Defeat to Wolves …
…lets drop West Ham into the relegation zone, separated from Southampton and Everton only by goal difference.
West Ham lost 0-1 to Wolves at Molineux, and things don’t look bright at the moment for the Hammers. Manager David Moyes has not been sacked yet, but time‘s running our for the Scot.
Cup Win at Brentford
With their first win in seven games, West Ham proceeded to the fourth round of the FA Cup, beating Brentford 1-0 away. Said Benrahma knocked out his former club as he collected the ball after a perfectly timed Declan Rice tackle and thumped home from 25 yards.
“I think the result in midweek [2-2 at Leeds] and a good win here today is something to build on,” said West Ham manager David Moyes.
“Getting through in any cup competition is important and we just about got there today.
“I said last week we could do with someone scoring a screamer and Said did that. His impact was excellent. It was a terrific goal.”
Benrahma’s strike was West Ham’s first on target, and was a fine effort, but the game as a whole was quite disappointing with regard to the quality of the performance of both teams.
The winger decided not to celebrate against his former side, but the goal will have been relief to West Ham and manager Moyes, who would not have wanted a replay in between crucial Premier League games against fellow strugglers Wolves and Everton.
It continues Moyes’ impressive record in the FA Cup third round, with the Scot now having won 10 of his 12 ties at that stage. Though more important are the following League games in which West Ham should get back on track with wins at Wolves on Saturday and Everton at Stratford one week later, before they go into the next round of the FA Cup. Then a trip to Newcastle is to follow at the beginning of February.
The FA Cup round-four draw will be staged ahead of the tie between Manchester City and Chelsea on Sunday afternoon, and can be watched on BBC One in the UK and on the official FA Cup Facebook and Twitter channels.
»Der Gott, der mich sieht«
Happy New Year!
Vor 50 Jahren (1972) wurde erstmals der Sketch “Dinner for One” zu Silvester im Fernsehen gezeigt.
Pelé obituary
King of the “beautiful game”
Pelé popularised the description of football as “the beautiful game” and no one played it more beautifully or with such joy than the man known as the King in his native Brazil. He was the sport’s first global superstar and by common consensus its greatest, although some made competing claims for the Argentinians Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, the Dutchman Johan Cruyff or Portugal’s Ronaldo, among others.
Obituary in The Times:
Pelé, Heinz Bernart und Vivienne Westwood…
Verstorben im Dezember 2022. RIP.
Unser ehemaliger Klassenvorstand am BG Baden, Heinz Bernart, ist am Hl. Abend im 80. Lebensjahr nach längerer Krankheit verstorben, wie meinbezirk.at am Donnerstag berichtete. Am selben Tag wurde bekannt, dass Modedesignerin Vivienne Westwood und der beste Fußballspieler aller Zeiten, Pelé, mit 81 bzw. 82 Jahren verstorben sind.
Der in Wien-Fünfhaus aufgewachsene Heinz Bernart machte eine Bierbrauerlehre in Schwechat, maturierte dann 1964 in der Kundmanngasse in Wien 3. und studierte danach an der Universität Wien Deutsch, Italienisch, Psychologie und Philosophie. Der begeisterte Fussball-Fan promovierte 1970 zum Dr.phil. und unterrichtete von 1971 bis 2003 am Bundesgymnasium Biondekgasse in Baden, daneben auch an anderen Schulen und am Pädagogischen Institut.
Für seinen besonderen Einsatz um die Errichtung professioneller Schulbibliotheken in ganz Österreich und in Ungarn (!) erhielt er eine Reihe von Auszeichnungen der Schulbehörden, das Goldene Ehrenzeichen des Bundes und des Landes NÖ sowie von Ungarn.
Bei unserem letzten Klassentreffen im Juni 2022, 45 Jahre nach unserer Matura, war Heinz Bernart noch dabei und wird uns unvergesslich bleiben.
Unvergesslich werden auch der ewige König des Fußballs, Edson Arantes do Nascimento, kurz Pelé (oben neben “Kaiser Franz” Beckenbauer und dem besten Verteidiger, gegen den er nach eigener Aussage je gespielt hat, Bobby Moore) und die britische Designerin Vivienne Westwood bleiben!
Pelé, der drei Mal als Spieler die WM gewann (1958, 1962 und 1970) und 1301 Tore in 1390 Spielen (775 in 841 Pflichtspielen) erzielte, wird wohl immer der Beste aller Zeiten, der wahre “Fußballgott”, bleiben – auch wenn man ihn nur “o rei” (den König des Fußballs) nannte und nach ihm noch Maradona und Messi gekommen sind.
Franz Beckenbauer sagte über ihn: „Von allen großen Fußballern war er der Größte. Und ein großartiger Mensch dazu.“
Und Tostão, sein Sturm-Kollege beim WM-Gewinn 1970 in Mexiko, hat einmal gesagt: „Nähme man alle Talente von Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo und Messi zusammen, dann hätte man einen Spieler, der nah an die Klasse von Pelé heran käme. Aber Pelé wäre immer noch besser.“
Die WM in Qatar mit Messi’s erstem WM-Titel hat der Größte noch erlebt und sich für den Argentinier sicher gefreut, auch wenn ihn der WM-Titel für Neymar und . Brasilien sicher noch mehr gefreut häte. Pele selbst soll einmal gesagt haben: „Ein Leben ohne Fußball kann ich mir nicht vorstellen. Ich hoffe, dass man auch im Himmel Fußball spielen kann.“
Die Modedesignerin Dame Vivienne Westwood, die am selben Tag im Alter von 81 Jahren gestorben ist, wird sich vielleicht Ähnliches über Modedesign gedacht haben. Ihr Modehaus teilte Donnerstagabend auf Twitter mit, sie sei „friedlich und umgeben von ihrer Familie“ in Clapham in London gestorben. Ihr Ehemann und kreativer Partner, der Österreicher Andreas Kronthaler, sagte: „Ich werde Vivienne in meinem Herzen weiter tragen. Wir haben bis zum Schluss gearbeitet, und sie hat mir viele Dinge mit auf den Weg gegeben.“ Westwood war radikal und schrill, hatte eine große Bandbreite bei ihrer Arbeit und war nie vorhersehbar. Sie machte aus dem Punk einen Modestil, später waren ihre Entwürfe geprägt von neu und exzentrisch zusammengesetzten Kombinationen aus historischer Bekleidung, seltenem Textilgewebe und farbenfrohen Webmustern.
Erst vor zwei Wochen sind uns diese von ihr designeten Schals im Londoner East End aufgefallen:
➡️ Dame Vivienne Westwood obituary in The Times
Another Familiar Result
When Arsenal and West Ham met in a late kick-off on Boxing Day, both of them continued exactly where they had left off before the World Cup.
Arsenal won and remain top of the Premier League, and West Ham, despite being 1-0 up at The Emirates Stadium before the interval thanks to a Said Benrahma penalty (above), lost 1-3 and remain in 16th, separated by just one point from the relegation zone.
An away game against Arsenal always had been destined a free-hit, and even when the Hammers lead at the break, it was highly unlikely that they would take the points. However, a fourth consecutive defeat in the PL will have piled the pressure on manager David Moyes whose team also lost on penalties to Blackburn Rovers in the League Cup before the World Cup break.
Now it’s about time for the Hammers to get points on board in the upcoming games until the end of January! All of them will be played against teams which sit around West Ham in the table:
The Hammers will end the year with Brentford at home on Friday and begin 2023 with Leeds away on January 4th. These League games are followed by an other tie against Brentford (A) in the FA Cup, before fellow strugglers Wolves (A) and Everton (H) are entertained by David Moyes’s team.
These are going to be crucial weeks for the Irons!
At the end of January we should know if there is a way back to mid-table security this season, and if the probably oldest team in the Premier League will have got some reinforcements during the transfer window. David Moyes’s fate will be decided within these weeks: Will he still be the man to manage West Ham by the end of next month and be able to continue what he and all at West Ham long for after more than forty years of wait*): to win some silverware, perhaps in the Conference League?
I hope so and keep my fingers crossed for the boys in claret and blue! Come on you Irons!
*) West Ham have been winners of the FA Cup three times (1964, 1975 and 1980) and runners-up twice (1923 and 2006). The club have reached two major European finals, winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1965 and finishing runners-up in the same competition in 1976. West Ham captain Declan Rice said in an interview while being at the World Cup that he wanted “to play for big trophies”:
“I’ve been playing consistently well for my club and I feel like I really want to keep pushing. I see my friends here, who are playing Champions League and for big trophies. You only get one career and at the end you want to look back at what you’ve won and the biggest games you’ve played in. I really want to do that.”
Rice’s contract runs out in 2024 with West Ham having the option to extend it by a further year. Many have the feeling that he could leave the Club in the summer…
Royal Christmas Address
This Christmas the new King held his first Christmas Day address. The speech was recorded by King Charles in St George’s Chapel, Windsor. He paid tribute to his mother Queen Elizabeth, who is buried in the chapel alongside his father, Prince Philipp, and referred to hardship, foodbanks, and the cost-of-living crisis as well as humility and solidarity. The King also spoke of Christ as the “light that has come into the world”.
In remembrance of the late Queen whose Christmas message of 2021 had proved to be her last one, the King Said: “Christmas is a particularly poignant time for all of us who have lost loved ones. We feel their absence at every familiar turn of the season and remember them in each cherished tradition.”
The King said he wanted to pay tribute to all those wonderfully kind people who so generously give food or donations, or that most precious commodity of all, their time, to support those around them in greatest need. The message highlighted the community work of faith groups: “Such heartfelt solidarity is the most inspiring expression of loving our neighbour as our self,” the monarch said.
The King described how moved he had been to go to the birthplace of Christ in Bethlehem: “It meant more to me than I can possibly express to stand on that spot where, as the Bible tells us, ‘The light that has come into the world’ was born.
By asserting his own Christian belief in this way, King Charles extended the message of light and hope to other religions:
“While Christmas is, of course, a Christian celebration, the power of light overcoming darkness is celebrated across the boundaries of faith and belief.
“So, whatever faith you have, or whether you have none, it is in this life-giving light, and with the true humility that lies in our service to others, that I believe we can find hope for the future.
“Let us therefore celebrate it together, and cherish it always.”
➡️ BBC
Only one day to go…
…until the return of Premier League football. It has been six weeks since they last kicked a ball in the English top-flight. But until I will watch real live football myself again, I fear it will take even more time.
I have been to London twice lately, but both trips took place during the World Cup. So I tried to watch games of lower tier clubs or women’s football in London this autumn, but that didn’t work out due to the timing of our flights, delays at the airport and adverse weather conditions.
Therefore this season I have only been to as little as two live games and no West Ham fixture so far. I had tickets for the Hammers’ home game against Bournemouth, but being hit by a Covid infection we had to cancel our trip and postponed the stay to late November. We would have witnessed a rare West Ham victory, one of only four so far this season.
I was at Rapid Wien’s Conference League qualifying game against Gdańsk in July (0:0, above). But as Rapid didn’t qualify for the group stage this season and I prefer to attend their European games on weekdays over their domestic league games on the weekend, the chances of watching them were limited. So it took until their last home game before the World Cup until I watched my second live game, a 1-0 win over LASK Linz.
Rapid’s fans made it quite clear what the think of the “Winter World Cup” in Qatar:
Of course I watched some football on the telly, mainly West Ham on Sky, the Women’s European Championship final, and finally the second half, extra time and penalty shootout of the World Cup in our hotel room in London Shoreditch.
Therefore the restart of the Premier League now is eagerly anticipated, as is the comeback of live football in Austria in February. I hope to make some more games then, and perhaps even be able to come back to England once or twice in spring to watch West Ham. Hope springs eternal…
EXTRA TIME 
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