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Hammering Away Ep #19 - Robbery at The Bowl
155 Plays1 year ago
On today's episode of the podcast, Jack and Joe discuss West Ham's 2-2 draw with Newcastle United, if we can afford to drop Soucek/Antonio for Kudus, 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
Future of the Podcast: Episode 19 and Video Plans
00:00:24
Speaker
Welcome back to the hammering white podcast. This is episode number 19, which means next week will be 20, which is crazy. Oh, big two. Oh, um, maybe video next week, but don't hold me to my word on that. I have to get taught how to do it after this episode, but this guy Joe tells me it's easy. So we'll see. It is easy. Please expect the video. Um, there are handsome faces.
00:00:52
Speaker
Maybe I'll get dressed up. Maybe I'll wear a kid or something. Dude, no, I keep thinking about it. I'm like, man, I have to put on the most low key cool thing ever. I'm looking at all my hoodies. I'm like, which one tells people I'm cool without making people think I'm trying to look cool? You should
Gifts and Podcast Intro Beat Humor
00:01:10
Speaker
wear the scarf. Oh, the Prague scarf. Dude, I'll just...
00:01:18
Speaker
You know what I'll do? I'll wear the signed Said Benrahmah West Ham kit that Owen got me from my birthday that cost them like $50 with like their dude is like a signed certificate of authenticity. Just nobody cares about Benrahmah. I think I think him signing it made the price go down. Well, I think discount. I'll have to look at it because like it's not like it doesn't have his name on the back or anything. It's just last year's home kit. Or no, is it even last year's home kit? I'll have to check it might be like
00:01:50
Speaker
I think it's a 2020-2021 home kit. No name on the back. I think it's 21-22. I mean, I haven't seen it. No, because I would recognize the collars. Oh, right, right, right. But yeah, I think it's like a three-year-old kit. Like, it might not be real, but the signature is real. And I have the certificate of authenticity. But I think it's hilarious that that, like, did not set him back. That he was, like, able to get that for me as a birthday present. Very within budget.
00:02:19
Speaker
Yeah.
West Ham Merchandise and Humor
00:02:20
Speaker
And then I, I was like, dude, I gotta get you something like sick back for your birthday. He's like, yeah, not really. Yeah. He was really like, no, you don't. And guess what? I got him for his birthday. What? Nothing. Oh yeah. But I, I'll give him two presents next year. Good guy. I'll give him two presents too. For anybody curious, he's the, uh, he actually made the intro beat or song of the podcast you listen to every week. Yeah. Hopefully every week.
00:02:48
Speaker
I'm sure that has people checking back in to listen to the intro. Everybody's rewinding and everything. That's enough of these guys this week. Two and a half minutes. Imagine we checked our stats and it was just like nobody ever listened past the intro. There we go. This shit is trash. That would be crazy. All right. So you're going Ben Rama kit, sign kit.
00:03:11
Speaker
you're going with the scarf and then the pen, the Prague pen. Oh, yeah, the Prague pen. Dude, I don't even know why I bought that. That was ridiculous. You got so much, like, knickknack. Because what happened was, what happened was, it was a beat. I think I got, did I get them after the AZ game? Or after we won? Well, I think I got a shirt
West Ham vs. Newcastle: Match Analysis
00:03:33
Speaker
after we won. Actually, you know what it was? We won. And the next day, I was, like, still manic.
00:03:40
Speaker
So like I went on and I was like, I gotta get like, like, this is like one of the only times in like my sports fandom history where like, I have to get gear. This is like when I bought the Falcons NFC champions shirt. Um, so I was like, I just like have to get something, like something to just hoop in people to be like, what's that? And I'll be like the greatest day of my life. Um, but yeah, so I went on and I was like, I'll get the shirt. And then I was like,
00:04:07
Speaker
What do they got that cost $10 or less? So I got the program, I got the scarf, I got a pen. They have so much useless garbage on that store. Dude, there's so much nonsense on there. The striped boxers, we definitely talked about the striped boxers on the podcast before. The West Ham AirPods.
00:04:33
Speaker
Dude, like who's buying those? I'm gonna do the next episode with those. And you know what the crazy part is, dude? They gotta be fake. They gotta be like those like gas station air pods. They're like fuck, they're like Alibaba, like wholesale, but they just bought and slapped the logo on.
Critique of Refereeing Decisions
00:04:53
Speaker
They're like the stolen pods. Yeah, dude. This is actually ridiculous. Like every, they're literally gas station air pods. Like I bought a pair of air pods. They're not air pods because it was like,
00:05:03
Speaker
Yeah, yeah wired ones and they were like black but they were like Apple and I was like, that's sick, dude Like that's like that's so hard really they broke in like a week not even I'm actually impressed it got the full week Yeah, no, I used to buy so much nonsense at the train station on the way to school Anyways speaking of nonsense
00:05:28
Speaker
Yeah. I, for like a 2-2 draw against Newcastle is not a bad result, but man, I was livid. Like the kudos goal saved me a little bit. It gave me something to hold on to bro. That was one of the worst referee games of ours. I've seen, I can't remember the last time we, like we specifically had a worst referee game. It's probably one of the European games because they're terrible too.
00:05:57
Speaker
I mean, yeah, like just consistently, like sometimes it'll be like one decision where you're talking about the, that decision for, you know, the, the next week. But that was like a consistent full 90 of just getting, just getting the short end of the stick the entire
Bowen's Performance and Refereeing Inconsistencies
00:06:14
Speaker
time. And every decision was going against us. He, he lost that game. As soon as he didn't give Guy Marche the second yellow card, I don't know what happened. I mean, I know he's a bad ref. Like we've had experiences with him before.
00:06:27
Speaker
Anybody who's unaware which you shouldn't because it's been going around Twitter and everything He is the same referee who didn't give the Lindelof handball Yeah, just united in May and we've had other issues with him in the past. I can't think of a thumb my head but It's just like
00:06:44
Speaker
To miss all of those decisions, and the perfect example of it is because we got the wrong end of every little decision, every 50-50, anything like that, even throw-ins, the handball laid off. The foul that leads to their first goal is never a foul, never a foul. And it was those kinds of decisions every 90 seconds, every two minutes, every three minutes, something like that went against us. There's the offside call.
00:07:14
Speaker
late on at 2-2 when we were pushing, Kudu's kind of like flicks it through to Bowen, gets fouled, like is clearly fouled. And then the flag goes up for offside against Bowen. Like, yeah, fine. He's offside or whatever. We just had to like, he got fouled before the player was offside. So like, that should be a free kick to us. And
Inconsistencies in Refereeing Across Matches
00:07:32
Speaker
that relieved them of all their pressure that we were- That killed the game. That was the last really action. That was the last, yeah. Because we had the three minutes of pressure after the goal.
00:07:41
Speaker
And then Antonio was on and was called off, not on, but on the field got called off. Since when- That was crazy too. Well, I mean, I think that they did let it play through and he kind of brought it out. Yeah, if it was a goal that would have been considered not in the same phase. Yeah, but it's still like, look, I thought he was offside at the time, obviously seeing the replay. I know that it was.
00:08:10
Speaker
But it's not my job to make that decision. And I'm also like, the linesman, like has been positioning. Yeah. Like, it's just all those little things. There's the, um, the wall for WordPress is free kick. The wall encroaches like a full yard, right? Referee blows it dead. He books, uh, was it Dan burn? No, it was a long staff. He books a long staff who made the foul by the way, which should have already been a booking. Absolutely.
00:08:39
Speaker
He books long staff to foul somebody in that position and the way he did to take them down that cynically and like Semi recklessly. I don't want to say reckless because reckless is the way for red card. No, is it as red card? What's the yellow card one? I don't think there is there a standard for is it reckless yellow card dangerous red card III think I think reckless is red
00:09:08
Speaker
Cause the recklessness goes to like the intentionality of it. Yeah. Either way, the force of the tackle, cause it's not like it was like a dangerous challenge, but like it's a yellow card. It was
Newcastle Team Performance: Strengths and Weaknesses
00:09:23
Speaker
one where a defender is like, I'll take that yellow card. Exactly. Anyways, for WordPress, they push the wall encroaches, they get booked. He doesn't push them back.
00:09:37
Speaker
behind the line that he drew. And I was looking for the line on the ground once they started coaching us that didn't even draw it. And then they continue to encroach. And our players are asking him to look at it again. He just doesn't do anything. Yeah, Gware was going crazy. Yeah, he's always gone crazy. He loves it. He loves to act like the cool head in the room. But he's always got something to say. No, yeah. That was a rare. Even for him, it was like a rare moment. He was like pointing. He was like, what is going on? Yeah.
00:10:08
Speaker
I also have something to say about him too, talking about decisions in the game. Look, I thought he played fine besides the second goal, but, and this is a big book because everybody is so extreme either side of this. I think like, yeah, like he is a little weak and like, yeah, he should like take like ownership of that situation more and attack the ball and maybe not have his hand up in the air for five seconds. But he's pushed in the back.
00:10:37
Speaker
Maybe he should be stronger. Maybe he should be stronger. I think he probably shouldn't be stronger and not get pushed off balance. But think about this. Have you ever been pushed in the back without expecting it? Yeah, I mean, nobody's gonna stole all that. Yeah. And the other thing about that is, is like, no matter what you think about it,
00:10:57
Speaker
especially in the modern game, if you want to call it that, that's a foul. That's two extended arms into someone's back to create space. And it's not even like it's a corner and there's grappling and pushing. And it's like, they're both on each other. They're in open space. There's not a player within five yards in them. Yup. And she's a blatant push in the back. And I'm pretty sure I don't know the game. Somebody had a goal disallowed for that on Saturday. It might've been Brentford. I don't know who it was.
00:11:27
Speaker
I can't remember. I can't remember. I want to say it was like Luton or something. It was one of those games. Somebody had a goal, disallowed. I have no idea which game it was. Maybe it... I have no idea. Doesn't matter. I can't remember the specific game. Somebody was penalized for that the day before. Yeah. And like, I don't want to be one of these people who cries about consistency because like,
00:11:57
Speaker
Look, football is a funny game. It's all very, what's the word, like? Indictive. And intuitive. Is that a foul? You just kind of know in your heart. There's not many black and white situations. A push with extended arms, it's a foul. I think,
Newcastle Team Dynamics and Key Players
00:12:19
Speaker
certainly, if that is called, I don't think anyone picks up a fuss about it. It's just one of those.
00:12:28
Speaker
I just want to say, we defended terribly for that goal. No excuses, but it's a foul. It's a very rare moment that we were kind of not sharp because we were taught the rest of the game. We really were. Yeah.
00:12:45
Speaker
Um, what do you think about their first goal? Unless you want to keep talking about the second goal, but the first goal, the offside, look, I don't think it's offside because I would want it given for us. It's not. He sucks fault that Alvarez heads it to him, but we had a goal disallowed on Thursday where a ball was kicked while Peketa was offside into a defender and then went into Peketa and then he scored, but he's offside. That rule is so ridiculous.
00:13:14
Speaker
Because I think it's like the intention, like the intention of the defender, like if he like that, yeah, it's all about the intention if he means to pass it or something. But like, aren't, isn't Alvarez and the Freiburg player who played in the pick at this path, aren't they both quote unquote, just trying to clear it? Which doesn't that mean that Isak should technically be offside? I honestly think that that probably should be a goal and it's like good that it stood because that's the way it should be.
00:13:45
Speaker
But for argument's sake. I disagree. Honestly, I think that is nonsense. Like I don't think that you should be able to receive the ball in an offside position regardless of who plays it. Well, no, no, no, but like I'm saying that like I think our goal against Freiburg was rightly disallowed. And now I'm saying this out loud. I'm a complete hypocrite. So yeah, like maybe it should be. I just, I don't.
00:14:14
Speaker
Well, cause I don't understand cause then what are you checking for? Like why is it such a long check? Like it's very clear that one of their players didn't touch the ball. She's not. So the other thing I want to say is that the reason out, this is the reason the goal should be this loud, by the way, is the reason that Alvarez is heading the ball.
00:14:31
Speaker
is because another Newcastle player who is offside is behind him waiting to head it in the goal. So by forcing him to clear that Newcastle player is affecting the play, which is why there should be this lab, because they were all offside. We kept a great line. They're all offside. And not to mention he was getting fouled. He was getting tugged. He was getting shoved. I think it was Tonali and who else was there? Fucking Tonali. Tonali was terrible.
00:14:58
Speaker
He sucks. He's such a bad player. It was Tenali. It was $70 million. Yeah. And he was... For another
Newcastle and West Ham: European Matches Comparison
00:15:05
Speaker
fucking workhorse. They don't even have any fucking variety in that midfield. Yeah. $70 million for a player, the same attributes they already have, just better. If you show that to a random person who doesn't know who anybody was, they would not be able to point out Tenali in that game as the $70 million man. Yeah. It's insane. Yeah. I mean, there was just plenty of things
00:15:28
Speaker
from the foul, the foul that was given to Paquetta to when the ball got in the net, there was for the first, for the first goal. Oh yeah. I'm saying even, okay. I got you for that whole sequence. There were several things that could have disallowed that goal. Um, all of which were out of our control. And what's annoying about it is that we are under pressure and Ariella makes a great save and we're kind of springing on the counter attack. We have Paquetta and.
00:15:58
Speaker
I don't remember who was with him, probably Antonio. But you have Paquetta and Antonio kind of 2v2 at the halfway line, like waiting to break. God knows where Bowen is. I'm sure he's gonna make a run. Like, that could be 2-0. I mean, I'm not gonna sit here and be like, we're gonna score from that, but like, it's a huge moment in the game. Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, until now, Paquetta was penalized for what? For skinning Tenali, essentially? Dude, for just winning a duel.
00:16:27
Speaker
Yeah, we're not allowed to have 50-50 duels. They're both grabbing each other. They both have their arms across each other, which is like fine because nobody's like grabbing a shirt. Really. It's just like a 50-50 and because because there was fucking dragging him all over the pitch, him and his little fucking boy. He got to now go beat. He was hanging on for dear life. He kept to try to get him off of him because he was hanging on him and got called for.
00:16:56
Speaker
It's absolutely ridiculous. And I hate talking about referees because in my old age, I've learned it's like, you know, cause you can find the reason to complain about a referee every game. And in a lot of the European games I do, especially the knockouts, cause they're really terrible sometimes, but like for the most part, like what are you going to do? Like we still.
00:17:20
Speaker
could have done things on Sunday that, you know, would have like saved yourselves. And we could have stayed at one, one, because I think the first goal is completely unavoidable. Cause what did we do wrong? Um, but the second goal, like we fucked up for, but it should be this, uh, but it's too many decisions. And even then, even in the second goal, who plays the past, the trivia that that's my, that's my whole thing about this game.
00:17:48
Speaker
is that all these people, uh, Garrett's our fault, uh, Garrett's foul, blah, blah, blah. What pisses me off the most is that Guimaraes creates that goal. And the thing is, if Guimaraes goes off, there's nobody who plays that pass on a team. Nobody. No, yeah. Because, because they do, they're nothing without him. I mean, there's still something, but like on the topic of hating Newcastle, because I do hate Newcastle, him and Isak are unbelievable players.
00:18:18
Speaker
Like, truly, I would kill anybody, including you, to have either one of those guys at West Ham. But... That's fine, because I'm willing to lay down my life to... Yeah. And, like, obviously, like, Tenali is a really good player, but I... The questions I have about Tenali are about if the profile is the right sign for them, whatever. I would rather them get Keymerish higher up the pitch, not gonna sit here and analyze Newcastle.
00:18:46
Speaker
besides say that if one of their two best players goes off on 20 minutes down a goal, I have a pretty sneaky feeling that we win that game. Oh, dude.
League Competition Among West Ham, Newcastle, and Brighton
00:18:58
Speaker
I have a lot to say about Newcastle. I have no respect for them as a team. Not even saying that because I'm mad about what happened. I have no respect for them as a club. I just don't think they're that good. Whenever they run into a team
00:19:14
Speaker
like at the level that they're like challenging for it, they get, they get played off the pitch. I mean, if you remember, uh, what the second week of the season, they played city. That was one of the most embarrassing showings. Yeah. And they beat city C team in the cup. Oh, I don't know. Yeah. But did I mean about them? No, keep going. Sorry. They they're at the end of the day, they have a sack. They have Gima rash. They have Joel into him.
00:19:44
Speaker
and then Trippie. They're four like legitimately talented players. Absolutely. They're just big. They're really just... Did you mention Botman? I mean, whatever. I don't care. Aguared better. When you match them physically,
00:20:12
Speaker
like we did and we outplayed them. If you match them physically, they have nothing. They're a lot like us in that sense. They're matched physically. Even with us, I feel like even when we match teams physically, I feel like we still have ways because we're unique in the way we play and that makes us ever dangerous regardless of the teams that we go against. Well, that's what
00:20:41
Speaker
Paquetta and Bowen are for us. And that's what Guillermo and Trippier and Isak are for them. It's just like, cause that's what clubs like us have to do. We have to find a way to consistently win games. And then once you're at that point, you have to find, you know, a player or two or three in their case, who can go win you a game that like, maybe you're not playing that well and, or maybe you're playing some team that's lower and really isn't afraid to scrap with you.
00:21:07
Speaker
But the thing I will say about Newcastle, they had their little run last year, they finished third, they did great. They're coming back down to the level where they belong and that's with us and Brighton and that other team that I won't name. Where Emery
Home Game Performances and Dropped Points
00:21:24
Speaker
is doing his thing in the Europa Conference League winning games, 1-0 at home against a team I've never heard of. There's no vows in their name. Yeah.
00:21:37
Speaker
I think they have one, I think it's like an eight letter name, eight letter name with like an I. Yeah. Even we were not playing that team. Like even with like, people are going to say, Oh, like they, you know, smoked PSG for one PSG or in such a pathetic state right now. I think we would do that to PSG. Well, it's not even that bike. Look at what we did to Leon and what we did to Sylvia.
00:22:07
Speaker
It's, it's like the same general idea. Like, yeah, they put four pass them. They have PSG have quite literally a manager. I would not take out West Ham. Um, and I said that when the weirdos or even all in on him, I would rather gone for anybody else. So I'm using Enrique is one of the, one of the most overrated managers in the world. It's ridiculous. Not to go off a tangent, but did you saw him coach for Spain in the world cup? It's ridiculous. And you're still like, yeah.
00:22:35
Speaker
Like losing to Japan after like making a thousand passes. Like you, it's just nonsense. It's nonsense. Yeah. But yeah, like, and then they have all these new signings that gel in there. It's a completely new squad over there. And it's like, it's an incredible win for Newcastle. Probably their best night of the 21st century.
00:22:56
Speaker
I was not taking anything away from that. Absolutely. But like these things happen when clubs like West Ham and Newcastle and not Villa with real fan bases, with fans who get behind the team at big clubs, like not Villa, not Aston Villa, um, get behind their teams in Europe for a big European night, which Aston Villa will never experience. And they get behind their teams or a big European night and you know, you push the boys on, they get a huge win against a huge club and Aston Villa will never experience that.
00:23:26
Speaker
And but like, that's the thing is like, yeah, they beat PSG. We beat Sevilla to know, does that mean that I guess we were better than everybody outside the top six that year? This is a like, PSG, like, they're just soft and Newcastle devour soft teams. Yeah, that's, that's another thing. They eat them for fucking breakfast.
00:23:57
Speaker
But I want to say this because I was thinking this a few minutes ago and I wanted to say this about this game. And I kind of mentioned how like us, Bray and Newcastle and the team who will never experience a big European night, how we're all kind of like in that same, um, make myself laugh. Yeah. We're all in the same, like it's kind of like a dog fight between everybody fighting for like
00:24:22
Speaker
fifth, sixth place, because, you know, you got United and Chelsea, if they can figure out whatever the hell they're doing over there. But yeah, so it's those teams. And what annoys me about it is that this was a home game against one of those teams. And if I could, you know, have it my way, we're going to beat these teams at home. And we're going to at least take half the points from them this season. And now this puts much more pressure on a trip to St. James's later in the year. And what's annoying about it, it's not that they out
00:24:52
Speaker
I mean, they played well for a long stretch. But the goals probably shouldn't stand. At least one of them should absolutely be disallowed or shouldn't even have a chance of happening. And it's annoying because
West Ham's Season Performance Review
00:25:06
Speaker
now we kind of fought hard to get that lead and to get three points and we've just barely salvaged the point at the end. And it just feels like two points dropped because it's a home game. And I know it's not.
00:25:20
Speaker
not going to win every game that you have to win over the course of the season and it'll be fine, but like. It's frustrating at the same time as being good, if that makes sense. No, yeah. I totally understand that. Like I was thinking going into this game, like these points will probably mean a lot in May, wherever they would have been huge to be done. And, and maybe we'll look back on it and say, okay, we took two points away from them.
00:25:49
Speaker
That's how they that's probably how they feel. That is how they feel. But we have a right to feel that way, too, especially at home. No, yeah, no doubt, especially because we outplayed them as well. But I mean, I guess I guess one way you can look at it is that we already got three points we never expected to get and brighten away. So so the math, the math for us. But yeah.
00:26:16
Speaker
We're 10 points ahead of where we were last year at this point already. It's eight games in, you know that? I can't even imagine the goal disparity between last year and this year. We had like two goals at this point. I can't talk about the beginning of last season. Yeah, at this point last year, we would have been probably rocking up the infield and Old Trafford and getting heartbroken. But the Wolves game happened yet? Yeah, that happened October 1st, I believe.
00:26:45
Speaker
Yes, that was, we would be, I think we'd be coming off the wind against Fulham or maybe there was an international break. I don't know. Yeah. That was like, so we, we'd have like me. Yeah. We'd had two or three wins at this point. I think we'd have, we'd have three, we would have beaten Villa and then we'd be on the two in a row. And then we would probably be getting ready to go to Liverpool and United and play those one mills that we lost.
00:27:12
Speaker
And
Team Dynamics: Antonio vs. Sucek Discussion
00:27:13
Speaker
then I don't know when we beat Bournemouth in that stretch. Maybe we won. No, we didn't win three in a row, did we? I think that we did. Cause we went up to 10th at one point. That's crazy. Isn't that crazy? Um, but to be more positive about the Newcastle game, that was, uh, I think that was Kudu's best game for us, like pretty comfortably. Oh yeah. I mean, I feel like a lot of it, and we talked about this on game day.
00:27:42
Speaker
that Moyes is like getting a feel for him and putting him like right away into the spots where he's gonna succeed. And that is through the middle. That's what happened, yeah. I thought how he set up and how he has been setting up to close games with Coos. He's been really, really interesting. It's been very like we play this really hard to beat impossible to play through style.
00:28:08
Speaker
for 70 minutes with Antonio, just kind of anchoring that attack. And then on the 70 minute mark, he kind of just reverts to the old us and brings kudos on and let's Peketto or Bowen take that responsibility of playing up front. And then let's Ben Rama do whatever the hell it is that he does on the left. Yeah. That's another thing. Ben Rama had a redeemable trait right now. Like if he was even just like playing well for him,
00:28:39
Speaker
This would be a really hard decision. Yeah. If he was challenging for the team, it would be like, I mean, he can never, this makes it weird though. Cause it makes it so hard to bring kudos and cause cause if it were up to me, if I could have it anyway, I would want him to play like at
00:29:00
Speaker
as a 10 through the middle. That's what he does. But as soon as he came on against Newcastle, he went there immediately. He keeps the ball so well. He does not lose that thing. I mean, on the turn, he's impossible to defend. He's such a ridiculous athlete. And then the ball strike, we finally got a glimpse of that. Great deal. But I've been thinking about it a lot. And I think that
00:29:32
Speaker
I think if you start them, you drop Antonio and you play him on the right. And then say that I think dropping Antonio is the right thing to necessarily do because there's, there's, there's 12 players who deserve to start of the game right now. Or, I mean, I guess it depends on your opinion on the Garrett, but then you can just say that Marver Panos deserves it. Whatever conversation. It doesn't matter.
00:29:59
Speaker
There's too many players that deserve to start right now. And I think kudos has finally made this kind
West Ham's Midfield Strength and Scoring Success
00:30:06
Speaker
of like a, you have to give me a shot type thing. And obviously we were always going to do it at some point and spend 40 million pounds on him. Um, and the reason I think that Antonio is the one to drop is because you're basically, you're deciding between Antonio and Sucek.
00:30:23
Speaker
And they both bring us things that we can't really afford to lose. It feels like we can't afford to lose them, especially Antonio's hold-up play and what he does to link plays up and like bring people into the attack and get us up the pitch. But I think if you play kudos with bow on top, you kind of give yourself a different way to get up the pitch between Paquetta on the left and kudos on the right, between the passing and the ball carrying. And to be honest with you, I'd rather take a chance on a different attack with those three, especially since
00:30:52
Speaker
the way that Moyes talks about Bowen as a player now and how he says he sees him becoming a striker one day, maybe. So I'd rather take that risk and not lose this concrete wall of a midfield that we've built. Because those three, you cannot play through them. They're impossible to play through. Sucek is providing us with a goal threat again. I just don't think that you can drop him. Because I think we just become so much more open if you drop Sucek.
00:31:22
Speaker
And not that we can't play a more expansive open game, but I think our biggest strength right now is that teams cannot play through us. We've scored the first goal in seven out of eight Premier League games this season. And look at the teams that we've played. Top scorers in the league, Brighton, played Liverpool, they scored first to be fair, but we should have scored first in that game. We've played City, we've played Newcastle, played all these teams and played,
00:31:51
Speaker
Chelsea in there. We played all these teams. We've scored first in seven of our eight first games Yeah, and like you said like that Liverpool goal that penalty came way against the run apply. Yeah That was that was there really their first sniff of the entire we score first in that game. Who knows what happens It's almost frustrating because the score first and seven of the first eight games you kind of be hoping for six wins but you know the level of
00:32:21
Speaker
competition comes into it. We've won five games and drew one of them and then we lost the city and then we lost the game. We didn't score first. I can take that. Yeah. I mean, our only two losses this season are still sitting in Liverpool. You really cannot ask. Oh, we drew Bournemouth too. I forgot them. So we have four wins. God damn it. That doesn't count. That doesn't count. That wasn't, that wasn't us yet. That was before the James WordPress era. That's the thing. If you score for like
00:32:49
Speaker
Obviously, the Premier League is difficult, and every game is difficult. But if you score first, and in this percentage of games, and it probably won't stay that high, but if you can get the first goal, you put yourself in such a position to succeed. And I think that these people who say we can't hold on to it are ridiculous. We sit back too much. It's the same thing that we've always done. Let's stop it. Yeah, it happens. It's a long game. Teams get pegged back in this league
00:33:17
Speaker
all the time. That's literally the beauty of the league. There's been one 0-0 this entire season. And I'm pretty sure there's been a record low number of clean sheets. Yeah, it just happened. It happens. But I think what I was saying was not to cut you off, just to finish my thought. I think that the reason why we score the first goal so often
00:33:44
Speaker
It's just because obviously we have the players to hurt teams. But teams,
Antonio's Role and Team Performance Enhancement
00:33:49
Speaker
they can't score against us. It takes so much knocking down and knocking on the door and trying to break through that barrier to score against us. And I think the midfield is owed probably the biggest thank you for that. That an area where he's also been great in Zuma. But yeah.
00:34:06
Speaker
And David Moyes. Oh, yeah. He's the architect. The architect. I love it. Yeah. I mean, the way he's built this midfield, it's so like this is one of the best midlocks I've ever seen. I mean, it's just the way... It's really just committing to a way of playing. And the way he has all 11 guys,
00:34:33
Speaker
They, they like share like one collective brain. They move together. They're doubling up and they've been together for two months. Yeah. It's, it's easy. There's for the amount of new players that are in the, they're in like important areas to execute this system. I mean, we have two new midfielders. I mean, Sue check essentially is a brand new guy. So Alvarez and.
00:35:03
Speaker
Yeah. Drowsy definitely is. And the way he's playing, I haven't seen this guy in years. Like he was back at the end of last year, but he is back now. And I think that the midfield three, people will say, oh, he's playing with Rice. That's what didn't allow him to vote. Like to an extent, yes, but also that's Moy's decision. It's not Rice's fault. Um, but also I think that the midfield three and the way that Alvarez loves to sit, which is how Rice played that 2020 season, especially the beginning of it. And once you trick was scoring all those goals,
00:35:32
Speaker
that suits his game. And Ward Prowse is another midfielder. And with the way Antonio plays, there's so much space to exploit. For Suchak, Bowen, and Emerson to exploit, the way we square the first goal against Newcastle is all because of Antonio, and obviously the passing of Peketa. But it's just Emerson and Suchak exploiting space that Antonio creates for them. That's the thing, man. Drop Antonio that space, where is it coming from? Yeah, that's the thing. That's what makes it so difficult.
00:36:03
Speaker
Yeah. And that's where the dilemma comes from. And I agree with you. I think that I definitely had some sort of influence on your thinking. I've come to this, I think I came to this conclusion like a week ago. I was leaning towards keeping Antonio in the league, in the team. And then just the more I thought about it, I was like, you can't knock down this wall. And I just think that
Balancing Team Roles: Antonio and Sucek
00:36:31
Speaker
like you drop some check and that physicality is gone. You just you can't it doesn't it doesn't get replaced. Yeah, you can't you can't make up for it in a different way. With Antonio, you have
00:36:45
Speaker
Bowen now who makes better runs than Antonio. He's more of a goal scoring threat from that central center forward position himself. To be fair, there is a whole conversation on Twitter today, but to be fair, I don't know if Antonio's role is to score goals. Obviously he has to as a striker. That's the thing. It's not his role, but Paquetta likes to play that vertical pass to him. Yeah. Okay. He, he, I mean, the most famous goal in the history of this club was that. Yeah.
00:37:14
Speaker
And now like to have that consistently and that for that to be an option for him, if you remember, I don't know. I mean, if you remember early on, Paquetta got here and Antonio, you know, and Skamaka got hurt. So it was Antonio. He like tried and failed to get Antonio the ball, like go in that channel a lot. They had a lot of growth together. Yeah. They had a lot of growing pains together. Yeah.
00:37:43
Speaker
Peketa had to learn how to play with a guy who is not going to like try to get in behind. Anymore. Yeah. And with Bowen, he kind of has that option again. I think that goals can come from there. Obviously, kudos is his own threat. And, you know, he is going to command a lot of attention himself, which is going to open up things for, for guys like Bowen and Peketa.
00:38:12
Speaker
I think just like thinking this through, I think that if we do go with this, if we leave Paquetta on the left and you bring kudos in on the right and you go a bone up top, I think that we're going to see a lot more of, um, Sue check almost playing even more advanced as a 10 because knowing Moise, he's going to want to keep that vertical threat and that physicality higher up the pitch. And just like, I think that we will see a lot more of that. Um, but I don't know, there are a lot of people
00:38:42
Speaker
who don't seem to think that Bowen can play striker. I disagree. I think going back to what you said that you kind of sold me on dropping Antonio instead of suit check. I feel like we've had this conversation a lot and I always bring up the United away game because dude, he, he can do this and he, he's a very intelligent runner. He's a great presser of the ball, especially in the middle, which honestly is probably better than Antonio. No doubt.
00:39:10
Speaker
He'll run those channels. Well, he's going to contest every ball. Like he's not as strong as Antonio. He might not win as many, but the amount of like duels he's going to get into might actually exceed Antonio's. So it's a different kind of threat, but he's still going to provide you with that option. And with Suture to help with directness, I think that it could work. I think that you have to try it. Antonio is a specimen unlike.
00:39:39
Speaker
you know, unlike any other in, in the, in the Premier league, when he's in the channel and he's up against the center back, sometimes he'll just throw his shoulder into like a huge, huge, these guys don't want to see him. Yeah. Like that, that, that is what he is, is he like is going to go in the channel one-on-one and that's, that's death for most, most center backs. You either foul him or you get pushed with Bowen.
00:40:08
Speaker
He's still really strong. He's still strong for, like, he's strong. He's low to the earth. He's a very low center of gravity. He's not low center of gravity. He's got that hazard build. You know, I don't want to go. Yeah. Well, but dude, he does because, you know, you watch the videos about him running on the corn, on the potato fields as a kid to get his legs stronger with his dad. You know, he still does that every summer. This summer was the first time he didn't do it. He starts like this, dude, get him off the potato fields.
00:40:37
Speaker
She's probably giving him shin splints and stuff. I'm not going to have to call him back or anything. Oh, my God. No, you can do it, though. Like, I just in some my argument, I feel like what I've been saying is kind of a little bit like all over the place. But basically what I'm trying to say is. Bowen can replicate. A lot of what Antonio does adds a new threat. And with Suchak,
00:41:07
Speaker
You take him out and we lose all of what he brings. There's no, there's,
Squad Depth and Strategic Future Planning
00:41:12
Speaker
there's no replacing that role in the team. We'd have to play a fundamentally different way. Yeah, I agree with that. I completely agree with everything you're saying. And like, just for the record, I feel like you feel the same way. I am not comfortable with dropping Antonio. Like I'm not, like, it's not like.
00:41:30
Speaker
Because, you know, people get weird about Antonio and Sucek, where they're like, get them out of the team, like, whatever. Like, people will see these runs a form, and they'll still just think, hey, kudos, and they're like, he's better than these guys. Like, no. Like, yeah, kudos is a better footballer, probably, than them. But these are two very talented guys and two very effective footballers. And we are losing a lot by bringing kudos in for Antonio, but we're also adding a lot of new stuff. And just the way things have been going, it's not even that we've played that. We've still played very well.
00:41:59
Speaker
But I just think that it's something that you have to explore. And it's a very long season. And Antonio will have his runs in the team. Like, I promise you, like, this is not calling for him to be, because people do that. They call this is the 11, like, that we should always play. Like, no. Like, we, I told you this, uh, probably on Thursday when we played Freiburg. And just thinking of the squad that we have now, we have legitimate players who don't get into this team.
00:42:30
Speaker
who I'd be very comfortable with starting games. Like, Carrera right back is warm. Very comfortable with that. Especially, like, you know, I'm a big advocate for signing a fullback in a right back. But, like, for our options there, I'm very comfortable with bringing him in. Like, Fabianski's another one. Very comfortable with bringing him in. The three midfielders that we have, very comfortable with them. Comfortable with Paquetta playing anywhere from the left to the 10 to the pivot. You know, we have players.
00:42:59
Speaker
And it's okay for a player to kind of have a little run out of the team where now he's only playing in Europe and he's being an impact guy in the league. And then maybe something else happens. Maybe, maybe in a few weeks, like we go to Burnley and we only get a one-on-one and like a suit check played like shit. Now you bring Antonio back in and maybe you try a different system with Antonio with the other three behind them.
00:43:21
Speaker
And you try something different. And then now Antonio's on the team and suchex trying to break back into the team. Like this is the whole point of what every preaches depth. This is the whole point of having depth and having a squad. It's for competition. And it's so these players like to an extent, it kind of gives Antonio a little bit of a break. Not that like I'm giving him break, but like it's a long season. We go through different variations of teams every year.
00:43:49
Speaker
Every year you'll think about it and you'll think about how you're thinking in September about how this is the team, this is the way we have to play. And you get to April and it's a completely different team that you want to see out there. Just think about last year. Think about who you wanted to see line up for like wolves at home. And then think about like the team that you would have wanted to play for like Fiorentina or AC or like United at home in May. Like it always changes over the course of a season.
00:44:19
Speaker
And that's okay. That's just my little rant on like people being like Antonio was shit. Like he sucks. Like he can't be in the team or like, like you can't drop Antonio right now. Well, like the thing is like you don't sit a 40 million pound investment on the bench for much longer than a month and a half, two months. You just don't, especially as he gets better and he scores a goal to rescue your point.
00:44:47
Speaker
He's
Fulham's Attacking Lineup and Goal Scoring Struggles
00:44:48
Speaker
going to start against Villa. He's going to start back. And, and even if like he came in and the reason he came in is like, okay, like this is the guy who's going to eventually replace Piqueta. Like this signing was really for next year. In a way it is. I mean, I think it's also very for the presidency, but no, yeah, like, like this is like, that's, this, I'm just saying that this is probably how they like. And devise this, but even still you paid 40 million. He's an excellent player. Yeah.
00:45:16
Speaker
right now, he needs to play. He didn't come here to sit a year. We should probably really stress that this is to no fault of Antonio. We're at a point where two years ago when we were terrible,
00:45:39
Speaker
We were good, but we were terrible. The squad was not where it needed to be. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. We had a very small squad, but we were teetering on the edge. Getting dropped used to be an indictment on you as a human being. Ben Ramah would get dropped, and it would be like, whoa. Ben Ramah would get dropped, and we'd be like, dude, I think Mois might be Islamphobic.
00:46:08
Speaker
We were like, all right, like, what was he saying about the Iraq war? And I'm always being the press conference and he'd be like, you know, we like Said, but he's just, he's kind of shit. And we'd be like, whoa. Yeah. And it was like, you didn't have to say it cause you made the decision. And like, do you remember when, uh, what happened when Ben Rama got subbed off and walked straight past and they didn't even make eye contact and he was getting all upset walking by him.
00:46:37
Speaker
And then we were talking about Ben Rama. Dude, it was in like March and Ben Rama hadn't played a full 90 since October. He said, he said every, every fucking time. Yeah. He was getting hooked every game. Yeah. That was cool.
00:46:56
Speaker
Easy, so crazy. And then he had one good performance against Forrest Away in a game that we lost and was now unsubbable, undroppable for him. And with the earshot from a game against the worst team I've ever seen before. No, do we play Sheffield United? Show some respect. They're terrible. Yeah, man. They are probably, they're worse than Lew and I would say.
00:47:22
Speaker
Dude, they get excited to watch Cam Archer every week, bro. And respect the Cam Archer. I like Cam Archer, but let's be serious. They play with like a little... Luton are what they are. Sheffield United could have done more to get that squad ready. Oh, yeah. They've been here before. I think that 8-0 is gonna just be like them cooked for the year. I wonder when they're gonna win a game.
00:47:51
Speaker
I think they probably have to change managers at some point. They should do it. They should do it over the international break for being serious. Like, this is when? Because they lost again, right? Yeah. Yeah, they lost. They lost 3-1 the phone. Jesus Christ. And their only goal was an Anthony Robinson own goal. And foam are bad. Like, foam have no goal. They're not good. I can't wait to play them, dude.
00:48:22
Speaker
I can see three against Fulham, a team where like, honestly, like think about like a hypothetical Fulham goal. You can't like even, you can't even like conjure one up. Like all I can think of is the Willian like goal of the season last year that he'll never score that again. Oh my God. Yeah. I mean, Fulham's attacker is you got like Carlos Vinicius, terrible striker. Raul Jimenez. Raul Jimenez.
00:48:49
Speaker
CTE cannot think. He's seeing three goals. Motor functions are all out of whack. You got Bobby DeCortova-Reed. I like Bobby DeCortova-Reed. He's a cute little player. He's not primarily Italian. Getting new goals and assists. You have Lillian who tried to release himself from his contract to go to Saudi Arabia, I believe, over the summer. And like,
00:49:20
Speaker
is fine. Technically for them, I guess, like technically isn't like his ability, not like, man, he was washed like four years ago. Yeah. He was like, he had a good season last year. So I'll give him a little respect. But like, William, are we serious? That's how you're going to survive in the family. That's the thing. William is like their talisman now, dude. Like, this is crazy. They sold Mitchovich for 50 million pounds.
00:49:49
Speaker
And they replaced him with Raul Jimenez who broke his skull for 5 million pounds. I don't think Jimenez has scored as many goals after breaking his skull as he did in the one full season he played before breaking. Probably not. I wonder if he's scored as many goals since breaking his skull as he had in that season going into that game. He had like six goals a year.
00:50:16
Speaker
I had an FPL that year too. Nice dude. I think he had one. I think he had like a fluky ass goal for loves. Yeah, I remember that. But like, I wonder if he's scored six Premier League goals. No. Since that night. Definitely not. It's not even worth the Google search. He hasn't. They signed the Alex of Obie over the summer. Oh, that's Ed Traore. Oh, yeah, they have a Domitraore classic.
00:50:44
Speaker
Classic output monster, a Domitra or a hit. He'll bring you goals and assists. Yeah, right. It is an implies. He's literally like just a super setup. He wasn't even on the bench this weekend. I wonder if he's fit or not. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if they're just done with him. Tom Cairny is not only still in the squad, but he's still coming into the game. Yeah, these like guys who played for Fulham in the championship,
00:51:15
Speaker
What the hell? How are they still like this is the Premier League? How is your career? Oh, you're talking about the championship like the year they went down, like when Chicharito scored the own goal, the handball goal against them under Pellegrini. Yeah, they were really bad that year. Yeah. Like how many players? How do they still have key players from that team? Well, I wouldn't call them key players.
00:51:43
Speaker
Yeah, Harry Wilson came off the bench this weekend. So
Crystal Palace Injuries and Performance Impact
00:51:46
Speaker
look, I'm just gonna read the attackers and you can tell me, I want you to give me a number and only goals that they score, like don't include the assists, like they're assisting each other. Just give me a number of how many goals you think that these players will combine for in a permanent season. Raul Jimenez, Carlos Vinicius,
00:52:13
Speaker
Bobby DeGordova-Reed, Willianne, Andreas Pereira, Harry Wilson, and Adama Joury. Dude, like, who is scoring? How do they have any goals this season? I would say zero. I don't know, dude. Like, them scoring was like a thing that was probably going to happen. Zero.
00:52:41
Speaker
Like Andreas Pereira will probably like score. Andreas Pereira will have like four goals and like four assists in the league. He'll have like a goal and two assists. William, like you might get like three and six out of like four and six. The strikers you might get eight or nine from combined. Maybe. If you're lucky.
00:53:07
Speaker
I don't know. You might get like four from Vinicius, five from Vinicius and like two or three from the menace. They might be the one and two worst strikers in league like legit. I'm taking, I'm taking Lew and strike parallel out of bio and um, Houlton Morris and they're both like solid enough. Yeah. Like they would do, they, you know what, they would do better in this film team than those two. Oh, for sure. For sure.
00:53:35
Speaker
You imagine Fulham had like a guy who could run the channels, like hold the ball up, be physical, like be like a real aerial threat. Carlos Vinicius is so soft. And Jimenez isn't going to head the ball. No, I wouldn't blame him either. I actually hope he can do that. I like Raul Jimenez, but like it's not. I liked him. He was a good dude. All right. So Fulham have scored.
00:54:05
Speaker
Before, okay, before the Sheffield United game, Fulham had scored more than one time in a Premier League game once this season, and it was against Arsenal, in a 2-2 draw that was the fakest shit I've ever seen. It was stated early from Ramsdale, like a double mistake from, not even soccer. Soccer and Ramsdale. Yes. It was soccer. And then the Paulina,
00:54:33
Speaker
corner, the most ridiculous thing that's ever happened. Um, they scored once against Everton on the opening day. They beat them. They were beat three nil by Brentford. Um, I'm not reading their league cup results. I really don't care. If you were wondering, they scored once against Tottenham and went to penalties. They scored twice against Norwich city. Um, they scored once against Manchester city. They scored. Oh, they equalized. Good for them.
00:55:02
Speaker
Yeah, I remember. They were beat 5-1. They scored once against Luton Town in the 65th minute, Carlos Manicius. They drew 0-0 the Crystal Palace. There's actually been three 0-0s in the Premier League this year, I think. I was wrong before. How many? Two were Palace. Jesus, they're another one. Yeah, but at least they have good players. Yeah, I guess so. They have good defenders.
00:55:28
Speaker
I don't really think that you can argue with that. And then- Oh, no, not at all. Elise, when he spit in Ezzy, they have a lot of injuries right now, too. They got a lot of trash attackers. Palace have a lot of, like, if those two go down. And I haven't seen Franco play yet. I don't know if he spit yet. I don't think he does play. I think he's, like, a year removed from playing. What? No, no, no. I think he's the winger that they signed.
00:55:56
Speaker
Yeah, I think he's, is he, does he play? He was, he was injured. Um, I'm going to check that in a second. Then, then a Fulham lost, they lost two nil, but Chelsea and they beat Jeff today. Um,
West Ham's Past Performances Under Pellegrini
00:56:10
Speaker
dude, they spent 25 million Euro on him. He's, he's going to play. We'll see. He had, he has to play the, the, the two good attackers Palace have her injured. I think Elise will be back after the international break.
00:56:26
Speaker
Um, do this palace team that they play. Edward Edward is still like the guy there. Well, to be fair to palace, they're bringing, um, Roxaki through finally. Oh yeah. But he's right. He, he is a good player. I've seen clips of him for their youth team and for Charlie and he's good. He's done damn well for me. And I found before, so I like him.
00:56:55
Speaker
They could use him. He'll be the Elise replacement, honestly. Yeah. He's in, he's in house. Uh, how do you say his name? Evvue. He was on the bench. I don't know how that is. I don't know if they're going to start playing him. He's another young one. I think they signed him from Swansea a few years ago. And then there was no Franco on the bench. There's no Lisa. So I don't know if Franco is hurt. I think he still hurt Navy, but what I'm my overall point.
00:57:25
Speaker
It's like you take out the young guys, because Hodgkin's not going to really toss me with the fire, even though I think he's going to start giving Raksaki starts if all of these guys aren't. But you take out the two young guys, and you take out the two stars that they have. It's all trash. Yeah. Meteta, IU, Eduard.
00:57:50
Speaker
I kind of like for them, because at least he works hard. He's like there for nows. With like a little more, like you can play further out. Dude, their midfielders slow up Hughes and beautiful against Forest. Where's the core? He's another one who's hurt, I think.
00:58:19
Speaker
Do you know that they have like a serious thing going on? Henderson's still out. They, they, they ever go a legit crisis. Yeah. Good. Yeah. Good. That's a little bro. This league has passed them by like from when they were like a tricky little team, like.
00:58:37
Speaker
Remember remember after like Arsenal like wrestled away three points for them and and rice was talking like the Premier League like this is just one of those games Like in a way like he's right But you know, he only said that because that was his first away game as an Arsenal player
00:59:05
Speaker
Yeah. You know, he was just like, you know, he was getting ready for that game. He was like, these are the games. Like you got to go on the road to a hostile environment and win. It's like, dude. Yeah. Like, yeah, you have to win games to win the league. Congrats, man. You, it is literally the post little Fred Zaha crystal palace managed by Roy Hodneson. Like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's, let's be nice. Let's be nice to him. Maybe.
00:59:33
Speaker
He will, he will give them everything that those owners want, which is to finish somewhere between 11th and 14th for another year. Yes. We all at least do that this year. Next year, if tough teams come up, it might be a little tricky. They always do just enough. They do. But when, when they're fit, when they're fit, that's a, that's a solid little side. You know what? When they're fit, they're exactly what you said they are. They are a tricky little team. Maybe they need to center forward.
01:00:05
Speaker
Yeah, they need to get, I can't believe Ed Ward was the solution for this long. And then Matata was the solution before that and Ben Teque was the solution before that. Ben Teque scored 17 goals in the league season for them, right? I can't think of Ben Teque without thinking of that first half when we played them in 2020 when Ben Teque scored and
01:00:29
Speaker
West Ham fans were like, see how air that's what a real target man looks like. And then yeah, and then he gets second half. Dude, that was the funniest thing. That was when that was when the West Ham Twitter was probably its most tribalistic. And those Pellegrini teams divide the people, man. And then COVID, everybody was on the phone.
01:00:53
Speaker
Mm hmm. It was brutal, brutal times and and seeing them all get shot up like that as as a holler guy. He's just like it was beautiful man. After a blue. That was a crucial point. You know what? I'm going to tell you something. Without his goals. That season, we would have finished seven.
01:01:23
Speaker
I think. Cause so he won us, he won us two points against Sheffield United. He won us a point against palace. That's three. I don't know what the goal different situation was between us and Spurs, but those three points would put us level with them. And then he scored, he scored another. Oh, he scored against wolves in the four. No. All right. So he wanted, he wanted, he wanted three points. I feel like there was another game in there that he scored, but it's just that. Yeah. He only had three permanently goals that year.
01:01:54
Speaker
He might, you know what, he scored in the cup. Yeah, he gave us that cup run. He gave us, he gave us, he gave us a Charlton Athletic and whole city at home. I'll actually never forget that. Like that, that like mini cup run was like so emotional.
01:02:18
Speaker
like I don't give a shit about any of these guys like let him go out there and we were all watching like the vibes are back like this is the like Felipe's got any playing himself into the team right now there's an uprising it was Felipe, Halle, Lanzini, Yarmulenko, Josh Cohen
01:02:40
Speaker
That shit was vibes. We did vibes that midget at Charlton. Yeah, dude, those lineups were sick. And then we beat them too. We beat them like fucking 3-0, 5-1, rocked up to Everton away. I was like, this team will cement themselves today. Went up there. He played Snograss in the pivot. We lost 4-1. Philippe Anderson was on a flight to Portugal. Flicked the next day. Dude.
01:03:08
Speaker
The craziest blitz of all time like I could have like I was sitting there I remember sitting there watching that every single game being like if you just kept the same whole city lineup like this would never happen To be fair he put in it was he put in noble and snowgrass I was like, yeah, it was it was it was terrible
01:03:30
Speaker
I placed it, that was Noble's worst season by far as a West Ham player. No, no, no, no, no, dude. Yes, dude. No, dude. Yes. No. The season after, it was vibes. No, yeah, I know. I'm saying, dude, he was solid that year. He didn't play much. He had that one game where he took everything from us. I'll give you that. He was good that year, dude.
01:04:00
Speaker
What season are you talking about? 2021. 2020 to 2021? Yeah, when he was hugging Jesse Lindgaard. No, bro, he was like playing before Lingard got there. He was playing like the 10. And I remember specifically played 10. He played the 10 at Chelsea when he lost 3-0. I was like, this is his fault, bro. It's his fault because I mean, just the fact of the matter is that he was playing like shit and I did not like him for it.
01:04:30
Speaker
All right, man. Look, I saw him put in worst performances the fucking the second village season, the 1617 season. He dude. I thought the legs were gone forever. I couldn't believe you lasted as long as you lasted thinking about that season. Oh, my goodness, man. It's weird because in the season afterwards, he was like he was like seeing out games and shit. Well, it's also weird about the 1617 years. He like he like should have gone to Euro 2016. He was unbelievable.
01:04:59
Speaker
the full pilot season. And that year, it was like, dude, like, what happened to you? Are you okay? Yeah, man. And then it was just the village effect. He's making everybody look terrible. That's fair. I hate to talk bad about the guy. I don't know how he got caught in the strike. Because you talk about being bad.
01:05:23
Speaker
Oh, right, because he costs us the greatest caribao cup run in the history. Oh, mark it all. I don't know how I could talk bad about this guy, besides the fact that he cost us everything. Oh, and Creswell came in the team, too, over Masawaku. Oh, my god, man.
01:05:47
Speaker
What a funny, like, string of games to reminisce on. Well, what's crazy about that string of games is the season that it happened in. Right. Like, because the transfer window was all fucked up, like, Ben Rama wasn't even on the team yet when we lost to Everton. Jesse Lingard was not even a thought in my mind. Not even quotes. Like, dude, the Lingard, like, Leicester game,
01:06:14
Speaker
was the same season as the like whole city like COVID drubbing. Like what? We can't let this be lost in history. We have to we have to keep this memory alive in the hearts of all these West Ham fans out there. That was like that was like the last time where like at least like people
01:06:40
Speaker
like people like I wanted to kill Moyes dude. I remember when we lost the Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates at the start of that season when we lost the first two games and he didn't bring Felipe on like the 92nd minute I was gonna strangle him. We need a goal! Those those first two games Newcastle and Arsenal I was
01:07:06
Speaker
We were down. We were down. They were positives to take from Arsenal. But I was like, the positives were like, we might stay up. I didn't even want to see the positives. Because the way we were going that season, the decisions that Moyser's making. Well, it wasn't even all him, though. There was the Tingana stuff and the board weren't giving us money. We didn't
Celebrity Influence: Danny Dyer and Jared Bowen
01:07:28
Speaker
even sign Kufo until the fourth game of the season. The only signing we made over the summer was Dawson, I think.
01:07:36
Speaker
Yeah. And he didn't play till January, December. That's crazy. Remember his debut? His debut was ridiculous. That was, I was, I've, I've never, I like, that's probably one of like the biggest head loss moments of like seeing a boom was seeing him over. And it's crazy how that age dude, he, man, what a player. The most chaotic debut I've ever seen a player have. He almost killed Jay Adams.
01:08:08
Speaker
He's got to go finish the job. Why is Shay Adams catching strays on this podcast? As if I have to answer that question. Yeah, dude. He's just a guy, man. That's part of the problem. That is part of the problem. Was he the one who scored from the halfway line against City? That was him, right? I don't remember.
01:08:37
Speaker
it was. I don't know. I don't like that. I don't like how he played against us back when they were an issue. He played well. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. He's a handful. And Broja killed us the year after. Anyways, I think that's enough reminiscing for one episode. Yeah, we have shit we still need to go through. Do we?
01:09:06
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, we didn't even talk about Bowen's contract. Say congrats. Say congrats. I'll do one better. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. And congrats to you on Bowen and congrats on Kudus. Congrats on Kudus. Congrats on Bowen. Congrats on Paquette the gambling. Congrats on West Ham. Congrats. You excited for Bowen's?
01:09:35
Speaker
England, the Wembley debut, not England debut, the Wembley debut. You won't shut the fuck up about it. He's buzzing about it. I didn't even think about it. And, you know, that's awesome for him. I'm honestly super excited to see him play at Wembley. I'm super excited for him. And like, I'm super excited that like, he's going to get like a real shot in this camp. I think he's going to start one of these games. He might start both of them. Yeah. Saka Saka is the true. So he's like the one true right winger that's
01:10:05
Speaker
They like to play inverted too. He is a real, he is a real shot man. He needs to make up for those atrocious appearances. No, he played, he played a, he played it right in his debut and he played pretty well off the bench against Germany, if you remember. I don't think I watched that game. I was locked in for those games, but he's a better player now. He said it himself. He's going to score man. I think he's going to score in one of these games.
01:10:36
Speaker
You can book it. He is a way better player. I think that's plainly obvious. I honestly think he's going to score in one of these games, too. The way they play, it makes too much sense for him not to do well. And it didn't make sense the first time around. But now, even now that he's a better player, he's played under the brightest lights that there are. He's ready to go. He's ready to go.
01:11:06
Speaker
I think he was just nervous more than anything in the first camp. I think he'll be very calm. He's getting, he's getting cup of tea with Deacon Rice today. See this guy? Yeah. He's just enjoying life at St. George. St. George? Yeah, St. George's Park. He should spit on Deacon Rice. He honestly could teach Deacon Rice a thing or two about being loyal. He could. He could. He could bring out the contract.
01:11:33
Speaker
Day Dyer doesn't have to worry about him going to Las Vegas. Oh my god. You're going to say something else that would have been crazier? No, no, no. Because he's away at England camp. I was like, dude. My god, that's his wife, I think. I have the most respect for Mrs. Dyer, hopefully soon to be Mrs. Bowen. Is it? I mean, she's got to keep her name. She's a celebrity.
01:12:03
Speaker
No, I don't think they're married. No, they don't need marriage. That's so last generation. They have a bond that's greater than marriage. I agree. And the sacrament of holy matrimony. And that is the bond. She is a local lad of West Ham. And he has adopted West Ham as his own. And I think that bond is greater. And they have twins. Yeah, and they have twins. I wonder what their names are, dude.
01:12:34
Speaker
I've never wondered. I mean, that is the first time I've wondered. Honestly, I don't want to know. Knowing Kaidan Randall's name has only done bad things for me. Yeah, I haven't even bothered to learn the other one's name. I don't think Julius let it out. I don't think he named them yet. No, because remember, I think Mark Berman asked him what the kid's name was. He said, why would I tell you? Yeah.
01:13:02
Speaker
It's deflecting, dude, isn't it? He's been in the lab. He's got to figure it out. It's been two years. It's a boy. We know it's a boy. Do we know if Bowen's kids are boys? Do we have any guys coming through the system in about 20 years? The U9 months. The U9 months. It's ridiculous. They're not even nine months old yet. They would have been... Dude, I kept the...
01:13:31
Speaker
I found out or I realized like officially that they were born before the final and Prague happened. And he just kept calling the final the greatest day of his life. Like without even a second thought, just wouldn't shut the fuck up about it. He said it on like six different interviews, like sober drunk, like he was saying it. On the pitch, like on the plane, on the bus. Every opportunity. At the club.
01:13:59
Speaker
I went home and told his children, like, we'll never be able to do that for me. You will never bring me immense joy the way that I felt that joy, too. Oh, my God. So happy to have him, though. And he'll be a great father. He was talking about it in his England pressure. He was like, I feel more mature as a father. I was like, dude, it's been like three months.
01:14:29
Speaker
It's serious. All right, man. You haven't raised anybody yet. Dudes wake up in the middle of the night and get the damn formula. Well, I mean, he remember when that one time Danny Dyer posted that picture of him like playing FIFA at his desk. What? No, this was like when they like were first got together. And I can imagine that he's grown up from that point.
01:14:56
Speaker
He was just like an off guard picture of him, like playing like people with his headset on. It's so funny that like, I don't want to call him the least marketable guy on our team, but like the most like small town like down to earth dude is like dating like a celebrity's daughter who's also a celebrity apparently.
Public Spotlight: Bowen and Celebrity Girlfriend
01:15:18
Speaker
First of all, as an American, what does she do? Don't ask. I don't know.
01:15:25
Speaker
I don't know what she does. I don't know what he does. I don't know what she does. I think he's a comedian, I think. Oh, like a stand up guy? I have no idea. I'm not that deep into it. I just, I think like. He's a funny guy. Yeah. He was, he's seen the interview with them where he said he starts the chance sometimes. It's out of his mind. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's ludicrous. It's your daughter. You can tell like, like he is like,
01:15:55
Speaker
was like, this is my son-in-law. Like, the first reaction to finding out that they were, maybe he found out when- Hey, set it up. Maybe he might've found out from that picture of Bowen leaving her house. Oh my god, dude. Isn't that how it came out? It was like paparazzi, right? Yeah, it was the reverse. It was her leaving his house. That's crazy. And doing that was probably like, how many goals do you have this season?
01:16:26
Speaker
Dude, I remember I was watching something and Danny Dye was like, yeah, like I don't get starstruck. I was like, well, yeah, like you're celebrity. He was like, but like the first time I met jazz, like, like I still get a little starstruck around them. I was like, dude, Jared Bowen, he's from Hartford, man. He runs on potato fields. It's the father of your grandchild. Like, dude, like that is your daughter's boyfriend, like you're starstruck. Imagine, like, I'm like nervous.
01:16:54
Speaker
A little nervous to meet, you know, our folks, like, it's, you know, it's first time and he's like, kind of your autograph. But when dude, I was watching the thing, Bowen said he gave him a hug the first time I met. Yeah. It's so funny. So funny. It's just like, he's given the wrong Danny butterflies, dude. Like what is going on? In all seriousness though, it's like such a good thing for this club that he's, he's done this. It's everything dude.
Bowen's Impact on West Ham United
01:17:22
Speaker
Seven years isn't.
01:17:23
Speaker
It's just, that's a, that's a true statement of commitment. Yeah. It's, it's, I mean, you know, I have the article coming out. Yeah. Oh, can you guys, you know, read it? That'd be cool. Um, I get into it more in depth there, but I mean, it's just like, it's just so important. Like it just sets like the standard for the next, you know, for however long his prime last. Cause he's going to be the guy who's always here.
01:17:54
Speaker
Yeah, like, like we'll like keep plugging guys in and you know, boys may or may not be here at this point, he will. I hope he is honestly at this point. But I mean, just having a guy like you're gonna be able to bank on for just just output, straight output, output, like, like, accountability, like, what not, kind of go with the word, like, like the way he applies himself the way he works, like, he sets a sets an example,
01:18:22
Speaker
on the field. There's no way for us to actually know if he's a leader, a local leader or not, but the way he applies himself in game.
01:18:32
Speaker
It really like was, if you think about it, get him getting here was the beginning of everything. We've said this even like at the very beginning of it, he is the Moyes project. He is, he epitomizes it. He embodies it. He is everything that the David Moyes, I mean, we call it the second stint. It's just the David Moyes era now. He's everything that the David Moyes era at West Tang is. And keep him here for it is, you know, rice went fine. Piqueta will go, kudos will go.
01:19:02
Speaker
These guys will sign big players. They will all, for the most part, they will all come and go. Especially the ones, if we're signing in that like kudus range where it's like 25 to 40 million, you're signing these 22, 23, 24 year old guys who are supremely talented, they'll go. And to an extent they have to, because you have to keep the influx of cash to keep improving. But to have somebody like following to be like the consistent pillar is so huge.
01:19:32
Speaker
And it's even bigger like you said, he brings the goals. And one thing I'll say, and I might, I might add this to my article thinking about it is like, you know, Bryce was obviously better than Bowman, but I feel like.
01:19:49
Speaker
you know, losing Rice, we were like, we didn't need Rice to be West Ham. That is already apparent. We didn't need Rice to do what we needed to do for under David Moyes. Alvarez has come in, he's considerably less talented than Declan Rice. He's done an incredible job. He's fulfilled his duties, the duties that need to be fulfilled as a midfielder in David Moyes' system. If we lose Bowen,
01:20:18
Speaker
replacing him, we would have to find somebody that applies himself the way that he does. And I think that would be probably harder to replace than Rice. Forget that. You have to find somebody who's going to bring you goals. Goals are not easy to come by. They're not easy to sign. They're not easy to find. To find those goals along with the way he applies himself and the way he plays and how hard he works,
01:20:44
Speaker
It's borderline impossible. It's like easy. It's not saying that replacing rice was easy. It wasn't, we spent 60 million and scoured the market for two months and found two great midfielders and are still playing an extra midfielder than we were last year and all the years before. But yeah, like it's, I don't think anybody would argue that it's more difficult to replace putting the ball on the net than it is to do anything else. I mean, for, for Moyes, he's like a, he's like a unicorn, like,
01:21:13
Speaker
If Moise wants to like, if Moise wants to play Antonio, like this kind of like false nine, if you want to say like guy who like create like a creator at the target, man, like a focal point for me to play off. Yeah. Yes. If you want to have a guy like that, that's what you want your nine to look like. You need a player like Bowen. And if you have a guy like Antonio, who really can't do the running, you need Bowen. You need somebody leading the line.
01:21:44
Speaker
in the press. And, you know, not only does that, he tracks back, covers all this space. And he's also, you know, putting chances away. And he's our main goal scorer, like just on the pitch. It's I've said, I've said it on here before, he is the best winger out of possession in the Premier League. In the Premier League, for sure. Nobody.
01:22:13
Speaker
Nobody does the amount that he, like when the other team has the ball, nobody does what he does between pressing and tracking back and walking crosses and winning the ball high
Bowen's Contract Extension and Future with West Ham
01:22:21
Speaker
up. Like you just think about how many goals we've scored over the years that are just him pressing from the front. Some of the most important goals we've scored in the Premier League since Moise came back. I mean, the penalty. Um, he went a few days like that, that year. Yeah.
01:22:42
Speaker
And there were two goals that game, really. Wasn't the second goal he scored, the goal he scored in that game from outside the box, wasn't that the product of the press? No, that was actually, that was the product of Antonio chasing the ball into the channel. Just kind of got knocked back to Kufall and he just sort of picked it up and just hit it. But even so, like,
01:23:10
Speaker
the press like he is the press like especially now that for now doesn't play exactly like he sets the tone for everybody else and and if we didn't have that we're not pressing as much this year but like he like what what of of our press like he is the guy he's like that he really is like you can't even
01:23:40
Speaker
You can't even put into words how important he is for us. And now we have him for the rest of his career. No release clause. You know, I'm happy to pay him as, as much or as little as, as whatever the final number was. If he hits all of his bonuses, it's 160,000 a week. So I assume that the base pay is like 130, 140. And I'm sure that there's a pretty hefty bonus for an appearance. So it's like.
01:24:10
Speaker
The base pay is probably 140, 150. Yeah. Yeah, he's- Which he deserves. He deserves every penny of that. He's already earned it and he'll continue- Dude, he can have whatever he wants. He scored that goal. Seriously. I think that's the perfect place to end it though. Thank you for listening with us today. Join us along on the ride. We will see you in the flesh or we'll be
01:24:39
Speaker
with our faces, we won't see you. But we will be in the flesh next week, hopefully. I guess not a live show, but we will be on your screens if you want to watch it. Jared Bowen will be there. He'll be talking about his new contract. Yeah, he's going to be talking about his debut at Wembley. Yeah, his debut goal at Wembley. Debut goals at Wembley. But yeah, thank you for joining us along in this long list. This has been a really fun episode.
01:25:09
Speaker
It has been. Don't forget to follow us on Twitter at hammering underscore away. The blog is hammering dash away dot blog. Instagram is hammering away underscore and the TikTok, which I will be making active again, is hammering dot away. Thank you everybody for listening.
01:26:10
Speaker
I'm talking to my shutters, I'm talking to my team I hit you in the morning right now with the beat
01:26:22
Speaker
And I need fire, you gonna ride You better slide, hop in the whip, better step on my side Cause this highway vibes your wave, wash my wave tie Don't trip, now you might slip, slide Cause I drip, sauce and I drip, fly And I lean back when I whip, ride I think I went away to infinity Felt for my team, didn't fuck up my vicinity This shit going crazy, bumping our shit, from last to Miami Down the highway and I'm just my Jamie's One of the students that come in, do leave My nigga named Rico, he strapped with the two, leave me blasting my shots If you acting up fully, you striving for perfection Don't you know you perfectly imperfect nigga, you worth it nigga
01:26:48
Speaker
I kickflip and I flip shit I'ma worship a nigga, you switch shit And I will smit the emotion, niggas I'm a fresh prince, don't check it, niggas I breathe deep, I'm testin' niggas Go check your mate, it's night time and you will go today I might take your queen, but that was yesterday And I offer you points, I'll be the accolade, cause I'm the realest king to ever play And I'm a black king, worried up to my black skin And I run shit, cause I'm African, people gotta tell me I am the man