1 year ago
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Goodness me, the state of that Leicester away kit.
Half-time email: “I don’t disagree that Rodgers deserved the sack,” says Alexandra Ashton, “but to me it seems harsh. I was under the impression those results in 2020 and 2021 (especially the FA Cup) would have given him more credit in the bank ... I was expecting the sack if Leicester went down. As you said, the key aspect now is to find the right manager: I don’t think they’ll get ;interim manager bounce’ for these last 10 matches if they elevate someone from within, but who in their right mind would be open to take a precarious job this late in the season?”
Football is harsh, I guess, and if things are falling apart, having won the Cup a couple of years ago isn’t going to help, brilliant though that achievement was. When it goes, it’s hard to get back, and given what we know about the game, Rodgers did well to get as long as he got.
Elsewhere, catch up with a huge game in the WSL, which has just finished. After Man City blew the title race open last week, beating Chelsea, they’ve lost to Arsenal this. Arsenal go second, three off leaders Man United with a game in hand, but if Chelsea win both of theirs, they’ll be top by two.
Half-time: West Ham United 1-0 Southampton
West Ham were dreadful until they scored, but they’re much the better side now. Southampton have no edge whatsoever.
45+3 min Walker-Peters is down, but I think he’ll be OK.
45+2 min West Ham have played alright since they scored and here they come again, Bowen ferreting into the box, diddling Caleta-Car with a change of pace as he moves across the box, before opening his body and punching a curler against the bar! That was a terrific effort.
45+1 min We’ll have three additional minutes, and a nice move from West Ham sees Emerson sliding infield to Ings, who throws legs over the ball either because he thinks he’s offside or because he’s trying to adjust feet. Either way, the flag goes up.
45 min “Wouldn’t the semi-automated offside tech used in the WC solve your gripe with the process given its speediness and (supposed) objectivity?” asks Puneet Varier. |It feels impossible to introduce something into the law about the ‘obviousness’ of an offside since that much subjectivity would probably cause a mutiny any time an offside call was close.”
Yes, I agree on all counts. I dobut we’re far from being able to adjudge offsides with similar tech to that used to determine whether a ball is over the line, and the current system is not good.
43 min Southammton attack down the left, Elyounoussi racing away from a half-arsed Paqueta and in behind Kehrer. But when the cross is cleared by Fabianski, West Ham counter with Bowen, who touches away from Caleta-Car a split-second before he’s cut in half by a proper back-garden slide. Caleta-Car is booked.
41 min Back to Brendan, I don’t suppose Leicester had much choice – I’m actually a little surprised he made it this deep into the season because even last, it looked like he’d run out of ideas and his signings hadn’t really come off. Leicester have decent players, though, so I’d be pretty surprised were there not three sides worse than them; the question is whether they can find the right manager, and whether whoever that is is available now.
40 min If West Ham win here, they go up to 14th. That’s how tight it is at the bottom or, put another way, how many poor teams there are.
39 min Before West Ham scored, it looked like their only route to goal was via set-pieces, but since they scored, they look more threatening in open play.
38 min Kehrer is, though, influencing the game, and he dashes inside then tees up Benrahma, who curls over the bar.
36 min Benrahma is coming onto a game, and he advancers down the right then sweeps over towards Kehrer, pegging it through the middle. The ball is a decent one too, but his mate’s control is weak, under pressure from Caleta-Car, and Bazunu cleans up.
35 min “What either of these teams would give for a Nipper Lawrence,” tweets @el_villano, referencing the Blackport Rovers midfielder. I wonder how Stumpy, his dog, is getting on.
34 min West Ham are pushing for a second now, Emerson exchanging passes with Benrahma – the return is really nicely timed – and the cross is much better this time, Elyounoussi forced to sweep behind as Ings chastises himself for not moving towards the ball.
32 min Benrahma finds Emerson down the left – West Ham have a bit more energy now – but the cross is easily claimed by Bazunu.
30 min Here come Southampton, Elyounoussi picking a pass to Perraud, down the left side of the box, and he leathers a dig through the legs of Aguerd, drawing a fine, last-second reaction save from Fabianski, who hurls himself left to tip away! He’ll have seen that very late, and did really well to stand up, then push off.
29 min I’m not sure how we change things or how we draft the law to reflect this idea, but I sort of think that if an offside isn’t obvious, we should either give the benefit of the doubt to the attacking team, or go with the on-pitch call. This drawing of lines and three-minute breaks are not, in mine, football.
IT'S A GOAL!
28 min Aguerd celebrates a second time!
27 min VAR is still investigating.
25 min But was Aguerd offside? I think not, but it’s hard to see as there are bodies everywhere.
GOAL! West Ham 1-0 Southampton (Aguerd 24)
This is a fine header! Kehrer curls in and a mighty leap from Aguerd, legs waist-high like a long-jumper, allows him to redirect the ball into the far corner! My days, his team needed that!
24 min West Ham win a free-kick almost level with the centre-circle, and sling all the big men forward.
Brendan Rodgers has left Leicester!
More on that in a second.
23 min “Years ago, I used to decorate my cubicle wall with pins containing whimsical sayings,” says Joe Pearson. “One of my co-workers contributed one that said, ‘Life’s too short to dance with ugly men’. With apologies to ugly men, that’s how I feel about this match. I’ll keep up with the MBM, but I’m going for a walk instead of watching.”
Are we talking a cubicle as in a toilet, or where one sits at work? And what others did you have up? When I was a lawyer, I had the Paranoid Android postcard Radiohead sent out before the single was released, saying “When I Am King You Will Be First Against The Wall”.
22 min So far, this game is every bit as poor as we’d hoped. A Southampton goal would make things very interesting.
21 min Walcott and Armstrong are finding joy on the right, and they find a bit of space by the touchline, then Rice quickly relieves them of possession and plays into Ings, who wins a foul.
20 min The home crowd aren’t enjoying this – every time a pass goes astray, there’s a visible buzz of annoyance, and the team are getting very little vocal support.
18 min “Arsenal upgrading on Xhana won’t be easy or necessarily essential as alongside Partey and Odegaard, Xhaka is exactly what is needed,” says Adam Allaway. “Granted, Rice could be a long-term replacement player in a similar mould, but certainly not an immediate shoo-in if Xhaka stays. One does feel like Xhaka leaving would be the perfect end to his epic tale of redemption though.”
I’m sure Arteta likes Xhaka, and I agree with what you say about balance, but if you look at Arsenal’s first-choice XI, that’s the most obvious spot that can be upgraded, I think, even if finding the right players might be tricky.
17 min Lavia spreads to Walker-Peters, who drills into the box, and Walcott, on its near side, extends a leg to kills the ball, then spins and lashes a shot into the stanchion.
16 min Mara puts Fabianski under pressure as West Ham seek to play out, and Aguerd ends up shanking into touch. Southampton look the more confident, coherent side so far,
15 min Romeo Lavia has made a good start to the game, and if I had money to spend on a midfielder, I’d be looking at him very carefully. I wonder if he’s got a bit more to his game than Rice does, though he’s not as good carrying the ball.
14 min Walcott pulls right again – I wonder if it’s a ploy to get him either in behind Emerson, or one-on-one with Emerson – but his cross is easily claimed by Fabiasnki.
12 min This Southampton kit, by the way, must surely have been inspired by Danefield United and Johnny “The Hard Man” Dexter.
11 min Perraud finds Walker-Peters down the right, but Benrahma does really well to intercede.
10 min But here comes Emerson, driving down the left before crossing behind Ings as if on purpose.
9 min West Ham are unreplete with ideas, moving the ball for too slowly and predictably.
8 min Armstrong strolls away from Paqueta, who’s enjoying a nice spring stroll, and the ball goes wide to Walcott, whose cross is collected by Fabianski.
7 min Ward-Prowse looks to orchestrate from deep and Southampton find Walker-peters down the right, but the ball ends up going back to Bazunu.
6 min West Ham knock it about, Southampton pressing in what seems to be a 4-2-2-2 formation.
4 min “Agree Rice may not have the calibre/potential of Partey etc,” emails Chris Lambert, “but as an Arsenal fan, we have the relative luxury of looking at him as a student of Partey and a potential replacement for Xhaka, who it feels he’s more similar to.”
Yeah, I imagine an upgrade on Xhaka is Arsenal’s main transfer ambition for the summer, and Rice’s athleticism means he can be that, while also covering Partey.
3 min Lavia breaks up a West Ham attack and springs the counter, but Armstrong’s pass is behind Walcott.
1 min “Give Declan a season or two under Pep,” says Brian Withington, “and there’d be no-one doubting his value any more. The lad is carrying a club and especially its manager at present – can you imagine the impact of having that dead weight lifted?”
Yeah, I’d not be surprised if he makes big strides assuming he moves this summer. I think he can do really good a job covering the width of the pitch, but he needs to add the passing to complement his ball-carrying to go to the next level.
1 min And away we go!
We’re going to have a minute’s applause to remember Jaqueline Gold, – daughter of David – who sadly died on the 16th of last month.
Good news dept: Pien Meulensteen is commentating for Sky. I hate to say it because I just sound like an old bore, but it feels like the voices we hear these days lack a bit of personality relative to Motson, Bazza, Tyldesley and Brian Moore, but Meulensteen is really good.
The players are tunnelled, Southampton’s in slightly strange varsity-style jackets – an insult to tracksuits, really. Anyway, here they come!
“How can you omit Palhinha from your list of ‘better than Rice’?” wonders Richard Hirst. “Along with Haaland and Casemiro one of the three buys of the season.”
He’s been brilliant, I agree, but I don’t think he’s as good as the players I named. He’s got time to improve, though.
On Sky, they’re talking about Declan Rice, and Gary Neville says he’s good, but perhaps not as good as you’d want for however much he’ll cost this summer. I think that’s fair – I love him as a bloke “such a leader of men,” insights James Redknapp – but I’m not sure he’s one of the best around. He might develop into that, but I don’t think he’s as good as Rodri, Casemiro and Partey, the division’s best in his position, and I’m not sure he can get to their level.
As for Southampton, I imagine they’ll be looking to do something similar, given their 4-4-2 system. They won’t dominate the ball, I don’t think, but with two strikers will want to get ball in behind and into the box.
David Moyes says his side were in good form prior to the break – they thrashed the mighty Lanarca – and he thinks it’s a shame they missed their Man City game the weekend before the internationals due to FA Cup. I wonder if he actually thinks that. Anyhow, he admits that scoring goals has been a problem, so he’s pleased to have Ings, and also that Aguerd and Emerson are available, as both were doubt. He thinks it’s good if you can more points as opposed to fewer points.
My guess is West Ham look to get the ball into Ings’ feet then play off him, or go wide and get early crosses into the box. I’d not expect to see all that much playing through midfield, though who knows, perhaps today will the day that Lucas Paquetá starts asserting himself.
Danny Ings seems a nice lad – Sky have just done a piece with him – and his choice of Highgate as a place to live in London is solid. It’s not especially handy for West Ham, but he explains that players’ schedules are so full-on, they need to make sure their partners are happy with their living arrangements.
Email! “Scamacca, not even on the bench,” says Michael Allen. “Moyes must really dislike him.”
I guess we need confirmation that he’s not injured – leaving a striker off the bench when your team struggle to score seems odd – but yup, three league goals is not a great return.
Southampton, meanwhile, make two changes: Mohammed Salisu and Che Adams are both out with gahs sustained with their countries, so Duje Caleta-Car and Sekou Mara come in.
What does it all mean? West Ham welcome back Lukasz Fabianski – he’s been out with a fractured cheekbone and eye socket – with Alphonse Areola dropping to the bench.
Let's have some teams...
West Ham United (4-1-4-1): Fabianski; Kehrer, Aguerd, Zouma, Emerson; Rice; Benrahma, Soucek, Paqueta, Bowen; Ings. Subs: Areola, Cresswell, Coufal, Fornals, Antonio, Lanzini, Downes, Cornet, Ogbonna.
Southampton (4-4-2): Bazunu; Walker-Peters, Caleta-Car, Bednarek, Perraud; Elyounoussi, Ward-Prowse, Lavia, Armstrong; Mara, Walcott. Subs: McCarthy, Maitland-Niles, Lyanco, Aribo, Orsic, Onuachu, Sulemana, Alcaraz, Diallo.
Referee: Paul Tierney (Wigan)
Preamble
There’s little more affirming than someone else’s misery, and there should be plenty of that at the London Stadium today as the Premier League’s bottom two get it on. Though nothing will be settled today, because every side up to Crystal Palace in 12th are part of the fight to stay up – they have 30 points to Southampton’s 23 and West Ham’s 24 – but a defeat for either, and things will look very grim.
West Ham have absolutely no business whatsoever being as bad as they’ve been – theirs is a talented and expensive squad. But 24 goals from 26 games is an absolutely disgraceful return, and unless David Moyes can find an attacking combination that works, he’s not only struggling to keep his team in the division, but to keep his job for next season.
Southampton, meanwhile, are in all sorts. Ruben Selles could be a good manager, but he’s only in post because Nathan Jones isn’t, and his contract only runs until the end of the season. In the meantime, though, he needs to somehow generate momentum, having had any might’ve enjoyed following the 3-3 comeback draw with Spurs confiscated by the international break.
This is going to be horrible!
Kick-off: 2pm BST
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