Dawud reflects on Hammers first home win of the season to seal three much needed points
Hope everyone is safe and well.
I missed the Brentford match as we went away to Anatalya in Turkey for a much needed week’s holiday with the boys. Me and my wife have had a very stressful few weeks at work and we were so looking forward to getting away to have some quality family time.
During our week away I took one of the boys paragliding off the side of a mountain in Alanya. It was an early start for us both, greeting our taxi driver at 7.15am and then a 4 and half hour drive there, picking up several other people who were joining us for the experience.
Then we had another 15mins drive up the mountain to where we were going to meet our pilots for the glide down to the beach below. This kind of experience is a huge leap of faith, and as I was looking at the pilots unfolding their parachutes and checking their different coloured cables and adjusting their harnesses ready for the flight, my mind kept thinking of everything that could go wrong.
The hardest part I believe is once you’re strapped up and attached to the pilot and parachute, you have to literally walk and run off the mountain and then you’re in the hands of your pilot. My guy had to make his safety checks beforehand and I just had to trust him throughout the flight back down to the sandy landing below.
It’s quite an experience to see the world from so high up, the buildings and traffic and people below going about their business oblivious to you watching from above. Weather conditions play a huge part in the experience and it was a clear sky, hardly any wind and a very comfortable 25 degrees temperature. Perfect conditions and my pilot, who had been doing this for over 15 years, insisted on staying up high for some extra time as he said he loves flying so much. No protest from me, I was loving it!
The landing was just right, we came gliding gently in and I was able to just walk on the sand with my pilot behind me gathering the parachute as we finally stood on the sand. It’s quite an emotional experience and however much I enjoyed the flight, I was glad to be back on the ground.
Following the Hammers is a huge leap of faith too, once you’ve jumped off that mountain of doubt, you can then soak up the atmosphere of being part of the West Ham family faithful and there are times when we just enjoy the ride. We had that during our European adventures with exhilarating football under the lights in the bowl securing some of the most amazing results on our way to winning the Europa Conference League Trophy in 2023.
But, plenty of things can, and do, go wrong. Just like the pilot preparing his parachute for our flight, cables can become twisted or frayed weather conditions may change suddenly and something may happen that throws the flight off path. At West Ham we have seen plenty of things go wrong, although most of it relates to the incompetence of our owners, we have seen several mangers come and go, players who are just not up to the task, lacking in quality or just a mismatch for the team. Plus all the issues with the stadium and the fractured relationship between the fans and the board. It’s a leap of faith that has been surely tested to it’s limit.
When you’re strapped to your pilot and about the leap off the mountain, you have to trust them. But for us Hammers, there is no trust between us and the board. We cannot trust them to pilot the club in the right direction, nor resolve the issues we have as a club that has left us deep in a relegation battle and we haven’t even settled back into our seats for the new season!
But how quickly things can change in football.
I actually had us down to lose this match, I could not see how we were going to win with a group of players that Nuno just hasn’t been able to get to play together as a team. I felt a bit more hopeful seeing the first team squad selection for this match, but with the visitors not being able to win away since April, it was inevitable we would lose this one.
I left home early again wanting to get to the stadium early and see if anything was happening of interest. There had been a call out for fans to stay behind after the match in protest and was hoping to see if anything was happening before the match.
I didn’t get the time to walk round to the Stratford side of the stadium where there are usually Hammers United stalls but found Marlon Harewood handing out replacement t’s for those fans who wanted to swap an old shirt for this season’s shirt. I’m actually going to keep hold of my old shirts, I’m not known for getting rid of anything – however worn it may be!
I made my way round to the turnstile to meet my brother and son and then go into the stadium.
We grabbed our coffees and crisps and walked through to the stands, a group of fans still queuing for their coffees.
The atmosphere was much better than it has been, and perhaps there was hope we could finally get that much needed win.
After Bowen had hit the woodwork early on after some good passing and movement by the home side, the visitors grabbed an early goal, showing the weakness in our midfield, but the players did not drop their heads. Within just a few minutes we had penalty shout and chance to equalise. But after quite a delay ref Robert Jones checked the pitch side monitor, it was ruled out as Malick Thiaw had got a touch on the ball just before contact with Bowen in the area. But the team were rallying and applying pressure to get back into the match.
As a whole I was very impressed with the performance across the field, Fernandes working well in midfield. Potts having an excellent match, deservedly receiving approval from the fans and receiving the honour of player of the match, despite his first goal being ruled out for offside. This is more like it, a young player like Potts deserves the plaudits for his performance and surely he has secured a starting place against Burnley this weekend.
We finally grabbed an equaliser with the excellent Paqueta firing the ball home from outside of the visitors penalty area. You could argue that Pope should have done better, but it was a well worked goal and was just reward for how the team had been working their way back into the game.
A shout out for Areola who made several key saves and was assured in goal, with Nuno switching to a back four, Wilson upfront and the impressive Fernandes and Potts in midfield. The work the gaffer has been doing on the training ground was finally offering rewards and the team were growing I confidence as the game progressed. The visitors had nothing to offer in reply, bar a few shots, but they were short of attacking threat.
With a handful of black balloons making an appearance during the game, there were still many anxious moments for us, we just hoped we could get something from the game and as the first half drew to a close, we got a much needed goal to put us 2-1 just before half time.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka, excellent down the right, fired in a cross that defender Sven Botman managed to turn into his own net.
The crowd were in excellent form and starting singing ‘How s**t must you be, we’re winning at home!” The team were quite rightly cheered off the pitch at the end of the first half.
Soucek was introduced on 61st minute, with Callum Wilson making way and what an excellent decision it proved to be. Tomas is definitely a player who can be used a a super sub, he can score goals and with his height and presence, he can change the dynamic of the game. And he certainly did.
We had to wait until the final moments of the game for Soucek to seal the win with an excellent follow up from Bowen’s attempt on goal that was denied by Pope. He had the presence to race forward and be in the right place at the right time to poke his shot beyond the scrambling keepers hands.
The atmosphere was electric as we could sense the win, with the fans in the stands feeding off the battling performance of the team on the pitch.
And there was relief as the final whistle blew and we had been treated to a team transformed with hope that our season can finally get started.
Fans started to leave their seats and in the end there were only a handful of those if us who remained to protest against the board, with some banners saying ‘Sold Our Soul 15 years of destroying West Ham Utd’ I had really hoped more fans would have stayed behind after what was an excellent performance and really give their voices to protest about how the club is being run.
Hammers News has some information regarding the fans protests so far.
And Hammers United have detailed information about the planned Claret and Blue Army March before the Burnley game.
We finally made our way reflecting on the hope that the team had given us for next weekend and sending us all home with that glow of having watched an excellent performance and a well deserved victory.
Outside the stadium was quiet and empty, with just a few fans mingling around and the sun setting reflecting in the stadium shop window.
It was great to be back watching the football and to be taking my photos recording the game and the atmosphere.
Let’s hope we have more of the same this weekend as we welcome one of my favourite players to have worn the claret and blue Scott Parker.
Take care everyone
Dawud
From the Stands 