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Episode 008 -  Wildcard Wednesday's Transfer News and Views image

Episode 008 - Wildcard Wednesday's Transfer News and Views

Daily West Ham
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18 Plays10 months ago

In today's Wildcard Wednesday we bring you a comprehensive breakdown of our recent signings and remaining transfer rumours as we approach the end of the transfer window.

Hosts: Josh Keech, Jacob Elkins and Tom Elkins

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Transcript

Introduction and Host Welcome

00:00:09
Josh Keech
Hello everyone, this is Josh. I'm with both of the Elkins brothers today with the GSPN West Ham podcast. Today we're going to be talking about transfers, but how are you guys doing?
00:00:19
officialgspn
Ready, good mate. Ready, to good.
00:00:21
Jacob
Yeah, very good. Thank you.
00:00:23
Josh Keech
Really, we ah so we talked about

Early Transfer Window Moves

00:00:25
Josh Keech
transfers. It's always a nice positive one. We're at the end of the window. We've done loads of business early. So one, lots to talk about and two, lots of positive things. So I guess first place to start is what's been happening. It's basically been a bit like a career mode, really. I i feel like we've just done a just taken over club and signed a bunch of players, but actually but look a bit deeper. Loads more has happened. and I can't be waiting to dive in any further to it.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka Signing Discussion

00:00:48
officialgspn
I think one thing that we haven't really spoken about, obviously he's already played for us, so we know what he he looks like, but the the getting Aaron Wambasaka over Mazzralli, how do we feel about that?
00:00:59
Josh Keech
Buzzing. Loving it.
00:01:00
Jacob
Yeah, definitely. Um, I think that initially when we were linked with Maserati, that was exciting. And then to see him, you know, then kind of get poached by man you United, I think we've done well. So I think landing either of them would have been excellent, but, but based on that little cameo of what we've seen of Wambersack already, um, he looks, he looks perfect.
00:01:28
Josh Keech
I always have it, I think, where I don't know why. I've always had it in my head that Wamba Saka is so much older than he is. But actually, he's still relatively young and got loads of you know time to you know continue developing his game. and i always ah I always think it's ah he's so much further in his career than he is. So actually, for a good bit of money for value in terms of how much he's got left and obviously ah you know to show us as well. And we've seen a bit of him already. And it's been brilliant.
00:01:51
officialgspn
Yeah, and if you look at what we paid for him, what was it around 15 million? I think around there wasn't it?
00:01:55
Jacob
Yeah.
00:01:57
Josh Keech
Yeah.
00:01:57
officialgspn
Considering when we paid that much for him in that one cameo you think we could have paid, you know Probably double that and we're still getting our money's worth. So generally really happy and and I'm also happy that we've got someone who I feel like this is similar with a lot of players that go to some of the big clubs. I think United specifically, its it's so easy for them to kind of stagnate in their career progression. It's obviously such a difficult place to do well and the kind of pressure for playing for Man United, I think.
00:02:25
officialgspn
particularly when the expectations are so high but the reality is that they're nowhere near as good as they probably should be or they think they should be so I think so many players go there expecting success and then it doesn't happen and fingers get pointed at everyone and your career kind of stagnates so I'm glad that we've been able to take him for a really reasonable fee and hopefully reignite his career and sign a player who obviously has quality like the reason they signed him is because he was really good at Palace and hopefully he can continue to do well. And I think the fact that we missed out on Maserati, I think everyone was a bit frustrated in the moment, but now I think the West Ham fans feel like we've actually come out of the situation as the better team. I think we've done better than United because I'd say that Maserati probably hasn't looked as good as Aaron Wanabasaka. I know he's probably not played a lot, but yeah, I'm really happy with it.

Club's Transfer Satisfaction and Depth

00:03:20
Josh Keech
I think the one thing we can take from the business has been done so far.
00:03:20
Jacob
Yeah, go.
00:03:22
Josh Keech
Sorry, Jacob. I think it's, it's one of those, well, you know, the earlier we've, we've got all this business done, it means everyone's got so much more time to get settled.
00:03:24
Jacob
That's all right.
00:03:30
Josh Keech
I know we've, we said, you know, prior to Lobotaker getting settled in and doing his business that we just want to see some early, early business off the start because he'll have a vision of what he wants anyway. And he has players he'll trust from where he's worked.
00:03:41
Josh Keech
Obviously. being with his primary league experience he'll know the market fairly well and I think from that side we've got you know a couple of days left now of the window and I think we we couldn't have been in a better place compared to some of the other clubs that are now sort of scrambling a little bit I know there's um you know a lot of lot of work with Chelsea still going on currently and being probably one of the better sort of well positioned in terms of transfer London clubs i'm I'm quite happy with the business so far.
00:04:09
Jacob
yeah i mean this window has been something that none of us would have ever seen um or expected you know to happen um it's just constant signings we now got great depth there's not really any not shouldn't be a lot left for us to do now really um i would think um
00:04:31
Josh Keech
the
00:04:33
Josh Keech
Yeah, it's it's tricky, really. I mean, if, you know, it is almost, it feels like a little bit like one of those, you know, those career mode kind of windows where you've just signed everyone, not out of panic, but out of measure. And I think the depth now we've got is, is unreal compared to the last couple of seasons. I, you know, you don't sort of, I think previously we've looked at when subs have come on and you look and think, well, the you hope they do well but you don't know they're going to do well but you know the likes of who we can bring on now if i see fulcrum getting subbed on with 30 minutes left i know there's a high chance something's happening for example but i you know can i don't think we can say the same too much in some seasons in in recent years so i'm quite glad a lot of stuff has come about and we've we've obviously spent a lot of money as well and got a few people on freeze as well so it's it's been quite good i think across the board
00:05:19
Josh Keech
but ah But who are you guys' is favorite signings so far? and Based that on, I guess, prospect of how they're going to be playing and also from what we've seen so far in the recent match days.

Favorite New Signings Analysis

00:05:31
officialgspn
hey I don't know, it's it's difficult because we've made so many good signings. I think it's not the case that we've invested all of our money and all of our hopes in one player and then kind of signed other people's contingency, if that doesn't work. We've gone big in quite a few positions, which I really like. I think personally, falquering is a really, the message it sends, I think is really good. You know, scoring in Champions League semi-finals,
00:06:00
officialgspn
And the fact that there is kind of a general lack of strikers around right now, those two factors leading to him signing for West Ham, it assume seems like a really big statement. I know I've probably said that before, but. it's good that we're going for people who are genuinely firstly sought after because you know everyone wants a good striker and you you know that he is going to contribute with goals and he is going to kind of elevate the whole team in general and the fact that he's playing for Germany as well I think it is also a big big statement like he's he's someone who is very highly thought of
00:06:33
officialgspn
at club and international level, so so really happy with it. I think that signing for me, I was like, okay, now we really mean business. We've we've gone in for someone who is of very high quality.
00:06:46
Jacob
Yeah, I mean, obviously, similarly to Tom, um the likes of full Krug, you know, the exciting goalscorers but for me um I think the biggest probably most influential player um is Kilman I think he's that missing piece that we've we've needed you know a strong um capable centre back that you can always rely on um never have to worry about whether he's going to make a mistake you know you always thought maybe
00:07:04
Josh Keech
Yeah.
00:07:23
Jacob
Kurt Zuma had a mistake in him, never looked 100 fit. um So yeah, he's, he's my favorite by far. um And, you know, we've seen him carry the ball forward as well. You know, he can do everything. So yeah, that's really exciting.
00:07:40
officialgspn
Yeah I agree in all sort no and know you guys maybe aren't as big fans but Guido Rodriguez for me, I really like the signing.
00:07:40
Josh Keech
No, I have.
00:07:47
officialgspn
I think it's the fact that he was he was wanted by Javi. like I don't think you can be a a mediocre player or a half decent player if you're wanted by you know one of the best midfielders we've seen in a very long time. like He's obviously got some sort of special talent that he identified and wanted to bring him to the club for that reason. So I think the fact that, especially on a free transfer, like you think about value for money, it's it's an amazing deal. And the fact that we got him without paying for him,
00:08:22
officialgspn
and he was wanted by someone of Javi's talents. I think, again, it shows the position we are as a club and the sort of attractive prospect that we bring to a player who, you know, was previously linked with somewhere else, a club like Bar, so that breaks down.
00:08:36
Jacob
Haha.
00:08:37
officialgspn
We can then sweep him and be like, right, we'll give you this deal, we'll play you. Join this transition we're making from a mid-table Premier League team to a consistent European team.
00:08:48
officialgspn
So, so yeah, really happy to with that deal as well.
00:08:50
Josh Keech
I can't believe you guys have forgotten about our best signing. I think you both both slept on one there and that's Wes Fodringham. He's going to be our best player. I can't wait to see what he does in ah in in this season. I think he's going to start every game and he's going to play everything and get clean sheets. No, all jokes aside, you've said both the players. that i was a You took both my answers, basically, so I'm not happy now. But um but yeah, I think the striker market has been quite tough for a lot of clubs.
00:09:14
Josh Keech
I know a lot of people you know a lot of clubs are shifting away from that traditional striker at the moment so you're getting more of these wingers that are getting asked to do a lot more and cut in a lot more and sort of take on a bit more of those kind of roles so I think that it's been quite tough for a lot of clubs so to sign such a prolific striker that as they has international duties as well and also sign a you know Premier League starting centre back the captain was the previous captain for Wolves ah yeah Based on what we've seen so far, both of them have seen relatively, you know, they're slowly starting to settle in now, particularly, you know, we look at the last match against Crystal Palace and I thought Kilman was playing the match. Definitely couldn't, couldn't not have picked to anyone better. you You know, so settled at the back and, you know, a nice, sturdy back climbs. What I like to say, you know, we having more possession and not crying at less than 20%. So, uh, so for me, I thought it was, you know, all round both of those. So I think going to be our, hopefully, I think, uh, at least early shining stars that we've brought into the club.
00:10:10
Jacob
Cool. Yeah. So we're going to go to a quick break now where you'll hear from one of our sponsors and we will be back to talk about more potential transfers.
00:10:46
Josh Keech
Brilliant. I want to talk about rumours. Now,

Tammy Abraham and Squad Dynamics

00:10:49
Josh Keech
I think the one thing that we always fall victim of is getting linked to about 50 strikers in the window, because that happens every year, because we always struggle to find that striker that that fits our system. However, I think across the board this time round, there's been quite a lot of variety from players where we've been looking in the window from different clubs, you know, across the pond, and just looking, looking, I think we've been a bit more versatile of where we've been looking this time round. I think Tim's done an excellent job of, you know,
00:11:14
Josh Keech
bringing the caliber of players we want to see and also not from just the, you know, just just from local side as well. So I think from that that regard, I mean, who who have you guys found quite interesting? We've been linked to currently and obviously throughout the whole window.
00:11:28
officialgspn
I think the the link with Tammy Abraham is it' an interesting one. At face value, it's amazing. like I would be really happy to have Tammy Abraham as a player because I think he is someone that is definitely a a goalscorer that has proven he can do it in the Premier League. I think it was unfortunate the way that he left Chelsea. It was kind of pushed out, which I thought was maybe slightly harsh and that kind of is indicative of Chelsea's model of, you know, signing players right now. It's a bit of a mess. um The one question mark I have over it is,
00:12:05
officialgspn
The fact that we then have four strikers in the squad who you think at least three of them, if he does sign, are going to want consistent minutes, which I think then creates kind of a problem that maybe we don't need. I think if we've got one of those strikers that we know is going out the door, then I think it it leaves room for Tammy to come in and get some good minutes. but You know, if we've got Ings, Antonio, full Krogan, Tammy Abraham all searching for minutes, I think it is going to create some issues in the squad, which I don't know if it's going to have an overall positive impact. So, yeah, I don't know. Like you look at it, it's it's brilliant to have a ah player of his caliber, but I think we need to create room for him in the squad before just buying him and then realizing we've got a load of people that want to play.
00:12:56
Josh Keech
Yeah, I think it'll be one of those things really, isn't it, where, unless someone's going, I don't, I can't see it fully going all the way through, unless there's that talk we're not hearing. but've I've not seen anything so far about either Antonio Orings looking to depart.
00:13:10
Josh Keech
I know I think I'd love for rings to leave, to be honest. That sounds so ah awful in comparison, but I just, I've not seen enough of him to want, I'd rather get a Ram in and send send someone, sounds bad, but send someone packing really a bit, a bit like the Chelsea model, but
00:13:20
Jacob
Thank you.
00:13:24
Josh Keech
I mean he's not the first of the of some of the ex-Chelsea boys we've been linked to. Obviously I think at the start of the window, one of the ones Osmo was shot by was Tamori. I sound brilliant, you know, a Champions League level player.
00:13:35
Josh Keech
brilliant and played in the Premier League and has that experience, so no camp can do it. But I just wanted to see, you know, it's been brilliant, the kind of players that we can be bringing in. But I'm quite sad we didn't bring them

Youth Player Departure and Development

00:13:47
Josh Keech
in, to be honest. But I mean, I'm trying to think of other other rumoured players that we have had coming through. It's almost weird now. I think you've been linked to everyone, but it's hard to go back and think, but who else do you reckon? I mean, we've got our departures as well, obviously. Mubama leaving is going to be a bit of a at least rumoured to leave. That's a bit of what I'm very shocked about. I'm now looking at going.
00:14:09
officialgspn
Yeah. No,
00:14:09
Jacob
yeah so with um with mobama i mean it's a bit of a sorry to cut you off tom um i'm gonna say the same thing um yeah it's a bit of a a bit of sweet one for me um they obviously see something in him you know a club like man city to to bring him in not a you know i think it was around 1.2 million
00:14:15
officialgspn
no you're right. I think you're going to say what I'm going to say anyway. So it's fine. Yeah.
00:14:35
Josh Keech
Yeah.
00:14:36
Jacob
um they've paid which you know just goes to show they they do see some potential in him um and it does make you wonder you know could we have given him more of a chance here could we've sent him out on another loan monitored his progress brought him back you know um yeah that that's a bit of a tough one to take because you could end up being this world-class striker that we've let go for next to nothing. I don't know what you guys think about that one.
00:15:08
officialgspn
That's all. Yeah, I'm exactly the same. it it's It's just disappointing, like, someone to come through the academy to do so well in all of the youth age groups for West Ham. For them, for him to think the best way for him to progress his career is to leave. It just, it confuses me, like, why put all that effort into you know trying to develop someone for so long and then it gets to the point where they're really starting to kick on and become the player that they're gonna be. you know played in the He's played in the Europa League, he's played in the Conference League, he's done well. Then for us to just kind of let him go for pennies and Man City to snap him up, it's it's frustrating because it seems like they're willing to put the effort in to see him reach his full potential that we just weren't able to.
00:16:01
Josh Keech
Yeah.
00:16:01
officialgspn
Like, ah I don't know why we haven't made more of an effort to keep him at the club and tell him, you know, get you loans and the ah path is there for you to, in a couple of years, join the first team and become an integral part of it. Because I think there's definitely a world where he does make that progression, he does improve, he gets the loan, he scores goals, you know, in the the lower English leagues, or maybe goes abroad for a year or two and comes back and becomes a really, really good player. I think he has that potential. so The fact that we've let him go and not even got any decent amount of money for it or, you know, we we haven't even given him the opportunity to try and progress.
00:16:37
officialgspn
it it's It's really frustrating if I'm honest.
00:16:40
officialgspn
It's one of the the bits of business we've done that is he' a bit annoying, if I'm honest.
00:16:40
Josh Keech
Yeah.
00:16:45
Josh Keech
It's a double-edged sword, isn't it? Because on on the one hand, brilliant that, you know, Man City's recognised him as someone with that talent and they think we'll be there. But also on the other side of it, you're right, pennys pennies really, for for the player that i even I think he is, you know, last Last season, throughout all of the preseason, he looked real ridiculously good. And I don't think he got the chance he probably deserved for how well he has played outside of you know the substitutions he does get to come on, which are mostly sporadic anyway. But also as well, I don't think it shows a particularly good light on the youth development that we do have, even though I think we do have quite a good function here that works quite well because he's moving to a place where he's probably not going to get barely any Premier League time based on the forwards that City have anyway.
00:17:28
Josh Keech
that, you know, it's showing that he's willing to go there knowing he's not going to get any game time just to develop his career then then actually try and go out somewhere from us and actually play. I think that might not send the best message to people, you know, from, you know, it's a youth prospect for the club. But I mean, right. So we've got a few more recently. Potts has obviously moved on on a loan spell, which is good news. I think it's good that we're not keeping them on the bench and not utilizing them, then get them out and get some game time and get, get you know, get that experience in just so they they're a bit freshened up. But same with earthy as well obviously so i think there's there's some shining lights going on true now that's one thing we want to talk about more as well is but a lot of that you know outside of transfer as well so how the youth are progressing because it'd be great to see how we think they can shape up and obviously try and adapt and get themselves into the lineup so that's some more stuff to come from us in that side of it but uh but yeah it's uh it's been very interesting with a lot of the young players moving about as well i've been quite uh interested to see where they all go
00:18:01
officialgspn
know Also, Callum Marshall scored on his debut for Huddersfield as well, which is very, very impressive. Pretty good signs.
00:18:29
Jacob
Yeah, I think with the youth prospects this season, I think then they're going to have ah probably less opportunity. um you know If they don't get that loan move, I think they're going to find themselves not even on the bench. you know We've got a deep squad now. um If we don't see more outgoings, then the likelihood is they're not going to get game time. They're not even going to get on the bench. If you think about who we've got that
00:19:01
Jacob
hasn't even made the bench the likes of Cornette. Has he been on the bench? I don't think he has. um Yeah.
00:19:06
Josh Keech
This way.
00:19:07
officialgspn
maybe a couple of times pre-season and I'm not sure about the actual prem.
00:19:11
Jacob
Yeah. So it's it's difficult. ah You know, we don't want to see players move on prematurely, but they're going to struggle with actually making appearances this season with the with the size of the squad we've now got.
00:19:27
Jacob
You know, we're not to the level of the likes of Chelsea or people like that. But now I think the focus should be on letting those players go um at the right time.
00:19:41
Jacob
You know, the ones that aren't going to get minutes anymore. You know, Ings, Zuma looks like he's on his way.
00:19:45
officialgspn
yeah Yeah, I think older players, if there's no room for them in the squad, let's just get them gone.
00:19:48
Jacob
um Antonio, maybe they're going to see out his contract, but yeah.
00:19:59
officialgspn
Let's try and recoup as much transfer value from them as we can. and I think maybe Antonio it's slightly different because he's been at the club for so long and you kind of understand it but some of the other players I just don't think it's worth letting them run out their contract and go on a free because so if we can get a couple of million for them it it's better than nothing you know I think especially you know for the likes of Ings and I think Zuma obviously the fact that he is leaving it's good that we're capitalizing on the transfer value we can get for them and then the younger guys I think just get them out alone let's get as many younger players out alone as we can
00:20:33
officialgspn
And then hopefully, fingers crossed, we can get European football with this next season. That's when you can bring them back and we can be like, right, we've now got an extra tournament to play, which, you know, if we do well, it's going to be an extra, you know, six, seven, eight games potentially. So at that point, we can then say, look at all these games we've got. We're going to bring you back. You're going to be on the kind of periphery of the squad. But when it comes to, you know, those long European nights away where we've played, you know, two days before,
00:21:02
officialgspn
you're going to be on the bench, you're going to come on, you're going to get minutes, that's when you make your impact and that's the opportunity for you to fight for your own place in the team and that's I think kind of the the best way to look at it for ah for a youth player's point of view because I think ah think Jacob's right when you talk about if they if they are just there, they're not going to get minutes.
00:21:22
officialgspn
If they're just in the squad, they're going to languish, you know, maybe on the bench, maybe not even that, because we've got such depth now. So, yeah, I think as many young players getting first in football as we can, and then as soon as European football comes, that's when we bring them back and start to integrate them into the team.
00:21:40
Jacob
Cool. So we're going to head to one last break from one of our sponsors and we'll be back to talk about more transfers.

Managerial Expectations and European Ambitions

00:22:27
Josh Keech
Right, now I want to start with a bit of a hot take that I want want your thoughts on. I know we've recently spoke about Tommy Abraham coming in potentially. I was that the you know the process is advancing a lot more now. We're seeing updates every day that it's getting closer and closer and I would absolutely love it. I need to see someone leave him to come in, in my opinion. But my hot take is, I think if we bring him in, I think the expectation on the manager is going to increase significantly to the point that we have to get Europe.
00:22:56
Josh Keech
i I'd be very shocked with the level. I know in terms of getting players settled and getting this yeah and the team all sorted, we need to make sure that everyone gets themselves you know settled in and playing well. But also, if we're bringing the likes of Abraham in this season, aspirationally, I think we can do it anyway. But I wonder if there's going to be an even greater headache on Lopate to try and get within that top seven potentially six depending on how how we do fair so if I know it's early days season and season in anyway so I mean what do you guys reckon do you think I think is achievable anyway but do you think there'll be that expectation from you know at least club level there'll be that that sort of banging on the door very much for the season
00:23:37
officialgspn
I think that ship's already sailed, if I'm honest, mate. The fact that if you look at any video on, you know, social media, people discussing who's won the window in inverted commas, like kind of winning the window doesn't really exist. it You know, you have to take the context of every team into consideration. But most people are saying that West Ham have won. I hear that a lot. And with that expectation of ah West Ham have won, it's going to be what are they doing with this amazing transfer window? So that pressure that you're already talking about, I think whether we get to Abraham or not, that pressure is here. And in order to kind of squash the people saying, oh, well, you know, ah you've won the window. You've made all these great signings. You need this. You need that. We need to make sure that at the start of the season, we are performing well. And I think the palace result is
00:24:29
officialgspn
taken a ah little step to kind of making the conversation around, oh, West Ham have had the best window. Can they you know follow through? Where are they going to finish European football? It's kind of.
00:24:40
officialgspn
every win will make those conversations, you know, go down a little bit more, which I think i think is going to be key if we do want to succeed. you can um there's There's definitely a ah world where we, you know, lose the first two games, play city, lose to them, you know, we then lose three games in a row off the bounce of the start of the season. People then go, oh, well, they've had this amazing window, but they're not winning games. What's going on there? What's Lopategi doing? The negative conversations around West Ham start. so Yeah, I think that we already have that pressure. So I think the the Tammy Abraham signing would probably not really add more to that pressure because everyone's already saying we won the window, if that makes sense.
00:25:22
Josh Keech
okay yeah
00:25:23
Jacob
Yeah, i think I think a lot of it is is justified, to be honest.
00:25:23
Josh Keech
that fair yeah
00:25:28
Jacob
A lot of a lot of what people are saying, um of course, they see it as, you know, we've just signed 100 players. Obviously, we haven't signed that many.
00:25:40
Jacob
But and I think it is justified, to be honest. There's a clear message that they want to see significant improvement. They want to make a ah real um impact this season to get up the table with all these signings. Otherwise, they wouldn't do it. um They've given Lopategi and Styton the free reign to sort of go and get their their men that they're after.
00:26:12
Jacob
um and it just shows that I think the ambition is where it should be and yeah off the back of that that palace result I think that's given everyone a little bit more confidence that we've got the players that we need ah there isn't a huge amount else that we can do now maybe Tammy Abraham, maybe not. I'm sure he would just add to so the quality. and That probably means we need to get rid of at least Ings or Antonio. um But yeah, it just shows that the ambition, I think. And I think we've got to kind of give it some time. But you know, we have the quality there now. So I'm sure we'll see good performances.
00:27:01
Josh Keech
Yeah, no, that's, I think, I think it's cool things to unpick with that, but you're both banged on the the right doors, really, I think, really that everyone I speak to, whether it be, you know, locally or even, even with our other GSP and counterparts, I think everyone kind of, you narrow it down to that, everyone says West Ham's been cooking this season in the window, at least anyway, that.

Valuing Experience Over Cost

00:27:20
Josh Keech
Everyone we've been bringing in, the value has been there. and Maybe the the question might maybe might be a bit on the fact that we played paid a lot for a lot of people with some age, but I think also that we get the experience as well. But I think regardless, the caliber of the players, regardless of that, have been exceptional. but We're but attracting a lot more of a higher caliber than we have recently.

Integration of New Players and Recent Matches

00:27:38
Josh Keech
And I think when we boil it down to how maybe they will achieve that,
00:27:42
Josh Keech
European ambition is probably going to all come down to integration and Getting everyone settled and fitting in the system and we are seeing it week on week now from People slowly, you know drip feeding into the team from the preseason and and then now starting in the prem not the best result against Villa But I'd argue that it was completely two different, you know, the the way we looked against Palace Was just miles better than what we what we saw in the Villa game. So I think if we can keep getting this development each week going forward, I know City next, not the, you know, not the ones you want really happening when you're trying to get that improvement every week. But equally, yeah I'm going to be the maybe the bold one here and say it'd be nice if if we can get even a point against City, which I think is very ambitious based on how they've been looking. And obviously based on last week with me triple-captain Harland. But ah I think all in all, I think realistically, you know, that drive we have and that momentum, if we can carry it forward,
00:28:39
Josh Keech
we just it'll It'll just provide so much reward for us down down the line in the season.

City Game Preview and Strategy

00:28:45
officialgspn
yeah I think the the progression in performance in such a short space of time from Villa to Palace is really promising. and Hopefully that's indicative of the the changes that are happening you know with the squad and the training and how the team is ah becoming one cohesive unit and if we can continue to progress in that positive way, I think it's only going to be good things this season. and I think the the City game, I don't think the result matters as much because losing to City is nothing to be ashamed of. It it happens to most teams. They're probably the best team in the world right now and have been for a while. so
00:29:25
officialgspn
As long as we can play well and look good, as long as it's not embarrassing, we don't want a four or five nil. As long as we play well, I think there is every chance we can win. You know, I think we do have the quality and you, you see last, you know, last season, the last game of the season, kudos with, you know, one of the best goals of the season. We have the players in the squad that can pull that quality out. So it's, it's not necessarily as daunting of a, a match as I think it's kind of played up to be sometimes.
00:29:54
Jacob
Yeah, the the first two games um I think have been a bit of a sort of warm up to this one. um I think he's had a chance now to see He's hopefully his best 11 now that basically everybody's available um with Alvarez returning.
00:30:16
Jacob
um and i yeah There's no reason why we can't go out there um and get yeah a point from City. you know i We've got the players to do it. We've got the mentality. um He may play more defensive to give us more of a chance, go for that Moyes counter-attacking style for that game. i'm yeah Only time will tell.

Conclusion and Audience Engagement

00:30:45
officialgspn
Yeah, definitely. Well, thank you very much guys for listening to this episode of the GSPN Daily West End podcast. Thank you Jacob and Josh for joining me. Say bye guys.
00:30:54
Josh Keech
Thank you so much for listening, guys. Take care.
00:30:58
Jacob
Cheers guys, thank you.
00:31:00
officialgspn
If you enjoyed this episode, please engage with this episode as much as you can. Rate us five stars on um Spotify. Please follow all of the socials. They are linked in the description. If you like this podcast, there are lots of other podcasts under the GSPN network. You have the fantasy football podcast, the women's football podcast. You have the Premier League wrap up in lots of different languages. You also have the other Premier League teams podcasts. ah Go check those out if you're interested. Thank you very much for listening and we will see you next time. Goodbye.