It’s a shame we didn’t buy Haller on Amazon, as we would have been able to send him back and get a refund. There are arguments in his favour. He had a relatively good start when he joined us and the system we are playing does not suit his style of play. Having written this, He has scored a good goal with a header for Ivory Coast.
But, his sense of positioning seems to be lacking. He hangs back instead of threatening on the edge of offside. And one would have thought, he would be learning a lot from Antonio about how to get involved in the game. After all, Antonio has made great strides. I used to ascribe to him the phrase ‘Should have gone to Specsavers’. And I used to say, he wasn’t a centre forward, so I can eat my words on that too.
We also must take our hats off to Cresswell. How many of us thought he was finished as a Premier League player? Now, he is showing us how he is one of the best crossers in the game. Masuaku too is a revelation. I always thought he was talented, but he was often criticised for his lack of defensive capability. Now, as a wing half, he has come into his own.
One person I would like to be is the chap who presses the buttons to add crowd sound. Button 4 for an ‘Ooooohhhh’. Button 1 for wild cheers for a goal. I hate it. Fake, fake, fake.
Greg Clark missed his vocation as a grave digger. When he sees a hole, he continues to dig.You might think that there is not much difference between the terms ‘coloured’ to ‘of colour’.In fact, after all the publicity about Black Lives Matter, for a man in his position, the misuse of words is a huge insult, especially as it is not the first time he has used the wrong words.
I just want to make a comment about the West Ham sponsor Scope Markets. This is a financial product licensed in Belize. The company puts about that it is regulated, but that is by the Financial Service Authority of Belize. Financial service brokerages use this route to avoid costly establishment procedures in a more legitimate location. They have to pay of fee of just $1000 and there is no requirement to separate client funds from company funds, nor to make any comprehensive reports.
There is probably little danger that any West Ham fan will lodge funds with Scope Markets. They are just using West Ham to give more prestige to their operation. You might think this is fair enough, or you might think that the West Ham management owe a duty of care to their supporters. You only have to look back at the debacle of Barrett & Gold, who are now in liquidation, with their funds dissipated into some obscure adventure.£36 million was lost by some 1800 investors. I hope there were no West Ham fans in that number.
I spent a few minutes debating on Saturday, whether to pay the £14.95 fee to watch the game legitimately. I could see no legitimate reason why the fee should be any more than one pays to watch Sky for a day. However, I decided to treat myself, as the streaming site I use is subject to glitches. I understand these fees will no longer be charged, but we shall have to see.
And, on a similar subject, I think is very unsavoury that one has to pay to watch an England game. We each own a little part of England and it should be our right to watch our national team without charge. Sky has already ruined cricket for most of us and how are we supposed to get kids interested in the game with limited access?
I am not sure how it is working out for fans who paid in full for a season ticket. I paid 30% just to secure my ticket, as I was convinced there would be a second wave of Covid-19. I understand some clubs are now instituting phased refunds. I am sure, we shall have to wait for the 2021-2022 season before we shall see crowds at football games.
We have witnessed the two of the most dramatic ends to a game. I do look forward to seeing Lanzini given more of a chance to see if he can recover his old form , given the boost in his confidence the goal must have given him.
As far as the Lookman penalty is concerned, I blame the manager as much as him. Surely, the taking of a penalty should be a more scientific matter. They should study before the game which type of penalty would be most effective and then they should instruct the penalty taker exactly where he should place the ball. Surely, this would take a lot of pressure off the penalty taker, who should just have practised exactly where he was going to strike to ball. Instead, Fulham demonstrated an amateurish cock-up on a massive scale, particularly as I believe Lookman has never scored a penalty.