Misery continued – Moyes out?
We have been massive lately (in the Prague final back in May and at the start of this season), but that’s merely history now and the presence shows that “we’re still West Ham”. Therefore it’s no surprise that a memorable 3-1 win in the League Cup over Arsenal is followed by an other league defeat away against Brentford.
And it didn’t take long until the “Moyes out brigade” is out again though the Hammers are still 11th in the PL table. It is due to the unexpected good start in to this Premier League season that West Ham has enough points (14) on board to avoid being dragged too near to the relegation places by gaining only one point out of 12 in the last four matches of the Premier League. And it’s also a blessing for West Ham that so far other teams like Sheffield Utd., Burnley, Bournemouth and Luton are still on just 6 and 4 points respectively. But Everton which is ranked 16th, has got 11 points now, and if the Hammers were losing out in their next home game against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, a drop in the table maybe could not be avoided anymore.
In midweek it’s Europe League time again, and the opponents are Olympiakos, the team which ended the formidable unbeaten run of our massive Hammers two weeks ago by beating them after 17 consecutive European games in which the Hammers had remained without defeat. With a win West Ham would secure their progress from the group stage!
Let’s look back to the English Football League Cup aka Carabao Cup named after an energy drink since 2017. One week ago, that was a “big scalp” for West Ham, being the first English team to beat Arsenal this season. (The Hammers weren’t the first victorious opponent of the Gunners as they had already lost in the Champions League at Lens!)
With this 3-1 win, the Irons inflicted defeat to Declan Rice on his return to the London Stadium and are in in the quarter final of the EFL Cup now. However, they have been drawn against Liverpool away which could mean that their cup run is going to end before Christmas. The game will be played on 20 December. In the unexpected case of progressing to the semifinal this would be the first time to reach this stage of the League Cup since 2011!
Though if West Ham was to lose again in the next two games, the “Moyes out!” brigade would get louder and louder! Crescendo forte, fortissimo!
And unfortunately it’s true that the performance on display this past weekend again raised questions over whether David Moyes is the manager who can get the absolute best out of a squad currently filled with great talent. Now with West Ham conceding far too many goals in the last games, it is more than understandable that Moyes is under scrutiny again. However, I think that he will not be sacked before the end of the season, especially when the Hammers should reach the next round of the Europa League which could be possible as soon as Thursday.
Come on you Irons!
Bobby Charlton Dies
Sir Bobby Charlton, England World Cup winner in 1966 and Man Utd legend, died aged 86.
Charlton won 106 caps for England and scored 49 international goals – records for his country at the time.
Widely considered as one of the greatest players of all time, the attacking midfielder who spent much of his career at Manchester United died surrounded by his family.Â
Massive Unbeaten Record
With their 2-1 away win against SC Freiburg in the Europa League West Ham United set a new record for consecutive unbeaten European matches for an English team.
Lucas PaquetĂĄâs superb header on eight minutes and Nayef Aguerdâs excellent goal from James Ward Prowseâs corner â his eighth goal involvement in as many games â in the second half mean the Hammers clinched an impressive record by becoming the first English side to go 17 consecutive games in European competition without defeat.
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City team, Don Revie’s Leeds in the 1960s and Bill Nicholson’s 1970s Tottenham side all managed 16 games unbeaten. David Moyes now has got 17, what a brilliant achievement!
Hosts Freiburg had levelled the match at 1-1 on 49 minutes through Roland Sallaiâs determined finish at the third time of asking, after exquisite saves by Ĺukasz FabiaĹski.
But with Nayef Aguerdâs header from a JWP corner in the 66th minute West Ham was ahead again and following their lead the Hammers had chances to score more goals in front of 34.000 German fans. WHU supporters were not allowed in the ground due to a UEFA penalty. Nonetheless my friend Barrie managed to get a ticket and said that the UEFA measures wouldnât stop him from going.
In his words it was âa fantastic resultâ and âwell deservedâ.
West Ham now top Group A with six points from two games, Freiburg have three and Olympiakos and Serbian side Backa Topola both have one point. On Thursday, 26 October West Ham play Olympiakos Piraeus away in their next group game.
EXTRA TIME 
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