EXTRA TIME

A disappointing afternoon

Graham Potter had got two weeks of preparations ahead of West Ham’s match against Brentford as the Hammers didn’t have to play last weekend when the fourth round of the FA Cup had taken place.

But one could only wonder what the manager and his squad had done within this time. West Ham were shockingly weak in the first half of their game against Brentford.

They were lucky to go into the interval only 1-0 down as two more goals scored by the “Bees” were disallowed for offside. The Hammers’ display in defence as well as offence was dire and pathetic, and the halftime whistle was greeted with boos from some parts of the West Ham supporters.

The Hammers started into the game much better in the second half; with three changes made by Graham Potter who brought on James Ward-Prowse, Evan Ferguson and young Oliver Scarles in the 46th minute. And immediately there was much more energy and attacking spirit – at least within the first ten or 15 minutes after the break. But unfortunately Mohamed Kudus missed the Hammers‘ best chance almost immediately after the break when new loan signing Evan Ferguson had played him free at the edge of the box. And albeit the crowd were getting behind the team and there was a sense that the Hammers could at least take a point from this encounter, there weren’t many more clear-cut opportunities to get an equaliser, and Brentford was able to see the game out.

That was a very disappointing afternoon for the West Ham faithful and me at Stratford. We all were „SADDENED BY: West Ham’s inability to score a goal“, as Iain Dale put it in his Sunday newsletter a day after the game.

And also the way back to the hotel was tedious. It was raining and an east London Saturday evening traffic jam made the trip agonisingly slow. Bloody London! In the end I got off the bus and took a black cab for the last few miles paying over the odds for this ride back from West Ham’s defeat.

Some ham, bread, olives, red wine and Dubai chocolate as well as worship music helped to get into a better mood at last… but still “bloody football” somehow had ruined the day.

Tomorrow Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Cadogan Hall as well as a Sunday service at HTB hopefully are going to raise the spirit!

February 15, 2025 at 9:38 pm Leave a comment