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DailyNewcastle - West Ham Crossover
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Michael joins Tom on the Daily West Ham podcast ahead of the two teams clashing on Monday evening, the two cover a huge range of topics and preview Monday's fixture. Can the Magpies go into their Carabao Cup final with a win or will the Hammers make in three wins in a row?
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Transcript
Introduction and Crossover Episode
00:00:02
Speaker
Every club. Every day. Global Sports Podcast Network. work Hello guys and welcome back to another episode of the Daily GSPN West Ham Podcast crossover
West Ham's Season Outlook
00:00:14
Speaker
today.
00:00:14
Speaker
I'm joined with Michael from the Daily Newcastle Podcast. Say hi mate. Hi Matt, how's it going? Are you alright? I'm doing good. I'm doing okay. I'm actually slightly optimistic about West Ham. It's been a pretty tough season. So the fact that I can go into a conversation thinking that maybe we might get something out of it and that we're not going to get out of it demolished, it's quite pleasant.
00:00:34
Speaker
um Yeah, so today we're going to be talking about this upcoming game, Newcastle-West Ham at the London Stadium. Just to start the podcast, what are your kind of general thoughts
Newcastle's Carabao Cup Focus
00:00:42
Speaker
about the game? Just kind of, I'll just open it up. Yeah, I think for Newcastle, ah unfortunately, i would love to come into this game, particularly as you beat us 2-0 at St. James' Park, with ah an open mind of, oh, yeah, we're going to attack this. But unfortunately, with the Carabao Cup final so close, it's it kind of feels like a distraction to Newcastle. And we've got this little mentality, unfortunately, where after we've won the semi-final, we do terribly in the lead up to finals.
00:01:11
Speaker
We've won, ah think, since 1997. We've played 21 games between a successful semifinal and a final, and we've only won four of them. So that'll get West Ham fans hopes up, I'm sure. Yeah, a little bit. I think kind of that mixed with our upturning form, I think kind of makes for a relatively difficult game for you. but Very much so.
00:01:33
Speaker
ah can It can so easily flip on its head. And I think, yeah you know, you look at us this season, we do have the ability to concede early. And if we concede early, which...
Alexander Isak's Future at Newcastle
00:01:42
Speaker
I think Newcastle does have the the quality to to punish us quite quickly.
00:01:46
Speaker
It's going to then be a very difficult game because if you do get the lead, I wouldn't blame you if you just decided to kind of shut up shop a little bit and just play the 1-0 win because of the the other things that you want to prioritise. It makes perfect sense. so perhaps um Okay, so to get us started, I would like to ask you some questions about Newcastle from a ah West Ham fan's point of view.
00:02:08
Speaker
So the the first one for me, I think, is the fear of a good player getting poached. So this is something that, as a West Ham, I'm more all too familiar with. A player gets good and they get stolen by another team.
00:02:22
Speaker
And I think for you, it's ah it's obviously Isak. I think that is the kind of glaring... from what i would imagine as a as someone who has seen their good players go you watch them play and watch them be so good there's always that thought in the back of your mind like they're playing too well because other people are going to be like yeah we we probably like to take that guy and when you know yeah imagine any of the top teams in europe just asking for izak's name and and it's kind of difficult to convince it to stay so how how do you feel about that Yeah, I think it's one of those where Alexander Rezac has come out and said, whether this is to believe it or not, we all know football players say things in the heat at the moment, but he's come out and said that he's happy to give Newcastle time.
00:03:05
Speaker
But if we don't make it into Europe this season, you know there's always the chance that he'll leave.
Newcastle's Financial Fair Play Challenges
00:03:10
Speaker
The positive on our end is that we're asking for what I believe to be around 150 million.
00:03:17
Speaker
I'm not sure yet. I don't think there's any teams that are going to be willing to pay that, particularly under PSR restrictions. um Manchester City might have been the ah might have been the the one that would, but they've got ah a little striker called Erland Harland and they've just signed Marmoosh. So I don't think that's an area where they really need anyone.
00:03:37
Speaker
um The only thing that sort of has me worried about potentially losing and alex Alexander Ezek is the potential of a player swap. Obviously, we've been restricted ah by PSR.
00:03:48
Speaker
um We haven't signed a first-team player ah for the squad since 2023. um Last three transfer windows, we've not brought in anyone. We had Lewis Hall, who we'd brought in um on a loan, and then we made it permanent in the summer, but that's pretty much the only one.
00:04:04
Speaker
So... Bringing in players has been difficult for Newcastle and there was the rumour, nothing more than a rumour at this point, that PSG were willing to offer Marco Asensio, Colo Mawani and Juan Carlo Ramos. Now, two strikers seems a bit seems a bit OTT, or but that's the only reason I could see Isaac leaving Newcastle in this summer, next season.
00:04:28
Speaker
I think it's potentially very likely if we don't make Europe in either of the seasons, but it looks very likely that he'll give Newcastle at least up until the end of next season. and Yeah, it's really nice as a...
00:04:42
Speaker
As a fan of a ah club who is in the kind of the selling market, I think West Ham are like that. I think Newcastle probably are slightly ahead of us when it comes to your status in the league and how people view you as a club. but you just know that you watch a ah player play well and yeah you have that thought in your mind that they're going to leave. So when they do kind of come out and make a statement to the club saying that I'm not going to leave straight away, I want to give the club some time, I think that's really nice as a fan.
Player Loyalty and Transfers
00:05:14
Speaker
100%.
00:05:14
Speaker
obviously there's some the way I relate is through Declan Rice because he gave us a lot more time than he needed to. He, you know, was a very good player. I think, I said arguably the best DM in the league. I think even with Rodri, even when he was playing for us, to be honest, because he was, the argument always made was he was playing at the same level in a team that was vastly inferior. So,
00:05:37
Speaker
For me, that makes so probably makes them slightly better. like I don't think Rodri could come into West Ham's team and do what Declan Rice did. So that's a little controversial ah her side thought. But yeah, it's nice when they give you a little bit more time than they probably need to because I don't think any Newcastle fan would hate Ezek for wanting to play Champions League football. you know That's what he wants immediately. That's the sort player he is. So the fact that he has said, you know ah I am willing to stay. I'm willing to give time, give as much as I can. but then there will come a time where they have to leave and I think you kind of have to accept that and make peace with it and try and just enjoy them and get the most out of them when they're there and you know if you do get European football what what have you got Europa League do you think he would stay for Europa League football
00:06:21
Speaker
Yeah, I think he'd be more than willing to stay for Europa League because it shows progression in the project. We made Champions League far too early. and The benefit of that was um we had Sven Bottmann as centre-back.
00:06:32
Speaker
he We had the best defence in the league when he was there, when he was playing in the back line. He's been injured for the vast majority of the last two seasons and we've ended up conceding more than what we did when we first got relegated 08 or 09. So I think, you know, Isaac, if we can stay in the Europa League,
00:06:48
Speaker
and sort of continue building, I
Injury Challenges and Goalkeeper Dilemmas
00:06:51
Speaker
think you'll be happy. And we were supposed to make conference last season, but then Man United somehow won the FA Cup over Man City and we dropped out, unfortunately.
00:07:01
Speaker
um So the progression is there and I think the players can see it. um Realistically, we've been quite unlucky with injuries, but no, everyone gets injuries. We don't want to make those excuses.
00:07:12
Speaker
But you know going into this game and then the cup final, we just found out that three of our top players are unavailable for the for at least the next three games. So it's one of those, Isaacs, back to fitness. And if we can keep them longer than this season, and which I think we will, I think he'd be happy with Europa League with the knowledge that Champions League a possibility.
00:07:32
Speaker
yeah Yeah, I think I agree. The next thing I'd like talk about, maybe one that's maybe slightly more rogue, your goalkeeping situation. Because the the way that each keeper has been viewed, it seems to change kind of month by month.
00:07:47
Speaker
Because ah think the the major consensus is that Pope is a better keeper than Dubravka. But you look at the performances recently, and to me, I feel like Dubravka has been playing really well.
00:07:59
Speaker
um I'd love to hear your opinion on this. Yeah, so Martin Dubravka has kind of been in the bad books with a lot of Newcastle fans. um The loan to Manchester United, it's it's not it's not a hidden secret that he's wanted to leave the club and when he was second or third choice, which to be fair, got ambitions.
00:08:16
Speaker
Can't blame him for that. And Nick Pope has been fantastic for Newcastle for a long time. Unfortunately, He's just coming back from an injury and he doesn't look the same player. um We've seen it numerous times where um goalkeepers have gotten injuries and then not been the same. Shea Given, Joe Hart, couple that I can think of off the top my head.
00:08:35
Speaker
And I think Nick Pope's unfortunately going to be one of them. When it comes to, on his day, fully fit, sharp, shot stopper, he's one of the best shot stoppers in the league, in my opinion. When it comes to passing the ball out, he's probably one of the worst in the league.
00:08:50
Speaker
While Martin Dubravka... can pass the ball out. He's been making a lot more high quality saves than what we've seen from the last two seasons. So it was a case of for a Newcastle fan, do you play the goalkeeper that can't kick a ball or do you play the goalkeeper that can't really save a ball, but it's quite good with these feet.
00:09:09
Speaker
Um, so we're still in that dilemma. Um, unfortunately, and I think Nick Pope will play as we try and get you sharpness up ahead of the cup final. Um, But to be honest, it's 50-50. Martin Dubravka deserves his place.
00:09:24
Speaker
He has improved this season in comparison to others. But Nick Pope's the best goalkeeper. So it's a tough one. Yeah, it is a tough one. I guess, like it kind of similar to West Ham, to be honest, because...
00:09:38
Speaker
We've always seen Areola as the first choice. And then he got injured and Fabianski played. And Fabianski's been playing really well. So then when it comes to having two fit goalkeepers again, the decision about who to play is so always a difficult one because you find that keepers play better when they play more games in a row. I think chopping and changing keepers isn't the best to get the peak performance out of either of them, and if that makes sense. Yeah, okay.
00:10:02
Speaker
yeah got making that decision on who to play and kind of sticking them with them is a difficult one when maybe the lesser one is playing really well. And this is us with Fabianski. Fabianski's like 40 and he's been playing really well. So it's like, you know, he's probably someone that you would see as...
00:10:18
Speaker
nailed on second choice but if he's playing well enough to start then there's quite a good argument to keep him in the team so I can definitely relate to the goalkeeper problems but on the flip side you've got two pretty decent keepers to be fair like I don't think either of them are terrible you know that pretty good keepers and the fact that there is a conversation there is is only a positive okay we're going to go to our first advert and when we get back I'm going to Michael to ask me some questions Your body is unique.
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00:10:43
Speaker
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00:11:01
Speaker
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00:11:12
Speaker
Don't settle for off-the-shelf solutions made for just anybody. Get what's right for you right now. Okay, Michael, I'll let you take the floor and and ask me anything you want to know from my West Ham fan.
00:11:24
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely spot on. So from a Newcastle perspective, but I've always expected to see four or five teams in that sixth to 11 spotless. So Newcastle, West Ham, two of those.
00:11:36
Speaker
But this season, obviously, it's it was quite a negative start. I think we were one of the only teams that actually gave Lopetegui three points. um I'm not sure if I should say you're welcome um because it prolonged things, but...
00:11:48
Speaker
From the outside looking in, it doesn't look like too much has actually changed um under Graham Potter, but the results are so much better. So what would you say has been sort of the main difference, sort of of the playing style of West Ham and what's contributed to you getting them results now?
00:12:06
Speaker
This is always a difficult question. We've been asked it quite a few times, to be honest, or kind of variations of it. But the specific question about what is different or what is better is hard to nail down because you you look at the blueprint of Lopetegui and everything was positive. We've made good signings. so We'd been in Europe, you know, the kind of season-on-season momentum had been building in a positive direction. We'd won a European tournament and Lopetegui seemed to be the opportunity to push forward into that next step being a European team.
00:12:40
Speaker
and It just didn't work. It it didn't fit. there There just seemed to be something that was missing when... every time we played, we had so many players that didn't quite look like they understood what the actual plan was. They didn't know yeah where to be and who to rely on. And our leaders also looked like they weren't able to lead in the right way because they also didn't know the system. And it's,
00:13:04
Speaker
it's really difficult to find some sort of momentum or some sort positivity or to galvanise or even, you know, like Bowen being the the most influential player that we have. There were so many games where he just seemed to not really look like he knew what he was doing, which is...
00:13:20
Speaker
Yeah, for me, a player of that quality, I don't think that that's him just not playing well. I think that it's him just not understanding or not being well enough drilled in the system that we were trying to play.
00:13:33
Speaker
Obviously, it was supposed to be this kind of possession, have the ball dictate what's happening, and it just didn't happen. and Now we we kind of flip the script with Graham Potter and he seems to be a lot more relaxed about it. It seems to be more, let's have the ball, let's try and take control of the game, but let's also take risks and let's try and play a little bit more loose instead of this kind of more rigid...
00:13:57
Speaker
possession-based, we were trying to play under
West Ham's Playing Style Evolution
00:14:01
Speaker
Lopetegui. I think maybe the jump to that was too sharp, too quickly. And I think because we hadn't had kind of a Obviously he had pre-season, but pre-season is a really difficult way to properly implement a system.
00:14:17
Speaker
It was a big risk. and so I think it was a necessary risk, to be honest. I think David Moyes football is brilliant to getting you to a certain point. And I always make the comparison um make the comparison with Gareth Southgate.
00:14:30
Speaker
That style of football is brilliant to a point, but... you then do reach a state where you have to make a decision on, do we stick with the person who's got us this far, who might have a ceiling, or do we make a risk for someone that might be able to take us a little bit further?
00:14:48
Speaker
Made the risk, didn't pay off. I think it was the right decision still, just the wrong man. These things happen. Now we have Graham Potter. Things look really positive. I'm really happy with him.
00:14:59
Speaker
He's using the youth so much more. He's rotating. He's... got some players playing brilliantly like Oli Scarls. I don't know if you've kind of seen too much about him, but he's been brilliant for us.
00:15:10
Speaker
Young 19-year-old left-back. He's probably our starting left-back now, to be honest. And it was really funny in the in the Arsenal game when their young upcoming left-back gets sent off and ours has an absolute blinder. I was very luck pleasantly...
00:15:24
Speaker
happy with how that played out because Arsenal fans just gas up all their players ridiculously high instantly and just a little bit yeah we know that we've got really good one like kind of in the wings very silently doing a really steady job so yeah really good but what the issue was ah don't know it's hard to tell i I just don't think it was the right fit at the right time to be honest
Youth Talent Impact at West Ham
00:15:49
Speaker
That makes sense. And to be honest, you're completely right about pre-season. When you look to play that possession style of football, you're not going to get the same. It's not really a test run when teams are running at 75%, 80%.
00:16:01
Speaker
yeah You want a team realistically open in days or in pre-season to be at you straight away, at down your throat, so you get better at that style of play. So it makes a lot of sense. um i Actually, my next question was about Oli Sculls. And I was going to say...
00:16:15
Speaker
There is so many good young left backs at the minute. We've got Lewis Hall, unfortunately is out for the rest of the season. and Arsenal, Lewis Skelly looks good if he can stop getting red cards.
00:16:26
Speaker
um And what i was just going to say is, was Oli one of those that he's been on your books for a little while and you've known that he's going to be sort of coming into the team soon? Or was it just one of those where it just happened and you went, wow, look at this player?
00:16:40
Speaker
It's a little bit of both. That might be a bit of a cop-out, but he's i think he''ve been in the club since he was 11. He's been part of you know every single age group. He was part of the team that won the FA Youth Cup a couple of years ago, which which is a really strong um ah was a really strong squad for us in the youth league. and yeah he He is part of that really positive crop that we have coming through.
00:17:03
Speaker
I'm personally slightly surprised about how quickly he's been able to establish himself in the first team because you know there's there's always that bedding-in process. There's the step-up in physicality. There's the step-up in overall technique and just ability. you know When you step into the Premier League, it you can't make a mistake, basically. And if you do, you will get
Player Suspensions and Transfers
00:17:25
Speaker
punished. And this very i think there's very few situations. And I know other leagues are brilliant, but I think the Premier League is so...
00:17:32
Speaker
good at highlighting weak points in players games i think if they have a week they will get exposed very quickly and the thing that ollie scales has shown is that he doesn't really have a weak point like he's not saying he's you know the next coming of ashley cole but he is very good at every side of the game he's played as a left back for us he's played as a left wing back It's been really good when he's played a left wing back because Aaron Cresswell has been alongside him, who is 35 now. He's such a ah veteran Premier League player, knows the game, has been there.
00:18:07
Speaker
He's done it. I feel like he's had a really positive influence on the way that he's played. um just really happy with him. He he seems really confident. Physically, he's really good. He knows when to make decisions. He's got a bit of bite in him as well. I can't remember what game it was a couple of games ago, but he came on and he made a slide tackle straight away and he like loved it.
00:18:25
Speaker
And I was like, that is exactly what mentality want for coming into the team. 100%. Well, that's what he wants for any player. And you can tell that he's he's really happy to be there and he's worked really hard and he deserves it. So, yeah, I'm really happy and I want to see him start every game, to be honest, because I think he's good enough.
00:18:41
Speaker
Yeah, 100%. I mean, debut, keep a clean sheet against Arsenal. It's not bad, is it? Exactly. Now, one of my other questions I'm sure you are tired of talking about, and it is on the topic of Lucas Paquetar.
00:18:57
Speaker
Now, as a Newcastle fan of Sandro Tonali, I can sympathise, maybe better than others, but is it one of those now where kind just waiting for it to be over and you just sort of want it to be sorted? Or is it elongating it as long as possible so you know you can see this fantastic Brazilian player play for the club even more.
00:19:17
Speaker
I think, to be honest, I think the talk about it has kind of died down because we know that we're kind of waiting for... the this is the calm before the storm, isn't it?
West Ham's Defensive Strength
00:19:29
Speaker
We know that it's coming, but for now, let's try not to talk about it.
00:19:33
Speaker
Let's just brush it under the carpet and try and get as much out of him as possible. because yeah Like you say, he's he's brilliant. I really don't but think there's many players like him in the league. He's so unique in the way that he plays. He's got such a strange mix of technical ability and physicality when, yeah when we had all of our strikers injured, he played as like a, a false nine kind of attacking.
00:19:57
Speaker
ah don't even know what you'd call it, to be honest. There's probably some Spanish term that perfectly describes it, but I don't speak Spanish, so I don't know. Um, Yeah, he was just brilliant. His hold-up play was so good for for someone who's not massively tall. I think he's like 6'1". Yeah, hold-up play was brilliant. The way that he links other players on play is amazing.
00:20:17
Speaker
When he drops deep, he picks up the ball. He's so good at driving and that his ability to get out of pressure as well in like really tight little spaces it's so brazilian the way that he does it it's amazing and also defending he's really rugged he loves a slide tackle he he's got a bit of bite about him so yeah i just love him so the the prospect of losing him to suspension or you know a ban or something like that is very unsettling but there's not really a lot we can do, to be honest. I don't think there's too much point wasting our time being stressed or being upset about it.
00:20:54
Speaker
Let's just get the most out of him while we have him and we'll have to deal with whatever comes when it comes. Yeah, I think, to be honest, I think you're absolutely right. We had sort of a, as I say, a similar thing with Tonali and Wegg lads have him back. Obviously, the rumours are there'll be a lifetime ban, which in my opinion seems very, very harsh.
00:21:12
Speaker
um But, you know, I'm not a governing body. so that's So it's not really my realm. But the last sort of question I wanted to have is sort of ah a bit more of a a cheery one from a West Ham perspective. of ah In previous years, we've seen, even under David Moyes, West Ham weren't the best defensive team.
00:21:31
Speaker
But what we're seeing now is a side that's a little bit, you know, it's a lot more resolute, should I say. And you can see a lot less because of that. Is that because of signings that you brought in in the summer that are, you know, like a a Max Killman or a Toriba? I know Toriba was a bit earlier but ah than Killman. But is it because of those signings or is it something that Graham Potter's coming in and everyone's just a lot more confident and able to do their jobs? Obviously, you mentioned earlier under Lopetegui.
00:21:57
Speaker
seemed like maybe rules were a little bit confusing at times. I think it's a mixture of both. the The signings were good, did take a little bit of time to kind of settle in. So you you understand the team not performing at its highest early in the season. like We had quite a large squad overhaul. We arguably had the best window of the summer and the fact that the team didn't gel instantly isn't really a surprise. So maybe can't blame it completely on Lopetegui but then you know the the further it went under him it didn't start to change so that's when it's like well at some point you have to stop blaming players not settling in and you have to kind of look at why the mistakes are being made again and again like we
00:22:42
Speaker
conceded early in games so many times. We'd concede the first goal really early and then we'd be fighting to try and get something out of the game and maybe eventually we'd scrape a draw or you know we'd we'd lose but we'd pile a load of pressure on right at the end which just isn't really good enough. We shouldn't be putting ourselves at such a disadvantage so early in the game. So, yeah, that was kind of the theme of Lopaté, just like relatively poor defence and not having too much kind of attacking threat.
00:23:09
Speaker
Under Potter, the defence does look a lot better. And I think Max Kilman has been a brilliant silent signing. I think he is so calm under pressure and he's such a ah good voice at the back. You know, he was Wolves captain.
00:23:22
Speaker
I could quite easily see him becoming West Ham captain at some point. Obviously, Jared Bowen is the Lord and saviour, so I wouldn't want to take it off of him. But, you know, if for any reason Bowen isn't involved, I think he's quite a good candidate to to take that role.
00:23:36
Speaker
Also, Tadebo has been really solid in the past few games. He got injured and has been swapping Mavropanos, who I think hasn't looked good at times. I think Mavropanos sometimes has a mistake in him, but physically he's really good. he's strong. He's fast.
00:23:49
Speaker
um We're starting to see a settled team, which is really nice. yeah i think that's also contributing to the fact that our defence is getting better. I also think like kind of the discussion we had before about the goalkeepers, we've got two really good goalkeepers, which I think really helps.
00:24:05
Speaker
Fabianski has saved us a lot, especially when Arielle has been injured. He's had some absolutely amazing performances. So I think Potter has brought the best out of players who are also now starting to get fully settled. So yeah, I think kind of both.
00:24:20
Speaker
ahs as To be fair, that was the the last of my questions. So it might be time for another advert. I don't know. It is indeed. Yeah, we'll go go to this final advert and when we get back, I want to do some predictions about the game and talk about who we think that the biggest threats are on each team.
00:24:33
Speaker
Good stuff. Here at the Global Sports Podcast Network, we've spent a lot of time selecting our delivery platform. Zencaster came out the clear winner. With 4K video recording from your phone and AI editing that automatically removes all those ums and ahs, it's super easy to start a podcast that sounds great and is delivered efficiently.
West Ham's Key Threats to Newcastle
00:24:51
Speaker
If you're ready to tell your story, check out the link in the show description to learn more about Zencaster. Okay, so I would like us to say two players from the other team that we think will play and that we think is a threat. One obvious one and one not so obvious one.
00:25:06
Speaker
Would to first? Would you like me to go first? I don't mind either way. I'm happy to go first. I think, to be honest, I think the very obvious is Jarrod Bowen, so i'm not going to speak about him. I'm actually going speak about a player that I've admired so much when he was at Ajax, and that's Mohamed Kouros.
00:25:22
Speaker
When it comes to, drill I mean, under Lopetegui, I've you probably won't mind me saying, he looked like your main threat. Every time on the ball, every time he got on the ball, he was just so direct, so paced, he's so good at dribbling.
00:25:33
Speaker
And obviously he can shoot from pretty far out as well. i think I'm not sure if it was his debut against us in the 2-2 or it was definitely his first goal for West Ham. I remember sitting ah remember sitting there and thinking, why haven't we made a bid for him? Because you knew a about him beforehand. it's It's not exactly like he was a secret. i mean, the scouting team have gone, yeah, he looks good.
00:25:54
Speaker
Just pick him up. Every other scouting team's gone, hang on, we need to find out how good he is at dribbling. Can he tackle? And it's it's okay. I mean, I'm sure West Ham did their dividends and it wasn't just he looks good.
00:26:05
Speaker
But and you just got it done so quickly and it's so frustrating to a team who at the minute isn't looking great in the wing-out department. Barnes hasn't ah performed. Jacob Murphy's having the season of his life, but we all know it's not going to continue. So very um it was very frustrating. and And for me, he's fantastic player.
00:26:24
Speaker
But then the second is the the player that scored the opener in the 2-0 at St. James'. That's Thomas Suchek. um I don't know what it is because when ah whenever I see play see him, and to be honest, it hasn't been often, ah not against Newcastle, doesn't seem to play that well.
00:26:41
Speaker
But when I see him against Newcastle, he seems to be a bit of a colossus. um he does He's really good in the air, and it's one of those that... I think if you're going to score the opening goal, set pieces are going to be something we really are going to struggle with.
00:26:55
Speaker
Now, that was the only set piece goal we conceded for a long time. um And I'm quite fearful that it'll happen again. So alongside the obvious Jared Bowen, those two are my main threats.
00:27:09
Speaker
Yeah, I think they're very good points, to be honest. I don't think you really need to say much about Jarrod Bowen. He's unbelievably good. Yeah. The conversation is brilliant as well because he's someone that really hasn't got as many goals in the season as he should have done, to be honest. You you look at the way he plays, like you say, he's so direct. And he always has his numbers of take-ons and successful dribbles are always, he usually has about 30 or 40 more than the next person at the end of the season, which is mind-blowing, to be honest.
00:27:37
Speaker
yeah I'm terrified that he's going to leave because he should definitely be playing Champions football. You know, the way that he is... I agree. any player in the Premier League, he's able to make them look so silly and sit them down and turn on a dime and just yeah just absolutely roast him.
00:27:52
Speaker
In the Arsenal game, the fact that Skelly got sent off was because he's been absolutely dispossessed. Kudus has been more hungry. He's dispossessed him. and There's only really one thing you can do after Kudus gets past you because he's probably quicker than you.
00:28:04
Speaker
He's very strong. He's got really long arms as well. i if you've noticed this. His arms are very long and they're very muscular, so he like dribbles past you and shoves you out of the way at the same time, which is crazy and it's brilliant, and I love it. um but Like ah a non-baby-oiled Adam Atriori. Yeah, a little bit, a little bit.
00:28:22
Speaker
Yeah, he's that comparison is is really good actually. It's and not what I've thought about before but but yeah, I just love him He's he's so good and and Thomas Sujek is just an absolute warrior. I think is how I describe it He's he's a leader but not verbally it's by his actions. He he's always running He's always putting in challenges. He the amount of headers that he wins is ridiculous. I very rarely see him lose a header to be honest um Yeah, and the the goal threat the kind of strange goal threat he always just seems to be in a position to score a goal it's not it doesn't really ever seem like he's made a run or he's you know lost his defender he just kind of ends up there but i'm not complaining because i think that is a skill in itself you know like knowing where to be so 100 positioning yeah yeah i completely agree okay so when it comes to newcastle obviously the obvious one is isak he's unbelievably good i am gonna say him because i'm terrified of him to be honest he's
00:29:17
Speaker
arguably the best striker in the league. I know the him and Haaland debate is interesting. I'm not really sure I stand on it, to be honest. um It kind of depends what the criteria is. If you're saying just goals, you kind of have to go on who's scored more goals. But if you're going on like overall play and influence on a team and like ability to kind of push you over the line, you'd say that Leeds definitely makes Newcastle better than Haaland makes City. So yeah, I'd agree.
Newcastle's Rising Stars
00:29:43
Speaker
I'm just terrified. i think you'd have to be so on your A game when you're defending him because he seems to be able to kind of beat you in any way possible. He can smash it in the top bins. He can place it really nicely. He's got finesse sometimes. He's got power sometimes.
00:29:59
Speaker
So, yeah, absolutely terrified of him. The next one, who's he's maybe kind of an an underrated one who I don't know will actually play this game. He might do. You'll probably let me know. It's Louis Smiley.
00:30:11
Speaker
I think he's yeah he he goes under the radar massively because... because his name has been thrown about quite a lot over kind of probably last season, maybe a little bit before. I'm not sure when he first broke into the first team, but the chatter kind of died down and he's gone about having very productive games and having a really solid season. In my opinion, I don't, I don't know what your opinion on that is, but,
00:30:34
Speaker
I just really like him. I think he looks like he's becoming a really good little player. And I think he will emerge as one of Newcastle's better players in in the coming season. So, yeah, I think for me, they're my two. I think Lewis Miley is just one that you wouldn't normally think of as being a threat.
00:30:50
Speaker
But when Newcastle are playing games in different competitions, it's players like that that then get the opportunity to prove themselves. And I feel like he could be someone that ah has a really positive influence on this game.
00:31:01
Speaker
Yeah, I think you're 100% correct. ah It's easy to look at a midfield three of Bruno Tonali and Miley and look at Miley as the weak link. But um when we really realised that Miley was a good player, was we played, believe it was PSG in the Champions League, and he he didn't look out of place. And unfortunately...
00:31:20
Speaker
He's had an injury um for most for a large portion of the season. and He's come back in 2025 and he's really bulked up. One of the things that we noticed um last season was that hi he's a little bit too lightweight for central midfield and for those big games.
00:31:37
Speaker
He's come back, he's bulked up, and he still looks as good on the ball. He's still... He was never a quick player, but it's one of those every time he gets on the ball, he looks exciting.
00:31:48
Speaker
And to be honest, we looked terrible against Manchester City until Miley came on, um albeit it was too late. um But we look a lot better with and a 19-year-old in midfield than we have with Bruno Gamares, Tonali, and I believe who would have been, it would have been Joe Linton, I believe, at the time.
00:32:07
Speaker
um So, you know, that on paper, one of the best midfield three, but somehow it's been made better with Lewis Miley. And I'm not going to go overboard. He's 19. Still got a lot to learn, but the potential is there for him to be one of our, certainly one of our best centre mids of all time.
00:32:24
Speaker
Yeah, I completely agree. I just love seeing Youth Academy players come through, to be honest. 100%. It's a different feeling when it's ah one of your own Youth Academy prospects. are I don't really know how to explain it, really. It's just like you're just so happy for them and you want them to do well. And when they do do well, it just, yeah, it is brilliant.
Match Predictions and Fan Experiences
00:32:42
Speaker
um Okay, so to end the podcast, I would like you to give me your prediction.
00:32:49
Speaker
yeah i I want to say that I think, you know, I am going to say, I think Newcastle are going to come out winners. um We tend to do better against you at the London Stadium than we do at St. James's Park, um which is thankful because we couldn't have been much worse than we were at St. James's Park.
00:33:08
Speaker
um but you nullified us really well and I think the fact that under Potter you're less likely to sit back um and sort of absorb the pressure like you did that day, I think you'll give us a good game, it'll be 50-50 end to end but I do think the quality of Alexander Izak maybe the return of Joel Linton will steer us through it's going to be a much harder game than what I think some people realise but I think we'll edge it but um I really wouldn't be surprised if it ended as a draw.
00:33:40
Speaker
Yeah, i I agree with a lot of that. I think the London Stadium is such a strange such a strange place but for our kind of football games.
00:33:53
Speaker
I know that might sound slightly vague, but the way that we... Sorry, just to sort of cut you through there. just We've had very interesting talks on our part about stadiums.
00:34:05
Speaker
how do you feel about the London stadium just quickly? Because I think as a West Ham fan going from Upton park to, to the London stadium, but it, it must've had so much potential, but since you've got there, it must be sort of, oh, we kind of, we kind of miss that because we're looking likely to move from St. James's park, which is the reason I ask. And,
00:34:26
Speaker
I feel like we're going to be in a similar scenario. So ah just quickly, how has it sort of felt moving, if you don't mind me asking? i I think I would equate it to having a step-parent that you're not that fond of, but they aren't going anywhere. So you just kind of have to deal with it and accept it and find the good in it and create a relationship that isn't necessarily there at the beginning, if that makes sense. know that's a very strange analogy. Yeah.
00:34:50
Speaker
We are there now. you know That's it. We just have to accept it. I think chat about whether it was the right thing to do and, oh, we shouldn't be there, blah, blah, blah. like what what are we supposed to do now?
00:35:01
Speaker
We're supposed to find another stadium from somewhere and but it just isn't going to happen. The actual stadium itself, I think especially since the um the increasing amount of seats. So I went relatively soon after it opened and yeah, it was pretty bad, to be honest. like the The big running track meant the fans were really far away from the pitch.
00:35:21
Speaker
You actually go for a game now and it's not really that far away from a pitch. like There are... There are stadiums all over the world that play with a big running track around the pitch and the atmosphere can still be good. The atmosphere at the London Stadium is good. like It's not terrible. People say it's like completely silent, which isn't true.
00:35:38
Speaker
It's not necessarily making on this like bouncing noise that you get from a really tight-knit stadium, but We consistently get 36,500 fans, which is the most in London. We have the largest fan base in London, I think.
00:35:52
Speaker
I don't know if that's completely accurate, but you know we consistently fill the London Stadium and that's not an easy thing to do. So you you look at it in the grand scheme of things, like if we are pushing for European football, the fact that we've got...
00:36:04
Speaker
like over 60,000 fans for every game. that's It's brilliant. And when when in the big games, the atmosphere is there. The place does absolutely rock. I think, especially so I went to the Sevilla game in the Europa League a couple of years ago when we beat them.
00:36:19
Speaker
The place was absolutely bouncing. The noise was incredible. The whole stadium singing bubbles was amazing. it It's just, it takes a lot to make it that sort of atmosphere. So is it the best place possible? No.
00:36:35
Speaker
But is it as terrible as people make out to be? No, of course it's not. just People just like to complain. They don't like change. Obviously, the um Upton Park was a beautiful place and it's got a magical place in every West Ham fan's memory. But...
00:36:51
Speaker
You look at the actual location, there was no real room for expansion. The infrastructure around the stadium wasn't great. The public transport there was really difficult. like If you're talking actual logistical terms, it was definitely the right move. It's just, is there anything that could have been done better early on? I think it's probably more the question. so So yeah, it's a difficult one, but I'm not massively unhappy with it, to be honest.
00:37:18
Speaker
That makes sense. I mean, there's a lot of comparisons, I think, between the two clubs. Most importantly, two fantastic fan bases. And it's one of those where I've seen and heard from West Ham fans and it's it's one of those where I say, ah, we kind of wish this we'd stayed, but we're in this situation now, so let's just get on with it. And it will probably be the same, which is why I just just to draw the comparison for our listeners. But...
00:37:41
Speaker
Apologies for talking over you and asking that question. But how what about you? What do you think the game's going to be like? Um... i'm I'm very scared. I'm scared of Ezek. I don't know if you can tell. i don't know if I've said it already. A little bit.
00:37:56
Speaker
But like it. Keep it going. yeah um Well, I think I'd be stupid not to. You know like you have to be honest about the team you're facing in it, and he's in brilliant form. So I think he scores.
00:38:07
Speaker
I'm going to say to West Ham. I think he's obviously optimistic. if If I'm being real, it's going to be a really tough game. I think Newcastle will have a lot of quality. The thing that goes in our favour is the competitions, is the fact that you're going to have you're going to be thinking about other things.
00:38:25
Speaker
There's no other thing that all of those West Ham players think about. They're thinking about right there, right now. In the back of the Newcastle players' minds, if they want to play in like other competitions that you have...
00:38:36
Speaker
They're going to be thinking, oh, maybe I don't make that challenge. Maybe I don't stretch that a little bit further. Maybe I don't empty the tank because there's an opportunity to actually win something.
00:38:47
Speaker
So yeah I think that could be something that plays in our favour massively. I'm going to say 2-1. I think we concede early. I think Izak scores in the first half. We play very poor, very slow. but That happens quite a lot at home.
00:39:02
Speaker
In the second half, I think we make a few changes. I think Evan Ferguson comes on and I think that we then end up scoring two goals in the second half. Like i say, Jarrod Bowen, Evan Ferguson, to West Ham. Happy days.
00:39:13
Speaker
Not for you. Apologies. But it's actually question, isn't it? Yeah, that's that's fine. Evan Ferguson, his best ever performance has come against us as well. Got a hat-trick against us for Brighton, and I don't think he scored for them for the rest of the season.
Closing Remarks and Network Promotion
00:39:28
Speaker
And it was in game three or something like that. So, yeah, we we tell we had that exact back line has struggled with them before. But either way, I think i think it's going to be a great game.
00:39:37
Speaker
And it's obviously going to be very tight. So good for the neutral, maybe not good for our fingernails. Yeah, I'm... ah do Do you think he's that will score? I just just want to kind of put that out there because it's slightly obvious that I probably do.
00:39:52
Speaker
ah There's not a game that goes by where I don't think he'll score. He is... Seriously, if we didn't have Alexander Rezac, we would be where you are right now, fifteen I think you are on the table.
00:40:04
Speaker
We'd be down there because it's so tight. There's, what, 11 points between the two clubs? alex Alexander Isak's done more than win us 11 points this season. So without him, we'd be in... I'm not saying we'd be in trouble, but yeah we'd be in a much different position. We wouldn't be pushing for Champions League. So yeah, I always expect Alexander Isak to score.
00:40:25
Speaker
He's arguably the best striker we've had since Alan Shearer. Maybe as a complete player, little bit better, but... Shearer was obviously pretty decent at scoring goals.
00:40:36
Speaker
Yeah, he was all right, wasn't he? He wasn't too bad. He was okay. Maybe not not quite Miguel Antonio, but he he was okay on his day, wasn't he? Miguel Antonio against Newcastle is very different to Miguel Antonio against anyone else, so I'll agree with that. He's a machine against us.
00:40:50
Speaker
Yeah, he's a machine against a lot of teams. um Okay, well, I think that's going to end today's podcast. ah Thank you very much much for watching this episode of the Daily GSPN podcast. Say goodbye, mate. thanks Thanks West Ham fans for having me in Newcastle.
00:41:04
Speaker
I hope we see a win. If you enjoyed this podcast, please rate it five stars and check out all of our social medias linked in the description. Also go and check out the daily GSPN Newcastle podcast. Do great stuff over there. So go check it out.
00:41:17
Speaker
Check out all the other podcasts under the GSPN podcast network banner. We've got the women's football podcast, the daily wrap up podcast and all sorts of languages. Got a fantasy football podcast and obviously all of the other Premier League teams podcast.
00:41:29
Speaker
Thank very much for listening and we will see you again soon. Goodbye.
00:41:34
Speaker
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00:41:38
Speaker
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