Dawud Marsh’s end of season review filled with highs and lows and much in-between.
My two youngest boys are finally getting into football big time. They both want me to share my knowledge of goalkeeping but they also want to play as much football as they can. We have a small sports cage near where we live with a set of goals either end and markings for a pitch. My youngest is always asking for a kick about after school and work. Keeping me young for sure, but it’s nice to be able to spend such time with the boys whilst I can. Soon they will be grown up and off doing their own thing with me reminiscing about times passed.
By the time we played Crystal Palace at home, we had already lost to Manchester United away and were set to go on a run of 7 straight Premier League defeats that were to define our season. Somehow we believed that Crystal Palace and Leicester at home would be winnable games before the International break for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar and we could look forward to Premier League restarting at the end of December.
But that was not to be. 2 defeats left us eager for the break in the hope we could regroup and get back on track. But we had already qualified for the round of 16 in the Europa Conference League after sinking FCSB away on 3rd November. With the punishing schedule of matches continuing with Palace at home on 6th, Blackburn Rovers at home in the League Cup on 9th and finally Leicester at home on 12th, we literally scrambled over the line with just the Europa Conference League keeping us in any way hopefully our season wasn’t going to completely collapse.
I try to be invisible when taking photos of the crowd before and after the games. I often hold my camera waist high and wander around, pointing and shooting as I go. But there are times when you can hold your camera up and capture people doing something that would make a great shot. The Champions statue draws many fans and is always a good opportunity for taking a nice photo.
Despite the weather the crowd were in good voice and confident of another home win.
The result against Palace was the first time we had dropped points at home since August and despite taking the lead through Benrahma’s powerful strike from outside the box to mark his 100th appearance for the Hammers, Wilfred Zaha pulled one back for the visitors against the run of play. It was the last minute of extra time where Michael Olise grabbed the points after Antonio wasted an opportunity for a good cross into the box – moments later Olise scored at the other end. If only Antonio had taken the ball to the corner or at least not given the ball away so cheaply.
I can’t get enough from the stadium itself when it comes to taking photos. Keeping my eye out for an interesting shot often results in these kinds of photos. The image here is divided in half by the stadium and the clearing sky with a plane flying overhead. The action is on the pitch but your eye draws up.
The wet weather gives unexpected opportunities at the stadium with the rain soaked pavement reflecting the scene around the ground. The sky had cleared and its brightness offered strong contrast in the shadows on the ground.
This is one of my absolute favourite shots from this season. This young fan is captured turning with the ball at her feet, you get a sense there is some of her friends beyond the shot waiting to see what she does next with the ball and herself checking behind to see what her options are. Don’t often get great shots like this and her hair and stance enhances this shot.
Next up was Blackburn Rovers in the EFL Cup where we get dumped out on penalties. Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs and Leeds all went out in this round as well but we honestly thought we could do this. I knew, like many of us, that if it went to penalties we would lose. And so it was. Ugh!
There was a great party atmosphere before the match – cup games under the lights have been a rich reward for us so far this season at the London Stadium in the Europa Conference League, so could we manage to take that good form to progress into the next round?
These shots with little light to work with are not easy, especially with my limited kit, but with a swivel touch screen I can hold the camera above my head and hope to grab some useable shots. Needed some heavy editing to get this looking right though. This guy had the crowd in the palm of his hand as he danced away before the match. There’s just enough light on him and his face to make this shot work.
The expectation of the crowd was palpable as the teams came onto the pitch for the start of the match. Both managers changed their entire starting 11 from previous matches and it has been a difficult schedule for the Hammers throughout October and into November.
Blackburn had taken the lead within 6mins through Jack Vale only for Fornals to equalise before the break. We have never won this competition and seemed set to make it through to the last 16 after Antonio’s low shot in the 78th minute gave us the lead. Hearts were broken when Ben Brereton Diaz equalised with just 2 mins of normal time to take the tie to penalties.
We had chances to win this, but it wasn’t to be and left us deflated as we went into our last home game against Leicester City before the International break.
If Carlsberg did penalty shoot outs, they would be like this with 19 penalties taken before Ogbonna missed to send the Rovers through to the next round.
My next home game was our wonderful win against Everton, with ex-Hammer Frank Lampard returning as the visitors manager with the match entitled ‘El Sackio’ given the pressure both Lampard and Moyes were under due to the run of poor results from both teams. “My understanding was the board will still support me no matter what, that takes a lot of doing and a big thank you to them,” Moyes said of the speculation surrounding his future at the club.
It was a crucial home victory, our first since the end of October after 6 defeats, a draw and being dumped out of the EFL Cup by Championship side Blackburn Rovers. We needed to get our tails away from the drop zone but this win also had the added pleasure of seeing Lampard on the losing side.
I know the stadium divides opinions but for me it is a great venue for photography. I do miss the walk down Green Street with the stalls, the vibe as you wander out of the crowded Upton Park stadium and make your way to the Boleyn. Gary Firminger selling OLAS was a highlight and I always stopped and chatted to him before entering the ground. But visually the London Stadium is quite stunning at times.
It’s a different vibe now but I think the club could do well to bring those stalls back especially to fill the wide areas around the ground. But now we get to see the young fans making use of the space for their own training sessions.
The match was also a farewell to David Gold, who passed away on 4th January, a local lad who also played football him and a life long Hammers fan. Bowen, who had not scored in 12 games bagged himself a brace to sink the Blues, without a win in 3 months, leaving Everton 19th in the table but only 3 points behind the Hammers in 15th.
Love trying to capture fans elation when we score and it gets a bit tricky to watch the match and the crowd and try and find a shot that will tell the story.
Rice managed to miss a glorious opportunity to score himself but just failed to hit the target after an excellent run seeing his shot roll just shy of the goal.
A full stadium happy to be back to winning ways this last picture of the young fan isolated against ‘fortunes always hiding’ sums up the mood perfectly.
Two hard earned draws followed that left us desperately close to the drop zone and it was for Emerson to score against his former club, assisted by Bowen that earned us a point at home to Chelsea. Another manager under pressure, Graham Potter fielded a new look £200m front line, but could not manage a win continuing a bad run of results for Chelsea.
With two Chelsea goals ruled off side and an excellent save from Fabianski, this was surely a hard won point for the Hammers but felt like a win.
Memories of David Gold remained with flowers around the Champions Statue drawing fans to read the notes and messages left there.
Chelsea had two disallowed goals early in the game, and Kai Havertz thought he had extended their lead only to have his goal cancelled for another off side. VAR it seems was working its magic for us in this match but not sure how these decisions balance out across the season. It does often seem as if players cannot celebrate their goals until they know the result of VAR!
Fabianski for me is still a top goal keeper with excellent shot stopping ability. This shot from Noni Madueke, taking his first start for Chelsea since his £30m arrival from PSV Eindhoven, forced this incredible save from Fabianski.
I love capturing these kinds of action shots. You need to be ready for something like this to happen, so I often have my camera close to my eye as I watch the game through the lens. Doesn’t mean I get everything though as I’ve often missed a key moment whilst focusing on something else in the match or the stands!
Emerson’s goal really had the crowd on their feet in celebration and it was nothing less than we deserved in a match where Chelsea just did not seem up for it, especially after having two goals disallowed earlier int he match.
Individual faces and raw emotions always make for a good shot and I am always looking around the crowd to see if there is something or someone who would make a great shot as part of the story of the match.
The mingle of the crowd after the match, young fans playing football with their bags and coats thrown down as goals and fans from abroad coming in the hope of meeting their favourite players add to the post match experience. I enjoy wandering around after the game with the camera ready to see if I can capture anything going on that would make a great photo. Probably why I take so many photos in the hope a few would be good to use.
Hammers fans left the game feeling hopeful, another gritty performance and what seemed like an unfair VAR decision on Soucek’s goal but we felt relieved in the final moments of the match as Soucek was judged not to have handled the ball in the area despite protests from Chelsea. Signs of a revival but fear for the seriousness of Paqueta’s injury as he had been one of the best performers for the Hammers so far this season.
From the Stands 