Archive for April 5, 2023
Youth Cup Semifinal at LS
West Ham United’s U 18 have reached the penultimate round of the FA Youth Cup. That’s good news, and the young Hammers will play their semi-final tie with Southampton at the London Stadium!
Kevin Keen’s young Hammers are set to take to the pitch at London Stadium for a first FA Youth Cup last four match in 24 years, with the winners of Thursday’s game taking on Arsenal in the final after the Gunners beat Manchester City 2-1 AET on Tuesday evening.
Kevin Keen’s side earned their place in the last four thanks to a quartet of away wins in the previous rounds.
The U18s saw off Sheffield United 3-1 before Christmas, before beating Burnley 1-0 in the fourth round thanks to George Earthy’s late strike.
Victory in the last 16 was earned away to Stoke City thanks to a blistering attacking display, with the Hammers running out 4-1 winners, before a frantic and thrilling 4-2 extra-time win away to Ipswich Town in the quarter-finals.
Head coach Kevin Keen knows how important Thursday’s match is, both in the context of the campaign so far and for each of the young players on a personal level:
“For a few of them though, there might be more chances to play even more times at London Stadium with the first team. And maybe even one or two of them might go on to play a lot of games there, with West Ham United. That’s the overarching goal.
“We’ve done quite well away from home, and there’s always a bit more attention on a home game. But we’re delighted for the boys to get that amazing opportunity to play at the home stadium. We have to say though, that we’ve done quite well away from home so far.”
The U18s have reached the semi-final stage of the tournament for the first time since 1999; the last year West Ham went all the way and won the competition.
Keen, who played as a midfielder for West Ham himself in the eighties and nineties, is proud of the effort, talent and fortitude shown by his squad in reaching the last four and is hopeful the journey will continue past Thursday.
Come on you young Irons!
Wednesday evening at LS
For me David Moyes’s team still looks like a squad that has just been reassembled, though they have already played almost forty games this season. The new players never “clicked”, it seems that Moyes has no clue and many players are out of form, prone to horrible mistakes, and low on confidence.
We really have to fear the worst now. Declan Rice alone is not enough.
Next game: Fulham away on Saturday, 3 p.m.
RapidHammer on Wednesday
Wednesday of this Holy Week of 2023 is packed with football: my Forza Football App is showing a lot of domestic cup ties, e.g. Slavia Prague vs. Bohemians, FC Barcelona vs. Real Madrid, FC Nantes vs. Olympique Lyon, Cremonese vs. Fiorentina, Feyenoord vs. Ajax, RB Leipzig vs. Borussia Dortmund and 1.FC Nürnberg vs. VfB Stuttgart, to name just a few.
Most important of all Cup games is of course the ÖFB semifinal SK Rapid vs. SV Ried tonight at the Allianz Stadion in Vienna (above) with it’s kick-off at 8:30 p.m. Rapid could reach the final in Klagenfurt on 1 May if they beat the team from Upper Austria which is fighting relegation from the Austrian Bundesliga. But the „Innviertler“ are a “cup team” which will not be easy to beat. They have won three out of four cup ties against Rapid and eliminated them last season 1-2 on Rapid’s home turf.
However, as RB Salzburg has already been eliminated from the ÖFB Cup this year by Sturm Graz, the chances of winning the final could be higher than in previous seasons and therefore it’s all but important that Rapid reach the „Endspiel“ this year after they have lost twice to Salzburg in the ÖFB Cup Final in recent years.
This time the opponents would be Sturm Graz or LASK (playing the second semifinal tomorrow). But first Ried has to be overcome tonight! Come on you boys in green!
And of course London has another „cup final“ tonight for David Moyes’s men at West Ham‘s ground at Stratford which kicks off half an hour later than Rapid‘s game. The match against Newcastle Utd is another possibility for the Hammers to climb away from the relegation zone after their 1-0 win over Southampton last Sunday.
Well, I fear that the atmosphere will again be an unhappy one like it was on Sunday most of the time (despite of the result!), and there will be a feeling of angst and anger around London Stadium – much different from the happy mood when Mark Noble played his last game there (below). I am sure everybody will feel a tenseness similar to a knock-out tie albeit this game’s a Premier League match. With a win West Ham could even climb up into 12th, though they are only one point away from the relegation zone prior to tonight‘s games.
On the Holy Saturday a visit to Fulham is the next game for West Ham, but tonight the focus is on doing well against the Saudi‘s Newcastle United which have beaten Manchester United lately and are sitting third in the Premiership with three league wins in a row.
With so much live Football this evening I will have to postpone watching the newest episode of “Ted Lasso” which comes out every Wednesday! In the meantime I will read a funny article on West Ham’s website about a visit of Charlie Hiscock, the actor who plays AFC Richmond’s kitman, to London Stadium. As AFC Richmond are really on a run of brilliant results in their third season of this Apple TV series, let’s hope that this visit is a good omen and the Hammers can finally come good and put some wins together in their most difficult season for years now.
Come on you Irons!
FarAwayThing Down South
I had not heard of Farthing Downs in Coulsdon, south London, until TimeOut Magazine reported that it was about to become an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The planned proposals would add it to the Surrey Hills AONB, which it adjoins, making it the first London area to achieve this honour, giving it extra protection from planning proposals and ensuring it’s well conserved in the future.
TimeOut describes Farthing Downs which belongs to the City of London as a nice looking park with scrubby grass, hedgerows and trees; but if you go deeper, it is a magical place, one that’s dotted with the mysterious detritus of history, from neolithic burial mounds to traces of Saxon farms to the remnants of WWII anti-aircraft guns. It’s already designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for its impressive range of flora and fauna, including skylarks, orchids, pipistrelle bats, roe deer and Roman snails (which our Latin-speaking forebears brought over to enliven their lavish banquets).
What about visiting Farthing Downs on the next trip to London? It’s half an hours ride on the train from Victoria Station.
EXTRA TIME 
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