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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…]

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First headed goal of the season, Crucial Pickford saves, Ajeti head butt on Holgate & More- Talking Points from West Ham 1-1 Everton 2020

January 20, 2020 By West Ham Blog 1 Comment

West Ham’s second game at the London Stadium under new manager David Moyes saw them draw with Carlo Ancelotti’s Everton. Having beaten Bournemouth 4-0 earlier this month, the Hammers would’ve been hopeful of picking up a win against the Toffees, but had to settle for a point.

Here are our talking points from Saturday afternoon’s fixture.

First headed goal of the season: Issa Diop’s first half goal, which put West Ham ahead, was also the Hammers’ first headed one in the league this season. The French defender nodded home from Robert Snodgrass’ fine free kick in the 40th minute of the game. Unfortunately for West Ham, they were to concede a headed equaliser just four minutes later, with Dominic Calvert-Lewin netting for the visitors.

Crucial Pickford saves: Apart from Diop’s goal, West Ham had two glorious chances in the first half- one fell to Sebastien Haller and the other to Pablo Fornals. Pickford however was equal to the task, and his excellent reflexes ensured the score stayed 1-1, instead of potentially ending up 3-1 in favour of the home side.

First half good, second half not as much: West Ham created plenty of opportunities in the first half- their best ones all came before the interval. The only real notable chance after the break, if you could call it one, came from the Haller header on the edge of the box that forced Pickford to stumble a bit after claiming the ball.

Manuel Lanzini disappointing: The Argentine is a fine player when on form, but still hasn’t been able to hit his pre-injury heights. Earned the free kick (from a silly Delph foul) that gave West Ham the lead, but not too much otherwise. [Read more…]

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Moyes 2.0 starts with a fine win, rare win over Cherries & more- Talking Points from West Ham 4-0 Bournemouth

January 1, 2020 By West Ham Blog 1 Comment

The first game of David Moyes’ second stint as West Ham manager saw the Hammers turn in one of their best performances of the season as they demolished Bournemouth 4-0 on New Years’ Day.

By kick off time, the Hammers were in the drop zone because of Villa’s 2-1 win away at Burnley, but they blew away Eddie Howe’s side to snap their four game losing streak at the London Stadium and lift themselves up to 16th in the league table.

Here are our talking points from this GW21 clash.

A very good win against Bournemouth: The Cherries have been tough opponents for West Ham in recent years- they were unbeaten in six against the Irons coming into this fixture, and did the double over them last season. However the home side’s first half blitz left the visitors stunned and forced Howe into making two changes at half time, albeit to no avail. The eventual margin of the win- four goals, was West Ham’s biggest Premier League win since their 5-0 win over Derby back in November 2007.

A real statement of intent from David Moyes, and perhaps apt that it came against Bournemouth- it was in the reverse fixture at the Vitality Stadium back in September that saw Lukasz Fabianski injured and the Hammers’ slide down the table begin.

Fantastic pressing and closing down from West Ham: Bournemouth were simply unable to live with West Ham’s pressing game in the first half, and the likes of Jefferson Lerma ended up giving the ball to the opposition time and again in dangerous areas. The Hammers took their intensity levels up a notch- their work rate was excellent, and Howe cut a shell-shocked figure on the sidelines.

Felipe Anderson scores his first goal of the season: Felipe Anderson hasn’t been at his best this season, and it’s probably no coincidence that the Hammers’ attacking struggles have coincided with his own slump in form. The Brazilian’s confidence appeared low for most of the game- there were a couple of opportunities he would have easily put away in his first season.

He eventually did manage to get on the scoresheet just seconds before being subbed off, courtesy of a fine ball from Declan Rice. Will this help him turn his season around? West Ham fans will certainly be hoping so. [Read more…]

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The return of Fabianski, loss to Leicester reserves, Carlos Sanchez poor, Pellegrini sacked- Talking Points from West Ham vs Leicester

December 30, 2019 By West Ham Blog Leave a Comment

West Ham’s 2019 finished on a disappointing note as they slumped to a 2-1 defeat to Leicester City on Saturday evening. Brendan Rodgers fielded what was virtually a Foxes B team by making nine changes, but his reserves ran out comfortable winners at the London Stadium. The home side will feel they could have done better defensively for both goals, and apart from that moment of brilliance from Felipe Anderson to set up Pablo Fornals, didn’t trouble Kasper Schmeichel too much.

The result left the Hammers just one point above the drop zone and forced the club to part ways with Manuel Pellegrini after the game, with Wednesday’s fixture against Bournemouth now shaping up to be a massive one. Here are our talking points from this GW20 clash.

The return of Lukasz Fabianski: West Ham’s problems began the moment Fabianski got injured at the Vitality Stadium in September. The club started the season encouragingly, but everything went haywire once the Pole, the reigning Hammer of the Year, was diagnosed with a torn hip muscle. His replacement Roberto didn’t exude confidence under the sticks, and that nervousness seemed to spread to the rest of the team. Roberto was finally replaced by veteran David Martin, who himself picked up a hip injury after keeping clean sheets in the wins over Chelsea and Southampton that bought Pellegrini some time.

Fabianski saved an early penalty from Demarai Gray, but there was precious little he could do to stop the other goals. Nevertheless, the fans will be glad to see the Polish stopper back in goal.

Carlos Sanchez poor: A poor outing for the Colombian who was asked to start as Pellegrini chose to rest veteran Mark Noble. Had a couple of nervy passes in the beginning that led to Leicester counter attacks, and the early penalty that the Foxes earned came from a move that began after his misplaced pass. He didn’t cover himself in glory for Gray’s winner either.

When Sebastien Haller was hooked early in the second half, the crowd wasn’t happy, but they almost cheered in appreciation when Sanchez was taken off. That tells a story in itself- the Colombian has clearly not endeared himself to the fans at the London Stadium. [Read more…]

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Southampton vs West Ham Predictions- Pellegrini like “an empty tube of toothpaste”, says pundit

December 14, 2019 By West Ham Blog Leave a Comment

West Ham take on Southampton today evening in what is effectively shaping up as a must win game for manager Manuel Pellegrini if he is to stay at the London Stadium. There was rumours swirling over the future of the Chilean at the beginning of this month- a surprise win against Chelsea bought him some time, but back to back defeats against Wolves and Arsenal, have put the pressure back on him. Defeat could see the Hammers drop into the bottom three at the end of GW17.

The referee for this clash against the Saints is Martin Atkinson, who will be in charge of his first game involving these two clubs this season.

Here is what major TV pundits have predicted for this clash.

Mark Lawrenson: Lawro says Pellegrini at this moment feels like “an empty tube of toothpaste”, with the Hammers “squeezing the last bits out of him”, and it won’t be too long before “he is done”

Also says Saints have looked like a “different team” in recent weeks, and has tipped Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men to win this game 2-1.

Author David Baddiel, Lawro’s celeb opponent this weekend, has gone for a 2-2 draw.

Charlie Nicholas: Over at Sky, Charlie Nicholas got his prediction absolutely spot on last week, correctly tipping the Gunners to run out 3-1 winners.

Nicholas says he’s “amazed Pellegrini is still there” at West Ham and reckons Saints will edge this clash 2-1. [Read more…]

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