Reflecting on football returning to the London Stadium and a comfortable win to progress to the next round of the Carabao Cup.
I’m catching up from the start of the new season, so this is from a couple of weeks ago. But I will be posting from the archives from last season as there are a few games I did not upload at the time.
A glorious day in London provided the perfect backdrop to a return of football at the London Stadium in the form of Carabao Cup 1st Round match against visiting Pompey, and a chance to see what the football will be like in the Championship.
It was a lottery to decide which of our boys would join me on this first day and it was the youngest who agreed to take the plunge and get back to our weekend football routine. Which meant me heading off with my camera to wander around the ground beforehand, then meeting the boy at the security check point with Vegan pasties in hand – I know there’re expensive, but these actually taste really good.
I had made efforts to contact the club through someone who got in touch with me about using my ‘professional’ camera at the stadium, but I’ve heard nothing back for a while now and decided to take my new 2nd hand FujiFilm X100T to the game. I was exploring the outside of the stadium to warm up a bit before going through the security.
An interesting camera that was released in late 2014 and offers some nifty features, if you can get your head around the fixed 23mm f/2 lens (35mm full-frame equivalent). It’s only 16.3 megapixels, but has a bougie Classic Chrome film simulation and looks and feels like an old compact film camera, with dials for shutter speed and plus/ minus exposure – which saves lots of time when light conditions change – but the drawback of a slower auto focus than I’m used to.
No questions asked when I went through security, the camera barely noticeable in my small shoulder bag that is handy for keys/ cards/ airpods and my camera. There were plenty of people complaining about the time it takes to get through security – honestly in this weather why do we need to get rid of water bottles? And the time it took for everyone to empty their pockets and have their bags checked and get scanned was frustrating for sure.
There was a good crowd gathering before the match, which was great to see, and despite my feelings about the stadium and the current/ past owners of our club, I felt the excitement, especially hearing the chants from within the stadium that raised the heart rate and a sense of real excitement as I wandered around the bustling concourse.
The display of club crests on the exterior wall was a welcomed change, the club have asked fans for their ideas about a new crest, which I think is one of those little things that can really make a difference to how fans feel about the club. I’m very much like the one from 1999 to 2015.
Here is the one from the 50s, and then one from the 20s to 50s, as well as the first ever crest when the club was called Thames Iron Works FC. It was great to be reminded of the different designs that have been used, and reused, over the clubs history.
Going into the ground felt familiar, as if it was only a week or so before the previous match, and I was looking forward to seeing who would be in their seats around me to watch the game. Plenty of our friends had renewed their season tickets and also come to the cup game. A few absences but this is not unusual for cup matches, as oftentimes people are away.
Seeing the inside of the ground open up as we walked the steps onto the stands with the busy prematch activities of both teams on the pitch and the stands filling up brought a sense of relief in some ways. At last, we are here and there is football to watch and a game to win to set us up for the new season.
The team selection was interesting and good to see some of the academy players being given their chance to impress in what honestly felt like a pre season friendly at times. Alvarez was an interesting choice, but rumour has it he has impressed in training with his application and attitude and considering he hasn’t had a pre season with the team, he did well. There are some players who frustrated last season, but for whom the Championship will be a shoe in for them – Kilman, Ward-Prowse, Pablo and even Walker Peters, but seeing the likes of Orford, Kante and Scarles gives us a look into the future.
I wasn’t expecting hydration breaks to be honest, and both were rightly booed in the first and second half. The first half was a tough watch as we conceded the visitors too much time and space with the ball and invited pressure. It felt like we were watching West Ham from the previous season, despite the introduction of a few younger players.
It was no surprise that we went 0-1 down from Adrian Segečić strike that flew into the top corner from a deflection off Killman. Everyone thought ‘Here we go again’ and there had been nothing to show us what was going to happen in the next couple of minutes.
Both Valentín Castellanos and Jarrod Bowen managed to step up and score within two minutes to put us in front just before the half time whilst. That came from nowhere, the team woke up and started to press, use the width and move the ball around and it shows what can be done when you start whipping the ball into the area and pulling defenders. Kante’s cross into the box was excellent and Bowen worked his magic with an excellent strike from just outside the box.
Coming out for the second half and the team picked up from where they left off, higher intensity and pressing to grab another goal. I had thought that we should have started the game with the 11 players who were going to run out on the pitch against Burnley and race ahead and then make the changes, but we managed to get another goal to seal the victory.
Bowen races down the right, crosses into the box and Taty heads home and it’s game over. Funny how whipping balls in from the wings can get us goals, eh? Something we will need to be doing in the league for sure and I predict that both Bowen and Taty will be putting the goals into the net this season.
The second half really broke up after that, with injury delays and another hydration break and it dealt as if football had laid a towel out and was sitting on the beach enjoying the sunshine!
We could have easily made it four or five goals, but with some subs coming on, and the broken up play, the match lost it’s rhythm and was over as a competition way before the final whistle.
The final whistle brought cheers from those who had remained and although the win felt like a good start, with the visitors struggling by the end, there was plenty of questions to answer regarding the gaffers first choice 11. That would depend on who we sign between now and the start of the Championship season proper, with the usual noises coming out from the club about potential targets.
Me and my brother wandered around the outside of the ground, taking the time to catch up with each other and my youngest had skipped off home. It was quite warm, and the water fountains had been well used, cups taken so unless you had a water bottle, you couldn’t get a drink other than to put your mouth under the taps.
I had some time to take a few more shots of the fans post match. I had no idea what my photos would be like, I had taken way less than normal but as the back screen is not so easy to see, I was hoping for some nice photos of the post match atmosphere.
Reflecting on the match, there were positives to take from it for sure. The goals and how the team reacted to going a goal down, performances from Bowen, Taty and Mavropanos who will be key players for us. Hermansen didn’t really have much to do. Kilman, Peters, Alvarez – who is like having a new signing and Pablo who should do well in the Championship. Plus the run outs for Scarles and Orford.
The negatives were how we just sat back for so long, although admittedly in a cup game it can get a bit cagey as no one wants to go behind. There was a lot of what we have seen from the previous seasons – same old West Ham as it were – sideways and back passing, no desire to get forward or use the width of the pitch and a lack of composure up front and having a go to challenge the keeper and pull defences apart, but I think once the season starts we will see a totally different attitude and intensity for sure.
A satisfying afternoon and the feeling that we will jump back up to be in the Premier League for the following season. As they say, a week is a long time in football, so anything can happen between now and our first match against Burnley on Saturday.
It’s great to be back with my camera and hopefully I can keep taking photos of this season’s home games without getting banned!
Stay safe everyone
Dawud
From the Stands 