It’s preseason 2017. West Ham have brought their first season in the OS behind them, every home game being a sellout. For the first time in their history West Ham have qualified for the Champions League by coming fourth, led by skipper Alex Song and the Premier League’s topscorer Diafra Sakho (24 goals). West Ham’s first opponents in the CL will be Juventus, Sparta Prague and PSV Eindhoven. West Ham have also brought in some new exciting signings for a total rumoured transfer fee of 50 million.
The fans are thrilled about the prospects of their team which is playing a wonderful brand of dynamic, attacking football, passing the ball on the deck.
But get this, the rest of the world doesn’t seem to care. Or notice. Not the BBC. Not Sky Sports. Not BT.
Now let’s wake up again, wipe the sleep from our eyes and adjust back to the reality of October 2014: Of course West Ham are not playing in the Champions League, they are not in the Europa League and the OS is still a massive playground for dozens of real life versions of Bob the Builder (‘Can we fix the OS ?’ – Reply ‘Dunno boss, we may need more cash!’). But the truth after eight games of the season is also this: West Ham are in fourth place, above football superpowers Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal and Tottenham. Yeah, I know, only eight bloody games and only six points above a relegation place, but still quite a feat at this stage.
It’s good to have a dream. What is frustrating is the total fixation the media and press have with the big clubs, ignoring the rest of the league completely, I also haven’t heard a lot of praise given to Southampton lately who are sitting nicely in third place at the moment. No matter what other teams are doing on the pitch, Sky Sports would rather let us know that a bag of rice has fallen over in the Arsenal canteen, that Jose Mourinho’s dog isn’t feeling too well and that Manchester United have just had new tiles delivered for the showers in their training complex. I know they are just catering for the needs of the majority of their viewers as obviously the Manchester clubs, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and to a degree even Tottenham probably have a bigger fanbase than the other clubs. Still it infuriates me.
And while we’re at it: The arrogance of those bigger clubs drives me up the wall too. They maybe don’t know any other way after years of sporting and financial success, but everytime another (smaller) club finds a gem, a real talent, the next big thing it is kind of accepted and common practise that this player ‘really should be at United (meaning the Manchester version of course, not West Ham) or Chelsea’. Like it is an utter sin and unthinkable that a really good player should dare and play somewhere else.
Watch it happen with Sakho, Valencia, Kouyate and Cresswell soon.
How very dare West Ham beating Liverpool comfortably at home ? Who do West Ham think they are, making the famous Olympic Stadium their home for 99 years ?
What is a goalscoring striker like Sakho doing in claret and blue, he’s surely just wasting his time in East London ?
For far too long we have been stuck in second gear, in unambitious mode so to speak, being happy to stay up or giving one of the bigger clubs the odd scare on the pitch. Everyone’s second favourite team. The likeable losers from East London, playing beautiful, but ultimately unsuccessful football. The cheaters who drove Sheffield United into the Championship.
Let’s face it, West Ham haven’t had a lot of good press in the last few years. Do we as fans care about what the press say or think about West Ham ?
I think deep down we all do. It feels good if your club is being praised for doing the right things on and off the pitch. It’s still early in the season though, there will be bumps along the road, we will still lose games, maybe starting on Saturday against Man City.
Thing is: If West Ham were to start delivering on the pitch on a regular basis, if West Ham were to qualify for the Europa League or someday even the Champions League and maybe not just once as an exception to the mediocre rule, but time and time again, could the common West Ham fan in the street cope ?
Would this still be the club we all fell in love with ?
Could we handle the media suddenly taking an interest in a more successful West Ham ?
Can West Ham fans deal with good times if they happen more often than just occasionally ?
I’m really not sure. But I’d like to see us give it a try and develop some confidence and swagger.The whole club is doing a fine job right now, giving hope and excitement to Hammers fans all over the globe. And to answer the question from the title of the thread: WHU do you think you are ? The answer’s easy.
We are West Ham United – we play on the floor! Until we score from the heads of Sakho and Valencia of course…:-)