us he has scored 35 goals, around 1 in 4. I’m hoping that Scamacca has a much better strike rate than that.

Flynn Downes is an interesting one and comes highly regarded by those who have seen him performing at Championship Level. But can he do it in the Premier League? And will he get the chance? With our injury record then the answer to the second question is probably yes. Bowen made the step up to the top level from the Championship so let’s hope Downes can do the same. I reckon he’ll shine if given the opportunity, but it’s wait and see. Areola made his move permanent (like so many it seemed to take ages to get it ‘over the line’) but he was already here last season and was proven at top level. It can’t be long before he becomes the league custodian and Fabianski the Cup one can it?

At the time of writing that seems to be the total of incoming players, but will the squad be strong enough to challenge for the top six as well as have another good European and domestic cup campaign? We are famous for adding players as the new season gets underway and when the window is about to slam shut so there could be more, but as it stands we would still appear to be light. Perhaps some of the Academy players who have done so well at their level in recent times will make the breakthrough? It would be great if they do, but they need to be given the chance to prove themselves.

Traditionally before the season commences I predict the finishing positions next May. It would be great if we could improve on last season’s 7th, and with Chelsea and Manchester United in some form of transition perhaps we can, although it will be difficult without further top-class investment. I reckon both North London clubs will have good seasons although I hope I’m wrong with my prediction for third place! So here I go for 2022-23:

1. Manchester City, 2. Liverpool, 3. Tottenham, 4. Arsenal, 5. Chelsea, 6. Manchester United, 7. West Ham, 8. Newcastle, 9. Brighton, 10. Wolves, 11. Aston Villa, 12. Leicester, 13. Crystal Palace, 14. Everton, 15. Brentford, 16. Fulham, 17. Leeds, 18. Southampton, 19. Nottingham Forest, 20. Bournemouth

Europe beckons for West Ham as the champions (elect) Manchester City visit the London Stadium for the penultimate game of the Premier League season

We’re now in the home straight with just a few days of the domestic football season to go, and things are still not settled at the top or the bottom of the Premier League. West Ham have just two games to go, the visit of the champions (elect) Manchester City today, and then a trip to the south coast next Sunday to visit a resurgent Brighton side who now sit just outside the top eight. And those two games (plus the fixtures involving Manchester United and Wolves) will determine whether we finish sixth (qualification for Europa League again), seventh (Europa Conference League) or eighth (not in Europe at all).

In theory finishing sixth is in our own hands. If we win our last two games that is where we will be. Of course that’s easier said than done with the two fixtures that we face. We can even do it if we win just one of them and Manchester United lose at Crystal Palace in their final game, which is entirely possible. Or if Manchester United draw at Selhurst Park next Sunday then four points from our two games would be enough.

Finishing seventh looks the most likely outcome and we need just one point to guarantee that. We may not even need that if Wolves fail to win both of their remaining games, against Norwich (almost a given), and then at Anfield on the final day of the season. Normally I would not give Wolves too much of a chance to beat Liverpool away from home, but if the title is out of the Merseysiders reach as they go into that match, and in preparation for a Champions League final later in the month then they might take their foot off the gas. Although Wolves lost 5-1 at home to Manchester City in midweek they didn’t play that badly.

To finish eighth would be a disappointing end to what has once again been an excellent season. Of course we would have taken it a couple of years ago, but having had a taste of Europe we want more, and to miss out so narrowly would be a shame. Looking back on the season there are moments where we lost out, sometimes very late in the game, where we might have done slightly better and would already have Europe sewn up by now. The matches I am thinking about are the defeats at home by a single goal to Brentford and Leeds, the draw at home to Burnley, and the last minutes of the Manchester United game at the London Stadium. That’s not to forget Brighton’s last minute equaliser too. And we would already be there too if Wolves hadn’t equalised in the 97th minute at Chelsea last weekend.

So, still all to play for beginning with Manchester City today. Personally I like to watch City play and really enjoyed their 5-1 demolition of Wolves in the week. In an attacking sense they have such an array of forwards that they can call upon, and they have scored more goals than anyone in the Premier League this season with 94 to date. But if that wasn’t enough they will have one of the most prolific European goalscorers (Haaland) in addition next season. You might think that their defence is not so good, but once again they are the best performing Premier League side with just 22 goals conceded so far.

A lot has been written about their defensive injury problems going into the game, but they have adequate resources to cover this with Ake (a much under-rated player in my opinion, and who is returning from injury himself) and others who can fill in. In fact I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see one or more of Fernandinho and Laporte making a rapid recovery and being fit to start the game. I have no sympathy for them with their resources and the players at their disposal.

The game will mark the final home appearance of Mark Noble who has been a tremendous servant of the club, both on and off the field. At his best he could easily have won an England cap or two, just his lack of pace stopping him from being a really top class player, but nevertheless still a very good one. Who can forget his testimonial game at Upton Park on that hot, sunny afternoon six years ago, with memories of Adrian (plus minder) running the length of the field to score, plus Dean Ashton’s stunning overhead kick? But he joins the list of West Ham players who should perhaps have won an England cap but didn’t. Billy Bonds and Pop Robson are the two that spring readily to mind. Can you think of others?

So what will happen today? I can see it clearly it now how the game will end. The score will be 2-2 going into the final minute and we will be awarded a penalty. Mark Noble, who was brought on for the last ten minutes of the game, steps up and slams it home for a famous 3-2 victory which ensures West Ham qualification for Europe, puts the pressure on Manchester United, and keeps the broadcasters happy with the title race going into the final weekend. West Ham will finish sixth if they can out-perform Manchester United in the final game next weekend. Now that would be a fairy tale ending to the season and Mark Noble’s playing career wouldn’t it?

What are the chances? Well according to bookmakers you can get 300/1 and upwards on Mark Noble scoring the last goal of the game in a 3-2 West Ham victory. It won’t happen of course but I can dream can’t I? But we have beaten both Liverpool and Chelsea with a 3-2 score this season. Why not a hat-trick of 3-2 victories against the top 3 teams in the league? That would cap a memorable season wouldn’t it?

West Ham Versus Manchester City And The Case For A Champions League Play Off Place

As the Hammers make a tilt at finally beating City and overtaking United, why is there no play-off for the final Champions League spot?

One thing that is missing from the top level of English football is the Play-Off. If Play-Offs are considered a vital element for maintaining interest and excitement during promotion races from the lower leagues, why are they not also used for the allocation of the final Champions League place?

How much more exciting it would be if Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester United, West Ham and Wolves still had hopes of snatching a qualifying place going into the final games. What rip-roaring memories could be had from a two-leg semi-final win over Arsenal and then beating Spurs in a final at Wembley. The spectacle would instantly become the biggest single game of the season. A climactic season finale. FA Cup? Chicken feed! Championship Play-Off? Loose Change!

Conspiracists might suggest the Big Six would veto any such such move, but it really doesn’t disadvantage them any more than the current system – even provides a ‘get out of jail card’ in the event of a poor start or managerial change. And the Big Six aren’t equals in any case. Right now, it’s made up of Manchester City and Liverpool plus the four stooges. Maybe tinkering with qualification is not permitted by that anal suits at UEFA Headquarters. Forbidden in the rule book small print alongside clauses on minimum circumference of the half-time oranges and regulation referee hairstyles.

Premier League Champions-in-waiting, Manchester City visit the London Stadium on Sunday for the Hammers final home fixture of the season. In theory it is an opportunity to plant a spoke in the visitor’s wheels, but recent results have all but confirmed a second successive title, and the fourth in five years, for the Citizens. The ten goals scored against Newcastle and Wolves have effectively left them in an unassailable position, barring a miracle or two.

While a West Ham win would cause a temporary setback to City’s title hopes it would have significant implications for their own European ambitions, plus those of the visitor’s Manchester neighbours. The Hammers would leapfrog Manchester United by virtue of superior goal difference and nabbing the Europa League spot would then require West Ham to at least match the Red Devils result on the final day of the season. If only there hadn’t been a late missed spot kick and a last minute winner in those two games against the Reds.

History tells us that beating Manchester City is easier said than done, however. The Hammers last won a home league game against them in October 2014 (2-1: Amalfitano, Sakho). There was another 2-1 win, in September 2015, this time at the City of Manchester Stadium (Moses, Sakho), but since then it has been a run of two draws and ten defeats at an aggregate score of 32 to 8.

The injury news has been largely positive during the week with Craig Dawson and Michail Antonio both reported to have recovered from knocks that saw them leave the field at Carrow Road last weekend. Said Benrahma, however, remains doubtful following his assault by the Norwich pitch.

The visitors are experiencing their own injury crisis in defence and are now down to their last £50 m centre back in Nathan Ake. Injuries to Stones, Dias, Laporte, Fernandinho and Walker requiring Guardiola to shuffle his resources. A shame that Aaron Cresswell will not have the opportunity to see Fernandinho execute the true art of the professional foul, and how to get away with it.

A weakened City rearguard should give hope to West Ham, allowing them to end the season with the record of scoring in every home league game still intact. It will then come down to a simple matter of outscoring their gifted opponents, restricting the likes of De Bruyne, Silva, Mahrez, Foden, Jesus and Sterling to speculative long shots.  Watching Manchester City is rarely riveting but they do have a knack of ultimately wearing teams down, running their legs off. Their intensity on the pitch as relentless as their sportswashing off of it!

As ever, the Hammers limited resources makes little room for speculation over team selection. Who plays at right back is about as heated as any discussion might get! Cresswell will be a worry for me. I’m guessing David Moyes will play him, but he will be hopelessly exposed by pace down the right, and prone to losing Mahrez at the far post.

The game will be a last at home for Mark Noble who is hanging up his boots at the end of the season. Nobes has been a reliable, honest, and committed performer for all of his eighteen years at the club. He never puts in less than 100% effort and has been a great example to those around him, even during the last few seasons where he has been largely a squad player. I hope the club can find a new role for him, preferably not sweeping the London Stadium dressing rooms until retirement: “Watcha Dave, I’ve been using the same broom for 20 years now. It’s just had 17 new heads and 14 new handles”

The last home game of the season generally enjoys a celebratory party atmosphere. In that spirit, West Ham to win 4-3 with a Mark Noble winner in the 6th minute of added time. COYI!

The Latest West Ham Bubble: How High Will It Fly?

A remarkable turnaround in performance and results sees the Hammers tipped for better days. But is it yet another false dawn waiting to be eclipsed by injuries and Boardroom interference?

Just five games into the new season and already it is the Year of the Comeback for West Ham. From weakest link to strongest link, the ugly duckling has blossomed into a beautiful swan. The shocking opening day defeat at home to Newcastle has been consigned to history following two excellent wins and a phoenix-like rise from the ashes in the last ten at the Tottenham stadium. Add in the rehabilitation of Manuel Lanzini with that stunning last gasp pearler on Sunday afternoon and the transformation is complete.

The emotional roller coaster ride is a huge part of football’s enjoyment for the committed fan – all doom and gloom one week, and on cloud nine the next. In the aftermath of last weekend, a mainstream and social media trend has been the suggestion that David Moyes is building something special at West Ham. It is tempting to jump on board the unexpected wave of optimism bandwagon (and long may it last) but I think many of us know that lack of cover in key positions is just waiting to trip us up. Like the circus performer spinning plates on poles, once one starts to wobble, the whole lot could come crashing down.

The manager, coaches and players deserve tremendous credit for what has been achieved in recent weeks – especially in the context of the toxic atmosphere that infests the club’s off-field activities. Who would bet against a fine run up to Christmas being derailed by further transfer treachery in January? As someone who was originally ambivalent on the appointment of Moyes he has earned my respect.

It has been some time since we have witnessed such a well-organized, disciplined and committed group of players, working so hard for each other. Is it sustainable? How will they react to the inevitable setbacks that will arise in the coming weeks? More importantly, how will they adapt to any long-term absences?

What has also been pleasing is the quality of the football being played. This isn’t an Allardyce (or Hodgson) style – football by attrition, hoping to nick a goal from a set piece, and then out up the barricades. We have seen a quick and incisive counter attacking team, which I, for one, have found highly entertaining. Only the most fervent anti-Moyes campaigner could refuse to acknowledge his contribution to performances over the last few weeks.

Despite the understandable euphoria at the Tottenham comeback we should not overlook the obvious in that opening 15 or 20 minutes. The compact shape, that had worked so well against Wolves and Leicester, had been left behind in the dressing room. The threat of Son’s pace and Kane’s deeper lying role should not have been a surprise, and it was disappointing that it took three goals to react to it. But it was testimony to the team’s new spirit that they kept plugging away to earn a memorable point. It was a remarkable match!

This is it! This is why, despite Sullivan this, Gold that and Brady the other, we keep coming back! Amazing!

The Guardian Minute By Minute Match Blog

The lessons learned from that first half experience will be vital if the Hammer’s are to compete with today’s opponents.  Although Manchester City go into the game in the lower half of the table, they are most people’s favourites to regain the Premier League title, particularly in light of the Van Dyke injury. Their strength is undoubtedly the no expense spared resources available to the manager. As ever, they have invested heavily in the squad but I do wonder if Guardiola has put too much faith in outright flair, at the expense of the blended efficiency that he inherited with players such as Kompany, Zabaleta, Fernandinho, Silva and De Bruyne.

De Bruyne and Fernandinho are two players who (hopefully) might be absent today, along with Jesus, Mendy, Laporte and Ake. As we have learned, it is dangerous to rub hands at the thought of a weakened opponent (remember the penultimate game at Upton Park against Swansea?) and City are better equipped than most to deal with injuries. I don’t see Guardiola rushing anyone not fully fit back for this game – with a packed league and European schedule coming up.

Could this be a window of opportunity for West Ham to put an end to their terrible recent run against the visitors?

Injuries permitting the Hammers should line up just as they did at Tottenham. I see no reason to fix what isn’t broken, and there is now an additional option from the bench in Said Benrhama. I have no expectation that Moyes will throw him straight into the fray, and it might be several weeks of substitute appearances before the manager considers the Algerian for a start. Following their cameo performances at Tottenham, Benrhama will face stiff competition from Andriy Yarmolenko and Lanzini for the position of first change. Yarmo is the most enigmatic character to me. He has a great touch, is an accomplished finisher and has the sweetest of left feet (he also looks to be one of the squad’s real characters) but how to fit him into a system that is built around pace and tireless work-rate?

To get anything from the game every West Ham player will need to be at the top of their game. We are looking far more secure defensively down our left-hand side now, with Aaron Cresswell, Arthur Masuaku and Pablo Fornals combining well to track runs and limit supply. If anything, despite the introduction of Vladimir Coufal and the hard work of Jarrod Bowen, we have looked more open on the right, as neither Angelo Ogbonna nor Fabian Balbuena is offering consistent additional cover. Perhaps Issa Diop’s extra pace would be an option in place of Balbuena, but it would be harsh to leave out the Paraguayan at this stage.  Cresswell, in particular, has been given a new lease of life as part of a back three. The new setup has given him the space and opportunity to deliver the telling crosses that has made him our assist supremo – back to the days where he had Payet creating space for him.

If West Ham are to taste success today, much will be down to the dependables: the pairing of Declan Rice and Thomas Soucek in the centre of midfield; the energy of Michail Antonio up front; and the safe hands of Lukasz Fabianski between the posts. Rice and Soucek must be alert from the very start to Aguero dropping deep and the runs of Sterling, just as they ultimately got to grips with Kane and Son last weekend.

 VAR has been up to its tricks again recently and continues its campaign of interference in the flow of the game. The flawed interpretation of clear and obvious errors is clearly and obviously wrong. How the seven match officials involved collectively managed to miss Pickfords assault on Van Dyke defies logic. And the Mane offside decision at end was to a degree of precision that is impossible to justify. It may be true that you are either offside or you are not, but can anyone guarantee with 100% certainty of where everyone was at the exact moment the ball was played? We are dealing in millimetres here. Maybe players will start to paint their extremities with the camouflage paint that motorists use to confuse traffic cameras.

Apparently, West Ham last scored three or more goals in four consecutive league games back in September 1928. Spookily, the run of games 92 years ago started with a 4-0 home win, was followed by a 3-0 away win and then a 3-3 away draw. The fourth of the sequence was a 4-1 home win. Looks like a pattern that is too good to ignore to me. With a West Ham 4-1 win at an attractive 125/1, it is where my two shillings will be going. Possibly with an extra shilling on a Hammer’s title win at 500/1.

Students of the Hammers won’t be surprised to hear that although that 4-1 in 1928 put them top of the league, they would eventually finish the season in the bottom six. Never mind Spursy – that’s West Hammy!

Can West Ham defy recent history and statistics to overcome City?

It seems a long time ago now, but the opening day of the 2020-2021 football season was just six weeks ago. And while last season was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic and described as the strangest season ever, this time around, with Covid-19 rising again, and no fans allowed into stadiums for the foreseeable future, the Premier League campaign has been absolutely bonkers! It has been full of strange results, and more goals than ever before. I’m not sure that any of us can predict what will happen next.

Who would have thought that, when we went down 2-0 at home to Newcastle in our opening game, and with an incredibly tough run of fixtures to follow, that we would be sitting in the top half of the table after just five games? The Geordies themselves are level on points with us, albeit with an inferior goal difference, whilst the other four teams we have faced currently sit in 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th places in the table (we are 9th), so yes, we did have a tough set of games.

Who would have possibly thought, after that opening game, that when we faced Manchester City in the sixth game of this season that we would be above them in the league table? Yes, they do have a game in hand, but nonetheless, few would have put money on it. Yet we go into this fixture as massive underdogs, with odds of around 13/2 being quoted for a West Ham win, 4/1 on the draw, and 2/5 for a City win. Perhaps recent history between the two sides has something to do with that?

This is our ninth consecutive season in the Premier League since returning to the top flight in 2012. In the sixteen league matches against the Citizens (are they really called that by anyone?) we have won two, drawn two and lost twelve. Our record in cups is even worse, losing 9-0 over two legs in the League Cup in 2013-14, and 5-0 in the FA Cup in 2016-17. In recent history our record against City is probably worse than against virtually all other teams. We have lost in the last nine competitive fixtures against them with a cumulative score of 30-3 (the exact period when Guardiola has been in charge). Since moving to the London Stadium we have played them five times at home (4 league and 1 FA Cup), and the cumulative score is 22-1 against us. Who is the only West Ham player to have scored a goal against them at the London Stadium? Aaron Cresswell. I don’t think that any team has taken us apart quite as comprehensively as City have done in recent times.

Can you remember the last time we beat City? It was at their ground in 2015-16 when we beat them 2-1 with goals from Victor Moses and Diafra Sakho. Four of our current squad took part in that game – Cresswell, Lanzini, Noble and Antonio. The last time we took even a point off them was later that same season (the last time we faced them at Upton Park) when Enner Valencia scored the two goals in a 2-2 draw. The last time we beat them at home was in the 2014-15 season when we won 2-1 with goals from Morgan Amalfitano (remember him?) and Sakho.

The last time City failed to score against us was in a 0-0 draw in the first game we faced them following our return to the top flight in 2012. They have always scored at least once, and invariably a lot more, in the 18 games that have been played since then.

But there are other statistics in our favour as we head into this match. For example, the last time we played against City when we were above them in the table was back in 2009, and we won that game 1-0 with Jack Collison scoring the only goal of the game. In the calendar year of 2020 (which coincides with David Moyes in charge for the second time, we have scored 3 or more goals in 9 matches. Only Manchester City themselves can equal that record. Of course we have scored 3 or more in our last three games. The last time we managed to score 3 or more in four consecutive league games was 92 years ago!

And do you remember last week when we were looking at Moyes record against Mourinho, and the fact that he has never beaten him in 15 attempts? His managerial record against City contrasts to that, having beaten them 12 times. In fact they are one of the clubs against whom he has his most wins as a manager.

Recent history tells us we can’t win this game. Statistics say we can’t win this game. The bookmakers don’t believe we will win this game. But our confidence must be sky high following our run of fine performances, victories, goals scored, and that dramatic comeback against that team from North London last week. How good was that? It’s about time we beat City again, and perhaps we will in this season of strange results? I’ll go for 3-2.