A strong-ish Carabao Cup win for Aston Villa takes them into a feisty clash with West Ham United. Both teams need the points so there’s no doubt it’ll be an interesting Sunday at Villa Park.
I spoke to @westhamfantv to gather his thoughts on West Ham’s difficult start to the season.
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Three games, three losses and no goals scored. What’s been going wrong so far?
I think a combination of things. I don’t think we came back ready for the season. A bad run of fixtures, The champions opening day, we weren’t at the races very unlucky against Forest where on another day we score 3 or 4 and then our bogey team, Brighton who we just beat. Saying that the performance was unforgiveable. We need to be better and I’m pretty sure we will pick up the pace.
@westhamfantv
In terms of transfer business, West Ham have bought in a host of European and Premier League proven players. How would you rate the window as a whole and which signing are you most excited for?
Well as I type this it looks like The Paqueta deal is almost done, so that’s exciting, but in terms of signed and sealed it’s Scamacca. I just want to see what a real centre forward can do in this team, and if he hits the ground running once he’s starting games, it could be the difference for us this year. It’s been a decent transfer window, I’d say a 6.5 out of 10 but I hear we are looking at a few more, and if we land them 10/10.
@westhamfantv
David Moyes has had a interesting two tenures at West Ham with the second one proving to be a lot more successful. However, given his poor start to the season, can you see his position being endangered?
Not just yet. Give him 10-12 games, and I think if we are still not picking the pace up, then you need to question what is going on. He has a lot of credit in the bank, and has taken us places that we couldn’t reach before. I don’t think the board have that in mind either, they’ve just given him a lot of money to spend, and if they thought about a change, they would never have done that.
@westhamfantv
Finally, what’s your score prediction?
It’s a tough 1 away from home. Neither team in good form, both managers under a bit of pressure. My head says a 2-2 draw but I’m gonna go with my heart and say a 2-1 win
@westhamfantv
OPPOSITION FOCUS
West Ham’s story of late has been one that many Villa fans have envied. From relegation fights with Villa to Europa League semi-finals in the space of a few years.
I’ll take a look at what has gone right and what’s allowed the Hammers to push for Europe.
Something that has definitely helped the Hammers is improved board relationships. In the 19/20 season, things were almost beyond repair between the West Ham faithful and the board. However now, a few seasons on, it’s a different story. Couple that with the addition of co-owner Kretinsky bringing in fellow Czech countrymen Soucek and Coufal and it’s a decent foundation.
With the new owner came a new transfer strategy which saw West Ham utilise the European market more effectively. Key players coming in both domestically and internationally saw the likes of Benrahma, Soucek and many others come into the first team and bolster the squad.
It’s not all buying players though as West Ham have had their fair share of youth players in the first team. The likes of Rice and Johnson coming into the squad show effectively the club is ran from top to bottom.
There has been some setbacks though. The new stadium wasn’t as widely accepted as first thought and many fans still aren’t able to adjust. The lack of atmosphere really hurts West Ham at times when they may need it.
Overall West Ham look like a club in the direction of what Aston Villa want to be. We have the same foundations so it’s only a matter of until Villa push on. In terms of West Ham, maintaining the European push is the next task. Can they do it? It’s early days but it doesn’t seem likely.
MY PREDICTION
West Ham are yet to pick up a point or even score a goal. Out of any team that you could play in that scenario it would probably be Villa. I can’t imagine this being the best game in the world for the neutrals but it a winnable one for Villa. I’m backing Villa to buck the trend of being a charity team and pick up the three points. 1-0 with Buendia setting up Ings.
AUTHOR | ELLIS BURNETT
Author’s UTV PODCAST archive ellisburnett – UTV Podcast | An Aston Villa Blog
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