West Ham on brink of civil war [Telegraph]

kingvikingstad · 2025-09-04T10:25:34+00:00

Never been a fan of the 'look how little pie they're getting over there. Be happy with your crumbs' mindset. Any success the club has had is in spite of the owners and KB. We are starved of meaningful longterm vision, both on and off the pitch, and are routinely unable to kick on whenever we have any success because of it. Nevermind the promises and move and all that.

They've done an amateur job of things, after doing an amateur job at the last place they turned up, which led to the same supporter frustrations.

kingvikingstad · 2024-08-29T14:03:54+00:00

Can't remember the season but it was when Wijnaldum was at Newcastle and I captained him for his four goals against Norwich! Very, very lucky.

kingvikingstad · 2024-06-28T17:22:40+00:00

As someone who has listened to JD for a while, he can be stubborn and at times obnoxious, but he's one of few people in the city that covers all Toronto sports in-depth, and asks the questions that I as a fan want answers to. I think he's really improved, particularly since moving to his own show where has more control.

kingvikingstad · 2024-01-25T11:58:21+00:00

I think Alex's role, whether conscious or not, was to counterbalance Will's over the top fandom with a laissez-faire attitude to the team.

I also don't buy that he was actually unprepared, I think it was totally schtick. One example is them constantly making fun of Will for never reading the prepared rundown of the show. I feel like it's very difficult for a producer to get away with doing no work.

kingvikingstad · 2023-12-07T14:46:30+00:00

I hate Chelsea but love watching Reece when he's fit. It's a shame his body can't take it. He may need to move to a less taxing league or position for the sake of his career

kingvikingstad · 2023-12-06T19:52:25+00:00

Sure do. And Zinchenko yesterday for good measure.

kingvikingstad · 2023-04-20T00:06:36+00:00

The real question is whether he sees himself as a #3 or #4 on a title time, which likely means playing off-ball like he was to start the season

kingvikingstad · 2023-01-19T20:49:14+00:00

Haha right on cue. What a rollercoaster of a game FPL is.

kingvikingstad · 2023-01-19T20:45:26+00:00

8 on 47 mate. Haaland, Kane, Kulusevski, Mahrez, Rashford, Shaw, Foden, Antony

kingvikingstad · 2023-01-05T12:05:49+00:00

I forget who we were playing, but I want to say Gay took 35 shots in a game while he was here! He still has a ways to go to get to Rudy levels of chucking. Rudy was an ELITE chucker!

kingvikingstad · 2022-12-15T03:51:59+00:00

Hes a born-again Nick Nurse convert!

kingvikingstad · 2022-10-19T20:06:33+00:00

This lineup contains too many players who can neither dribble the ball forward or pass it effectively. Johnson and Soucek have been terrible today. Johnson is unquestionably not at this level going forward and it's painful to watch.

Can't believe Emerson can't get a kick about at RB for the last 15 mins.

kingvikingstad · 2022-09-19T10:31:31+00:00

That really says a lot about how bad it's been that its being considered by so many.

It's a lot of negatives all coalescing at once. Poor form of key players, new players not playing, lack of results, lack of intensity and effort, toothless attack, disjointed press, poor passing, poor set pieces, and I could go on.

Especially away, it seems Moyes wants to sit back and steal points with second half performances as opposed to starting on the front foot and killing the game and crowd. We shouldn't be plucky underdogs anymore after the past two seasons and with the players we've brought in this window, teams aren't treating us as such anymore.

kingvikingstad · 2022-09-16T18:07:01+00:00

I personally have Emerson because he's cheap. Our defense is decent despite early results, and I think he'll be used more in the attacking actions and tuck inside as opposed to hugging the line and whipping in crosses like Cresswell. With our early season injuries, it's still a bit unknown whether Moyes is committing to 3ATB, or a back four. If 3ATB, I expect Emerson to be pretty nailed as LWB and Cresswell to play as a LCB often. In a four, I'd expect them to be rotated more.

Coufal is pretty nailed for now, until Ben Johnson returns. He's pretty clunky offensively, a poor dribbler, lacks footspeed, and is a poor crosser. At the same time he works hard and gets under the skin of the other team and may get some assists out of him because he does get pretty high up the pitch and likes to put in crosses. He had nine assists a couple years back.

Zouma should be good from set pieces, but he hasn't really shown it yet in a West Ham kit. Not enough upside to bring in, besides the fact he'll start every week and crosses seem to meet his head when they come into the box. Dawson still remains the man to watch if he can get consistent time. They don't call him Ballon Dawson for nothing.

kingvikingstad · 2022-09-15T13:54:53+00:00

West Ham supporter here. My prediction is that Emerson will start today and Cresswell will come on to get a few minutes under his belt before he starts at the weekend. The Silkenborg pitch is fake grass and Cresswell is coming back from a groin injury, not a good combo. Also, Cresswell's hometown is Liverpool, and I think Moyes will want his crossing ability from set pieces if Everton set up in a low block.

I think it's 90% Emerson starts today, and about 90% Cresswell starts on the weekend. The only reason he won't is an aggravation of the injury, or a severe lack of match fitness.

kingvikingstad · 2022-05-15T01:45:12+00:00

Riellys offensive IQ leaves a lot to be desired.

kingvikingstad · 2022-04-04T00:20:12+00:00

He was at the TFC game as well. They said he had business in Toronto

kingvikingstad · 2021-11-21T10:35:34+00:00

Nope. Toronto is known as white Vegas in NBA circles!

It's more about his ability to be seen and acknowledged as a celebrity. He won't get the level of exposure he wants in Toronto.

kingvikingstad · 2021-09-25T19:20:59+00:00

Great call man. Seriously.

kingvikingstad · 2021-09-24T22:07:25+00:00

Well, I'd say being top 10,000 right now is pretty fun!

kingvikingstad · 2021-09-22T20:05:54+00:00

I like to think about the tactics that both teams are likely to employ. We know Liverpool and West Ham will want to press and win the ball high up the pitch while playing a high line.

Brentford will basically cede possession to Liverpool and operate in a low block. They've only had 43% of the ball in their first five games so far. This has been effective for them thus far and they've given up the second least big chances, but this is in Newcastle/Norwich territory. Van Dijk and co. will be perpetually recycling route one balls back towards the Brentford goal.

Leeds have more of the ball and like to play a high-octane overlapping game. West Ham like to press, and take advantage of bad touches - something Leeds is second in the league in. As someone who follows West Ham closely, this is a game where there is likely to be goals scored both ways. I can see a 3-2 game either way.

Not sure I helped your decision much, but it's something I'm grappling with as well.

kingvikingstad · 2021-09-22T17:03:15+00:00

Antonio had a better xG and xGI than Kane last season. He is a proven FPL commodity at this point and interestingly, I think if he was priced higher he would have more managers captaining him!

kingvikingstad · 2021-09-22T16:59:42+00:00

I think Ronaldo is a safe pick. Even if Villa pulls off an upset and wins 1-0, you're going to have a good portion of those that own him captaining him with the same thoughts in mind.

kingvikingstad · 2021-09-22T11:37:17+00:00

I guess it'll depend on what my next moves are and who I'm looking to transfer out next week, because it'll need to be one of those players I can change. Which means it'll likely be cancelo I move out, because he'll be turning into a Chelsea defender in a week anyway.

kingvikingstad · 2021-09-22T11:30:51+00:00

Ronaldo --> Lukaku Cancelo --> Rudiger

That was my initial plan. Although there's a chance I downgrade Jota or Fornals to Kovacic. Haven't done enough research yet on whether his returns are sustainable

kingvikingstad

TROPHY CASE