“A bit stale” vs. “a bit shit”
Nach dem 0:2 gegen Meister Manchester City im ersten Spiel der neuen Saison, in dem West Ham überhaupt keine Chance hatte – im Gegensatz zum letzen Heimmatch gegen den selben Gegner am Ende der vorigen Spielzeit (2:2) – meinte Hammers-Manager David Moyes:
“We are a bit stale at the moment.”
“Stale”, das heißt “verbraucht”, “schal”, “altbacken”. Nicht gerade das, was man von einem Team am Beginn einer Saison erwartet!
Aber genau so meinte es der West Ham-Manager offenbar, denn er sagte auch: “We need to freshen up a bit. There is a lot work to do.”
Und Moyes musste zugeben, seine Mannschaft wurde von Manchester City “completely outdone“ (völlig übertrumpft). Es war zwar kein 0:5 wie im ersten Spiel der Premier League-Saison 2019, als WHU unter dem damaligen Neo-Manager Manuel Pellegrini einen total verpatzten Saisonstart hinlegte. Aber abgesehen von einer einzigen guten Gelegenheit gleich am Anfang des Spiels hatten die Hammers auch diesmal keine Chance gegen die Citizens.
Vor 62,500 Zuschauern im London Stadium hatten die Irons niemals Zugriff auf das Spiel und waren mit dem 0:2 gut bedient. Erling Haaland erzielte bei seinem Premier League-Debut beide Tore, verletzte bei einem Zusammenstoß West Ham-Keeper Fabianski und vergab eine tolle Kopfballchance in der zweiten Halbzeit, sonst wäre er mit einem Hattrick in die Saison gestartet. Beim Interview sagte er, es sei “a bit shit” gewesen, dass ihm der Hattrick nicht gelungen sei, und als der Kommentator ihn aufmerksam machte, keine Schimpfwörter beim Interview zu verwenden, meinte der Typ: „Oh shit!“
Die haben gut lachen bei Manchester City… Wir dagegen bei West Ham müssen uns über einen ernüchternden Saisonstart beklagen, bei dem zwar die bisher meisten Zuschauer bei einem Hammers-Heimspiel waren, aber die meisten werden sich wohl gedacht haben, was Haaland ausgesprochen hat: “A bit shit”.
Nächsten Sonntag (15 Uhr) gibt es eine neue Chance: es geht für West Ham auswärts gegen Aufsteiger Nottingham Forest, der – mit Jesse Lingard – ebenfalls 0:2 (gegen Newcastle) verloren hat. Dann heißt es wieder:
Come on you Irons!
Biggest Home Crowd in WHU History
Manager David Moyes and captain Declan Rice have paid tribute to West Ham United fans on the eve of the new season, with the Club set to kick-off the 2022/23 Premier League season in front of a record 62,500 capacity crowd at London Stadium on Sunday – the biggest home attendance in the Club’s 127-year history.
After yet another campaign to remember last term, with so many massive moments at London Stadium, the Club has made exciting changes to further enhance the matchday experience, with capacity increased to 62,500.
Demand for a Season Ticket ahead of the new season has been exceptionally high this summer, with a record 55,000 Hammers fans securing their seat for the upcoming campaign – the highest number of Season Ticket holders of any Premier League club.
The Hammers start their campaign of 2022/23 with a home game against PL champions Manchester City on Sunday, 5:30 p.m. (MEST). This match will conclude the first round of the new Premier League season.
Play-off Draw for SK Rapid and West Ham
SK Rapid will play the winner out of the tie FC Vaduz (LIE) v Konyaspor (TUR).
The play-off ties take place on 18 and 25 August, with extra time and a penalty shoot-out if required after the second leg. SK Rapid would play the first game away, West Ham will play the first tie at home. The group stage draw will take place in Istanbul on the Friday after the second play-off leg at 4 p.m. (MEST).
UECL Draw Today
SK Rapid and West Ham will learn their possible opponents in the UEFA Conference League Play-offs on Tuesday at 2 p.m. (MEST) when the draw is made at UEFA headquarters in Nyon. Both Clubs are going to be seeded, so they can’t play each other at this stage of the competition.
Seeded SK Rapid’s and West Ham United’s opponents will be drawn out of the following unseeded clubs in the draw which will be streamed live:
SK Rapid’s potential opponents in the Play-offs:
West Ham United will play one of these five third qualifying round ties:
Paide Linnameeskond (EST) v Anderlecht (BEL)
Wolfsberger AC (AUT) v Gżira United (MLT)
Riga (LVA) v Gil Vicente (POR)
AIK (SWE) v KF Shkëndija (MKD)
Viborg (DEN) v B36 Tórshavn (FRO)
SK Rapid first have to overcome Neftci Baku (Azerbaijan) in the third qualifying round. These round’s ties will be played over the next two weeks, with second-leg ties involving their and West Ham’s potential opponents being completed on Tuesday 9 August and Thursday 11 August.
Should they boys in green and in claret and blue win the two-legged play-off round tie, they will join 21 other UECL play-off round winners and ten clubs eliminated from the Europa League play-off round in the group stage.
The draw for the group stage will be made on 26 August at 4 p.m. (MEST).
These are the Group stage dates
8 September 2022: Matchday 1
15 September 2022: Matchday 2
6 October 2022: Matchday 3
13 October 2022: Matchday 4
27 October 2022: Matchday 5
3 November 2022: Matchday 6
Come on you Irons and you Boys in Green!
Sweet Taste of Victory
Trafalgar Square: The crowd celebrated the Euro win with the Lionesses 🏆 🏴
Her Majesty’s And Other Congratulations
William, Duke of Cambridge, who handed out the winner’s medals, described the victory as “sensational” and said it had been “wonderful to see history in the making”.
England captain Harry Kane congratulated on Twitter: “Absolutely unreal scenes at Wembley!! Massive congrats to the amazing Lionesses!! Ella Toone take a bow for that finish too.”
Gary Lineker, England’s all-time record goalscorer smiled: “Football is a simple game. 22 women chase a ball for 90 minutes and, at the end, England actually win. Congratulations Lionesses. Fabulous.”
And David Seaman, former Arsenal goalkeeper remarked that this was an “unbelievable achievement, this means so much to the girls, to the team, to the country!”
On West Ham’s official website the Club stated that “everyone at West Ham United would like to congratulate the Lionesses, Serina Wiegman and her staff on making history!”
Former West Ham United defender Rachel Daly played 88 minutes in the victory, which is England’s first major trophy win since the men’s team with three Hammers, Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, lifted the 1966 World Cup.
West Ham’s internationals, new Club captain Declan Rice and fellow international Jarrod Bowen, congratulated England’s Lionesses on their historical triumph and said that the success can inspire the men to glory at this winter’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
In London’s Trafalgar Square, a capacity crowd of 7,000 filled the fan zone. Chants of “It’s coming home” were backed by a cacophony of tooting horns from passing vehicles, and even as the fans started making their way out of the square they kept dancing in the streets to music being played from loudspeakers in the fan zone.
The sell-out crowd of 87,192 at Wembley Stadium was a record for any Euros game, beating the 79,115 spectators who watched the 1964 men’s final in Madrid. And the women’s Wembley crowd of 2022 beat last years men‘s Euro final at Wembley which was played in front of 67,173 because of the reduction of capacity due to COVID measures.
“So Good, So Good!“
England win Euro 2022 with a 2-1 win a.e.t. over Germany at Wembley! Goals: 1-0 Toone, 1-1 Magull, 2-1 Kelly
England’s home win at a packed Wembley Stadium means that the long wait for a major trophy is over – one year after England’s defeat in last year’s Euro final and 56 years after the Three Lions’ 4-2 win over West Germany (1966), the Lionesses can win the Euro 2022: football has come home at last!
Manchester City’s Chloe Kelly scored the winning goal for England in extra time!
Mighty England
Saturday, 30 July 1966, may be 56 years ago but, for hat-trick hero Sir Geoff Hurst, England’s FIFA World Cup final victory over West Germany seems like only yesterday. He recalls the memorable day of England’s World Cup win on West Ham‘s website. And tomorrow England women could again win silverware at Wembley against Germany in the Euro final!
The West Ham United legend made history when he fired three goals past Hans Tilkowski to become the first and only player to net a treble in the biggest game in football.
The now 80-year-old says he will always be proud of the part he played in England’s greatest-ever footballing achievement.
Rapid weiter!
Mit einem 2:1 (2:0)-Auswärtssieg in Danzig steigt Rapid nach der Nullnummer im eigenen Stadion in die 3. Qualifikationsrunde der Conference League auf. Tore: Nicolas Kühn und Marco Grüll (Elfmeter).
Der Gegner in der 3. Qualifikationsrunde wird Neftci Baku PFC sein. Der Klub aus Aserbaidschan hat Aris Limassol nach einen 0:2 im ersten Match im Rückspiel 3:0 besiegt und ist damit in die nächste Runde, die schon in den beiden kommenden Wochen gespielt wird, aufgestiegen. Das erste Spiel findet am 4. August in Baku statt. Schon am Dienstag vorher, dem 2. August, 14 Uhr, werden die Play-Offs für die Teilnahme an der Gruppenphase ausgelost.
Es bleibt möglich, dass Rapid und West Ham auch in dieser Europacup-Saison wieder aufeinander treffen. West Ham steigt erst am 18./25. August in den Play-Offs in den Bewerb ein. Hoffen wir, dass Rapid und WHU in der Auslosung gesetzt sind, damit sie nicht schon in den Play-Offs aufeinander treffen können.
EXTRA TIME 
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