You are here: Home / Archives for Latest News

Arsenal vs West Ham Predictions- What do the pundits think of the Hammers’ chances?

March 7, 2020 By West Ham Blog Leave a Comment

David Moyes will be looking for his first away win against Arsenal as a Premier League manager when his charges square off against the Gunners on Saturday afternoon at the Emirates Stadium. The hosts are managed by Mikel Arteta, whom Moyes coached as a player during his stint at Goodison Park.

Arsenal come into this game on the back of a win in the FA Cup against Portsmouth, while West Ham also registered an important victory last weekend against Southampton.

Here is a look at what the pundits have predicted for this Round 29 clash.

Mark Lawrenson: Lawro says it was “imperative” for West Ham to beat Southampton last weekend and that victory may have given them “something to build on”. Reckons that while West Ham have their issues, the Gunners are not entirely without problems either, and has predicted a 1-1 draw.

His celebrity opponent this weekend, singer Tom Grennan, expects this to be a goalless stalemate. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Latest News, OF Tagged With:

Two strikers upfront, first start (and goal) for Jarrod Bowen, Haller’s rabona & more- Talking Points from West Ham 3-1 Southampton 2020

March 2, 2020 By West Ham Blog Leave a Comment

West Ham claimed a much needed win as they beat Southampton 3-1 at the London Stadium on Leap Day. Given their tough run of fixtures recently, this was a game that the Hammers would’ve targetted for three points, and they achieved it thanks to goals from Jarrod Bowen, Sebastien Haller and Michail Antonio.

Here are our talking points from West Ham’s game against Saints at the London Stadium.

Two strikers upfront works well: Moyes opted for Antonio to partner Haller upfront, and the two were excellent as a duo. Haller, who has often appeared lethargic and disinterested while playing as a sole striker this season, seemed to pick up his game in the company of the energetic Antonio.

Both of them scored goals and their presence forced Hasenhuttl to switch to a back three strategy in the second half to contain the duo, with Jannik Vestegaard coming in for Michael Obafemi.

The downside of this strategy is that it leaves West Ham a bit thin in midfield, where they can be overrun, as was illustrated in Southampton’s first goal on the counter, but the positives appear to outweigh the negatives currently.

First start and first goal for Jarrod Bowen: Given his first Premier League start, young Jarrod Bowen responded with a well taken goal to open the scoring for the Hammers. He didn’t shy away from his defensive responsibilities either, something that the likes of Anderson and Lanzini have often been criticised for. Perhaps a bit greedy on a couple of other occasions when he could’ve picked a team mate in a better position instead of going for goal himself, but a good performance nevertheless. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Latest News, Match Reports Tagged With:

Tomas Soucek impressive on debut, Masuaku sub hurts West Ham & More- Talking Points from WHUFC 3-3 Brighton

February 1, 2020 By West Ham Blog 1 Comment

West Ham dropped into the relegation zone as they squandered a two goal lead TWICE to draw 3-3 with fellow strugglers Brighton at the London Stadium. The result, coupled with Bournemouth’s 2-1 win at home against Aston Villa, pushed David Moyes’ men into the bottom three ahead of a tough set of fixtures for the club- 6 of their next 7 are against Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Wolves, Spurs and Chelsea.

Here are our talking points from West Ham’s 3-3 draw against Graham Potter’s men in Game Week 25.

Tomas Soucek impressive on debut: Czech midfielder Tomas Soucek was thrown into action straightaway today, and he impressed on debut. He played the furthest of West Ham’s three central midfielders in what appeared to be a 4-1-4-1 formation, and at times, almost looked like he was partnering Seb Haller as part of a duo upfront.

Didn’t shy away from the physical stuff, and very nearly got a debut goal early in the game, but Brighton keeper Mat Ryan did very well to save his header. Did a good pressing job in the first half too and played 85 minutes before being replaced. All in all, a more than satisfactory debut for the 24 year-old, and Hammers fans will be keen to see more of him in the future.

Masuaku substitution hurts West Ham: With Michail Antonio having run himself into the ground, David Moyes was left with no option but to bring him off, but his decision to bring Arthur Masuaku and play a more defensive system backfired. It was his botched clearance that lead to the mess that eventually resulted in Brighton’s second goal and his impact unfortunately seemed to mirror the Arsenal game, where West Ham lead 1-0 at the time of his introduction into the fixture, but ended up losing 3-1. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Latest News, OF Tagged With:

Media Player Ratings v West Brom (H)- How did the press rate West Ham’s players following FA Cup loss?

January 26, 2020 By West Ham Blog Leave a Comment

West Ham bowed out of the FA Cup at the hands of lower division opposition for the third season in succession as West Bromwich Albion claimed a 1-0 win at the London Stadium. The Baggies, currently managed by former Hammers gaffer Slaven Bilic, fielded a virtual reserve side and played the last 20 minutes with ten men following Semi Ajayi’s dismissal, but ran out deserved winners.

WHUFC boss David Moyes was so disappointed with his players that he made all three of his changes at half time, and added that he would’ve probably made “five or six” substitutions if the rulebook had permitted him. He also mentioned that it was a “lack of quality” rather than a lack of effort, indicating that some of the players who started the game were simply not Premier League standard, and this might be a cry to the owners to bring in some reinforcements before the winter window closes.

Moyes may well have been referring to Carlos Sanchez, the midfielder who didn’t cover himself in glory for WBA’s opener. The Colombian was hooked at half time, as were defender Fabian Balbuena and midfielder Pablo Fornals, with the trio of Mark Noble, Angelo Ogbonna and Michail Antonio replacing them. With their introduction, it was virtually a full strength West Ham side, but it still took them 85 minutes to register their first shot on target.

Here is a look at how the big newspapers across the country rated the players following this disappointing Cup exit.

Daily Mail: The Mail gave Balbuena a 3, with Sanchez and Fornals both being rated a 4/10 [Read more…]

Filed Under: Latest News, OF Tagged With:

Referee for Leicester vs West Ham 2020- Hammers have never won under him, Foxes yet to lose with him in charge!

January 22, 2020 By West Ham Blog Leave a Comment

The referee for West Ham’s Game Week 24 clash against Leicester at the King Power Stadium has been announced, and it’s an official under whom the Hammers are yet to win a Premier League fixture- David Coote. The Foxes, on the other hand, have never lost a game that he’s been in charge of so far, going all the way back to the time they were in the Championship!

Coote was also the referee when these two sides met last month at the London Stadium- West Ham lost 2-1 to what was effectively a B side fielded by Brendan Rodgers, resulting in the club parting ways with manager Manuel Pellegrini.

West Ham record under David Coote (P4- L3, D1)

West Ham 1-2 Leicester (December 2019, Loss)
Sheff Utd 1-1 West Ham (October 2019, Draw)
Wolves 3-0 West Ham (January 2019, Loss)
Burnley 2-0 West Ham (December 2018, Loss) [Read more…]

Filed Under: Latest News, OF Tagged With: