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Hammering Away Ep #25 - Top Six on Christmas
109 Plays1 year ago
On today's episode of the podcast, Jack and Joe discuss West Ham's 2-0 victory over Manchester United, why so many questions are asked of David Moyes, our disappointing exit from the Carabao Cup, and more!
Music by: LADI OGUN & @ANTlll
Blog: Hammering-Away.blog
Twitter/X: @Hammering_Away
Instagram/Threads: @HammeringAway_
Tiktok: @hammering.away
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Transcript
Introduction and Humor
00:00:23
Speaker
back to the Hammering Way podcast is episode number 25, the quarter century, which you would not believe the extended conversation we just had about that. But as always, me, Jack, Joe, I was gonna say the host thing again, but it's co hosted this podcast, just two people. I'm your host, Joe. Remember, I was supposed to do the intro this this week? Or was that last week? Or was that in the last episode, where we made that joke, where you were gonna do the
00:00:53
Speaker
The hosting part. I think that was the last episode where we made that joke. Dude, that was a good episode. We'll release it one day.
Throwback Episode Discussion
00:01:03
Speaker
I was thinking, I was thinking over the summer, like when stuff is like dead in like early June or actually we'll be playing in Europa League final, but I'll drop like a throwback Thursday episode and everybody can just listen to what we thought about Burnley away in November.
00:01:20
Speaker
Because that's what everybody wants to hear about in mid June. Yeah, that was a that was a game worth talking about too. I have the file somewhere. So like it will always be there. We should like raffle it off. Like, are you an exclusive? When we get 1000 followers, we can randomly select
00:01:43
Speaker
a follower who gets to listen to the episode, get them into the episode, email it
Listener Engagement and Social Media
00:01:49
Speaker
to them. It won't be random. It'll be Daniel Luker. It's rigged. Nobody else can pick a better man myself. Is he he might be our he like actually listens to the dude. Yeah. Remember we made him we made him post his Spotify raps. Yeah, we were we were above we were above
00:02:11
Speaker
the like official like hammering the official list ham like was it the the iron cast they call it the iron cast yeah ridiculous name they were trying to do the same thing as us they were trying to make a play on the fucking the nickname dude i actually i actually like that podcast like to an extent like i don't like listen every episode when but when they do like q and a's with jinge i'll like listen
00:02:37
Speaker
Like, I actually, I listen, well, I watch it on YouTube, because I can't just listen to it. I'll listen to it at work. What is the disgust in your face? Yeah, I consume West Ham content. First of all, the only West Ham content I consume is hammering away. That's not true. What other West Ham content do I consume? You're on Twitter all day. Technically, you're consuming Alan Rezeppa West Ham content. Operating the West Ham, operating the hammering away,
00:03:06
Speaker
official Twitter account operating the official Twitter account official by the way, dude, I spent $7 a month to be official that it doesn't suck dude, like it's fine because I understand your qualm because what's his face is Annoying the was the host that's not who the host is. I
00:03:32
Speaker
It's the guy with the hair and the glasses. I don't remember his name, but he that guy the I Actually, I'm gonna take that back. I don't think he's that annoying. I think he's fine I think cuz he brings that like corporate energy. That's why you don't like it Yes, I don't like it because I've only listened to the episodes with the new science Yeah, those those aren't that good and they suck they were all terrible and
00:03:59
Speaker
Because there's no sign I said they don't want to talk to this guy,
Memorable Interviews and Guest Praise
00:04:02
Speaker
man. Yeah, they do. Remember? Remember when, uh, remember who was it that did the interview with Carlton Cole? The summer. Oh, oh. Well, the Lucas Paquette that did his interview with Bazinga. Oh, forget about that. No pain. That was ridiculous. Was that Skamaka that did it with Carlton Cole?
00:04:28
Speaker
It might have been the whole Striker thing. Might have been Kornay. It's time too many game players last summer. No, it was a high profile signing. And it was Skamaka. Well, Carlton Cole actually does a lot of work for the club, though. That was like a really, really good interview. Well, Carlton Cole is like, he has like a job like in broadcasting, like
00:04:52
Speaker
Well, sort of the people, sort of the Ironcast people, they are professional. They're not on BT, bro. Like, like, Colin Cole, Colin Cole covered the conference league final. Okay, well, they could get better people for the Ironcast and they could do like... Dude, first of all, be nice to Jinge. I actually enjoy listening to him talk when it's, as long as it's about West Ham, it's fine. Like, what I was trying to say was I watched the last one.
00:05:22
Speaker
And so they did one question was like a Christmas question. And then the next question was a West End question, right? So I listened to the West End answer. And I skipped by like what his favorite Christmas Eve meal was. Like, I'm good. And I listened to him like talk about like pie at like five minutes or something like that. And skip past like his best present. And I listened to him talk about like his favorite goalie scored or something like that. I think it's fun.
00:05:49
Speaker
It was actually the Carlton Cole. Sorry, I was like looking. Yeah, you're good.
00:05:55
Speaker
It was Agarid. It was Agarid in Carlton Cole and it was a really, really good interview. But that's because Agarid is also like a very, like he, Agarid's probably like the most quote unquote, even though I hate this phrase because it's ridiculous and there are connotations to it. But Agarid is the most well spoken player in the squad, probably. Yeah, he's like super like refined. Yeah, he's just like a sharp human being. Yeah.
00:06:22
Speaker
And I guess he could be my doctor. I wouldn't ask any questions. He's just like mad reassuring. I guess kudos and Alvarez don't talk as much. Kudos in English is really good. But like Ward Prowse, they could have got something out of Ward Prowse instead of just being like, I don't know. They were too busy talking like this.
00:06:44
Speaker
as long as you work hard and you and you'll love it but that's the kind of war houses no but they said they said that to every single fucking player that they interviewed because that because dude that's that's like the the vibe that we push like that that's dude did you not see the video that just got released by like tmt sports
00:07:02
Speaker
that everybody's clowning because some guys like if you just try for the badge and everybody will love you and everybody's quoting it and they're like half the fan base like wants to check like in the dirt. Yeah. No one has given more to the badge like physically than to check and we all want them done. Yeah, so I could settle down a little bit even though it's true to my extent but like you can't play the way he did for a good two years and get away with it.
Club and Player Dynamics
00:07:27
Speaker
like Sucek and Antonio like two like number two person nongrada and they would fall into that like if you work hard and you love the badge like
00:07:39
Speaker
Because Antonio, I don't want to get into the whole Antonio thing, but like, he's just like, doesn't have a filter. He's like, people are like, man, like, I wish footballers like, they actually spoke their mind, like, to never filter. And Antonio does it once and every, he's like, if you do that one more time, like, we will find you. I'm gonna say it. Like, can you please, like, let this guy live his life? You see what he said?
00:08:04
Speaker
He said the quiet part out loud. He didn't say that, though. He didn't say exactly what I'm getting at was that the guy who hosts that podcast is a Liverpool fan. And he he said that Jurgen Klopp is laying the seeds. He's doing the groundwork to get Jared Bowen at Liverpool. And Antonio said, well, he just signed a seven year deal. And some Liverpool account tweeted that Antonio said that part. That's so funny. And everybody was like, Antonio, like,
00:08:33
Speaker
Must die. It's like no dude, like he all he's ever said was that ball would fit well another pool team, which is like So generally it's just like fine like clop agrees a hundred percent Dude clap can't get enough of him This is favorite player. That's my favorite player too during him clop. Just kidding. So my favorite Who's your favorite?
00:08:58
Speaker
I'm an LP guy, you know that. I thought that you had transitioned into Mokudu's. Honestly, dude, like the three of them, I can't get enough of any three of them. It's the best, like the best time. Like, you know, things are going well when a game ends and you're like, man, I can't wait till the next game. Yeah, that's exactly not exactly how I felt today, which is crazy because I'm I'm in dreading Arsenal. The Emirates is going to be gross.
00:09:27
Speaker
filter field so crazy I actually I actually put this in our in the preseason thing as the game you're yeah so maybe not as much now that's here well I mean also we played them in the cup you know exactly the anticipation is over thank God that happened thank God that happened because we're gonna lose this game tomorrow and he did he won't mention him by name but he
00:09:55
Speaker
is going to play very, very, very well. He's probably going to win man a match. Because I mean, that's what he does, just generally. But on the point of Kudu's bone and Paquetta, I know I've said this last week, I've never seen a West Ham team with this many different players who can go and win you a game. And because that's what I wanted to say was like, we are we're sixth in the league on Christmas. Like, nobody can move in front of us. Like, we've played the same amount of games as Newcastle and everything.
00:10:25
Speaker
We're six in the league. We're on pace for 60 points. And this is how we're doing it because we used to control games better. And I say that we were in the driver's seat for 90 minutes. I mean, maybe United had a 10 minute stretch here or there, but we were in the driver's seat for 90 minutes. So even when they had the ball,
00:10:47
Speaker
They never really looked like scoring unless Kudus was playing them in on goal. We gave the ball away twice. Kudus gave it away once, ridiculously. And Paquetta also gave it away once, pretty bad. Mavic Thanos made that mistake. But then Paquetta got back and blocked across. So that's what we do. But yeah, the intensity that this team plays with, especially, I mean, really up and down, because it's what we were built on in 21, 22, all those years.
00:11:17
Speaker
was the intensity that we can press with or defend with, and the intensity that we can break with. And I don't think I've ever seen a team with two wingers, if you want to call a picket to that, with two wingers who play as intensely up and down their flank as those two do. And this is what I was telling you about earlier. I told Joe before the podcast that I had some stats that were going to blow his mind. And here is one
Player Performance and Rankings
00:11:43
Speaker
of them. Mohammad Kudus, this season,
00:11:47
Speaker
versus all attackers in the Premier League are all like wingers attacking the fielders is first 99th percentile headed shoulders above the rest. Number one in tackles per 90 minutes and tackles one per 90 minutes. He's in the 97th and 93rd percentile and tackles one in the mid third and the attacking third. He is in the 97th percentile of dribblers tackled at 63.6%.
00:12:14
Speaker
He's in the 93rd percentile of challenges lost 90. He doesn't lose challenges. He is number one, head and shoulders of the rest, 99th percentile of ball recoveries. He's recovering the ball eight and a half times per 90 minutes. Get the fuck out of here. And he is averaging 3.1 tackles and interceptions per 90 minutes, which is good enough for the 93rd percentile. Do you know who number one,
00:12:41
Speaker
among all attacking the fielders and wingers for tackles and interceptions per 90 years. I'm going to say you spoiled it over tax, but it's Paquetta. Yeah, it's Lucas Paquetta. Oh my god. Dude, yeah, the work that these two are doing up and down that flank is insane.
00:13:04
Speaker
Like, and this has gone under the radar, like, not that under the radar, because I think every watch is kudos and you see him, like, because he always does it. He just runs back and he just decides that ball is mine now. And Paquetta, you know, just continually puts him where if you're a team, but.
00:13:20
Speaker
I think it's understated how just the intensity that we play with is the reason why we are in the top six going into Christmas. It's similar to how Newcastle were good last year. It's not as high tempo, but it's like how Newcastle were good last year, how we were good, 2021, 2022. When you have 11 guys playing at that speed and that type of intensity and that desire to use that word, you're not going to lose that many games.
00:13:48
Speaker
And those numbers, like 100% are supported by the eye test. Yeah. He's constantly recovering the ball, obviously. And, and whenever he's like in a duel, like whenever he's like tracking back and like, you know, making a tackle, it's like, I feel so sure. And I'm like, okay. He wins this every time. He never loses the ball. And it's crazy with kudos, especially when I do the, the sofa square tweets.
00:14:14
Speaker
And I'm like, wow, he played really well today. You can't wait to see how many dribbles he had or chances created. And every single time he won like five tackles in like 14 round rules. I'm like, this guy is insane. He's so physically imposing. And I don't even think as active. Yes. And as someone who was like a appreciator of him from afar since last year,
00:14:37
Speaker
I didn't even, I didn't know that he was going to bring that. And I don't even think I X fans do that. Like his first game for us, we talked a little bit about this last week, his first game for us against Manchester city. When he was first like extended cameo, he really didn't track back at all. Like it was like, I remember being pretty annoyed by it.
00:14:57
Speaker
because he came on the pitch and you're like, and he did okay, but he didn't really work back. I don't know. It's probably half of it is like, obviously he has the wherewithal to do it and he's a professional athlete. Like he wants to get the ball. He wants to win, but credit has to go to Moyes and credit does not go to Moyes enough. Moyes has bled him in perfectly. There's not a single thing that you can complain about with how Moyes handled kudos at this point. Absolutely not. You know, we,
00:15:26
Speaker
He came in slowly and that was down to the fact that we were winning games without him. We were writing that form. The form went out. He came in. He was the perfect injection of everything we could have ever possibly... That we were missing. For years that we were missing. Yeah, for years. That we've been missing somebody with that kind of
00:15:49
Speaker
Just everything he has is something that we've lacked so much for so long. I mean, the goal threat, the pace, the directness, the just ball striking. I mean, the goal he scored today with his right foot zipped across the turf or grass, I should say. Absolutely insane. And he had
00:16:11
Speaker
You know, it was a mistake or whatever. He still had two, they had both center backs to beat. Well, that's the thing. And that's, that's what I was saying earlier about and like what I was saying last week and what I said on the lost episode.
00:16:23
Speaker
that I can't get enough of with this team is how many different ways we can beat you and how many different guys we have who can beat you and just how ruthless we are. Because, you know, Bowen, obviously we've had Bowen. He's had great seasons. But he was, you know, the only guy who was going to really punish you. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like Antonio is a great player and one of the only few guys that we can trust outside of this first 11. But he's not a ruthless type finisher. And, you know, Pudu's like,
00:16:54
Speaker
to some extent it's gonna have to come down to earth because like the way he's outperforming his ex-G is just nuts but like he's not gonna come like like he I think historically has also outperformed his ex-G I remember seeing I don't know if that's correct but when I remember it is correct whereas like somebody like Bowen is usually like right on par with it yeah so but Kudus is a great finisher like he has shown that and more
00:17:21
Speaker
But man, like just the ruthlessness of it, because look, you know, you give the ball away in a bad position. There's still a lot of work to do. And what I love about that goal the most is it backs up exactly what Pudu said in his post-match after the Wolves game. He said, when I see Lucas with the ball, I just run. My new gives that ball away. The first thing on Mo's mind is he just gives it straight to Paqueta and he just goes.
00:17:46
Speaker
And that's the exact kind of understanding that these three are building with each other, is that they understand that if he has the ball, he will find me if I make that run. Bowen has known it for a long time, and I'm happy that that first goal happened because Bowen and Mikete have done that on a million different occasions. Not a million, obviously, but they have tried that exact kind of movement before, and they've been really close. And for it to come off in a game like today is huge.
00:18:11
Speaker
But the two of them, both of those goals are really, I mean, the bow and one's at a standstill. I don't know what the hell United are doing, leaving Picata in that much space. Part of it should be down to Moyes because all three of our central midfielders are standing in the box. So you have a lot of bodies for the back line to account for. I honestly have no idea what the hell McTominay is doing or what he's thinking. Because even when Picata receives the ball, he kind of just doesn't close him down.
00:18:39
Speaker
which is ridiculous to give a player with that level of creation ability that much time. And then Bowen makes the run. You could see it coming from a mile away. Yeah. But that's what's great. These two know if we give this guy a ball, he will find me. Because what I want to say before we've seen kudos like kudos
00:19:00
Speaker
Like, if I had a pet peeve with him, it'd be sometimes I'm like, oh, just like lay it off. Like, I know that you're a great jibler and I love that he backs his ability. And honestly, I wouldn't change this about him if I could, because I would rather him back himself. But he is not afraid to, you know, take on guys at a numerical disadvantage. But he sees that that's Lucas Piquetto there. He knows if I give it to him, like, I'm going to score if I give him the ball.
00:19:26
Speaker
And the thing is about that specific thing is that he's also really good at, like, gaining an advantage out of those tight situations. Like, there was, like, no, kudos when he's at a disadvantage with the ball, like, multiple times. Today, at least I noticed that, like, you know, dribbling into corners, dribbling on the sideline with no space and like two guys in front of him, he always manages to either, like,
00:19:55
Speaker
like find space to like make a pass or like even to like even until I get a deflection and like get a throw in for us. That's like a huge win. Yeah, like he he's just so like he backs his ability so much and it's because it pays off.
00:20:13
Speaker
every single time. And that's the thing about players like him, like you're saying, is like, it's not only the goals and the assists, it's the little things he does. He gets us up the pitch, he relieves pressure, he draws fouls, he wins throw-ins.
Refereeing Decisions and Critiques
00:20:25
Speaker
The other thing is, him, Keketa, and Bowen also, I think Evans probably had multiple fouls on each of them. He should have been sent off today. Yeah. I think it's, there was the one, so we got the yellow card on Kudus, and then there was the one challenge
00:20:37
Speaker
on Paquetta in her own half that I think is a second yellow, who's like third or fourth defense after the first yellow. It's ridiculous. So it's a good thing that we won today because he should not have been on the pitch. That's all I keep is doing much anyway.
00:20:52
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't think he played well. I thought the kid played well. Yeah, I thought so too. I don't know. I don't know how to pronounce it. Yeah, I don't want to say it wrong. But he played well. I thought mine honestly had a really good game until the mistake. I shouldn't say really good, but I'm a fan of his. I think he's going to be a Manchester United player for a long time. Oh, yeah. But that's the thing is these kids have to make mistakes. I'm happy to take it against us. He's probably the best midfield there.
00:21:23
Speaker
I would not argue with you at all. Midfield is atrocious. You know, dude, Fernandez today stunk. Terrible. And he's a brat, man. I cannot stand him, dude. There's an incident in the first half. He's crying. He's crying. I really cannot stand him. He was terrible today. Rashford basically didn't touch the ball when he came on. He came on and the game was over.
00:21:51
Speaker
I don't, I, the thing about it is that I don't even think that that's his fault. Um, like I don't even hate to nod like that. I'm not one of these people who's drawing us all up to him. I think, I mean, he's largely culpable. I just like, yeah, I don't think it's time to sack him yet. If things keep going badly in like February or March, then okay, fine. But like, I just, he's shown enough. It's like, give him a few more months, see if he can turn around. But anyways, what I'm saying is.
00:22:19
Speaker
I don't understand that substitution at all. Like, Hoyland, obviously, wasn't playing well or anything like that. But to bring Rash around for Hoyland instead of one of the wingers is nonsense to me, because Garnaccio did nothing. He had two chances gifted to him, and he made the wrong decision both times or messed it up in his own way. Besides that, he did nothing. Anthony was just not a threat in the slightest. Emerson and Kufall today were great.
00:22:45
Speaker
And yeah, I just if you were going to change something, you would bring Rashard on the play on the left wing, right where he's going to see more of the ball and he's going to run at Kufo. I don't think the position he's good at, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Also he can play. Yeah. The position where he's not a literal man child out there. Yeah. You want to hear stat? Yes.
00:23:09
Speaker
Because you got a bunch of stats for me, I got a stat for you. Anthony and Garnacho completed a combined one pass to Rasmus Hoyland today. That's insane. That's ridiculous. That's exactly what I'm saying. What is the point of taking Hoyland off for Rashford in that situation? Is he not watching the game? It could be Harry Kane out there. If he gets one pass from his winger, what can he do?
00:23:38
Speaker
I mean, Kane would come below the halfway line. No, yeah. But yeah, I understand what you're saying, though. They were really bad today. They really did not take part in the game. And the announcers were saying, oh, it's a bad game of football. And I think, I guess, in hindsight, it probably wasn't nice. But I thought it was a pretty easy watch. It wasn't one of those games it's hard to watch. Because we didn't really defend deep.
Tactical Analysis and Strategy
00:24:07
Speaker
We pressed them.
00:24:09
Speaker
Um, and they would like play around our press, but they would never play through it. So they had a lot of the ball. Just like between the midfielders and the defenders kind of like passing in and out of like our guys pressing. And that was how, again, same as wolves and same as Freiburg. I thought that that was where we made that clean sheet was just by playing with intensity and not giving the guys at the back time, the bomb, making it difficult to play out. Mm-hmm.
00:24:36
Speaker
which like the pressing shape like today like so good like they really had they had no plan like they we like when when other teams I think when other teams have like 65% possession that's like our sweet spot like we like yeah I mean these kinds of games like today we just it's it's our bread and butter especially teams like United who
00:25:03
Speaker
are just bad at breaking down a little block, just bad at it. But another set I wanted to tell you because we have not talked enough about Jair Bowen. I mean, he's going to be on 11 primarily goals and 17 primarily appearances. It's not even 2024 yet. He scored 13 goals a season, which is crazy. But here's the stat. And it's not like a
00:25:31
Speaker
The guy didn't read this somewhere. I just kind of scrolled through his sofa score before we got on, because I was curious. Since he's moved to Striker, he's essentially scoring once with every 40 touches of the wall. That is crazy. Or like every 50. So basically, he touches the ball around 30 times a game. Some games it's like 40. The most he's touched the ball of Striker, I think he had 48 touches against wolves.
00:26:02
Speaker
Um, and basically he scored in every game besides the phone one and Freiburg one. I believe I'm right about that. Oh yeah. Cause Forest was the first game you played Shryker, right? Any score. Yeah. Yeah. Was that the first game you played Shryker? That was the, that was the game after Brentford. Okay. Yeah. He played, he played Shryker against Brentford. He also scored, but he was in a two up front. I'm like more referring to when he plays a lot up front. Yeah.
00:26:31
Speaker
He basically touches the ball 30 times a game. He scored in every game besides Freiburg and Fulham, which like not even really counting for him because like, what the hell? He touches the ball around 30 or 40 times a game. He scores once. Yeah, like that is like unheard of. He's he's he's on like a Erling Holland.
00:26:58
Speaker
type run right now, which is crazy. It's just like whenever. Yeah, well, because that's, that's what's impressive about it too is like, you know, and I don't think that him moving to the wing and that's where he's getting his goals. The last two primarily games should be, should ring any alarm bells. Cause the performances at Stripe are good. I think our system just like, you know, probably suits more goals, especially for that right wing spot. Um, but also like,
00:27:27
Speaker
I think that just speaks to how good he is on the right wing. Like we talked about last week, this player has improved so much from two years ago when he was already good enough for England squad. At this point, there's no argument for him not to go to Germany this summer. If he doesn't, he could, honestly, he could score four primarily goals between now and the end of the season. He should be on that plane. To show this kind of form,
00:27:55
Speaker
and how different of an option he is to their other wingers to show that this is in him. If he has a 15 Premier League goal season, even if he scores four times in like 17 appearances, probably have a few assists, he should be on the plane. He'll probably be the highest England Premier League goal scorer, even if he scores four goals for the rest of the season in the league. The tear he's on, I've never seen a player score goals at a clip like this.
00:28:26
Speaker
He's scoring every game. It's... It's unprecedented. I don't even know how to discuss it. He is akin to... He's akin to a Diaphroshaco in 2014. The only player who's done more. Scores when he wants, man. And you know who Diaphroshaco did score against that year? Unless I'm remembering it wrong. Bristol City. And guess who we play in the FA Cup? Oh man. Oh man. You're poetic justice. You're next, Bristol City.
00:28:56
Speaker
Well, they're not next. He's got another two goals in the chamber for Brighton and Arsenal. But yeah, I thought that that was crazy, that he scored with that little of the ball. Not even that it's that little, but it's difficult up there. It's getting scraps up there. It's difficult up there. He's got a tough job and he's making...
00:29:22
Speaker
He's starting to really revel in the challenge. It's funny that you say that because that's honestly what Moiz does to these strikers is he puts them up there and they hate it for a while and he's like, you don't want it? And then they just start to love the challenge of being them against the world.
00:29:42
Speaker
But speaking of Moyes, he won us that game today. I think it has to be said on here. We said it on the account too. The change he made won us that game. People are responding to that post, by the way, going like, he does it every game. No, he moves Paquetta up front.
00:29:59
Speaker
to see out games and he moves like kudus to the left and bowen to the right and he does it to see out wins to hold the ball up and to keep the ball today it was no mill he moved piqueta up there and he brought bowen out to the left he also said this in his post match if anybody wants to argue with me on it um he brought bowen out to the left he said that he didn't really like how it looked so he brought
00:30:20
Speaker
Piketto and Kudus in the middle. To me, it looked like a two striker, like 4-4-2. But he said that he brought Kudus into the 10 and Piketto up front, and he put Bowen out on the right, and he had More Prowse playing on the left, but like tucked in. Like, you remember how Blaise and Tweedy played for France in the 2018 World Cup? Yeah, he had like More Prowse like tucked in like that, and he had Bowen in the Mbappe roll. And guess who scored a goal? Mbappe. English Mbappe. English Mbappe.
00:30:51
Speaker
Moiz is on a serious, serious run of games right now. I mean, the whole season he's been amazing. I think that for him to find this system and how the system has even just started to grow in such a short period of time and he's finding this kind of fluidity with these three attackers, that's what's most impressive to me about it is the fluidity of the system. Because Moiz, we know that Moiz can
00:31:19
Speaker
get really tactical and like out coach people and like, you know, coach, like I have two right backs on for Grealish and we score three and we win. Like we've seen him do things where like he's won us games tactically. Um, I don't think I've ever seen him wayside play this fluidly. And I think, I think it, a lot of it comes down to how he feels about Lucas Paqueta.
Transfer Market Insights and Squad Rotation
00:31:42
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:31:44
Speaker
like he starts about on that left. But I mean, how often do we see him in the middle and WordPress? WordPress is the perfect compliment to just the deck. That guy is willing to run anywhere. Yeah. He's like, Moises, like almost like inspired by Paquetta to like,
00:32:00
Speaker
to be creative with how he sets the team up. It's really interesting, him with Picasso. He's never really had a player of that just sheer technical quality outside of United. You've just never seen it for an extended period of time.
00:32:18
Speaker
We've seen him in his older age with us, like actually like take steps in the modern direction. I think that the fact that we didn't keep him on the first time and then sent him away and he allegedly became obsessed with the Red Bull model. Um, I think that that was actually really, I think that was the best thing to happen for him. The best thing to happen for us was that year and a half apart. Yep. I'm sure he'll tell you the same thing. Yeah. He's I don't understand how people a.
00:32:47
Speaker
don't think he's a good coach. And they don't think he's nothing more than like somebody who can keep you up, which by the way, has already been proven wrong. It's ridiculous. And I don't know why they think it's boring. We've scored so many goals from open play. The fact that we have like a break in case of emergency, like set piece, like God, that got us through a few weeks where like, because really, if you think about it, the reason that we didn't play well from like,
00:33:17
Speaker
Forest to Bacatapala, I want to say, was the last one. I mean, obviously Follum and stuff, but those like wins where we were kind of eking him out. The reason we didn't play that well is because Piketto wasn't playing that well. It's like the hard truth, like, I mean, the burn in the game, he put in a shift and he was throwing himself around. But the hard truth about it was is that his, the quality that we know he has wasn't there. And actually, I take that back. Forest, he was great.
00:33:45
Speaker
But yeah, like sometimes you just need to score a few separate schools. You're not going to be playing free flowing football for nine months of a season where we play 60 games. But this is what it looks like when it works.
00:33:59
Speaker
Yeah, we're not Citi. We're not fucking Liverpool. We're not just going to go out there for 38 times and run riot. They don't even do that. Citi also had games where they went with a little Roger set piece header or some nonsense like that. Exactly. We're just really good men. I don't even know what to say. Moiz has had such a hard job this year.
00:34:29
Speaker
Think about it. We lost the best player in the club's history and probably the best player in the world right now. Yeah, well, it's been nice to meet you probably. And primarily history, you should say. Yeah, one of the best players in the current Premier League. The modern era. Yeah. Declan Rice.
00:34:59
Speaker
Even that should have had us at least take a year to step back. That's what I had said to you at the beginning, was if we finish 10th and give a good amount of ourselves in Europe, when it comes to losing rice, it's a transition. We're going to have to hold that. And not only have we dealt with that, we brought in these players that awesome, awesome players, like kudos.
00:35:28
Speaker
and and Lord Prowse and Alvarez. But the fit wasn't really like it wasn't just like a parent like we didn't know like how all these places were going to fit. Yes, like Bowen and kudos like our best two attackers are both right wingers and he had to like figure out how to make them both operate at an extreme at the extremely high level that they can reach.
00:35:56
Speaker
And he they're doing that. And not only is that happening for Bowen, he's having his best season ever. And Kurus came here and I don't even think anyone could even have imagined that he's doing as well as he is right now. No, both those things are true. And Ward Prowse, he came in.
00:36:18
Speaker
He had a bad spell in a position where he wasn't maybe comfortable playing. So I think Moog experimented with where he wanted to use WordPress. Yeah. He may have had an idea of where he wanted to play. He wanted to play WordPress. It didn't work out. He adjusted it. And now WordPress is playing awesome.
00:36:38
Speaker
I, I, the more I think about, I think more is more his idea for where Proust was almost like, okay, like against the big boys, like I'll play him in the 10 role where he can like press them and Harry them. And against the teams who are going to have a lot of the ball, maybe I'll bring him deeper and he can kind of like help dictate and pass and stuff. But I think he realized that that wasn't working that well. Um, he's put a little bit more trust in Sue check. I think Garrett's a huge part of what we do when we have a lot of the ball. Um,
00:37:07
Speaker
And then WordPress, and then you just bring per cut the deeper and you let WordPress make those runs and you get, you give the cut to another runner to look for. Um, but something I wanted to touch on with what you said, uh, two separate things. Actually. The first one is a quick point about Bowen, where you said he's having his best season ever. His second best season ever for us, he had 12 primarily goals. And I believe 18 goals in all competitions.
00:37:34
Speaker
He has 11 Premier League goals, and we're technically not even halfway through the season, and he has 13 in all competitions. Like the rate that he is scoring at is out of this world. Yeah, I mean, that is an individual accomplishment as much as it is like Moyes figuring it out for him with kudos. Yeah, if he scores 20 goals in a Premier League season, I don't know what I'll do with myself.
00:38:03
Speaker
I'm going to get crazy, dude. I'm going to get so crazy. A 20 goal scorer for West Ham United? That would be crazy. Especially because Kudos is going to hit double digits, too. Yeah, he's already got nine in all comps. He kind of feels like he's still hasn't really played that much. Yeah, and he's still finding things. But on Kudos, what I wanted to say was, first of all,
00:38:31
Speaker
you're completely right. When you say we kind of had a team, we were like, okay, like, how are we going to make all these pieces fit? And there's a lot of disagreement on Twitter, I should say about it early. And for Moyes to not only make the pieces fit,
00:38:47
Speaker
but to make them fit in such a seamless, like, beautiful way where you're, like, not only are you, like, making them fit, and it's, like, kind of, like, square hole, like, round peg and square hole, which people want to say that Piketto is on the left of bonus, the role that Piketto is playing is he essentially can do whatever he wants. Yeah. And he's there to help Emerson defend, because Emerson's going up and down the side, who, by the way, Emerson is having the best season of his career. He's gonna be, he's 29 right now. He's gonna be 30, probably, at the end of the season.
00:39:17
Speaker
This is a player who's been inconsistent for as long as any of us have heard of him. He's inconsistently played for Chelsea. He's been an inconsistent performer for Chelsea. He did have a good season at Lyon, but it was still not that crazy. We put three on their heads at their own place. For him to play the way that he's playing is a testament to him, and it's a testament to Moyes.
00:39:41
Speaker
I think that winning that trophy, that was kind of like ignited something with Emerson and with a few other players, too, I think with Paquetta, like that, you know, a demeanor change for a lot of these players after we won that trophy very visually, not just with how they play, but like the conference that they play with, how they act and how they feel about the club and how much effort they put in. You can see something switched. But what I was actually getting to was that
00:40:09
Speaker
The Moyes and Stuyffin stuff should be dead. It should be dead. It should never be a conversation again. They are actually so good for each other and calm at each other. And we talked about this over the summer and kind of hinted at it as the signs were being made. Was that maybe this different, these perceived differences, I should say, that they have are actually good for each other.
00:40:31
Speaker
Yeah, like I remember having and this goes for people on both sides for people on the sides inside and for people on the boy side. You're both nuts.
00:40:42
Speaker
First of all, they're professionals. They don't hate each other. Wasn't there a report that they got into a physical altercation? What the hell are we talking about? No, they didn't. No, they did not. Please do not release a male sport or whatever the hell people are reinventing.
00:41:02
Speaker
Steinberg was behind the yeah like that is ridiculous like they know how rabbit our fan base is they know that they can get clicks with nonsense like that. That did not happen i promise you that the sixty five year old man in this fifty year old man did not get into a physical altercation over james work perhaps i promise.
00:41:22
Speaker
And I do think that Saitan probably had some reservations about War Prowse. And I think that Moist probably, you know what he probably did? He probably showed him numbers and analytics that prove why War Prowse is going to help West Ham, which is what people on the Moist side think that Saitan is trying to do the Moist. Look, there are two people who have grown up in completely different ways of looking at this game, who are very good at what they do, especially when it comes to talent ID. Both of them have very long and proven track records.
00:41:52
Speaker
And them working together, Kudus is one of the best signings I've ever seen. He's easily the best, quote unquote, big money signing we've made. I mean, it depends if you want to consider Bowen that, but Bowen is like, he's like 18 rising to like 24 or something like that. Like anything that's sturdy plus. And like, and I say that with all due respect to Lucas Picasso, who's been amazing. And honestly, as a record signing, he's fulfilled all expectations, but Kudus,
00:42:21
Speaker
to hit the ground running the way he has and to be so perfect for Moi's style and to be so perfect for how we play when everybody's like, oh, this is a styling guy. And for Siden to sell him on the project. Like, come on, man. Like, let's appreciate the fact that we have two people who are able to work together and get the best out of each other with different viewpoints. That's what you want in the room, right? Like when you don't want a bunch of guys being like, oh, yeah, like,
00:42:48
Speaker
like, you know, James Zarkowski, great player, like, let's get him in. Yeah, like, he's a real hard nosed defender. No, you want to have an ongoing conversation where you can actually come to a conclusion. That is right. And you know what, that's, and the other thing about it that drives me crazy is that Stuyten wasn't even announced as our technical director. It's like, what, July 4th? Yeah.
00:43:11
Speaker
We weren't going to make a signing before he was appointed. And we sure as hell weren't going to make a signing in his first two or three weeks. They have to go through the whole process with him. And Rice didn't even officially move the arsenal until July 15th, I think, even though it was done on July 5th. Like, we were never going to spend money before Rice joined. And, you know, there was real cause for concern over the summer. Like, fair enough. But to act like
00:43:41
Speaker
These guys hated each other and that that's why things took long. No, this is a job. And this is like a really important job that they weren't just going to go, Oh, like, well, we could have gone for Alvarez earlier. Like, no, like Warren sign reported, I think it was July 4th.
00:43:58
Speaker
or somewhere around there that we were in talks to Alvarez, that you think that we actually got that deal done in 48 hours? Or do you think that we were laying the framework and the groundwork for a few weeks like we do with every other chance? Or maybe it just wasn't in the news because we have more of an infrastructure. That moise really is the reason has been built and the reason why we're not such a circus anymore in the transfer market, or as much of a circus, I should say. And Staitan's only going to help that. They can only be good for each other.
00:44:26
Speaker
And Stuyten, another thing about Stuyten, you know what? If things don't go right with Moyes, if Moyes has to leave one day, and he will have to leave one day, he's old. But like, even if things go wrong the second half of the season, and he has to go at the end of the season, we say our goodbyes, that would suck.
00:44:45
Speaker
But now you have somebody in place who can appoint a manager and can work with a manager because one of our biggest issues is that we didn't have a front office, quote unquote, guy like this to appoint a manager. We just had David Sullivan bringing in somebody who was going to do what David Sullivan wanted to do. Essentially. Yep. That's my rant on that whole thing. I don't know how long I just talked for, but that it drives me crazy that there's like, because there's still a divide.
00:45:14
Speaker
You see it like there's still a divide between the sides and stuff and the moisture. It's crazy to me. It's like these like these like this rift. It's just not it's just not reality exists. It doesn't exist in the real world. It doesn't exist because dude, and the other thing that you see is there's reports like we had the dinner or whatever the West and like the Christmas party.
00:45:38
Speaker
I'm always excited and we're seeing we're seeing laughing together. Like, yeah, they're co workers. At the Christmas party, they're gonna talk to each other. And then Claire and booze. Well, we'll name drop because fuck that guy. But Claire and booze. Um, that guy.
00:46:03
Speaker
He said that he, after the Friday break in Wolves games, he said that he thinks that Moyes is starting to listen to other people because Stuyten and Moyes were seen talking before the Wolves game and he thinks that Stuyten is somehow playing a part in this new, in his eyes, what's a new style of play and everybody else's eyes. What we've been trying to do and now the team is cohesive and the press is coming together and we're pressing as a team and these players are jelling.
00:46:26
Speaker
and we're just playing with more intensity. Like, do you think that we played with more intensity against Freiburg and Wolves because Diaton made a 60-second phone call to Moyes? Or do you think it's because Moyes gave the players, who were sick as dogs and tired and run down after a demanding fixture list, two days off after a five-mill loss? Like, oh, like, no wonder we came back rejuvenated. He gave them two days off in the middle of the busiest time of the season.
00:46:57
Speaker
No, man, it was fucking it was Hitinga. He was he was laying out the tactics for Moyes. Moyes is a puppet. Moyes is a puppet for for Hitinga and Sidon. Don't forget Nolan. Yeah, no one is managing the European games. So that's only when we play good, though. Whenever we lose, it's Moyes. Moyes gets another chance.
00:47:21
Speaker
God. Dude, don't ever mention that guy's name again. I actually got so pissed off. He's such a disgusting grifter. He is grifting, though. He's just stealing money from people, because he's the Twitter blue thing, and he's just stealing views. It's sick. It's sickening. It's a sickness. It really is, man. But yeah. I gotta say something bad about Morse.
00:47:49
Speaker
All right, say something about him. No, but just the last point is like having so he's not perfect and you can't expect the manager to be perfect I think his two biggest mistakes this year That I mean one of them I back like the rotation against Olympiacos completely fine with me but that's the reason that we lost I came and that European run ended and then the rotation against Liverpool he rotated too much and
00:48:14
Speaker
He shouldn't have done that. And while I understand that, and part of the reason, and I know that you're going to say this and you can really go in on these guys, but part of the reason is like, these squad players have been better and people will say, well, they don't play enough. I think that they do. I think that maybe like, Peraire doesn't play enough. And like, Venrama has had a hard time of it lately. But like, I think like, for now, Finales has played like 150 Premier League minutes this month. Like, come on.
00:48:44
Speaker
Listen, I don't buy into it. I don't buy into that at all. Sae Bin Rama has had 17 appearances this season. And he's done shit with all of them. He's done nothing with all of them. Yeah, Brian. Oh, Brian, the assistant Brian, the Brighton game and the Brentford game. Other than that, he's done absolutely nothing with every single opportunity he's been given this season. Finally, when?
00:49:12
Speaker
All right. All right. But I do agree with you. I do agree. And other than penalties, he's done next to nothing with starting every single game last season. He's had enough opportunities. Ben Johnson has not played a Premier League minute since Renford last season. And then today, besides today, I'm talking about the Liverpool game. He was fantastic. He was one of the best players on the field. It does not matter.
00:49:43
Speaker
It matters a little bit. But at the end of the day, it's up to the players to stay sharp and to stay ready. And playing games, it's something to be earned. It's not, oh, I need to play this guy to keep him in the loop and to keep him in form or whatever. This is not FIFA. This is real life. If you want to earn a spot on the team, Said, you need to show it.
00:50:12
Speaker
in the games that you get to play, because there are many players in the team that are not playing as often as you. And whenever you play, you are really fucking bad. Also, that goes. Clearly, something happened in training because he flipped from Ben Rama the four house.
00:50:30
Speaker
Exactly. Clearly he's being outperformed by people in his position group. And you know what it was that was great because Four Niles has been playing so much better than Ben Rama from the moment that that switch occurred where Four Niles went from not playing to playing a lot. Even that like short like what was his first sub appearance was like 10 minutes? It was uh it was one of the really bad losses it was one of those games where uh we weren't playing well and he brought him on
00:50:58
Speaker
And it was like, oh, here comes Fornals. And he was good. And he was good. No, no, no. He was good. I cannot remember what game that was. I'm going to go check right now. But that's the thing about Pablo Fornals is that he, and you know, I think that there's something to be said, like you're allowed to be upset that you're not playing games and like, you're even allowed to say stuff. But when your chance comes, try. I mean, Ben Rama did try against Liverpool. I will. He did run. But you have.
00:51:25
Speaker
He was pulling out of challenges. He was. He did start doing that. I'm actually with you. He was being selfish. I think it was Palace. Four Niles came on. Yes. Palace. Yes. And he was very good. It was the 89th minute he came on. Was it the game before that? Yeah. And he created a chance. And he created a chance. Oh, he did. Yes. We're going to call it Bow and Chance that he kind of fluffed. Yeah. And that's what I did. What about Four Niles is that he, and he did this all last year too.
00:51:52
Speaker
is he will try and try and try and he will take those chances sometime. He's not always going to take it, not always going to play well. But for analysis, pretty consistently, he will do himself justice when he's on the pitch. And that cannot be said for a lot of those players who lost. I still think that Moyes is wrong for rotating as much as he did. Did he really need to rest to get the more press? Did he really need to play Ivana?
00:52:20
Speaker
Like there are very serious questions you can ask about that team. I do think he messed it up. It's a cup quarterfinal. He should have gone for it a little bit more, but I do understand that he's in a very difficult position because the fixture list and cops in it to the fixtures is ridiculous. We should not have played an early game on a Saturday after playing at eight o'clock on Wednesday night.
00:52:39
Speaker
It just has to be fixed. That can't happen. We should have played on Sunday today. Why can't we be the Christmas Eve game? I understand that people hate the Christmas Eve games, and I totally respect that. But if you're going to have one, why can't it be the team that had a play on Wednesday night? These fixtures were scheduled after the Carabao Cup quarterfinals were set.
00:53:05
Speaker
And another thing about it. I was going to say, there have been since COVID happened, there are 8 p.m. games on Saturdays now sometimes. Why could we have not played at 8 p.m. tonight? Why not? If we won, so it's fine. But he has to chop and change. They have to give these guys help because I understand these games have to happen.
00:53:36
Speaker
But they just have to do more to try and help. I'm going to just come out and say, I honestly, after the game and after this United performance, Moy is handled this week perfectly. It does come down because he has to be able to rotate. He was put in an impossible position and he had to do what he had to do.
00:54:01
Speaker
the guys that he rotated, the guys that he rested on Wednesday, won us the game on Sunday. So, it worked. It worked, you know? The blame is on the players in the field. At the end of the day, Ben Ramu was terrible. Agbana was... I think this is once and for all. It's over. I love him more than the next guy.
00:54:29
Speaker
Same for you He it's over man. He can't play anymore. He's so bad. He cannot move like He's he's like a he's a shell of himself man. It's over. It's been over since he tore his ACL It's no be nice to some of the performances last year. I
00:54:52
Speaker
He had a couple of good low block games where he legitimately did not have to move. The tank was very close to E last year and he gave us everything he had left to help us stay up last year. Because if you think about it, his best game last year was the football game. Probably the difference between us going down and not winning the conference league and just staying with low confidence and really going through it.
00:55:20
Speaker
or starting to build up some confidence. That's the thing, in that deep low block, he legitimately just has to stand there and be in the right position. There was no lateral. I wonder if he moved laterally during that game. He was still cooked. Let's not get things twisted. I'm going to be nice to him, but he can't see the field again. I do love him. He's a great voice. I was going to be more
00:55:49
Speaker
more harsh on Mavropanos, but he was really good. He was really bad against Liverpool. But for as good as he was today, he was atrocious against Liverpool. And part of that, I'm sure, is being next to Obama. But he was so erratically the ball. The intensity of the Liverpool press got to him early. The pressure scrambled his brain.
00:56:13
Speaker
Even when we were on the front foot, he like, like after the goal, he was still frazzled and he gave away the fifth. Who else do I want to talk shit about? Sucek was terrible. I thought Sucek might have been the worst player in the pitch against Liverpool. It was him. That's him. That's him. That's him. That's him. And that's a thing. It wasn't even like, it wasn't even
00:56:42
Speaker
just the rotated players that were like that were undercutting us. It was like it was just Bowen Alvarez and Johnson who could hold their head up high. Even Ariel was just so
Player Dependency and Future Signings
00:56:53
Speaker
shaky. Who had a good game today. I'm happy he started today. I'm really happy you got a clean sheet because he had he had that little mistake where the ball squirmed. You see it all the time where the keeper the ball squirms away and it goes into the back of the net, but it went wider the post today in the first half.
00:57:11
Speaker
But hopefully that clean sheet can help him build confidence. Is that three clean sheets in four games for us? Yes. Look at us. Five goals conceded in five. Or two games with five goals conceded in five. It's the weird. I'm not like the weirdest run ever. It's so weird. It's just the fixture list. It's the fixture list. And it's the fact that we can only trust like 13 or 14 players outside of the first 11.
00:57:42
Speaker
We can trust Antonio, Mavropanos, and Lucas Dabianski. From a boy's point of view. From my point of view, too. And for now, it's for now. For now is to an extent. No, I trust him. He can play a part, like off the bench. But it's just it's not enough. He doesn't trust Carrera.
00:58:06
Speaker
I don't think that there's any reason for him to start a while in that center back over career and that's worrying because God forbid happens to anything to one of these center backs in the extended period, especially while Gare is at Afton. We can get through that period just about.
00:58:27
Speaker
And it happens because we're trying, the last two years have been a very deliberate attempt between the summer where we signed Paqueta and the summer where we signed Cudus. It's been a very deliberate attempt to raise the baseline level of the squad. And now that we're like halfway there, really getting there, some of these other players, Ben Rama very specifically, he's a big one of them, are getting weeded out. Where you're not at this level. It's sad. It's okay.
00:58:54
Speaker
No, I'm over it. But it sucks because I did like him. I mean, I like him. He gave us a lot, man. And you know what? He's a good guy. And he scored that goal in the final. And to be honest, he paid his fee. Yeah. He paid his fee. But it's time to go. It's been time, dude. What do you think we can get for him?
00:59:23
Speaker
We probably probably get probably recuperated pretty decent amount of that fee probably like 15 to 20 I was thinking like 12 to 15. I'd be happy with 12 Yeah, I would be I would be like whatever we can get we can get like I'm not gonna hold out for anything Yeah, it's more important that he goes than the fee that we get. I just hope that this Leon interest is real Yeah, I'm sure I'm just I'm sure full of my like he would be like they would be I
00:59:51
Speaker
He's there, he's their type of player. Technically at least. He's like close with the Op, like. He's close with the Op and Marco Sobo loves a clown attacker that he can like fix. Exactly. Like Andres Pereira, dude. He's like pretty solid for them. But he was a joke at United. He was a joke. He was a joke in La Liga. Like he was a loser.
01:00:15
Speaker
It's like him and Willyann is like, yeah, Willyann Raul Jimenez. Raul Jimenez is a permanent CTE. Like this is like the biggest clown show and like Marco Silva looked at them individually and was like, I see something in you. He was like, you still have something in the tank. When everybody, when everybody thought they didn't. Raul Jimenez cannot complete a sentence. And Marco Silva was like, listen here, you're going to score, you're going to score goals from me.
01:00:46
Speaker
And Carlos Vinicius too is another one, not that he's been like a successful Fulham, but he's another one who like, failed at tauting him miserably. I don't even know how he ended up a Fulham. They probably just sent him there. They just like get, just get far away from here. You don't have to go anywhere. Like you don't have to, you don't have to go like a specific place, but you cannot stay here. Like you have to go. Yeah. And then, um,
01:01:14
Speaker
And so it is William, specifically, after the arsenal sent, he went somewhere. He was in Turkey. Turkey or China or Saudi. I cannot remember where he went. But his career was over. And it came back last year. He was their best player.
01:01:36
Speaker
So yeah, he was like the difference. I have a question for you before we move on. Yeah. He's actually, he was actually at Corinthians. He's at Corinthians. He was back in Brazil. Yeah, he was at Corinth. Right. That's right. And he brought him back to that. That is, that is absurd. You never heard that. You never hear that. That doesn't happen.
01:02:00
Speaker
Imagine when Zini comes back. You can only hope. I have a question for you. I'm going to preface this by saying we weren't that rotated against Liverpool. We still had a lot of starters out on the pitch. The rotated players were. That's what I'm getting. That's what I'm getting. Are you especially concerned
01:02:31
Speaker
without Paquetta, specifically Paquetta and Emerson. Paquetta, Emerson, and Aguirre. And Alvarez. Alvarez Platon. Oh, I thought that you were getting something else. Sorry. No, no, I know. No, this is actually like this can be like he we can include him in this. Are you concerned that we are so over reliant on like
01:03:01
Speaker
two or three players yes three or four yes I think without it without that like without Paquetta even kudos looked like shit like that was really concerning to me I think and I don't know I'm not gonna like make it a one-to-one it's not but like kudos played well at Brinford without yeah but like but I think just generally like
01:03:27
Speaker
Without paketa and emerson and agar we were really fucking bad I think we still had like seven or eight starters out there. So what's up? This is actually good because it actually will help me talk about something else. I want to talk about But so that's what I was saying before about that we can only really trust 14 guys It's a huge issue because you lose emerson paketa or albres You're essentially screwed
01:03:58
Speaker
because there's just no six cover that is viable. The two Premier League games we've played without Alvarez, we've been ran through. Even when he wasn't playing that well and he was sick, he was still something. Now he's playing really well again, which is awesome to see. But without Alvarez, the season is essentially over. If you went down without Paquetta, the season is essentially over unless you sign the left-winger in January, who is actually good.
01:04:26
Speaker
And even then like you're just you're talking about a different scene at that point The role that we have plays the role that he plays cannot be is not replicated by anybody else in the squad We'd have to change everything. Yeah, I don't even know how we would change things and then Emerson Emerson is a big reason why look I January is so difficult because I do think it will spend I don't think that we'll spend an obscene amount of
01:04:53
Speaker
I don't know how many players we will sign. If I could sign one position, I'm torn between someone like Kyle Walker Peters at the right price. That name's gotten really popular in West Ham circles, which I kind of hate. That was my guy long ago. We got to start gatekeeping. I wanted to sign him for years. But I think that he would really help on the right in terms of, especially like
01:05:19
Speaker
Kufo probably has better, higher defensive games in him, like at a higher level. But he can defend. I think that the ball carrying would help us a lot. I think his technical ability would help us a lot. You can invert kind of like Emerson does. He can help link with Kudus. I think Kudus would be more willing to link with him. I do think that sometimes Kudus isn't as willing to link with Kufo. But I also think that Kudus has brought more out of Kufo than Bowen used to. I think that Kufo does look to play more with him.
01:05:46
Speaker
He was encouraging. But he's kind of forced to. Yeah. But so much running through Kudu's in-build-up, whereas Bone was so high up the pitch. The big thing for me about Kyle Walker-Peters is that he can play both sides seamlessly. And he also has that ball-carrying ability that would help and relieve. Because when we don't have Emerson, Crestwell obviously is not nearly the player he even was 10 months ago.
01:06:13
Speaker
But bigger than that, the system that we're playing now, the left back is asked to do so much athletically up and down that left side.
01:06:21
Speaker
Yeah. Where Crestwell really can't play that role. It's going to have to be Ben Johnson is what he's going to have to try. And with Ben Johnson, it's so game to game. I think he's better, especially with the ball when he plays on the left. So I think that will help, especially playing with somebody like Takeda. I mean, I actually showed some in his Liverpool's inability to carry the ball, which I think is new to me. That was awesome.
01:06:45
Speaker
The fearlessness was crazy. We can talk about it more, but make the point. But yeah, and so basically that's why Kyle Walker Peters is so... What's the word I'm looking for? Not endearing. He's so interesting to me. Intriguing. Because he can really help relieve Emerson a little bit. And like just take so much pressure off his shoulders.
01:07:13
Speaker
and he can push Kufall and probably start over Kufall a lot of times, but Moyes also loves Kufall and with Kufall and Walker Peters they can rotate which games are playing this way. Sometimes you can give Emerson the rest instead of Walker Peters or Kufall. That's just a pipe dream though right now. If Saints want Ben Johnson maybe we can figure something out with them.
01:07:37
Speaker
I don't know. I really do hope that they want Ben Johnson as much as I love him. I think that would be a good move for him. I think he'd play a lot of football. I think he'd improve. And I think he would end up as a Premier League player. Absolutely. If he went there. Absolutely. And I think that if we get Walker Peters in return, that would be great. With Alvarez, I mean, I don't think that we're going to sign a midfielder in January. Just it doesn't. It's December 23rd. We haven't heard one midfielder's name. We've heard Andre.
01:08:08
Speaker
Yeah, we'll see. I'm not confident though. But like, I'm not confident we'll sign a midfielder, which is scary. Because in any sense, I think that we do need one, like you need somebody who can play six and who can push to check for games is what you need. But at the very least, you need somebody who can play six. And then when it comes to attackers, not as
01:08:35
Speaker
A lot of people want a striker and that's the concern is that if we do sign someone, I think we'll sign a striker. I don't think that we need one between how well Bowen is playing with Antonio coming back. Put some goddamn trust in Divine Obama. How much more attacking output do these people want, man? Oh, but like someone to help relieve pressure because we do, we do need somebody to play on the left. I'd be, I would be personally, if we could sign Walker Peters and a midfielder.
01:09:05
Speaker
Like if you could, not that this is even feasible, but if you could sign Walker Peters and Andre in January and then sell Ben Rama for 15 million and then send Johnson the other way in the deal with saints, I can't imagine a better window than that. That's a pipe dream, but that would be the ideal scenario. Cause I think we're fine at Striker. Um, people want Cherokee to be cool, but like,
01:09:35
Speaker
I don't know. I don't buy that those links are that concrete yet. I would like it. I don't know. I don't know. I just don't see us doing something like that in the winter. It would be like a Ben Rama replacement and and Cherokee like it just would feel weird. He's like such a highly rated guy. He would be great. I think I think that it could be that it could work out really well. His his his.
01:10:03
Speaker
big Premier League move is going to be to West Ham to be our sixth attacker, basically. I mean, Mo Kudu's moved less than. And Cherokee's had a really rough time of it the last year and a half. Kudu's came to West Ham. To be the guy. To be the guy. Not only this season, but really when Paquetta leaves next season, he's going to be the guy. Well, hopefully Paquetta's betting scandal gets dragged out and he's here for life. Dude, like, I like
01:10:33
Speaker
was thinking about this today. How could any of these front four guys leave with how well they're playing? They just gotta have so much fun together. What other project entices you more than what's going on right now? The other thing about them, with Peketa with Citi, Bowen with Liverpool, and Kudus with anybody,
01:10:59
Speaker
if you want to talk to us in January, the conversation can start at 150 million. I'm being dead serious. Because like maybe like in the summer, like maybe you can start like 120 with some of these guys, but the output that they're putting out, obviously to get those the 85 million clause allegedly, which is fine. Like in the summer. But like if do you want to talk to these guys in January? No, like, you have to be talking about
01:11:28
Speaker
like comical cartoon money. If you even if you even want to get us in the room. Yep. Man, I forgot about that 85 million. He's gonna leave on on July 1. Maybe June 1. Maybe maybe maybe he'll sign the contract. Also, I'm not sure if Premier League clubs actually have like clauses like that legally binding
01:11:56
Speaker
I'm pretty sure they're a handshake thing in England. That's just something I've heard. But what I did want to talk about earlier, before we end, the reason I didn't mention anything about Aguirre is I'm higher on Mavropanos than you are, and it's not that I'm exactly high on him. I just think that he has so much going for him as a defender. He is really great at defending on the front foot.
01:12:20
Speaker
When we have a lot of the ball and like defending high up and winning the ball high up and keeping the pressure on He's an athletic freak really And he can play with the ball a little bit like
01:12:35
Speaker
can't get us shook as he got out of the pool. But I think the big thing with him is just he's, the Bundesliga is so ingrained in him and Moias just has to beat it out of him. And I think that's starting to happen. He's looked, he's had games next to a gag where he looks fantastic. He was great today with Zuma. Zuma was my man in the match, by the way. I gave up.
01:12:55
Speaker
Because we didn't say a word about Zuma. It deserves to be said. He was my man in the match today. That was his best performance this season. He is a spectacular defender too. Yeah, I like that you put that there. I gave Paquette the co-man of the match because he was also, I thought it was great. He was good people nine. Yeah, but I gave those to the stars. Yeah. Because every flick for Paquette was coming off. Every little one touch pass is coming off. But I thought Zuma was the rock of the performance. I thought Paquette was like the cherry on top.
01:13:25
Speaker
He had that one clearance. The one that was across the face. Yeah. Oh my God. That's great. That saved the game. Yeah. It's stuff like that. That makes a difference. I mean, he is, he's really special. He's, and he's gotten to the point with us now, especially as the captain where it's just such a given that he's a seven or eight out of 10 every week. He had a few weird moments. He had the one forest where he just didn't track back.
01:13:55
Speaker
The ball got given away and he just didn't run bad. Oh, yeah. What was the deal? It probably hurts for him to run, dude. It's a good thing that our Christmas schedule is the way it is because he can play against Arsenal and Brighton. At five days each, he'll be fine. And then he can get like 20 days off after. Probably a hospital for like a week for his knee or something.
01:14:21
Speaker
But yeah, I think that there's a lot to like about Mavropanos. And I think he's one of those players where, you know, sometimes guys come in and they take a year. You know, like not everybody's mokudus. Like some guys will take longer. And I think honestly, I think Mois is a great coach for Mavropanos to have. And I think that we're going to see a good from him at West Ham. I think that we will. And then hopefully we sign another center back in the summer because career can't be trusted, apparently.
01:14:52
Speaker
And it's not even that I think he can or that he can't. It's just weird to me. Moiz used to pick him so often. Yeah. I'm waiting for a sign. Yeah. With Mavapanos, it's like, I don't know. Maybe I was expecting more because of his insane bunch of... You forgot that he was a Bundesliga player.
01:15:21
Speaker
Yeah. And it's just like, it just doesn't pop. His game doesn't pop the way when Aguirre got here. And it's like, whoa, this guy is like a different. Yeah, you were expecting kind of player. Aguirre level impact as a center back. And it's fine. It is not that. Yeah, maybe that's unfair of me. I also think just really quickly,
01:15:44
Speaker
Because I do want to let you talk and I feel like I haven't been doing that today, so I apologize. But I'll accept it. So you think that. No, no, no. But I just want to say about Naya Figueroa, it's time for people to recognize that he is having a good season.
01:16:03
Speaker
This isn't a mixed season. This isn't a mixed bag. He had a few shaky weeks early in the season. The red card against Chelsea is ridiculous. I think that probably messed up his conference a little bit. The mistakes against City and Liverpool are bad. They're bad. He has shoved them in a deep block a few times because he does like to play a little higher maybe than Zuma does.
01:16:24
Speaker
But I think, I think that he found his form. I think he's been wrongly blamed for a few different goals, including the one at Newcastle, at home against Newcastle. I think that he is having a good season. I think he's been great over the last two months. I think he's made a huge part of our success over the last two months. Just like, and you know, the, some of the passes he plays, the one that coos against Arsenal comes to mind, but like,
01:16:50
Speaker
He's very important for us, just between passing angles, which are real, no matter what anybody wants to say.
Passing Strategy and Defensive Continuity
01:16:56
Speaker
There's a reason every top coach, not just top coach, every coach in the world cares about passing angles now. The Garrett's incredibly important to what we do, and we'll miss him. But if Marvopanos can find some form like he did today and maybe not do a back heel with three United players around him. What? He'll be fine. What was he doing?
01:17:17
Speaker
Like, what was the real what was he trying to do? That's what I wanted to know. Listen, like with the word, I guess people like people like really jumped on him. They were excited to don't say they because you were one of them. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I was critical, but I was fairly critical.
01:17:42
Speaker
people people were dropping him. I only said that he should have been dropped after the Liverpool game. Yeah, I mean, that was that was bad. Besides, I've been there for him. And by the way, I also have said when he's played well, long before anybody else is willing to do that. You're right. You're right. You're right. I'm trying to be impartial here. I'm not. So
01:18:10
Speaker
Because I get it. I get it with him. He is the bedrock of our first phase of build up. Without him, we are nothing. We just can't build out. Because even playing long passes, because Ariel can't do it. He throws it.
01:18:33
Speaker
Yeah, his best is when he throws it, because with his feet, it's inconsistent. He's like the only one. Like, Aguirre is our best long passer. He's our best short passer, like, other than, like, Paquetta, like, internally. Yeah, you're talking about the first things, yeah. Yeah. Like, building out from the back, like, he is everything. And without him, like, we just can't... It's so important, because
01:19:01
Speaker
that's how you like build and then maintain like consistent pressure is like as having like that like he depends on that really well too oh absolutely yeah that's like not even discussing his defending which has been i i think understated this season um um it's like even when he's not defending well it's just so important for him to have him in the team um
01:19:28
Speaker
And I think that's why I like, I mentioned this to you earlier, like, I like kinda like was predisposed to like not liking Mavropano. Yeah. Of the amount of people that were like begging for this guy. They did not know. They didn't know. Nobody had ever seen Mavropano's play. Not since he left Arsenal.
01:19:57
Speaker
And it was with seven appearances and he was just like a guy. It was just like, who the hell is this? Like a Greek guy, hard-named for now. It's like, okay. Who is this big galoop that Arsene Wenger has on the pitch right now? And yeah, people just didn't see it, how important I hear it is.
01:20:22
Speaker
And it made me really upset. And I think more people see it now. The Liverpool game should wake everybody up. Straight up. The thing that's crazy with Aguirre is people really, in my opinion, have not given him his flowers since he's been playing well again, which is crazy to me. He's been here, well, forget his injury in the beginning. He's been here for a year now. He had two bad months.
01:20:52
Speaker
Yeah. Come on. Let's be serious. And I think something people have to live with with him, this is the modern age. We have to play out of the back sometimes. Everybody does it. When he tries to play a line breaking pass, if he gives the ball away, you have to live with that sometimes. Because he did it his last game he played.
01:21:14
Speaker
once and I was just like, Oh, like it drove me a little crazy, but it's what happens. Like if you watch city, like Edison, like we've talked about this with goalkeepers before, it was like, Oh, Nana and Anderson. And I know people will hate on Nana. So I'm not going to really bring the Edison dude. We'll give the ball away in the most ridiculous positions you've ever seen sometimes.
01:21:34
Speaker
He, Edison, does things that drive you crazy. Allison is the best goalkeeper in the world. One of the best primarily goalkeepers of all time. No matter what anybody wants to think. And he does things that drive you crazy sometimes. Like this is what happens with players in that first phase in the modern age of this game. Because it's disgusting to look at when they give it away.
01:22:03
Speaker
Let it happen. It's just more noticeable when you mess up one time versus the hundred times where you do things correctly and it leads to a goal down the line or like, you know, things like that. And it should be said about Moist too and we talked about this when things weren't going as well with the Garrett.
01:22:24
Speaker
that he was sticking with that four so heavily so they could build that continuity that we didn't really have last year so they could like really become a unit and they're the play together. And I think that there's 11 in general and the back four is starting to become a true unit, which is why we look so comfortable even with Mavropanos coming in today, which is why we've looked so comfortable.
01:22:46
Speaker
in these last three clean sheets that we've kept with this same system and back line. And I think credit has to go to Moyes for that, for building that continuity and sticking with it even when things were a little rocky. And not chopping and changing and chopping and changing. This is like the theme of this form is the fact that the 11 guys that are on the pitch, they gel and work so much together.
01:23:14
Speaker
Like they work so well. They're one entity. But then that like when you like lose a couple of those guys, that's like that continuity like crumbles so immediately. And all of a sudden, these guys are human again, and they make mistakes. And it's like, whoa, like Sootek isn't like a wizard with the ball. We are a very weird team. I'll say that we're weird.
01:23:43
Speaker
Like, if things, if we lose the wrong guy, it's gonna get yucky. But for right now, I'm gonna... I'm gonna enjoy this one. Yeah, all right. I think I have everything to say. And then... Fix that Christmas. How about that? Fix that Christmas. Who would have thought... fixed in the top six in an Europa League last 16?
01:24:10
Speaker
Thank you everybody for listening to us today. We're going to sign off on that note. Merry Christmas.
Community Engagement and Social Media Promotions
01:24:17
Speaker
Probably listening to this before or after or on Christmas day at night. Thanks for tuning in. Merry Christmas. While you're opening presents. While you're opening presents. Merry Christmas. Hit up the blog at hammering-away.blog. Follow us on Twitter at hammering underscore away. TikTok hammering.away. This time I'm not going to promise to TikTok because I keep doing that. But I feel like we've
01:24:40
Speaker
have some flippable moments recently. So maybe- Oh, for sure. There were some rants in this video. Be on the lookout. I think that the rants are too long to post on Twitter. I don't have four-minute rants. I don't have Twitter Blue. We'll tell Clarity and Booze to post it for us. Yeah.
01:24:57
Speaker
And then we have one more thing, Instagram, hammering away underscore, which is also on threads. Joe told me I didn't mention the threads sometimes. Don't look us up on threads. It's not active anymore. That was the most ridiculous phase in social media history. That's not true. But yeah, and you have a brief listening. A lot of followers on on Instagram. I didn't realize we had like 50. It's like 70.
01:25:21
Speaker
Congrats to Hammering Away on breaking 70 followers on Instagram. Go make it 100, everybody. Go follow us on Instagram. We're doing a giveaway. A lost episode giveaway at 100 Instagram followers. Yes. What is the Hammering Battleway? No, it's Hammering Away Underscore. If you follow Hammering Away Underscore on Instagram, I will email you the lost episode if you just request it in the DMs.
01:25:48
Speaker
Thank you everybody for listening. No more Instagram talk. We will be back after wins against Arsenal and Brighton. Peace.
01:27:39
Speaker
So.
01:28:48
Speaker
So,