WEST HAM HOPIUM

DAVID MOYES TAKING THE PRESSURE OFF HIS BOYS

Well, here we are. The countdown to the final game of the season. I’ve seen the Sky Sports trailer for the game and I cannot wait.

So what do we need today?

Some West Ham hopium in the veins.

Don’t rule out an upset on the final day. There are a number of things going our way on this one. So it’s not cut and shut.

Firstly, the whole world is going to be watching this game. Footballers have short careers, being part of big moments is exciting, and West Ham is a transition club for careers. Players like Paqueta and Bowen will be looking for moves this summer, showing what they can do when a billion people are watching helps juice interest and potential contracts.

Lopetegui turned down Bayern Munich because he wants the West Ham job this summer. Why? Because the have some very good players that can do big things against big clubs. Paqueta, Bowen, Kudus, and Antonio are all more than capable of taking advantage of Manchester City in transition and doing some damage. West Ham has press-resistant players, players with killer passes, and finishers.

Sure, it hasn’t been great for them without Declan Rice in their midfield, but all they need to do on Sunday is escape with a draw.

David Moyes chirping off in the media that his boys couldn’t beat City’s under 14s is terrifying to hear, but he doesn’t believe that; he just knows taking the pressure off his players is more likely to elicit a big performance. His players have nothing to lose - but they have a place in history to gain as world class spoilers. Being responsible for gutting City on the last day of the season would be a glorious moment for them. Surely they don’t want to see City do it again?

It’s there for them. A long shot, sure, but don’t be ruin your week by writing it off.

The blowback from the Spurs game has been fascinating to watch. Seeing Son having best-friends-good-times with Pep after the game, like he’d completed a mission for him, was embarrassing. A player of his talent, taking a lifer career at Spurs for zero trophies, tells you all you need to know about him. He was the worst Spurs player on the pitch. Missing that strike late on was written in the stars. He didn’t even care.

I’m also quite interested in the comments Ange made about problems inside and outside the club. Here’s the reality for Big Ange. Spurs had their best ever Premier League start over 10 games. I don’t think any team with a start like that has finished outside the top 4 in history. His Spursy end to the season has been quite incredible… and I wonder if someone in leadership at Spurs mentioned that to him.

You can bang the table about winnertivity all you like, but if you’ve tanked a winning start, that’s on you. Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho had a glittering careers to fall back on when the going got tough. When the dressing room started to shift with Ange, pointing to trophies at Celtic trophies probably isn’t going to win you much support in a dressing room that has World Cup winners.

As I’ve been saying for a while - Ange’s system isn’t good. He has been sussed. Better players isn’t solving for WIDE OPEN OH MY GOD football. If he doesn’t get a good start next season, he’ll be gone by December, and Spurs will be in a horrible, horrible position.

My take? They should have hired Graham Potter. They’d be in a much better position now with an innovative coach who could do all the things Ange could, but with far more tactical nous.

I know, I know, he was bad at Chelsea. Sure, but that was a different beast. Not many managers in world football could handle that bag of crazy. Spurs is a different beast. Their fans have such low expectations that they can be convinced to cheer for things that aren’t good for them… like Europa League football. I’m sure Potter would be fine there.

What is incredible to me is 5th to 8th in the Premier League right now is as followed.

Not sure I’d have been sold on that at the start of the season.

What do I personally want? I’d like to see Chelsea in Europe next season. They are picking up steam in the back half of the season, the have a very good coach who seems to have slimmed down as form has improved, and they have a young group of very good players that is shaking the dimness out of their game. If they add two or three good players this summer, they’ll be a threat. I’m less concerned about that if they have Europe. But, give them 7 days between games for 9 months, with Pochettino, and we could have a problem.

Next season - you’ll likely see massive dips from Liverpool, Villa, and Spurs.

Question is, who is going to get the bumps? I’m not convinced in Newcastle. United still hasn’t hired a new coach and rumors are hot that Ten Hag could be staying on. His little post-game speech yesterday (he was booed) didn’t speak to a manager who knew his time was coming to an end. It doesn’t feel like there are too many pretenders to the title race if I’m honest. Even with good summers.

That’s good for us. The Premier League sword of Damocles is sitting over our biggest rival - and it could drop next season and it will be messy if it drops the way many think it will. People keep asking why media won’t report on it - I’ll tell you why: UK media laws. No one wants to be Carole Cadwalladr, the woman who reported on the finances of a Brexiteer, and got wrapped up in a drawn-out court battle and ended up getting lumped with paying his legal fees after the case. Better to just wait and see what happens with the charges, rather than speculate on a very murky case. If it’s guilty, the Premier League could be very interesting next season - especially if Arsenal get this summer right.

Finally, the new kit dropped.

Arsenal doubling down on the cannon - slowly phasing out the crest no one likes. The kit base is a hommage to the 2006 World Cup shirts. All Adidas clubs will have this base for next season. I like it. Simple, vibrant, nice fit… another massive win for the best kit manufacturer on the planet right now.

Also, not sure if you saw it - but Arsenal were officially linked to Benjamin Sesko 17 days after I wrote this post on Arsenal interest in Benjamin Sesko.

Ok, shorter post today. See you in the comments. x