Another subpar weekend football wise for me and also one that drove home the point again how bizarre football can be. While I don’t particularly care about the exploits of Hamburg SV I still look out for their results by force of habit and because I want most Hamburg based teams to do well.
So what happened in HSV’s league opener on Friday ? They scored the winning and only goal after 15 minutes already, but lost their goalscorer to injury in the process of celebrating that goal. The player apparently brushed the corner flag at an awkward angle and did his cruciate ligament which will result in him now being out for the first six months of the season.
As I said, bizarre!
Then came the West Ham game which has been discussed on here at length already. Quite a game it was too, with plenty of incidents, a brave fightback from our lads and a heartbreaking penalty decision right at the end. Then again, most teams will lose a game in which their record signing gets himself an early shower in the first half for stupidly elbowing an opponent in full view of the referee and in which they also concede two penalties.
It was pretty much a stereotypical West Ham game, some rush to the blood, some fight and guts, some clumsiness, basically shooting yourself in the foot while also rarely getting the rub of the green. I wasn’t happy with the defeat because Southampton were there for the taking. Then again we are still missing some key players like Lanzini, Kouyate and Carroll (who may be Newcastle bound after all if you believe the latest rumours).
I choose to focus on the positives though. Young Declan Rice had another good game and showed maturity beyond his years. The reaction of our players in this game filled with adversity was nothing but positive, in no short measure helped by the fox in the box qualities of our Little Pea Chicharito. We finally have a proper finisher in our ranks who will get 20 goals a season easily, provided he gets the right service and manages to stay healthy and injury free.
I reckon there will be plenty of movement still in this transfer window, both in terms of players in (Carvalho/Jota/another CB) and out (Snodgrass/Carroll/Obiang ?), but first and foremost we really need to work hard in training to make sure our players defend a lot better as a unit, not just the defenders but the entire team. I am always impressed whenever a team is on the move all the time during a game, running, chasing, closing opposition players down, we need a lot more of that and if that means a different training routine or fitness regime, then so be it.
You know I have always been a massive Bilic fan and I still am. But I am not blinkered enough to ignore the fact that a manager will not remain in his job for long if his teams concede 3 or 4 goals on a regular basis. Of course the mistakes are essentially down to the players on the pitch, but Bilic needs to make sure the players are sharp and focused when they are stepping out onto that pitch, we need to cut down the number of mistakes in our games drastically.
Is it possible that maybe Bilic is too much of a mate with his players, too much of a Mr.Nice Guy ? That can work well with a certain group of players. Others may exploit that kind of laissez faire attitude though or respond in a manner not conducive to successful football. As Bilic’s job is on the line this season too, with him being in the final year of his contract, I feel he has no other chance than to develop a more ruthless streak with players.
No reason for us fans though to fetch some rope to hang ourselves just yet or run a hot bath with the hairdryer sitting on the edge nearby. It’s been a bad start to the season, granted, but in all honesty, did we expect anything else when the fixture list was released ? The preseason games didn’t exactly fill me with confidence either, but the best way for our players to gain confidence is by winning games when it counts. Let’s win a few and watch the confidence return and grow among our squad.
Starting with the Cup game at Cheltenham and yet another away game at Newcastle. I am so relieved that our games will ALWAYS take priority over everything else that happens at the London Stadium…;-))
Quick Concordia update. Yesterday brought a highly frustrating 1:1 draw at home to Victoria Hamburg and the game bore a few similarities to the West Ham game the day before.
There was a red card (second yellow) which led to Concordia having a man advantage for the last 20 minutes, being 1:0 up already at this point. At that stage you would have expected the home team to calmly dominate possession, maybe add another goal or two to put the game to bed. But Cordi for some unexplainable reason decided to ignore the man advantage, just sitting deep instead, letting Victoria have plenty of the ball to really push for the equaliser with ten men.
And indeed they scored from a very dodgy penalty just a few minutes before the final whistle. I always thought it couldn’t be a penalty if the goalkeeper clearly got to the ball first with his gloves and holding on to it.
Yet the striker went down after clashing with the goalkeeper who, remember, had already reached and secured the ball with both hands before making contact with the attacker. I have rarely seen a dodgier penalty being given, but, just like West Ham, Concordia shot themselves in the foot by not winning the game earlier, making the man advantage count when they had the chance. Yes, the referee was a stubborn old Custard, strutting around the pitch like a peacock on his stag night, but the lads shouldn’t have allowed a situation to develop giving the referee the opportunity to point towards the spot.
Very disappointing – instead of being in the promotion chasing pack Cordi are now already firmly rooted in the bottom third of the table after four games played. The great thing for both of my teams of course is: From where we are things can only get better, the only way is up. How far and how quickly ? We’ll see. COYI!