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Hammering Away Ep #23 - We Love Lucas Paquetá
150 Plays1 year ago
On today's episode of the podcast, Jack and Joe discuss West Ham's back-to-back wins over Olympiacos & Nottingham Forest, the many sides of Lucas Paquetá, Tomas Soucek's goalscoring form, 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
00:00:27
Speaker
to
Recap of West Ham's Recent Victories
00:00:28
Speaker
the Hammering Wave podcast. As always, it's Joe and Jack, your hosts. We'll be talking about West Ham's 1-0 win over Olympiacos on Thursday, our 3-2 win over Forrest on Sunday. And thank God we handled business this week like we said we would, because I do not want to get on here and talk about losing one of those games. Oh, man. Oh, man. That was like two, like, really, like, heart-wrenching games for most. Had to have them.
00:00:58
Speaker
Honestly, it would have been nice if you know, at least one of them could be comfortable. But that's what we signed up for, I guess. Um,
Analyzing Olympiacos' Manager's Tactics
00:01:09
Speaker
yeah, starting on Thursday. I, I enjoyed that performance. I mean, like, I didn't think that we played well or anything like that, but it's one of those really like grind it out, get the job done. Um, and I'm blanking on Olympia coast manager name right now, but I came to realize like in the week that pass that he's, um,
00:01:28
Speaker
He's a damn good manager. I forgot about him. He was at a, they might've said on the commentary too, he was at Granada a few years ago in Spain, got them promoted to La Liga, took them to a Europa League quarterfinal, I believe in 2020. So yeah, it's like, it to me, like obviously we knew Olympiacos were like an established like European side that would be difficult to deal with.
00:01:54
Speaker
But to me, that really legitimizes both of those games because you're up against somebody who clearly is like at the level tactically that is needed to be in Europe and to be in the top five league. So it makes it, I guess more like acceptable that we lost in Greece, especially with the team that we played. Yeah. I mean, they, they gave us 180 minutes of, of, you know, of a battle, which they did give us a battle.
00:02:22
Speaker
I mean, Fryberg was the team that was pinned out to be the one that we should be watching out for. They gave us problems, too. Yeah, but we were a... I mean, the scoreboard suggests we were much more equipped to dispatch Fryberg as we were Olympiacos. But I mean, with the home end of the Olympiacos this past Thursday,
00:02:52
Speaker
I thought it was like a pretty controlled result. We didn't create much, but at the same time, the Olympiacos didn't have much. So it did feel like it was like an inevitability. I was like concerned, but I was like, you know, I still feel like we'll get it done. We'll get it done. We'll get it done. And
Paquetta's Performance: Flaws and Charisma
00:03:10
Speaker
then, yeah. Yeah. What I was starting to say, not to cut you off, was that there is one stretch probably after halftime, probably the 50th, like the 60th minute.
00:03:21
Speaker
I don't know if remembering this totally correctly, but they, they like started kind of getting out on the break more and like really looking kind of dangerous. Um, and I wish that we didn't have a whole other game in between because, and there's one moment, it's probably, it was Paquetta and more perhaps who really around like the 60th minute kind of turned it up.
00:03:39
Speaker
because word prowess had been a passenger that whole game, Peketa could not stop giving the ball away. And when those two like this is a separate point, because this has happened a few times with these two, when they're both not playing well. It's a recipe for such a disaster in midfield, because like you have one guy who just refuses to
00:04:03
Speaker
change anything about the game with the ball at his feet. Just has no intention of doing anything with the ball. In the end, this other guy who thinks he's, I don't know who he thinks he is, but he can't stop giving the ball away. And then, you know, you take into effect, Paquetta gets all, you know, he gets in his head, he loses the ball. Either he's like really working for it to get back or he's like kind of like,
00:04:31
Speaker
It comes like you, it usually happens when he tries it a few times and he gets tired and then he can't drag back and then war prowess isn't athletic enough. It's just a recipe for disaster. When they both aren't playing well, that's a tangent. Sorry. Um, but I thought that they were the reason that we won the game, which is fitting that it was the two match winners. Well, we, uh, we talked about pick up, uh, uh, on Sunday privately. And we were talking about how he kind of gets like lost in like,
00:05:01
Speaker
He gets like lost in the game where he kind of just like is like focusing on like, like the individual battles on the pitch. He's playing like three different games at once every week, every three days.
00:05:16
Speaker
He's got somebody on the other team he's got a vendetta with. He's got the side that touched the sideline. He's got the assistant referee. He's got at least one midfielder. He's got the actual game. And he's got whatever pass he's decided this week that he wants to complete. He just fixates on.
00:05:40
Speaker
He's he has hyperfixations and you can see it. Do you remember the villa? I mean the villa game was the worst like he's like like border like he was like stemming. He's like with a vertical pass Antonio. He just couldn't stop.
00:05:58
Speaker
Well, I think like it was partially like a tactical like decision by Moyes. Like we're going to go over, they want to play this high line, we'll go over the top. I think that Paquetta just took it to a whole different level because he would pick the ball up, right? And he did that little thing he does when he receives it on the turn and like drives the ball with him and he turns and looks up and he would just play this curled ball behind the little center backs every time. Dude, he did it for like fucking 15 minutes and that was like 15 minutes that we lost the game. This is crazy.
00:06:29
Speaker
Man. All of that to say, he is an unbelievable player. I will be distraught the day that he leaves. Yeah, we love him for everything. Like, literally, I was thinking about it today. I honestly, like, he's the most enjoyable player I've ever had the privilege of rooting for. For all of the flaws and just so much, he's so much just character to his game. That's what it is. We'll never see anything like this again.
00:06:59
Speaker
And that's what but see, that's the thing that we were talking about. That's what makes him so West Ham. You know what I mean is like, like, those the same way that nothing is ever simple with us. Like we have this player with, like, arguably, the most pure talent, like technical ability talent we've ever seen at this club. Obviously, Rice turned into the absolute joke that he is. Pyatt, you know, he's the one. But just from the standpoint of like,
00:07:29
Speaker
what he can kind of do with a ball and making it look so easy and like he's not even trying. It's all the other things that make him West Ham because he's always, he's, he's throwing himself at the ground and he's just being, I don't know if there's any really, he's being a bastard all the time. Well, he's being more of something else, but like that's a better word to use. He's just,
00:07:57
Speaker
He truly fascinates me. He makes me at a loss of words because he'll have you pulling your hair out one minute and then he'll have you bowing down him the next minute. It's like nothing I've ever watched before.
00:08:16
Speaker
you know, behavior on the pitch. He really does love West Ham, which is like the coolest part. Like at the end of the day, he like gets himself lost in these little swabbles during the game. But at the end of the day, like, well, because of being a West Ham, that's the thing about him. And like, obviously, like he's going to want to go to city again if they come in again, because that's just how it works. He's a Brazilian, he has an OS, anything. And that's a dream move. And Pep will take all of the character out of his game and make him another robot. And he'll be
00:08:46
Speaker
probably better football or for it. Damn good robot. Yeah. But I think that's like what like what I'm saying about like what makes him West Ham is like he will feed off the fans and the fans kind of feed off of him like when he's like being a dickhead on the pitch and he's like putting his foot on top of the ball like the Chelsea game.
00:09:06
Speaker
Earlier, the season's a perfect example. The last 30 minutes of that game, nobody could touch him. And he's, you know, just to arm himself with the ground. He's putting his foot on the ball. He's shoving people off the ball, you know, like against Arsenal and he's doing the stepovers and stuff. And the crowd get all excited by that and they get with them. And he feels the crowd behind him. And with the crowd behind them, he just feels like he can do something even more ridiculous next time it touches the ball. And even more ridiculous next time it touches the ball. It's crazy.
00:09:31
Speaker
do the rainbow flick of the rainbow flick is the craziest thing dude to attempt the rainbow flick on a defender it wasn't martinelli it was like one of the wingers is viera and somebody who really wants no part of coming anywhere near you and like is not giving you the opportunity to do that it's crazy it's crazy
00:09:57
Speaker
And it's the most telegraphing I've ever seen, too. He did it with the full intention of losing the ball. I mean, he fouls him after he gives it away. That's the best part, is that he just fucking brings him down. But then the funniest part about it to me, that rainbow flick, is the little body faint that he does before he flicks it. Because it's like, first of all, your body fainting out of bounds.
00:10:24
Speaker
Second of all, nobody thinks you're going that way. Nobody thinks you're going right. Like we all see what you're about to do. Ridiculous. Ridiculous. And kudos is like the perfect little compliment for him because he'll start doing his little keepy uppies and you see a
00:10:43
Speaker
It was the ompi-akos game where Piketto was doing his keep you up. He's right in the middle of the pitch for no reason, by the way. He has his back to goal. He's in our third and he's just keeping the ball up and he gets fouled, which is fine. And then he's rolling around again. It's just incredible, dude. I literally, bro, if I had to watch a player like him play against my team and they were on it that day, I would be furious.
00:11:10
Speaker
Thank God he was never doing anything like this against us. He never had the chance to, dude. They never led. They never led. The one thing that I vividly remember of Paquetta is him and Bowen chasing after a ball in a 50-50, and Paquetta just absolutely bodying Bowen. I don't remember that. It was towards the end of the game, and they were like, the ball was rolling out of bounds.
00:11:40
Speaker
And that's totally blown off his path. And I was like, Oh, like, and that was like at one one. And I was like, Oh, like this team, like, it's going to be tough. He didn't start. We beat him three, no. And then we bought him that fake code. He knew exactly what he was doing. He came off the bench. Remember he like got the false positive. Oh my God.
00:12:09
Speaker
He did, bro, didn't he? Yeah, that's why he didn't start. He is such an enigma, dude. Because, of course, he got a false positive. You know what I mean? Of course, it was Lucas Paquetta.
00:12:28
Speaker
It's not, never knowing that guy, but with a word process, like, I know we got off like on that huge, like love fest for Paquette. Well, that's what it's all about. I mean, he scored twice this week when he's giving you output too. And just one last thing on him. So. And about like the 92nd minute, right? 91st minute, like thinking about match ratings a little bit. And I'm like, you know, like.
00:12:56
Speaker
Like I don't know who I'll give man a match to today, but I'm like, man, Paquetta is like really like, he's just playing his little flicks around the corner. He's been so good for us. Like back out, back out left by the way, which I said I was getting sick of. He looked awesome. Really awesome. And I'm like, you know, like, yeah, maybe, maybe like I get back on this like little Paquetta thing that I used to do at the end of last season, like, you know, bump them up. Cause it's just so nice to watch. I'm like, I'll give him a nine. Maybe I'll give him a man a match.
00:13:27
Speaker
dude the last five minutes i dropped him like a whole point in my head i was furious and then like and i still gave him a match because i almost like felt bad but i should it should have been word prouser again because dude what is he doing he's just like a troll dude dude we did two goals it was five two i i don't i don't get i don't get it
00:13:56
Speaker
The one, or I was going to say the one that I really don't get, but maybe I don't, I'm just going to do both. So the first one is he, it's true. Defenders close him down and we're proud of some boner, both in on gold. There's nobody around him. All he has to do is slide it in. Pause. And he is like, no, like I'm going to run to the corner flag. And it's like, oh, like so annoying, but like, fine. Like do what you got to do.
00:14:26
Speaker
And I don't know if he gets bored. I don't know if he gets distracted. I don't know if he has like a sudden urge that he can't like set like, um, he used to go to therapy, dude. He might be, I mean, there's nothing wrong with it, but it might be on the spectrum. No, no. Yeah. That's what I'm saying. He just like has to figure out like, what's, like, what's going on. He might like, like, imagine if we had like Adderall, Paquetta dude. That's what pep's going to do to him, bro. He's going to put him on like ADHD meds.
00:14:57
Speaker
Um, but yeah, and then he plays it and I honestly, I might have blacked out at that point. I, that was, I was so angry. Um, the pastor Antonio was just bad, which is fine. He does it so much though, where he can play a simple pass and he tries like first time at like, please stop. And then the one that blows my mind the most, which I don't know if this is one of the ones that people talk about or what, but Antonio gets played through.
00:15:26
Speaker
I haven't watched this back yet. I want to watch back because I'm, I'm convinced that he's not offside. I just, from, from, yeah, just like plain view. I thought he was on, on side too. I'm convinced that he's on side. And I think, I don't know, Antonio played, played back. The ball gets over to Piketto and he's in a one-on-one with the goalkeeper. The assistant referee has a slag up.
00:15:51
Speaker
I don't think, if I'm not mistaken, a head official has not blown his whistle yet, and Paquetta's looking at the goalkeeper, puts his foot on the ball, and then puts his arm in the air to tell the goalkeeper that the flag is up for offside. Dude, I was gonna kill him.
00:16:15
Speaker
Put the ball in the net. Who cares? Because if it goes in, what if it wasn't outside? He just loves closing games. There's nothing more that he loves in the whole world than wasting time at the end of the game. He does, but put it in the net. I really do wish he did, because I feel like it would have gotten overturned. I'm going to watch it back.
00:16:45
Speaker
after we're done recording, and I'm gonna figure out if he's onside or if he's offside. Because it's ridiculous. It's actually, like, it's so crazy to me that he did not put the ball in that. That one's the craziest one to me. Because what footballer have you ever seen that has a chance to shoot and hit the net? Onside or offside? Or you want to talk about basketball? After the whistle, how many times do you guys shoot?
00:17:16
Speaker
Who have you ever seen in any sport who's like, I'm not gonna have this ball hit this net? He is, you can't get into his mind. There's no way to rationalize his thinking. He's just, he's just him. He is unapologetic to him, which is why we've been saying we love him. But that one, that's the one I really don't get. Because like, shoot, shoot.
00:17:47
Speaker
Shoot man, shoot. But you were saying about War Prowse before I got off on another tangent. Yeah,
War Prowse's Set-Piece Mastery
00:17:54
Speaker
I thought he had a pretty good week. A great week. Yeah. I mean, if you're counting set pieces, great, great week. I'm counting them.
00:18:05
Speaker
And just like, cause you know, we've talked a lot about his general play, which has definitely been lacking. I thought this week was pretty good. I mean, he had the open play assist and then that, that pass to Peketa is like exactly what he needs to be doing. He needs to be like operating and making like decisive pass, like the incisive passes in the final third. I want him to move the ball quicker.
00:18:32
Speaker
like if he's not gonna like break a line or anything that's fine but I want him to like move it quick and like get it wide or like just you know create different angles for different players like he doesn't move it quick enough for me he doesn't move it far enough for me like he doesn't even like sideways passes it's all fine but if you're gonna make a sideways pass like move it quick and like have the defense shift and move in their shape like make them work he doesn't ever make
00:18:56
Speaker
team's work when he's not playing well, is what I should say. He just never is asking questions of the opposition. It's like fling downs out there sometimes. But I thought this week showed a pretty decent improvement for what it's worth. Yeah. If you're wondering why I'm making faces, I'm looking. I'm going to find it later. I was looking and I just saw the one where he didn't play anybody through. And I saw the clip where he
00:19:25
Speaker
jumped for a header without looking for the ball. What was this? Oh, when he wins the ball, which one are you talking about? He goes up for a header, kind of wins it. It goes back up. And he goes up the challenge for a second header. But he doesn't look at where the ball is. He just jumps into the guy on forest. I think you're talking about for one of the last breaks. Oh, yeah. The one that he didn't play bow in.
00:19:53
Speaker
WordPress and that it's it's insane. Suchuk is like literally pointing. You pick up the season. Something that does stand out to me about WordPress is open play. I'm going to put my phone away from me so I don't start looking for this again. Because I could fixate on that for the rest of the night. With WordPress, I think that he's at his best when he's like allowed to press more.
00:20:23
Speaker
And it's kind of a difficult dilemma for Moyes because I think that while not everybody may agree and like, I don't think I agree that much, but I understand why he does it. Cause in possession, you probably want to check higher than WordPress. Like even if WordPress is better than himself deep, he's like, Sue check is worse than WordPress deep and arguably better than him further forward. So I understand that part of it.
00:20:53
Speaker
Um, it's out of possession where like, it kind of drives me crazy if Sue checks the higher one. Uh, but it's like, obviously difficult to like consistently be able to switch that. But what I was saying was I think that we see a lot of the best of word prowess, like out of possession, like when he's able to press and like try and jump into passing lanes. And I think his best going forward is when he's able to be like,
00:21:18
Speaker
another runner, another body going forward on the break. It's something that he does really well. It's something that he did well. When Beketa doesn't play that pass, it's something he's done well for his goal against Brighton. Why do I not remember his other goal right now? Oh, against City, it's something he did well for his goal against City. This is where we see the best of him. And I think that in the second halves, particularly against Forest and against Olympia, because I thought he was fine all day against Forest, but again,
00:21:48
Speaker
I thought his second half was really good is when he's able to show off that pressing. There was a moment in the forest game where he won the ball back high. And then after that, his passing became a little bit more sharper, in my opinion. And that was more just us growing into it. He got his assist from the corner. So I think that confidence was just flying. And he was taking a lot of corners. So he's seen a lot of the ball. His corner's in the second half. It was one after the other. It was incredible.
00:22:16
Speaker
Maybe we should have scored like five or six. I mean, Suchak should have a hat trick. Suchak also, I don't know if you noticed, before the corner from the regular free kick, the save, took that off Kudus' foot. Did he really? Not that he would have any way to know that Kudus is coming in and is like literally getting ready to like tap the ball home. He has no way to know that. So he should head it. But dude, I was hands on head. I was like,
00:22:47
Speaker
Damn, I didn't realize and then sujek's header was really good too, actually. Yeah, I think he should score, but that's just because of how good he is in those situations. I mean, he made it into a difficult save, which is really all you can ask for. Yeah. I mean, I, I, I get heading it down, but I, I think that he also thinks he should do better with that. I think he kind of took off at the ball at a weird angle. He was like leaning into it and so like throwing himself into it. Yeah. I mean, I'm not going to complain about it.
00:23:15
Speaker
But I was just like, cause like another kudos goal would have been fun. Oh, for sure. For sure. And they'll, they'll, they'll come. It's a long season. You will get plenty. Um, I think it's pretty big for us. That's two checks on three primarily goals already though. And he's got a, it's got five in all competitions. If I'm not wrong, did he score two? No, no, no. That was kudos. Him and own goal in the first year of play game against TSC.
00:23:43
Speaker
I think so. Either way, I think he has five goals in all competitions. No, no. Kudu's technically had a brace. Oh, yes, yes, yes. Yeah, I remember now. So he's got five goals in all competitions. If we have a suit check who's putting the ball in the net, and by the way, two of the three primarily goals are from open play.
Suitchek's Goal-Scoring Contribution
00:24:07
Speaker
If you have a version of suit check that's putting the ball in the net, it helps you out so much because it
00:24:14
Speaker
I mean, obviously spreading the goals around at any point is good, but Kudus and Bowen are the two who are really there to put the ball in the net. Paquetta, you want as much output as possible, and you really need it to help support those guys because Antonio, his job isn't mainly to score goals, like it'd be great if he scored more, but Suchak just being another threat to score just lessens the load on players like Kudus and Bowen. And for us,
00:24:40
Speaker
Obviously as good as Bowen has been, and it's looking like he might have a legit 20 goal season. For clubs like us, if we want to like get into Europe, you need a lot of guys chipping in because clubs like us don't have people putting the ball in the net 20 times. And then another winger putting the ball in the net 10 or 15 times. Which, you know, we might mess around and have. At this point, we might.
00:25:06
Speaker
But I mean, yeah, in the suit check, it's beyond the goals, because when the goals are coming, he looks more comfortable out there just in every facet of the game. And I think we've seen that. It's the most confident he's looked in a long time. If you want to compare just his passing from this year to last year,
00:25:25
Speaker
Last year, he was, he was afraid to look at his, his own reflection. This year he's, he's playing one time passes, passes down the line, like forward passes. It's not always accurate, but he's, he's, he's looking for them. And he's not, he's not shying away from the wall anymore. He's confident. He's, um, he's the suit check, not to the same level. Cause I think this is the best passing game he's ever had for us. Um, leads away in the black gets Ben Rama's first start for us.
00:25:53
Speaker
That soutrech that day was probably the best I've ever seen him pass the ball for us. But it's that level of confidence and that willingness to play a first-time pass or, you know, maybe switch the play here or like pass it forwards. Like I saw us that and we can talk more about WordPress later and about how like he brings a lot of good. And there are also things that he kind of holds us back on. Soutrech is playing the ball forwards more often than WordPress. Yeah. And he's playing, he's playing deep too. I mean, he's playing forward. I mean, yeah.
00:26:24
Speaker
So really, really good stuff from Suchak. As low as I've been on Suchak since he got here. Really. You were talking about sell him for 40 million during the purple patch, and you were right to an extent. I mean, shoot me down, but I was saying sell him and go for Besuma that first year.
00:26:48
Speaker
That would have been crazy. That was before the allegations, so I'm good. Yeah, you're good. You're good. But yeah, as down as I've ever been on him is as high as I am right now. He's close to undropple in my eyes. Yeah, he's close. And the only thing that makes him not undropple is Warped House's set pieces and the fact that Moise is not going to drop Warped House. Yeah, like that reality.
00:27:17
Speaker
And the fact that so many people need to get into this 11. But one thing I want to say, and people can argue with me if they want, and I just want to make this clear, and I, you know, I probably shouldn't bring up this guy's name because we're past that as much as I think that there are times where we really look like we miss him. Don't say the D word. I'm going to say the word. Suchak's struggles were never because of Declan Rice.
00:27:40
Speaker
I just disagree with that wholeheartedly. I do think that it helps him a lot when he has somebody sitting deeper because of his athletic implementations. Um, but to the, the, the extent that his game fell off as rice looked a bit further forward because we wanted rice further forward because he's a better passer of the ball and did help us a lot until it became too reliant. Um, at the beginning of last season.
00:28:06
Speaker
Like somebody that's as good as Suchak, his game should not fall off the way that it did. And it's not like he didn't get forward as much. I think that the bigger issue is people are saying Suchak was asked to sit back and Rice was asked to go forward. I think if that was the case, as Suchak would have been fine, I think the issue was that they were asked to share that responsibility and kind of each go up and down and like kind of hand off the baton to each other. And I don't think Suchak could hang with Rice athletically enough to do that. But that's just my opinion on it.
00:28:35
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's a pretty interesting perspective on it. I think he has less space that he's responsible for now. I just, I think it's, it's, it might just be simpler than that. I think it might just be Ward Prowse, like getting him easy goals or easy chances off corners and, and getting him more just. But he was playing well, but he was playing well before he even put a head on a Ward Prowse corner. Yeah.
00:29:05
Speaker
I honestly think that just the amount of space that he's responsible for is much less now than it ever was before, partly because Alvarez sits. And another reason is because we're playing three midfielders in there and we're playing Paquetta effectively next to Ward Prowse on that side because of Ward Prowse's athletic limitations. Paquetta is able to kind of tuck in and help. I just think that like kind of keeping Sioux check
00:29:36
Speaker
He was overextended is basically what I'm trying to say. Having said all of that praise about Zuchak, looking far ahead to the Burnley game, even though I didn't think Antonio's cameo was very great, I'd be very tempted to go back to that 4-4-2 that we used against Redford and with Alvarez as one of the fielders. And with Paquetta on the left of it,
00:30:07
Speaker
This guy's yawning for anybody wondering where the response is. I don't know. I struggled to change the team that we played on Sunday, honestly. Because who do you drop for Antonio? Sutra. Probably. I mean, that's like basically what it's going to be now is I think that we have like a first 12.
00:30:39
Speaker
And it's kind of up to Moyes to decide when he wants to do this 4-3-3 thing and when he wants to do a 4-4-2 thing. I
Debating Team Formation: 4-4-2 Strategy?
00:30:46
Speaker
thought Bowen was way too isolated against Forrest and I think that will be the case sometimes with this team because Piketto is obviously not going to get near him.
00:30:54
Speaker
Um, I do think in the second half, we made adjustments. We kind of like had him include usually kind of shade over near each other more and allow bone to touch the ball more on the right. I thought he was touching it a little out on the left in the first half, which was kind of gross. And it was just him trying to get involved. Um, I think in the second half between WordPress and suture, whichever midfielder had to be closer to him, they'd get closer to him. Um, but in general, my concern before that game, the only one was really that, okay, but one might be really isolated here.
00:31:24
Speaker
And he was, and he still finds a way to score because that's who he is. But, um, I think Burnley have a really soft center. So if you go with Bowen and Antonio, we could really eat them alive. And I think that with Burge in that midfield, you kind of almost, you want to check in there because of Sander Burge. And then that kind of becomes, well, what do you do a war perhaps? Do you drop him for this game? I don't know. Well, war process is never going to be dropped. That's what I'm saying.
00:31:53
Speaker
I don't know, I feel like the Bowen thing, obviously, he was as isolated as you get in that first half. He was just not involved in the game in terms of being in possession. But I think that it's something that just needs to be worked out over time. That's also true. That is also true. He's playing in a brand new position, essentially.
00:32:19
Speaker
there a couple of times now, but it's still a learning process, not only for him, but for the rest of the team. He is different to Antonio. He does a lot of the running, but...
00:32:30
Speaker
He's not as much of a target to his feet as an Antonio goes. Exactly. Like they're going to want the ball in different positions and they're going to be instinctively playing pass as they would to Antonio, but to Bowen and it not coming off. So I think it just needs to be worked out in terms of like chemistry wise between these players. Um, but I, I, I think that. It's such like, it's so important. I agree. No, I agree. I agree.
00:32:58
Speaker
For the record, I think that he'll go unchanged against Burnley, because from Moy's point of view, even though two of the goals are set pieces, he'll be like, we scored three, and we scored three against Arsenal. This is working. Which is a fine way to look at it, because it is working. It is working. And honestly, I'm of the same opinion. These are our best 11 players on the field. Probably. And just for what it's worth,
00:33:27
Speaker
If I were to play four-four-two against Burnley, I would probably drop WordPress, which is incredibly harsh. I think that to drop any player is incredibly harsh. And as bad as Antonio has been, I think it's kind of harsh to leave him out in some ways, especially when you know for a fact what he can give Bowen. And I think with how much Moyes has talked about, um,
00:33:53
Speaker
Bowen as a striker, just really from the preseason on, he's talked about it. And with a lot of what we saw on preseason, I think that we were gonna get a pretty decent amount of Skamaka Bowen, like a strike partnership. Because no matter what anybody wants to say, Moyes loved Skamaka as a player. He did not stop praising him till the day he left, and he tried to keep him. He tried to convince him to stay. Not that you wanted to believe that,
00:34:23
Speaker
But he did, X said he did. And he used that a lot in preseason. I think the thought process behind it makes sense because Bowen's going to do all that running this Kamaku, it refuses to do. Yeah. It was a shame because those two really did work together really well. They do complement each other. But like my point being like Antonio is still a big striker who can hold the ball up and can link play in his own way.
00:34:52
Speaker
And Bowen, I think will and can and will benefit from playing with him in the future. I don't think that we've seen the last of Bowen and Antonio together up top. Yeah, no, they absolutely will at some points, but I guess performance wise, Antonio is really the only player that is like giving you a reason, giving you a reason to bench them. Yeah, no, I agree with that. Like maybe tactically.
00:35:21
Speaker
You know, you want Antonio providing the support for Bowen or vice versa. But you're dealing with a lot of guys that are just on such crazy form and are like the reason why we've had a pretty decent start. Yeah. But Antonio is part of that too.
00:35:46
Speaker
But he's also been a part of us losing three games in a row. So was number 14. Number 14 just played in this first Premier League win as a starter. Come on. Yeah. You should be wearing 11, bro. You look tough with the 11. Yeah. Why is he 14? Because we were signing Lingard.
00:36:13
Speaker
Dude, if he changes, can you imagine, like, just theoretically, like, Paquetta stays so the 10 is not open or anything? Imagine he changes to 11 next offseason. I will lose my mind. Well, he won't because Lingar will be here. Oh, yeah. Dude, he's still available, bro. Like, he's not, like, tied down to a contract. He did not get picked up by a Saudi club. What is he doing, man? He's... He's not getting paid.
00:36:40
Speaker
He's, he's, he's in a bad place right now. Honestly, like he's like, like, let's pray for him. I hope he's doing okay, man. I hope he's all right, bro. Like he went all the way to Saudi for a month and they were like, wait, like we don't have a spot for you. Yeah. How did he not leave with a contract? They didn't, they, they, they like didn't like want to match his wage or something. Or they didn't have a foreign slot open or something like that.
00:37:10
Speaker
I don't know what it was. But he just, yeah, it's November 13th. He doesn't have a club. Yeah, it's over. Maxwell Cornet better watch his damn back, bro. Imagine we loanings. We have a homegrown spot available. I thought he was a form or something. Yeah. January 1st.
00:37:39
Speaker
Danny Ings goes to Fulham, right? Let's go. January 9th. Maxwell Corne leaves. Goes to Everton. Sean Dyche reunited. Nice. January 16th. Jesse Lingard comes to you and he says, hey. Is it cool if you have spots available? You can still sign a striker, you know.
00:38:07
Speaker
I'll come on an incentive-based deal, you know, a little calm, base wage. Do you do it? Do you, in January, would you welcome Jesse Lingard back? Which, by the way, for anybody listening, this is not a serious question to that much of an extent, because- I'll give you a serious answer. I'm being, I'm seriously asking, yeah, dude, I would welcome him back. Like, for the same reasons I was ready to take him back in the summer. I just see no reason not to.
00:38:37
Speaker
If there's a space for him, he should be on a team. I'd be happy to have him. I still can't believe that didn't happen. He'll be back in time to score against Arsenal at the Bowl in the league. That's what I'm saying. They were up to me. They were up to me. You know what he deserves more than maybe anybody else on our squad? A West Ham United Europa League appearance.
00:39:08
Speaker
He started this, this whole thing. He built this. He built this. Everything we see, everything we've enjoyed, he is given to us. He at least deserves one sub appearance. Dude, and by the way, not only did he get us in the Europa League in the first place and, you know, is the reason that we've had this run in Europe.
00:39:36
Speaker
He scored the goal that was the difference between the Europa League and the Conference League. His goal, his goal at the London Stadium from Manchester United is the reason that we played in the Conference League and not the Europa League. Yeah. His tentacles have reached literally every single thing. His fingerprints, dude, are over this as much as
00:40:05
Speaker
David Moyes, as much as Declan Rice is like this is this is him, dude. That's crazy. The role that he's played because if you can remember some of the discourse that even just me and you had when he was signing, do you remember what you said to me? I bet that yes, yes, of course. I remember. I remember exactly where we were like the steps that we were walking as do I remember exactly where we were. And I said,
00:40:33
Speaker
What if Jesse Lingard just scored every game? What if he just went on a ridiculous tear? Like, you signed him, like, permanently, and you were like, nah. And you know what, dude? You know what? You know what? David Moyes agreed with me. No, he didn't, bro. Yes, he did. He said not for $25 million. Not for $25 million. And you know what? You know what the fuck that part was? I was right there with him. I said not for $25 million.
00:41:04
Speaker
Boy was I wrong. If we had spent that $25 million on Jesse Lingard instead of Nico Vlasic, man, we would have won the Europa League. We would have won everything. We would have been the champions. Dude. He needs to come back and score the winner in Dublin. We are all owed that. Society needs that. The script. There is such a special script right there. What were you talking about before Lingard?
00:41:32
Speaker
I don't know, man. We've been getting on these tangents about these guys. We're talking about something. Probably talking about like the bow and not the bow, like Antonio and if you should be on the team.
00:41:44
Speaker
We talk about Jeroboam and how he's addicted to scoring goals and he has a problem and he needs to seek immediate assistance because no business scoring in that game just didn't take part. I guess that's the markings of a damn good striker is that regardless of their involvement in the rest of the game, they're always good for a month. You know what the crazy thing about him is? He's scored from a handful of corners now.
00:42:15
Speaker
at during his time at West Ham. Like you think about there's the one against the leads on 2122. I think he scored from a corner. Score from a corner against Brentford was a good, he bounded out and he like hit it back and now he scored from his forest. I think maybe there's one more. He hadn't taken them for so long. I was thinking that like, I know he can take them. I know he's little, but
00:42:40
Speaker
somebody like with his eye for goal, I think God like he's never going to take another corner. Dude, the way he got up and like that header for for as high as he got to place that header so perfectly in the corner. Yeah, like it's it's one of those where it's like a free header or whatever. But like,
00:42:59
Speaker
Those center backs aren't like that's that's a true goal scorer center and the leap is crazy I've never seen him get up that high before he never has gotten up that high before He only got up the high because he was pissed. You remember they were giving those fouls against them I've never seen him so angry after he scored that goal He's getting angry recently Hell yeah, it's those damn kids to drive you crazy
00:43:24
Speaker
But I mean, like, you see guys like meet headers at the apex at all, all the time. And they always like put over the bar, head wide. Yeah. Perfect. Yeah. And you see it every damn game. You can have it. You could be the Goldman boot right now. He loves it, dude. He's, he's, um, after Bowen, he's, he's underrated hands on head, man. Cause he's another one because like, but Bowen Bowen has his hands on his head. Like.
00:43:53
Speaker
like kudos could like fucking just take a shot from like 35 yards out and be like pushing his hair back like looking to the heavens like all right Jared like it's fine like everything is a chance to that guy but a Garrett is another one where he'll he'll head it what corner right and then he'll look around the stadium and everybody like he's stunned that he missed that like you can't believe it
00:44:22
Speaker
And it's like, yo, all right, man. Hit the net, OK? Then we can look around like you're shocked that you missed that. Because it's always like he heads it. And then after he misses, he realizes how good of a chance it was. That's what it is every time. It's because he doesn't realize how great of an opportunity to score he just had until it's passed. And then he's like, dude, what have I done? I've let my team down. It's always that look of what have I done? Oh, yeah.
00:44:52
Speaker
You know what it seemed that I'm playing this year. But. Great week this week. Another guy. Great week. I mean, fuck the week. He's the last two games. I thought he was. There's another game I thought he was really good in. Did we play last week? When I remember. Actually, I think he was finding it's like he's been like the form has been coming.
00:45:16
Speaker
Even as far back as Everton and Newcastle, if you really want to be crazy, because there's the whole thing with the foul. And the mistakes he made with how good we are, obviously the fan base is always going to need somebody to kind of single out. But I think it's going under the radar how much better he's been over the last few weeks. Because if he can start putting this form together and Zuma can get his body right over this international break, because I did watch their first goal back,
00:45:45
Speaker
I don't know what the hell he's doing. I don't know. Like, I don't know why his Zuma is not bad. He duty. I don't know if he was jogging. I don't know if he couldn't run. I think it was a combination of both. I think that he didn't think Ariel was going to make that save. Um, but either way, Zuma has to just get back there and be alive to that rebound and clear it. So he's at fault for that one as much as kudos and see check are, but
00:46:14
Speaker
Yeah, if we can get a Garrett firing on all cylinders, Zoom is as reliable as they come. Maybe we can stop conceding goals, especially if we go back to this three-man midfield thing, because we're conceding way too many goals right now. Definitely, definitely. But shout out to Moyes for staying with a Garrett, honestly. Yeah. When the calls were coming for him to get dropped from up on us,
00:46:42
Speaker
I think that that's already been paying off for him. And, you know, I think that we talked about this, I think from Moyes, we never really had a setback for last year. We never had a group that had played like every game together last year. And that was the four and they knew what everybody's movement was going to be. They were like that. They were, you know, telekinesis type vibe. Yeah.
00:47:09
Speaker
And I think for Moyes, like seeing how, you know, Kufaul has had a few Dow games here and there, but overall he's done well. Garrett's like had some serious struggles and, you know, Zuma like had his little injury and even, you know, Ariolo to an extent, not that I ever thought Moyes would drop him because once he makes that decision, he has to stick with it. But
Ariel's Communication and Goalkeeping Skills
00:47:27
Speaker
like there were nervy moments in August. I think for Moyes, the huge thing for him was,
00:47:36
Speaker
picking that four or five who are going to be back there and sticking with them and allowing them to become a unit on their own. And I think that now that Aguirre is starting to come good, hopefully after his international break, we can start to see like some clean sheets, some really good defensive performances come, especially if the three in midfield in front of them are together too, because they seem to already go playing together. Yeah. I mean, part of that, um,
00:48:05
Speaker
that gelling process also has to do with Ariel, like he has to, you know, become more comfortable with like, you know, calling stuff out and communicating with those guys. He needs to be better at that. I thought a Gary was going to rip his head off. That's forced. I don't and them to those are the two that where they have the most issues with the Yeah, it's not really zoom in Ariel. It's really, it's a Gary and Ariel. And it's, it also makes you think because obviously we know Fabiance is good at
00:48:34
Speaker
uh, recognizing his defense, but it makes you think how big of a role Fabianski played and having a Garrett settle as, you know, as quickly as he did last year, especially coming in mid season. Um, yeah, those two really have to figure it out. Cause I don't actually remember what the incident was, but I remember it happened and I think Ariola had another weird moment and I was like, damn, like he was having a good game. And now this has kind of put a little downer on it.
00:49:02
Speaker
He was commanding his box against Forrest, I thought. He had two or three really good punches, which they can sometimes be nervy moments. Yeah, on the corners especially, he's going crazy with the punches. His reflex saves are just ridiculous. Yeah, he's one of the fastest goalkeepers, or quickest, I should say, goalkeepers.
00:49:24
Speaker
He's probably the quickest goalkeeper I've ever seen play for us, like by far. For sure. I mean, dude, like somebody like these, he makes ridiculous like save of the month candidates every single week at this point. Because you know, the one that's impressed me the most recently, at least, is because obviously there's a one against Villa, but like, I've seen Darren Randolph make that save.
00:49:47
Speaker
But the Everton, the one on one. Yeah, he gets down so quickly. He got down so quickly. And you know, that's, it's something that you can't teach. And like, obviously, Arial will have different weaknesses, the Fabiansky, there are reasons he's at West Ham, like, he had his opportunities to make it these big clubs.
00:50:08
Speaker
Um, I think his distribution has been good recently. I think he's perfect for a club like us who are like on that fringe of Europe and like trying to stay in Europe and establish ourselves. Cause I think he is a European level keeper. Um, I think if he can command his box better, even if he's not catching it, if he's punching it strong and he can like figure it out with a Garrett, we're going to see a really, really good goalkeeper because he's tough to beat when it just comes to see ball, stop ball. There are not many better.
00:50:38
Speaker
He keeps the ball out the net. It's my favorite thing about him. And he drops your draw every time. I remember the first save that he made for us against Man United in the Carabao Cup. It was like a weird one because he comes for the corner, right? Clearly, it's like his first game. He was trying to make an impression. No reason to come for the corner. It gets bounced around. It goes out to Walmart.
00:51:07
Speaker
I remember this. And he comes flying from the penalty spot to jump and tip it over the bar. Bless you. To jump and tip it over the bar. And I was like, yo, why is he moving like that? Because he can move, dude. He jumps. He's a serious, serious athlete. And then obviously, the Sevilla one is one of
00:51:33
Speaker
The Sevilla one might be my my favorite save by a West Ham goalkeeper ever. Ever. Just in terms of like, the ones where you're like, man, because the other thing about that save that night, I knew we were gonna win that game when he saved that shot. Because was that was that at one? That was a no no, wasn't it? That was the second leg. Yeah, I'm talking about in the game. Oh, yeah, yeah, it was early. It was
00:52:02
Speaker
Was, yeah, it was before, it was before the suit check goal. And he made that save and I was like, I just had a good feeling. And maybe I was deluding myself into it. Um, but they also had never had a foothold in that game. That was their only chance. They were terrible. And you know what they don't want to do. They want to get through that champions league group. They better pray. Cause they don't want to see us. They do not want to see us again. Some bad memories that fill in the stadium.
00:52:29
Speaker
I actually, if I'm being serious, I don't want to see them again. I want to keep that, that little thing. I have the hole over their heads. I never want to play them again. As long as we're in Europe, I never want any part of them again. They're nowhere near as good as they were back then. They were really good that season. They were a problem. We were a problem. Yeah. They, they, they coon day.
00:52:55
Speaker
They got wrecked by Antonio. Antonio might be the reason he didn't come to Chelsea. Because why didn't that transfer ever go through? They had Anthony Martial was on that team. What a fever dream that was. Watching him play for Sevilla at the bowl. Dude, he always has a hard time at the bowl. That's probably where they lost that tie.
00:53:23
Speaker
signing marshy out because like i cannot remember a good marshy out performance of the ball he's like fine he just he's always i mean he is a tough time he doesn't he doesn't like coming to the ball no no he does not yeah that's the piece they scored in the first leg against us had me had me scared had me horrified had me petrified like
00:53:47
Speaker
It was the Paquetta moment that I was talking about earlier, and that goal where I was like, man, we might beat Fish out of water here. Dude, yeah, because that was the first knockout. And that was probably out of the three teams that we played. And especially in hindsight, that was probably the best team that we played in the knockouts. For sure. For sure. Yeah, that set piece was like, we've played better teams than Sevilla, for sure. But we've not played a team like this.
00:54:15
Speaker
Well, when they did that, I was like, tactically we might be in trouble. I was like, cause I was like, this is like where we thrive on set pieces and they, they studied us, they found the weakness and they exploited the weakness. And I was like, dude, this might be tough. And then Moyes, you know, and then it turns out the man is a little bit teggy was the manager, right? Am I, am I right about that? I think so. Yeah. And like Moyes owns him. He sucks. Um,
00:54:44
Speaker
Dude, the Vlassage missed chance in the NBA game. The Vlassage missed chance. That was the end of the line for him. That was where... That was literally his final action as a West Ham player. No, his very last chance was Burnley at home, where he broke the... He was playing. He's playing really well. Like 20, 25 minutes. He snaps the dude's leg and he's just out of the game after that. Ooh. You got the sniffles.
00:55:13
Speaker
I guess so, I don't know. Did you want me to not mention that the sneeze was about to happen? No, it's okay if you mentioned it. All right, it's cool. I don't think it's coming. But yeah, that was funny. It
West Ham's Evolution as a European Team
00:55:31
Speaker
was crazy feeling like a fish out of water in Europe. And like being like, man, are we built for this? And then finding out so quickly how built for everywhere. Like twice in a row.
00:55:45
Speaker
We got that on every team now. We are the experience. We are the European team now. And you can tell with us, we're not really phased by these big cup nights. And that's something, when it comes to the Liverpool game, that gives me real confidence. Because a quarterfinal at Anfield is not too big for us. It doesn't phase us. That's not anything that we haven't done before. You know what I mean?
00:56:14
Speaker
And like, you know, we have two big games and you decided that they have two big games and either side of it, size might be really rotated. But hopefully I think that we should go strong. Cause I think if we can get past them, Chelsea and Newcastle play each other. We have a really, really good chance at weighing that trophy. And if I'm not mistaken, that's a conference league spot. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. So you have, you have to go for that. You have to go for that competition and you know, this team and knockouts I'm very confident in.
00:56:44
Speaker
The one thing that I am very curious for us to find out about this team Is what we look out what we look like in knockouts without deco nice because I think that's a big question is without rice and With an aging Antonio who is not affecting European ties the way he used to anymore Because I think our biggest strength in the Europa League was that we had rice in Antonio You have that elite midfielder who's no league ball winner and carrier and progressive and then you have a striker and
00:57:13
Speaker
who's just incredibly tough for these teams to deal with. They don't know how to deal with him. And he probably still has some big European nights in him, if we're being honest, especially if his legs are fresh. Take him to Spain. Play a team from Spain? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, let's see Antonio out there. But I mean, we've already seen what we look like in a European knockout game without Declan Rice.
00:57:42
Speaker
He was like, he ghosted, he ghosted. And you know what, dude? And it will never be talked about because it doesn't have to be talked about. But for the sake of argument, you look like shit. We were terrible. We were terrible. I mean, and you know, so were they. And it was it was exactly what a one off final is, especially between two clubs that haven't won anything for 43, 45, 47 years.
00:58:12
Speaker
Cause I think they were 43 and we were 47 if not wrong. It's like, it's like in the, in the finals where like, like, oh, like in game seven, like, oh, Colby shot like 30%. Yeah, exactly. Like that's what he needed to win the game. Yeah. Like it's game seven. Like, like, I think somebody's going to like shoot 60% from the field in game seven. No, dude, it's going to be nasty. And oh man, it was gross. And that's what it's all about. And now that we have that experience, um,
00:58:42
Speaker
Looking forward to going to Wembley, sweeping Chelsea under the rug. Nice little 3-1 win in the Carabao Cup Final. It'd be nice. Yeah, that final in Prague, like Peketa had like a 12-for-33 satellite. Dude, yo. I wonder, I actually wonder, I'm going to look this up, because I wonder what percentage of his passes he completed that day, because he was terrible.
00:59:15
Speaker
Horrible he played a few switches bro and the commentators wouldn't shut the hell up about him. It's like all right, man Okay, Lucas Peketa By the way our sofa score man a match The sofa score man in the match Lucas Peketa Jeroboan 6.9 with the goal unbelievable
00:59:36
Speaker
He barely touched the ball. Okay,
Final Match Analysis: Paquetta & Zuma
00:59:37
Speaker
Lucas Pagetta, by the way, apparently completed 80% of his passes. That sounds so wrong. But he attempted 20. He's like 16 for 20 passes, right? Two key passes. Okay. He looks like he played damn well here. I don't buy this. All right. Well, here's an issue though. He gave the ball away four times with his passing, but he
01:00:02
Speaker
lost possession 12 times, which I feel like it's a little crazy. 17 ground duels attempted, nine ground duels won. That sounds like him. Jared Bellen, 26 touches, five accurate passes, but the one very telling touch in that game. They gave a deck 7-0. Yeah, it was a 7-0. It's propaganda, if you ask me.
01:00:31
Speaker
Three tackles. I don't know. Sue check around. Seven accurate passes. 39% completion for them in the final. Yeah, that is disgusting. And everybody talks about how bad Rice was. That is crazy, dude. Just disgusting. That is actually so insane. Emerson was the only player on both teams who's up to this game. That is insane. For real. For real. That is so crazy.
01:01:02
Speaker
Dude, I forgot Four Niles came on. Oh my god. Dude, you know who else was up for this game? Dude, no, no, no, no. You gotta hear this. Four Niles came on in the 76 minute. So he played 22 minutes because that game went to 98. Yeah. Bro. Zero for six accurate passes.
01:01:20
Speaker
My god, what is he doing out there? Zero out of three ground rules one one out of three aerial those one. What is he doing? That's actually hysterical, you know who else was up for this game, you know below career he did He did a job
01:01:47
Speaker
He'll always have my love and support. That is crazy. He attempted five passes in Almost 40 minutes of game time as a center back It's like impossible Yeah, what the hell He was up for it though came on she was he was he came on like I
01:02:10
Speaker
like low key. Like Zuma just like walked off and is like, like, do you remember we talked about this, bro? Zuma tried to sneak out of there. Like we weren't going to notice that. Like I wasn't going to notice that he got injured. Is he kidding me, bro? I noticed. I noticed right away. I was like, yo, I noticed. I was like, I was like, where is he going, bro? Like it's it's so perfectly West End that like he got injured in that final.
01:02:38
Speaker
And you know what the funniest part about it is? We'll never know what it was. We'll never know. Do you know what he got hurt with? Nobody knows. He was out celebrating like it never happened. Dude. Because if he came out of the game, what happened? How much time would he have played next week if we had a game? How long would he have been out for? He wasn't on crutches. There was no talk of rehab.
01:03:08
Speaker
He just went off and the 90 minutes passed and he was okay at the end. Like, what is that? That wasn't in the boot. Wasn't in the boot. No crutches, no limp. It's probably out till about four or five in the morning. He had the normal limp, but that was it. That he's always got the limp. He's just the normal limp. That's the Zuma one. Zuma limp. I guess that's a good
01:03:36
Speaker
way to end it. Cause if anybody can tell us what happened, what actually happened to him, what did he hurt? How long was he out for? Quote unquote. And we'll have, we'll have Kurt zoom on, on the, on the podcast next week's episode. Uh, tell all about his experience. He really tried to come off like nobody was going to notice.
01:04:00
Speaker
It's like, it's crazy for him to try and sneak off like that. And then break the silence. Yeah. Thank you everybody for listening. You can find our blog at hammering-away.blog. The Twitter account is hammering underscore away. The Instagram is hammering away underscore and the TikTok is hammering away as always. And then your host Jack with Joe.
01:04:45
Speaker
You know where to find us on Twitter, the ads are always in the tweets.
01:06:13
Speaker
So.
01:07:22
Speaker
you