Why Paqueta Must Play today!

The circus continues at West Ham as Chelsea come visiting for today's London derby. Both sides picked up a draw in their opening fixtures, with Chelsea looking impressive at times against Liverpool.

Meanwhile, the Hammers threw away the win against a toothless Bournemouth side by conceding a late equaliser.

But today's game is overshadowed by the Lucas Paqueta situation, with the Brazilian due to unrgo an FA investigation into alleged betting pattern abnormalities.

It's hard to know how much meat there is to the allegations, with various outlets speculating that it relates to yellow card offences.

Footage of soft yellow cards being dished out to Paqueta against Villa (last season) and Bournemouth (last week). However, upon viewing both, its hard to see what all the fuss is about. 

Against Villa, Paqueta tries to dispossess John McGinn with a wrap around tackle which doesn't quite come off. In the context of the game, Paqueta had received his usual sizeable dose of heavy attention and unsurprisingly had a niggle back - in reality, he is a wiry operator and the challenge is not unusual for him or the Moyes 'dispossess and counter' philosophy.

Against Bournemouth, the yellow is for a coming together from a long kick out - like most on the ground players, he is a tad awkward but the yellow is very soft and by no means a solid card. Hardly the stuff of betting certainty!

The news from West ham is that Paqueta has been training as usual. It's important that the club show faith in him by selecting him to start today.

We will need him against Chelsea!

Another Disappointing Week at West Ham

There's been very little for Hammers fans to celebrate since the Europa triumph that rounded off last season. Just two signings, albeit both look rairly decent, but hardly a replacement for our former captain and heartbeat.

And Gianluca Scamacca has departed with no sign of an attacking replacement. A comical snub from Harry Maguire has been followed by a worrying probe into our star midfielder Lucas Paqueta.

Quite frankly, we needed a lift but instead we got the above as our new third kit. Traditionally, the third kit has provided an opportunity to add a bit of street-friendly style to the supporters wardrobe. Our previous all-black number remains a sought after shirt but last years white with orange dip Jersey was awful and now we have replaced that with an insipid wishy washy blue thing. It's not quite as dreadful as Aresenal's aquamarine disaster of a few seasons back but to be honest, it looks a bit 'Spursy'.

Yeuch!

Moyes Reveals Brand New Age

Here we go. Post-Rice Hammers take on Bournemouth at 3pm today and David Moyes has given some interesting food for thought in his starting XI.

1. Areola finally gets his moment ahead of Fabianski.

2. Coufal gets the nod ahead of Kehrer at RB.

3. Zouma is our new captain and Aguerd is back.

4. Antonio is up top ahead of Ings.

5. Fornals starts and will want to underline his contribution in a midfield that looks more porous without Rice to partner Soucek in front of the back four.

West Ham United: Areola, Coufal, Zouma ©, Aguerd, Emerson, Souček, Paquetá, Fornals, Bowen, Benrahma, Antonio

Subs: Fabiański (GK), Anang (GK), Johnson, Ogbonna, Kehrer, Coventry, Cornet, Ings, Mubama

Hammers Finally Kick into Gear

After all the celebrations have finally died down following our European adventures of last season, it's back to business as usual for David Moyes' men - business as usual but sadly without the rock that our success of recent seasons has been founded. 

Declan Rice is already singing his praises about working under Mikel Arteta, while back at the village it's a late and ponderous squad preparation for the new season. Just one arrival so far as Lanzini, Scamacca, Rice and a few others have departed.

At least the inward transfers have finally started to move with Edson Alvarez arriving to try to fill Rice's shoes. A decent defensive midfielder, but the seasoned observer will know that the Mexican will need time to settle in to the workmanlike tactics of headmaster Moyes, and the unforgiving physicality of the Premiership.

The same concerns do not apply for Messrs Maguire and Ward-Prowse who are apparently on their way and are both seasoned Premiership veterans. Many fans have reacted unkindly to the Maguire but although he can be error-prone, he is a decent centre back on the ground who is dominant at set pieces - both defensively and offensively. Have we just signed a new Craig Dawson? Hopefully!

Ward-Prowse is superb at set pieces but critics would say he doesn't do enough in open play.  We will have to wait and see, but he will undoubtedly improve the quality of our corner kick taking which was awful last year.

Up front, we look pedestrian - an ageing Antonio and Ings with the still developing Mubama will hardly terrify opposition defences. In simple terms, we need to find the player Scamacca did not deliver upon - a physically robust, lone wolf who is precise in front of goal - no small task in this world of specialist forwards. 

The Paqueta rumours are worrying as he is ready to really deliver this coming season and has looked livey in pre-season. We have nothing remotely similar in terms of creativity amongst our other midfielders. Young Potts looks like a real prospect but this will likely be a developing season or him - he needs to share space with the likes of Paqueta to realise his potential. Similarly, Flynn Downes has looked decent whenever he has been selected and surely must not be let depart?

Our recent pre-season thumping against Rennes and Leverkusen were awful as we looked asleep and disorganised defensively.  Let's hope today is different. Bournemouth have invested in adding pace to their flanks, while we have done nothing to address an obvious weakness in our squad. Today's game may swing on that difference.

It's hard to see a repeat of the 4-0 schooling we dished out to the Cherries towards the end of last season but lest we forget that in Bowen, Benrahma and Paqueta we have real attacking quality.

Rory Nostradamus says his crystal ball has gone all cloudy, so we have no great sense of what lies ahead today. 

COYI!!!

 

Hats off to the two Davids!

In the 13 years that David Gold and David Sullivan have owned West ham it has rarely been fashionable to praise their role in the club. 

Their relationship hit rock bottom with fan protests after the move from Upton Park to the London Stadium as the team struggled to perform at their new home.

But the Davids stuck to their guns, following a conservative path, refusing to drop managers until they had been given a fair chance and rarely splashing silly money in the often crazy transfer market.

Right at the beginning they promised affordable football in a grand stadium with a team competing at the top table. 

No doubt they might have managed their PR a bit better at times but there can be no doubting that they have delivered on those early ambitious targets!

With season tickets starting at just over 300 quid, a decent ticket transfer system, a stadium that is super-accessible, comfortable and pleasant to visit, a team that we not only love but feel proud of and that has a solid connection with our academy system, a youth team that is winning league and cup doubles, and now our senior team winners of one of Europe's three competitions. 

Oh, and that academy has produced one of the most sought after players on the planet right now - Declan Rice is a gifted midfielder but his worth is surely doubled by his impressive character - one of the best ever role models in English football? 

Hats of to the Davids - no doubt some cynics will say that all this happened despite rather than because of how the club is run but that's just simply not a realistic analysis. In reality, D&G  have been dedicated, patient and determined. 

I met David Gold in the club bar at Southend United at a pre-season friendly back at the beginning. He was a warm and charming gentleman who was generous with his time and bought us a drink. It was hard not to be impressed by the man and his genuine love for the club.

Wind forward to 2023 and for me the one great sadness in all the joy of the Prague adventure was that Mr Gold didn't get to witness his dream being delivered. 

Yes, we will have times when we aren't best pleased with goings on at the club but would anybody prefer to have the directorship arrangements at Man Utd, Liverpool or Spurs?

Rest in Peace Mr Gold and I truly hope that you witnessed this past 24 hours in some celestial way.

COYI!!!

Hammers Ready to be the Executioners!!

David Moyes has made a host of changes for the visit to relegation notwannabees Leicester City bringing in Kehrer, Aguerd, Cresswell, Benrahma and Antonio, with Flynn Downes also starting ahead of Tomas Soucek.

Declan Rice will make his 204th (and possibly last for some time*) appearance in the Premier League for the Hammers. 

Leicester have to go for broke so it'll be a cup final atmosphere which should be good rehearsal time for the upcoming Europa Conference final in 10 days time. 

Let's pray for no injuries. A win and a Chelsea loss with a 3 goal swing will see us pass out the expensive West London squad with a final 12th place position possible. 

For Leicester, they must win and hope Everton slip up at home to Bournemouth. How times have changed since they won the Premiership!

COYI!!!

Starting XI: Fabiański, Coufal, Kehrer, Aguerd, Cresswell, Rice ©, Downes, Paquetá, Fornals, Benrahma, Antonio

Substitures: Areola (GK), Emerson, Zouma, Ogbonna, Lanzini, Souček, Bowen, Cornet, Ings

*No doubt whatever happens he'll be back at some point!

Hodor the Hero but questions remain about UEFA and Dutch security

Thursday evening's clash of West Ham and AZ Alkmaar was a tense and exciting affair eventually settled by Pablo Fornal's injury time stunner.

But the tie was marred by truly remarkable scenes in which over a hundred Alkmaar 'Ultras' dressed in black and hooded attacked the family and friends section of the ground. 

It's hard to see how such embarrassing cowardly behaviour could resonate with any wannabe thug and even more embarrassingly the thugs were beaten off by a 58 year old post- hip operation Hammers fan who bravely blocked the stairwell where the thugs attempted to gain entry. 

You'd have to wonder what's next on the agenda for these terrifyingly dumb hoodlums - maybe lay seige to a creche or a nursing home? 

But as the dust settles it is apparent that the Dutch authorities mismanaged the incident - failing to make any arrests at the stadium and now reversing into watching video footage of the heavily hooded thugs. 

The security was so amateurish that Hammers players felt compelled to do the security's job for them! And now, rumours emerge that UEFA are investigating the West ham players for their role in the incident. How bizarre can thus get?

In reality, UEFA have a duty of care to all teams and their supporters who participate in their events. Perhaps its time for West ham to take a considerably more assertive stance on the matter?

Or do we just let the cowardly thugs walk away and lazily blame the victims. It's farcical.