The Hammers Suffer Another Thrashing at London Stadium to Premier League Leaders Liverpool
I hope everyone is safe and well.
Apologies for missing the Brighton match, I couldn’t recover from my flu and wanted to be well enough for me and my wife to go away to celebrate our anniversary. I listened to the match at home instead and took to bed early so we could drop the boys to their cousins house the following day whilst we went to Tunbridge Wells for a couple of days.
It’s been a tough end to work before the festive break and we finally managed to cross the T’s and dot the I’s on an exciting project to support adults with learning difficulties and disabilities to access leisure centres. We will also be delivering some staff training to make sure staff are able to make reasonable adjustments, communicate with and support some new members as we run a range of exciting sessions across the boroughs’ leisure centres.
It feels like all of our planning over the last year and a half has finally meant we can use the voice of those who we support to help shape the way leisure centres adapt their facilities and staffing to encourage people with learning difficulties and disabilities to become more active. Bu also we hope the project will mean people with learning difficulties and disabilities will have a say in what they want to do, where they want to do it and with whom and how they want to be supported. We will be employing someone to run the project across the borough and we are very excited about what we can achieve in the coming 18 months.
We have had the right team around us, people with the right skills and experience but crucially focused on the success of the project and this has helped us through the difficult negotiations with commissioners but also to hold our nerve when it looked as if the project would fail at the first hurdle, as we faced various difficulties in meandering through the various hoops and diversions towards finally getting the contract agreed and signed and the funding in place to start.
Turning my attention towards West Ham Utd, the right team is clearly not in place, and this goes right to the top of the club’s hierarchy. The manager, I believe, is not the right person to turn this around and no new manager will whilst the club is run as it is now. Yes, some of the players have to have a long hard look at themselves, but there are some who are not up for the fight and not the right fit for the team. If J-Lo is sacked, and I think he will, Potter – who seems to be waiting in the wings – may be able to get the team player better together, but our future is still anchored down by owners who will continue to hold us back as a club.
I was actually looking forward to the match, I always do, as my brother was unable to attend I managed to bring both of my younger boys to the game which is a treat.
We left home early because I wanted to meet up with the wonderful team at Hammers Utd as they handed out black balloons before the match. I had a chance to chat with Andy Payne about where we are at regarding the club restoring the concessionary rates for young and older fans alike. Andy said they had had a ‘productive’ meeting with the club, who he felt had listened to their arguments carefully, backed by 20k plus signed petition, and he said there will be an announcement from the club in the New Year. I sensed Andy was hopeful of some good news, but he wasn’t able to share any details as yet.
We made our way down towards the stadium. I was extra excited as well because I was using my new Canon EOS 7D Mark II with my nifty 50mm lens. A wonderful fan Greg, who sits in the row in front of me, sold it to me before Christmas and this was the first time I’d really taken it for a spin. My wife bought it for me for an anniversary present and I’d been desperate to really see what it can do.
As I’ve said before, the nifty 50 lens takes some getting used to as you are unable to zoom in or out of a subject – you have to actually get closer or further away, so the scene is ‘cropped’ and this throws up some wonderful compositions of you get it right.
Considering how early we were for the game it was very busy and lots of fans were taking time to arrive earlier to enjoy a drink and a chat with friends and family and have their photos taken. The Canon EOS 7D has a more powerful sensor than my old EOS 800D, so even in low light for the night games, I was able to get much better detail on my shots than ever before.
We went into the stadium a little earlier too as I wanted to settle and take a few test shots before the game started to check I had the right settings for the match on the 7D. We settled into our seats and watched the crowd spill into the stands before the match as the teams were warming up on the pitch.
Bubbles was making his rounds and having photos with the fans in the front rows.
This couple were part of a larger group who are Liverpool fans. They didn’t jump up or celebrate the goals, but they did spend the match filming the Liverpool players and crowd. This row of seats are usually taken by away fans, how do they get the tickets? Me and other fans were not happy and I noticed there were away fans in other seats in near where we were sitting. We had this when we first moved to the bowl, and had thought this had been resolved, but it seems increasingly away fans are getting tickets in the home sections of the stands. It’s not acceptable.
The atmosphere was good and I sensed hope and an expectation that we would give Liverpool a good game.
The pyrotechnic show of flashing lights and flames got the crowd roused and after missing the previous match, I couldn’t wait to see the team on the pitch and ready for action.
Before that, we gave Ludo and huge round of applause as he made his way onto the pitch to greet the fans singing ‘Oh big boy, what’s your name? My name is Ludo Miklosko, I come from near Moscow, I play in goal for West Ham!’ It was an emotional moment given that Ludo has been fighting cancer since when he was first diagnosed after discovering a lump on his hip 3 years ago. Ludo has decided not to follow chemotherapy treatment after finding more lumps because he says he wants to live a normal life.
Ludo made almost 400 appearances for the Hammers in goal and helped us achieve promotion in 1991 and 1993 as well as appearing in both our FA Cup and League Cup semi finals. A legend at the club, Ludo is currently sporting director at Banik Ostrava and has said that he wants to stay busy an active for as long as he can. We wish him all the very best and thank Ludo for his time at the club.
Th black balloons made an appearance just before and at the start of the match against Liverpool, this time there were hundreds of balloons billowing above our heads and trying to make it onto the pitch, but stewards did their best to stop them. It was a timely reminder of the strong feeling from the fans about the clubs change in policy on the concessionary rates for match day tickets.
The match started and I actually thought we were competitive for the first 30mins of the game. Of course, the visitors were pressing, but I felt the centre back duo of Kilman and Mavropanos was working well to soak up the pressure, albeit at bit desperate at times. I was feeling that we could manage a draw or at least not get thrashed.
But then up steps Diaz to put away the easiest of goals on 30mins. Argh! Once Gakpo had made it 0-2 on 40mins it was clear we were going to struggle. Salah added a third just before half time and it felt that we were lucky to only be 0-3 down!
We had our moments and defensively we seemed to be throwing ourselves into making sure Liverpool didn’t score, but all that fell apart quite quickly once we were approaching half time.
Bowen was getting a lot of attention from the visitors and despite his hard work, we had very little to offer up front.
Kudus was a dim light of hope for us in the first half, with his strong, mazing runs and attempts to get us going forward and was unlucky not to score as he saw his shot rebound off Alisson Becker’s post.
The atmosphere had changed considerably by half time and boos rang around the stadium as the teams left the pitch and many fans had already taken their leave to the bar.
We were talking about the thrashing we got from Arsenal last season and how we sat through that until the bitter end, this was not what I had thought it would be like. I was reminiscing about Boxing Day fixtures at the Boleyn Ground, the atmosphere was always good, as far as I remember, and it was a great way to blow off some festive cheer with chants whilst watching the team battle it out on the pitch. This seemed as far away from that as you could get.
Fullkrug and Todibo came on for Alvarez and Coufal for the start of the second half, and I felt that was a positive move by the manager. Let’s see what Fullkrug could do for us.
But he is not going to achieve anything the way we are playing. Why are we unable to utilise strikers at West Ham? He was often isolated, without service and struggling to get into the game. I can’t see him staying at the club sadly.
Mac Allister’s tackle on Bowen was enough to force a substitution as he left the field, feeling all the attention he had been getting from the visitors, to make way for Summerville. Bowen had apparently suffered a fracture to a bone in his foot and he tried to continue, but needed to be substituted. It looks likely he will remain out of the squad for quite some time. Another blow that we do not need in the tough games we have coming up, but we all wish Bowen a speedy recovery.
I actually thought Summerville was our greatest threat in the second half, he is lively, holds the ball well, is strong and has a desire to go forwards and make things happen. I may be biased but I felt we should have had a penalty, but the ref was not going to let the home side spoil Liverpool’s party as he seemed to wave on many of the fouls the visitors committed on our players.
Time and again Summerville found himself on the ball and trying to create a threat to at least show some desire to play competitive football in front of the home crowd.
Both Kudus and Summerville were my shout outs for MOTM, if anyone deserved it after the performance we gave.
Many fans had seen enough even before Diogo Jota had made it 0-5 on 84 minutes and there were plenty of empty seats at the final whistle.
We left straight away and made our way out the stadium onto the concourse. The boys wanted to go home straight away. It had been a tough evening for all of us and we just wanted to get home in the warmth and grab some snacks and watch a film or something.
I wanted to try and push the new camera to see what I can do and switched to the nifty 50 lens after the game and started snapping away. It’s been a while since I’ve really used this lens and I’m finally getting the hang of it again. I’m so impressed with how well this Canon 7D Mark II is performing in low light, and I think I’ve captured some great shots. The feature that really impresses me about this camera is how it adjusts exposure when you are shooting in florescent light. Before my images would either go much darker or have an yellowy tint, meaning I needed to do more in the editing process. But with this camera, that doesn’t happen and it has reduced my editing time a lot.
So, as far as we know Julen’s position as manager is safe for now, although under enormous pressure. He has a huge backroom staff and paying everyone off is going to be ‘expensive’ for Sullivan and Co. Honestly, it’s ridiculous that what’s surely the most important job at the club is managed so poorly. Regardless of the score, we just need to see the performances under our new manager to know he is not going to turn this around. Appointing someone now would give them time to assess the team and have a plan for what to do in January. Getting Potter in on a 6 months contract shows you how little the owners ambition is for this club. Onward and upwards COYIs
Well, I pray everyone has had a peaceful Christmas and wish you all a very Happy New Year!
Thank you all for your support, positive comments and feedback on my posts in 2024. I do always hope you enjoy my posts and photos as much as I enjoy taking them and posting on here.
Let’s hope we get to have something to cheer about!
Take care everyone.
Dawud
From the Stands 