Archive for December, 2021
Sechzehntelfinale? Nein, Play-Off & Achtelfinale!
Das europäische Cup-Geschehen wird immer komplizierter. So komplex ist das alles, dass nun bei der Auslosung der Champions League am Montag ein Fehler passierte, der eine Neuauslosung des Achtelfinales notwendig machte. Dem österreichischen Vertreter Salzburg – das erste Mal in der K.O. Phase dabei – wurde daraufhin statt des in der ungültig erklärten Ziehung zugelosten Gegners FC Liverpool im zweiten Anlauf Bayern München beschert.
Im Herbst 2018 schaffte Rapid in Didi Kühbauers erster Saison den zweiten Platz in der Europa League-Gruppe und stieg in das damalige Sechzehntelfinale auf!
Bei Europa League und erstmalig durchgeführter Conference League klappte dagegen die Auslosung, jedoch wurde weder ein Sechzehntelfinale (wie im Vorjahr) noch ein Achtelfinale ausgelost, sondern nur die neue Zwischenrunde, das sogenannte “Play-off”, in dem in jeweils acht Partien die Hälfte der Europa League- und Conference League-Achtelfinale-Teilnehmer ermittelt werden (Spieltermine: 17. und 24. Februar 2022).
Das Achtelfinale gegen die schon sicher in dieser Runde vertretenen Gruppensieger wird dann – im Gegensatz zu den schon jetzt feststehenden Paarungen in der Champions League – erst am 24. Februar gelost.
Tackling Omicron in the PL
New measures for Premier League players and fans
Premier League players and club staff will need to take a lateral flow test every day in order to get into training grounds as part of new Covid measures agreed on Tuesday.
From Wednesday, fans will need to show proof of double vaccination or a negative test to attend sporting events with crowds of more than 10,000 people in England. This includes Premier League games.
Will One Million Jabs A Day Save Us?
In the face of a “tidal wave” of omicron cases, the Prime Minister unveiled a plan called “Get Boosted Now”.
🎦 https://youtu.be/APJu6FQpFRg
The Prime Minister hopes to avoid a New Year lockdown with an emergency programme to offer a “booster” to every eligible adult in England aged 18 or over by the end of the year. To hit this target, Boris Johnson said that it would be necessary to “match the NHS’s best vaccination day yet – and then beat it day after day.”
But within moments from making the broadcast, the NHS booking site crashed, the site was repeatedly overwhelmed and long queues were seen outside vaccination centres the next day.
Though it’s not clear yet if the vaccinations are effective against the transmission of the Omicron variant, let’s hope that despite a chaotic start the war against Omicron can be won by these booster jabs!
But don’t forget in these challenging times that there is always hope, even in the most hopeless situations – God has got the whole world in his hands, and he never gonna let you down. God is madly in love with you, and there always is a light in the darkness!
We are going to celebrate the birth of our saviour in less than two weeks time, and you are already saved – by Jesus. Open your heart for Him! It is up to you to let Jesus in.
SCR schafft Aufstieg: Conference League, here we come!
West Ham dagegen tritt mit einem Team mit zahlreichen Academy-Spielern an und verliert zu Hause 0:1 gegen Dinamo Zagreb, die Hammers standen aber als Gruppensieger ohnehin schon fest! .
We‘re massive!
Even when West Ham lose, they set a European record:
Anyway, of course a defeat at home to Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday in the last European group game is no option! West Ham – even if they are going to play with a 2nd string team as they have already qualified for the next round – should try to keep their unbeaten record in the Europa League. And I’m sure they will.
Come on you Irons!
SK Rapid Ticket Refund
Due to the nationwide lockdown in Austria, SK Rapid’s much awaited UEFA Europa League home game against West Ham United on 25 November had to be played behind locked doors. Starting from 7 December there’s now the possibility of a ticket refund. On SK Rapid’s website this information is to be found in German only. Here is a translation.
All annual ticket holders and all day ticket buyers will have the opportunity to a refund from Tuesday, December 7th at 11:00 a.m. (MET; 10 a.m. GMT).
Please use the user account of which the purchase has been completed, and select the desired option. A preselection must be made under the menu item “Rückerstattung Herbst 2021” (refund autumn 2021). You can choose “money refund” or “waiver of the refund”.
Should you choose the money reimbursement for the affected games, this can then be requested for the respective game under the menu item “Ticketrückerstattung” (ticket refund).
SK Rapid asks to complete the ticket refund procedure by December 20, 2021 at the latest and hopes to see you again in Hütteldorf soon!
Rapid Shop ➡️ https://www.rapidshop.at/skrapid/ajax.aspx/shop/20599055-3f1a-45a8-8d88-138ee51895fc/Tickets.html
C‘mon on you Irons!
Having celebrated a massive win over European champions and leaders of the PL, Chelsea, we rightly revel in the huge success West Ham have already been this season! However, now let’s take a look at the fixtures coming up till the end of the year: eight matches – a game every three or four days (sometimes only two) – will be played until the beginning of the New Year within this busiest time of the year! Come on you Irons!
Russell Brand celebrating West Ham‘s win over Chelsea:
Now what‘s next for West Ham:
On Thursday Dinamo Zagreb will come to London Stadium for the last group game of the Europa League, then West Ham will travel to Burnley to take on the Clarets, and return to London to play an other derby in the capital when Arsenal are going to host the Irons at the Emirates Stadium.
There will be two more games before Christmas then: first Norwich will travel to the London Stadium and just two days ahead of Christmas Eve, the Hammers have to make the short trip to North London to meet Tottenham for the Carabao Cup quarterfinal.
Southampton on Boxing Day at home (the first home fixture on the 26th of December since West Ham‘s move to the London Stadium) and an away day at Watford will conclude the year 2021, before the rounds of reverse fixtures are going to start on New Year‘s Day in London with the first game of 2022 at Selhurst Park against Crystal Palace.
Let’s hope that David Moyes can manage his squad well and there won’t be more injuries when the Hammers have to play every three or four days from now on to the beginning of the new year!
Come on you Irons!
Massive 3-2 For West Ham
West Ham’s massive 3-2 win over Chelsea means that the Hammers now have beaten Liverpool and Chelsea and cemented their fourth place in the Premier League table. The victory ended West Ham’s run of three league games without a win since their magnificent 3-2 victory over Liverpool before the international break.
Operating with a back three of Craig Dawson, Moussa Diop and Kurt Zouma, West Ham soaked up Chelsea’s pressure before attempting to strike on the counter.
Chelsea took the lead with a well placed header from Thiago Silva throughout the first half, Manu Lanzini levelled from the penalty spot for West Ham, but Chelsea restored their lead as Mason Mount drilled an impressive volley into the West Ham goal shortly before the halftime whistle.
But West Ham didn’t only come from behind once, they equalised again in the second half courtesy to a system change in midfield and a well-taken goal from the impressive Jarrod Bowen. Then Bowen almost made it 3-2 moments before Arthur Masuaku‘s winner in the 87th minutes: with a cross-turned-shot he caught Chelsea keeper Mendy by surprise and scored the winner for West Ham.
Chelsea have conceded multiple goals for the first time this Premier League season. The last team to score multiple Premier League goals versus Chelsea was Aston Villa in a 2-1 away win on 23 May, the last team to get more than two goals over the Blues were West Brom with. 5-2 win on 3 April. For only the third time in 53 games since Thomas Tuchel took charge as head coach, Chelsea conceded more than one goal – and N’Golo Kante was missing on each occasion.
But anyway, West Ham also missed Ogbonna from the beginning and lost Johnson and Zouma in this game due to injuries!
Oh, I’m so chuffed about this famous win over Chelsea for West Ham, the fourth one in four years! My thoughts go back almost four years when Marko Arnautovic‘s first goal for West Ham secured a 1-0 win for David Moyes’s men at London Stadium in 2017 (pic below). Since that win the Irons had beaten beaten Chelsea twice: in July 3-2 at home and, before that, 1-0 away in the same season. A double over last season’s Champions League winners Chelsea, like 2019/20, would be possible this season, too!
https://youtu.be/DxHA_fN0Df4
Masuaku’s goal somehow reminds me of Paul Konchesky‘s 3-2 against Liverpool in the FA Cup final 2006. This was also a cross which wasn’t meant to be a shot on goal – and went in anyway! But this time there wasn’t Steven Gerrard to equalise, and West Ham can celebrate a massive win!
The Hammers are now only six points behind Chelsea in the table and four ahead of Arsenal, who face Everton at Goodison Park on Monday.
David Moyes interview: “We showed great character and resilience once again”
Match report (The Times): Arthur Masuaku exposes first cracks of the Thomas Tuchel era at Chelsea
Extended highlights: https://www.whufc.com/news/articles/2021/december/05-december/extended-highlights-west-ham-united-3-2-chelsea
🇬🇧 Best Place to Spend Christmas?
Fraser Nelson writes in The Telegraph that Britain is perhaps the best place in Europe to spend this Christmas. Bavaria’s winter markets have closed, France’s bistros won’t let anyone in without a pass sanitaire, Belgium has banned private parties and Ireland’s pubs are all under curfew. But in Britain, the vaccinated and the unvaccinated can walk, work, eat and drink where they like. At least until now…
Unless the omicron variant changes everything, we may well see in the New Year having overcome the virus and upheld the basic values of liberty. Britain is starting to look like the new Sweden: keeping calm and carrying on.
Sajid Javid, the Health Secretary, has flatly ruled out compulsory vaccination, seeing it as not just illiberal but counterproductive: “If you make the vaccine attractive, people will want it,” says one senior official. “If we start to threaten people, it all changes very quickly.” Right now, Britain has face masks on public transport. And non-binding advice from one minister to go easy on “snogging under the mistletoe”. And, so far, not much else.
Last time around, Britain locked down longer and harder than anyone else in Europe. This time, Javid’s instinct is the opposite: not to jump too soon, trust the boosters and see what happens. Quite a gamble. But this time, it’s one the Government is willing to take.
Let the Bubbles Fly Against Bogey Team Brighton
West Ham have never beaten tonight‘s opponents Brighton & Hove Albion in the Premier League, and for the first time since April the Hammers have lost two Premier League outings in a row. Therefore it‘s time to get counted tonight at 20:30 (MET) when the Hammers take on their “PL bogey team” in an attempt to get back to winning ways and start well into the most busy footballing period of the year. A win would be a welcome sign showing that the metamorphosis of West Ham under David Moyes will not “fade and die”.
West Ham’s win in the Europa League over Rapid Vienna has been sandwiched by two Premier League defeats. The Hammers have lost two league games in a row for the first time since April. Despite those setbacks, West Ham sit fourth after 13 matches with 23 points and are one of just four Premier League clubs with a positive goal difference.
Brighton has become something like a bogey team for West Ham since the Seagulls’ promotion to the Premier League. West Ham have lost the first three meetings before drawing five in a row, including both games last season: 2-2 at London Stadium in December and 1-1 at Brighton’s Amex Stadium in May.
The Sussex side had a very good start into the current season. They even broke into the top four, but have been on a bad run of results for some time now, having failed to win any of their previous eight Premier League matches, drawing six and losing two. However, courtesy to their good form at the beginning of the season, Graham Potter’s team still are in the upper half of the table in ninth with 18 points.
It would be very much the “West Ham way” in its worse sense of the word, if the Hammers tonight gifted a win to the Seagulls, a team which desperately is looking to end a bad run. It really happened much too often in past years that West Ham were the first team that helped their respective opponents gain new confidence in situations like these by losing despite having been tipped to win against an out-of-form team.
Therefore David Moyes said, shortly after his return to West Ham in December 2019, that the Hammers were known as an “inconsistent, flaky side” and that he was out to change that. Tonight he and his team have the perfect opportunity to show how far they have come! With a win against the Irons’ bogey, they would not only be back to winning ways and remain fourth in the Premier League (regardless of Arsenal’s result against Manchester United tomorrow), they would show what a big transformation has happened under the second reign of David Moyes.
When the Hammers played very well for some time under Moyes’s successor and predecessor, Manuel Pellegrini (1 July 2018 – 28 December 2019), I thought that with this high calibre manager at the helm the Hammers had become a team with a “winning mentality” and spoke of a “Pellegrini Revolution” – until in autumn 2019 the train went off the rails. “Hammer of the year” Lukasz Fabianski had got injured early into Pellegrini’s second season in charge, and the manager had not provided for appropriate cover.
Pellegrini’s signing, Spanish goalkeeper Roberto, conceded four goals in the first game after Fab’s injury against minnows Oxford United (West Ham tumbled out of the League Cup with this 0-4), and in the consecutive matches he was a permanent factor of concern and uncertainty in defence. With Roberto in goal West Ham mustered only one clean sheet (in his first game in charge against Newport in the League Cup) and didn’t win a single game. Following Fabianski’s injury West Ham won only two games from 14 matches until Pellegrini was sacked, and in these ties against Chelsea (1-0) and Southampton (1-0) the Irons’ third keeper David Martin played in goal.
Then David Moyes started his second spell with West Ham with a 4-0 victory at London Stadium against Bournemouth. He saved the Hammers from the drop when he came back to east London by the end of December 2019, and has overseen an unbelievable metamorphosis of our beloved club with qualifying for the Europa League group stage for the first time, finishing sixth in the Premier League 2020/21 (after having been in the running for a Champions League spot for a long time, with only one win missing in the end). So far he has even been exceeding this success in the current season with winning and winning and winning … (only four losses and 12 wins from 20 games so far!). West Ham have gained 23 points from 13 Premier League matches and are one of just four clubs with a positive goal difference (also a huge improvement compared to previous seasons).
Now let’s hope that we keep going this term when the most challenging part of the season starts (including the busy Christmas season with matches on 26 and 28 of December). Until the end of the year the Hammers will play a game every three or four days and must hope that no long term injuries will be added to the one that Angelo Ogbonna suffered in the famous victory over Liverpool.
First of all, tonight it’s time to beat the bogey team from east Sussex in east London. There should be a “Sussexit” (as Megxit has to be called now!) out of West Ham’s bad record with the “east Sussexes”: a first win over Brighton in the ninth Premier League outing of these two teams would end the winless streak against the Seagulls and keep West Ham in fourth place in the Premier League. Prior to the visit of Chelsea at London Stadium next Saturday, that would be a clear sign that the “Moyes Metamorphosis” is remaining on track! And, contrary to the “Pellegrini Revolution”, that this metamorphosis could be one that lasts for longer.
Come on you Irons!
EXTRA TIME 
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