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It’s So Unfamiliar To Win And Win And…
I am writing articles for the West Ham blog WEST HAM TILL I DIE from time to time. As I came across this Guest Post on the blog WEST HAM TILL I DIE by Simon Walters, I found it was such an accurate description of what Hammers fans feel right now, that I should dare to post it on my blog, too. That’s what Simon Walters, Assistant Editor of the Daily Mail, wrote:
Am I the only West Ham fan who is both delighted and discombobulated by the teamâs continuing success?
Have we really knocked out both ManU and ManC out of the EFL Cup in successive matches; done so without Rice and Antonio; are unbeaten in the Europa Cup without conceding a goal and are one match away from guaranteed progress to the last 16; and, oh yes, I nearly forgot, are fourth in the Premiership.
It is a whole new conversation for a West Ham fan. Usually, by this stage of the season, we are discussing whether it is 40 or 37 points we need to avoid relegation.
West Ham fans adopt a Tony Hancock style of hangdog humour to cope with the stress. It is a way of coping, a way of life.
We say: âWeâve got Palace and Burnley at home in the next fortnight, if we win those we will be four points clear of the drop.â
My optimistic West Ham mantra has always been: âIf we win the next three games we should be eighth.â
Trouble is we would often lose all three and end up 18th.
It wasnât all misery. The thrill of the final whistle when we clinch the point we need to avoid the drop in late April is exhilarating, even if only in the sense that an unexpected reprieve from a year long prison sentence would be exhilarating.
The joy of seeing the Hammers scrape home at Wembley against Blackpool in the 2012 Championship play-off final felt as good as an FA Cup win.
After last seasonâs success, many West Ham fans feared normal service would be resumed this season.
Doubters like me whinged: âWe havenât the squad to do the Europa Cup, half the team will crocked by November and weâll be struggling in the league.â
Well, itâs cold outside but it hasnât happened. Yet.
The discombobulation of the teamâs continuing success comes from having a football fanâs version of imposter syndrome.
Are we really the new Spurs? Embedded on the fringe of the top four?
Dare we set our sights on the Champions League? I am looking over my shoulder just saying it.
Might we even become the new, or rather old, Arsenal, actually a member of the top four?
The unloved London Stadium becomes the Stratford Bernabeu.
OK I have gone too far. Thatâs ridiculous.
The point is that West Ham fans like me donât quite know what to talk about. We need a new language.
We came to know our below stairs place in the Premiership pecking order and what was expected of us, how to behave, we knew the lingo of footballâs lower classes.
Now we have clambered out of the relegation scullery and are tiptoeing towards the Premiership banqueting halls of Liverpool, Man City and Chelsea.
We havenât plucked up the courage to knock on the door yet. What will we say if they do let us in?
But old habits die hard. To turn my mantra on its head, if we lose the next three we wonât even be eighth.
And it could be downhill all the way after that.
Or worse, Chelsea âdo a Lampard 2.0â and buy Rice for ÂŁ150 million.
Weâd certainly have the lexicon to talk about that.
Most of it unprintable.
âTime For Actionâ
https://youtu.be/eXvfqUe4EFQIn her address to the climate summit COP26 in Glasgow Her Majesty The Queen urges world leaders to “achieve true statesmanship” and create a “safer, stabler future” for the planet. She says in a video message they should “rise above the politics of the moment”, and that “time for words has now moved to time for action.”
Link: COP26, Glasgow
Glasgow, 31 Oct -12 Nov 2021
Unbelievable West Ham
West Ham continued their fine start to the season – never before have they collected 20 points from their opening ten Premier League fixtures – and extended their unbeaten away league run with a rampant 4-1 at Aston Villa. BBC said that the Hammers âpushed their top-four credentialsâ and according to The Telegraph the âHammers are real dealâ. They are now equal on points with Manchester City and three points ahead of Manchester United.
After the game Declan Rice who put in a man of the match performance and scored West Hamâs second, paid tribute to the team’s togetherness, which continues to drive them on as they strive to hit yet greater heights than they have already scaled:
“It’s a special group at the minute, a special environment. We wake up looking forward to training. Every game, we’ve been in it until the end. It’s a special place to play and as you can see by our faces weâre over the moon.
“We are joint third,â the West Ham skipper said. âThe big question people asked before the season was whether we could do it again and could we get used to playing in Europe and the Premier League. Weâve found out we can. But there are still a lot more games to go. This is the level, the standard. We canât drop if we want to be a big team.”
For David Moyes, this was his 999th game as a manager, and his fourth successive win in this stadium. His side really have been excellent on three fronts this term, with a superb Premier League start, reaching the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup and taking charge of their Europa League group with three straight wins.
And there is also a positivity and attacking impetus attached to his side that has perhaps not always been present in his previous jobs elsewhere. At times, Moyesâ team played some wonderful, free-flowing attacking football led by their effervescent captain Declan Rice.
The Premier League table after ten games is unbelievable and reason for happiness:
To put West Hamâs outstanding start to the season in context, they have 20 points from 10 matches and, converting three points for a win, only in 1975-76 have they earned more points at this stage of a top-flight campaign (21).
They are also now unbeaten in eight away league games and only once, in 1985 under John Lyall, have they bettered that run. These feel like heady times for the club. âI donât want West Ham to become that flaky, inconsistent team a lot of people remember them as,â Moyes said when he started his second spell at the club. But did anyone foresee how far his Hammers can go?
Itâs a great time to be West Ham!
Next games: KRC Genk (A), Liverpool (H, Sunday). Manchester City will play ManUtd away on Saturday.
Extended highlights from Aston Villa 1 West Ham 4:
https://www.whufc.com
League Cup: Spurs Away
Itâs a perfect draw in my opinion: West Ham, who knocked out holders Manchester City in round four, face last year’s beaten finalists Tottenham in the quarter finals.
Last time the Hammers played Spurs in the League Cup in October 2017, they could celebrate a famous 3:2 win at Wembley and also reached the quarter finals. Coming from 0:2 behind at half time, they scored three second half goals through Andre Ayew (2) and Ogbonna. But this result was only a short relief for then manager Slaven Bilic, who had to step down as manager because of a very bad run in the Premier League.
On 7 November, David Moyes was appointed manager on a six-month contract. West Ham were eighteenth in the Premier Division at the time on nine points having played eleven games.In the next round of the Carabao Cup they were eliminated by Arsenal (0:1).
This season Arsenal will host Sunderland, the only EFL club left in the competition,. They have to travel to Emirates Stadium, while Premier League leaders Chelsea take on west London rivals Brentford, and Liverpool face Leicester.
The games will be played in the week of 20 December.
Britisch-skandinavische EM-Gruppe fĂźr ĂFB-Frauen
Das Ăśsterreichische Frauen-Nationalteam trifft in der Gruppenphase der UEFA Womenâs EURO 2022 im Juli in der Gruppe A auf die Gastgeberinnen aus England, Norwegen und Nordirland.
Die Auslosung am Donnerstag Abend in Manchester brachte den Ăsterreicherinnen eine sehr starke Gruppe, in der sie wohl nur AuĂenseiterchancen haben, aber auch die Ehre, am 6. Juli 2022 um 21.00 Uhr das ErĂśffnungsspiel gegen England im Old Trafford in Manchester zu bestreiten.
Im zweiten Gruppenspiel geht es fĂźr die Auswahl von Irene Fuhrmann am 11. Juli um 18.00 Uhr in Southampton gegen Nordirland. Zum Abschluss der Gruppenphase treffen die Ăsterreicherinnen am 15. Juli um 21.00 Uhr in Brighton & Hove auf Norwegen.
âEs ist eine groĂe Ehre fĂźr uns, dass wir die EURO 2022 im Mutterland des FuĂballs vor so einer einzigartigen Kulisse erĂśffnen dĂźrfen. Das ist einerseits historisch und ein absolutes Highlight, anderseits eine Riesen-Challenge, gegen den Gastgeber und Turniermitfavoriten England zu spielen”, so Irene Fuhrmann, die die Auslosung vor Ort verfolgt hat. âEs ist sicher eine besondere Situation, dass uns mit Nordirland ein weiterer Gegner zugelost wurde, den wir aus der WM-Qualifikation kennen. Aber es kann auch Vorteile in der Vorbereitung mit sich bringen. Wir haben letzten Dienstag gesehen, dass Nordirland auf keinen Fall zu unterschätzen ist”, meint die Teamchefin weiter. âMit Norwegen haben wir einen Gegner erwischt, der seit Jahrzehnten konstant an der Weltspitze mitmischt, und in der Qualifikation nur einen Gegentreffer bekommen hat. Bisher konnten wir Norwegen noch nie schlagen, und sind in diesem Spiel auf jeden Fall der Underdog. Um Ăźberraschen zu kĂśnnen, und die Gruppenphase zu Ăźberstehen, mĂźssen wir kĂśrperlich in Topverfassung sein und brauchen in allen drei Spielen eine herausragende Leistung.
âDas ErĂśffnungsspiel einer Europameisterschaft im Old Trafford vor womĂśglich 75.000 Zuschauern zu spielen, ist der Traum jeder Spielerin und jedes Spielers. Die Favoritenrollen sind in der Gruppe mit England und Norwegen klar verteilt. Um diese Gruppe zu Ăźberstehen, braucht es nicht nur herausragende Teamleistungen, sondern auch das nĂśtige GlĂźck auf unserer Seiteâ, sagt ĂFB-Teamkapitänin Viktoria Schnaderbeck.
spielt ebenso wie Torfrau Manuela Zinsberger in London beim FC Arsenal
Up For Grabs
âThomas, charging through the midfield! Thomas! âŚItâs up for grabs now!â Leading composer and life-long Arsenal fan Mark-Anthony Turnage has composed a piece on Arsenal’s champion deciding match of 1989 against Liverpool. It will be performed for the first time on 5 November, 19:30, at Barbican Hall in London.
The composer supplies the musical alternative to Brian Mooreâs iconic commentary of this championship decider which Arsenal had to win with a margin of two goals to be crowned champions of the English First Division of 1988/89. It is a match which has a Wikipedia page of its own and at its time was watched by a peak British television audience of over 12 million.
The match is considered to be one of the most dramatic conclusions to a league season in the history of the English game and is sometimes seen as the starting point of a renaissance in English football. The title decider also formed the centrepiece of Nick Hornby’s book Fever Pitch.
The scoreline after the first half at Anfield had been 0-0. Then Striker Alan Smith scored Arsenal’s first goal from a header in the 53rd minute, but as the game drew to a close with the score 1â0, Arsenal needed a second goal to win the title. In stoppage time, Arsenal’s Thomas made a run through the Liverpool midfield and scored a last-minute goal, in the process denying Liverpool the chance of a second League and Cup double.
Members of Arsenal’s 1989 winning team against Liverpool will reunite to reminisce, after the performance was played alongside projected highlights from the dramatic match.
The performance can be watched online on the website of Barbican Hall.
West Ham beat Man City in League Cup
West Ham 0-0 Man City (5-3 on pens)
MAN CITY ARE OUT!
The holders, the winners for the last four years are gone. West Ham United is the first team to eliminate Manchester City from the League Cup since October 2016 after a tense 0-0 draw and a dramatic 5-3 victory on penalty kicks. West Ham, the winners at London Stadium, proceed to the quarter finals of the League Cup, and the Hammersâ fine season continues. This team has developed a real winning mentality and even won without their best, Declan Rice and Michail Antonio!
The other clubs to have reached the fifth round of the EFL Cup are: Arsenal, Brentford, Chelsea, Leicester, Liverpool, Sunderland and Tottenham.
Quarter-final draw will take place at 10:30 BST on Saturday.
League One club Sunderland is the only team from a lower tier still in the competition, having beaten QPR away on penalties.
Alles wird gut: endlich wieder Bart!
Der Vollbart drĂźckt laut der Zeitschrift Elle Bodenständigkeit und Ehrlichkeit aus. Vollbartträger gelten als âsympathisch, gebildet und attraktivâ.
Alles wird gut. Wir haben endlich wieder einen Bundeskanzler, der Bart trägt: Alexander Schallenberg. Und auf ihn treffen die obigen Bartträger-Attribute, wie ich mir heute bei seiner Rede zum Nationalfeiertag bei der Angelobung von Bundesheer-Rekruten auf dem Heldenplatz dachte, auch durchaus zu.
Nachdem von den GrĂźnen nach dem Bekanntwerden der im Zentrum von Korruptionsermittlungen stehenden Chats des Kreises um Sebastian Kurz – zurecht – dessen RĂźcktritt als Bundeskanzler und die Bestellung eines arbeitsfähigen, untadeligen Regierungschefs durch den Koalitionspartner ĂVP gefordert worden war, wurde am 11. Oktober 2021 Alexander Schallenberg als neuer Bundeskanzler angelobt. Und er ist – sechzig Jahre nach dem schnurrbärtigen Julius Raab (1953-1961) – der erste Bartträger nach sechs Jahrzehnten im Bundeskanzleramt.
Langzeit-Regierungschef Bruno Kreisky wird zwar in der obigen Kanzler-Zeitleiste der APA auch mit Bart abgebildet, den trug er aber erst Jahre nach seiner aktiven Zeit als Bundeskanzler (1970-1983).
Ein Mann mit Bart also steht nun seit Langem wieder an der Spitze der Bundesregierung. Bundespräsident van der Bellen sagte bei der Angelobung des neuen Bundeskanzlers, Schallenberg wisse aus seiner diplomatischen Erfahrung, wie man âdie gegensätzlichsten Positionen auf einen Nennerâ bringe. Er sei sich sicher, dass diese Fähigkeit Schallenberg als Kanzler von groĂem Nutzen sein werde. Mit van der Bellen hat Schallenberg Ăźbrigens zwei äuĂerliche Gemeinsamkeiten: die beiden sympathischen Bartträger haben auĂer dem Bart auch noch den gleichen Vornamen. Hoffen wir, dass Van der Bellen nicht bald wieder einen neuen Mann fĂźr das Amt des Bundeskanzlers bestellen muss, sondern die ĂVP-GrĂźne-Koalition nun in Ruhe weiterarbeiten kann.
Von den in der Zeitschrift Elle genannten guten Eigenschaften fehlt dem Herrn Schallenberg vielleicht nur noch ein bisschen die Bodenständigkeit – zumindest in der Ăśffentlichen Wahrnehmung – denn schlieĂlich ist Schallenberg ja eine âarbeitsfähige und adligeâ Person; so die Abwandlung der zu seiner Bestellung fĂźhrenden Forderung der GrĂźnen in einem Sketch von Gernot Kulis. Aber Bodenständigkeit ist beim alten Ăśsterreichischen Adel ja keinesfalls ausgeschlossen – und die kann er in seiner hoffentlich längeren Amtszeit noch unter Beweis stellen!
Der Trend zum Bart ist heute wieder – nicht zuletzt auch dank der Hipster-Kultur – äuĂerst aktuell und hat nun auch im Bundeskanzleramt Einzug gehalten. Wichtig ist aber, sagen die Style-Experten, dass der Bart zum jeweiligen Typ und zum individuellen Bartwuchs passt. Schallenbergs Vertrauen einflĂśĂender Bart passt jedenfalls zu ihm und er passt als neuer Bundeskanzler in dieser Zeit auch sehr gut zur Republik Ăsterreich!
Der Schmerz des Kickers
Rapids serbischer Defensivspieler Filip Stojkovic, der im Herbst 2019 aus Belgrad zu Rapid kam und mir damals, bei dem in letzter Minute 1:2 n.V. verlorenen ĂFB Cup-Spiel gegen Salzburg, gleich positiv auffiel. sprach kĂźrzlich Ăźber âŚ
âŚseine harte Spielweise: âDas ist eine Frage der Herkunft. Wir am Balkan haben einfach diese Mentalität, dass wir ein bisschen âschmutzigerâ spielen als die Ăsterreicher. Genauso ticke ich. Mein Stil ist hart und grob und mein Ziel ist es, durch diesen Einsatz meine Mitspieler mitzureiĂen.â
… Ăźber Schmerz im FuĂball: âSchmerz ist in unserem Beruf etwas ganz Normales, du beendest kein einziges Training, ohne dass dir etwas wehtut. Jeden Tag, wenn du aufstehst, tut dir etwas Anderes weh. Ein Trainer bei Roter Stern hat einmal gesagt: âSolange du FuĂball spielst, muss dir immer etwas wehtun, sonst hast du nicht genug Einsatz gezeigt.ââ
Apropos Schmerz: Verteidiger-Kollege Leo Greiml erlitt am Sonntag beim 1:1 âverlorenenâ Bundesligaspiel in Hartberg eine schwere Verletzung. Der 20-jährige Innenverteidiger zog sich einen Kreuzbandriss samt Meniskusverletzung im rechten Knie zu und wird somit leider, leider mehrere Monate lang ausfallen.
Classic Derby Win
Sundayâs win against Tottenham might not have grabbed so many headlines as this game deserved because of Manchester Unitedâs 5-0 humiliation by Liverpool, but West Hamâs back to back derby victory was a game well contested, if not a classic. This game is followed by a visit of Manchester City in the League Cup on Wednesday night.
West Ham was captained again by Declan Rice in this third win within eight days. These are all but happy days for the Hammers and their fans, and Rice believes the resilience shown by his side in a game like this shows exactly how far they have progressed in the last 18 months:
âWeâve completely transformed the way we are, as players, as people and thatâs down to the manager,â he said.
âItâs down to the players buying in to what he wants and every time we go out there, even if weâve got beaten, we come off the pitch knowing weâve given everything.
âWeâre always in it to the end and weâre sat fourth in the table and we want to keep looking forward. We are a top side â weâre proving that in Europe and weâre proving that in the Premier League.â
And we hope the Hammers will prove that in Wednesdayâs League Cup Game against holders Manchester City, too. West Ham havenât won against City since a 2-1 in September 2015, and they have only mustered two draws within these six years. In this away win in 2015 Aaron Cresswell and Manuel Lanzini already played for the Hammers together with Mark Noble and then midfield genius Dimitri Payet. The goals were scored by Victor Moses and Diafra Sakho. In the next game against City in this memorable Last Season at the Boleyn West Ham United narrowly failed in their attempt to complete a league double against Manchester City for the first time since the 1962-63 season and drew 2-2 at Upton Park, courtesy to two goals from Enner Valencia.
This draw was followed by a bad run of nine consecutive defeats by Manchester City in all competitions since January 2016, until Michail Antonioâs goal helped the Hammers to secure a 1-1 draw on October 24th last year at London Stadium behind closed doors due to the COVID pandemic.
It will be interesting to see if manager David Moyes will rest the prolific striker in this cup game or if he will play him in the starting eleven to try to knock out the cup holders with the help of his best hit man.
The last time that West Ham have defeated Manchester City in a cup competition was in March 2006 when two Dean Ashton goals at the City of Manchester Stadium secured a 2-1 win in the FA Cup 6th round. West Ham reached the final against Liverpool in that year and was only beaten on penalties after a last gasp equaliser from Steven Gerrard in a 3-3 draw.
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