Forum | Non-Football Related

To the neutral this wasn an entirely enthralling encounter between Leeds and West Ham at Elland Road, however to those deeply involved, from either side, it was a roller coaster ride of high powered football and high pressure fit bit busting anxiety!

Elland Road is an old school stadium with the smallest pitch in the Barclays Premier League, an 'asset; that the home team exploit to the max in front of their loyal and occasionally vociferous fans. Hammers started brightly but Leeds soon began to impose their brand of 'murder ball', they ran Hammers ragged and were good value for their 1st half goal. Things did brighten up a bit towards the end of the 1st half, with Antonio making an absolute menace of himself and Fornals forcing Leeds' excellent 6'6"keeper Meslier to make a fine save, something he did throughout the entire game.

Second half, no doubt 'influenced by David Moyes and his support staff's half time 'chat' Hammers looked a completely different team and as the game wore on began to pressurise the home team into errors, mind you they were still lethal on the break!

Eventually something had to beat the home keeper, and it was a massive deflection that non plused him, fortunate for Bowen who's shot was going well wide. Initially the equaliser spurred Leeds forward as they sought to try and put the game to bed, unfortunately for them they simply ran out of puff!

Their tired players who made up a makeshift team due to a mass of injuries ran themselves ragged but eventually were undone by none other than Michail Antonio, beautiful finish, job done. Mikey's fifth goal this season was a joy to behold but as he said in his post match presser he was "Relieved" to get the three points and that the game was over "hard work" he continued.

This was a mega tough game from a physical and mental point of view, David Moyes' players put a lot of effort in, a hell of a lot of effort, Thursday's Europa League fixture against Rapid Vienna looms large, it will be interesting to see how Moyes approaches a game that is on paper against lesser opposition, but all the good work done against Zagreb will count for nought if there is a slip up against Rapid, he will have to balance his team selection carefully.

Great victory today, last minute winner AND other teams at the top dropping points, one joyous result being Manchester United's 2nd home loss in FOUR days, today's loss courtesy of a missed last minute penalty and of course Brentford's draw with the scousers.....Karma - Ed

Leeds: Meslier, Dallas, Cresswell, Cooper (c), Firpo, Phillips, Shackleton, Klich, Raphinha, James, Rodrigo Subs: Klaesson, Roberts, Harrison, Gelhardt, Hjelde, Drameh, Summerville, Greenwood, McCarron
West Ham: Fabiański, Coufal, Zouma, Ogbonna, Cresswell, Rice (c), Souček, Bowen, Benrahma, Fornals, Antonio Subs: Areola, Johnson, Dawson, Diop, Noble, Král, Lanzini, Vlašić, Yarmolenko

In 2016 West Ham's then manager Slaven Bilic tried to sign Alexandre Lacazette, negotiations were protracted given the huge fee involved, as is so often the case Hammers tried to low ball the selling club and as a result another team pipped the club to the post evenytually.

A massive offer from the Irons of £42.7 Million was made for the Frenchman, this being only a couple of weeks after the club’s transfer record purchase of Andre Ayew. for £20.5 Million. Lacazette was 25 at the time and in his prime he was therefore very choosy as to where and when he would go, eventually after nearly a year of indecision he chose to join up with his compatriot, Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, for a fee of £46 Million.

Fair play to Lacazette for 'following his heart', as well as his wallet! The player has performed well for Hammers North London rivals over the years but now, at the age of 30 his contract has been allowed to enter it's final year without renewal.
Lacazette's availability has tweaked the interest of several high profile clubs, including Atletico Madrid and supposedly West Ham! Crystal Palace have also expressed an interest in acquiring the forward who reportedly earns an eye watering £183,000 per week at the Emirates, too rich for Palace and too rich for West Ham as well.

David Moyes does need a traditional number nine going forward in addition to Michail Antonio, who is currently the joint top ranked striker in all of Europe, but Lacazette represents a step backward and a path towards the retro thinking so beloved in the past by the Hammers board.

OK, he could be available on a free if he isn't suddenly offered a new contract by Arsenal, however he is 30 years old and on humongous wages, the only way David Moyes would sanction such a deal would be if the player took a 50% hit on his wages, Palace are so keen to show improvement under their new French manager that they will probably agree to stump up a ridiculous salary for Lacazette, EXACTLY what West Ham would have done in the past!

Under David Moyes the club has moved on from emergency 'band aid' signings, old player on big money always represent a risk, and for Moyes, Lacazette definitely represents a risk. Admittedly there is now a significant Gallic presence at the club in the form of Kurt Zouma and Alphonse Areola, as well French speaking Authur Masuaku and Said Benrahma. However the pluses don't outweigh the minuses of going for Lacazette, a fine player who might possibly do well at the London Bowl, but it is highly unlikely that he would be prepared to take the significant drop in wages that would be required.

If he does for some strange reason actually end up at the club by accepting a huge drop in his wages, then perhaps he COULD be an ideal signing, but it should also be remembered that he rejected joining West Ham not once, but twice before, and anyway hasn't the club had enough of signing other team's rejects? LN

Alex Kral made his Hammers competitive debut at Old Trafford last night and didn't disappoint, he had big shoes to step in as effectively he 'carried' skipper Mark Noble through the match and played in the stead of his compatriot Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice.

Kral didn't put a foot wrong and looked entirely at ease and unfazed at Old Trafford, his match stats speak for themselves as he is proving to be yet another astute bit of business, indeed both he and fellow debutante Areola both arrived on a try to buy basis and on the current evidence both will have their loans made permanent.

Having back up, and dare we say competition, for the two slots that are owned by Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek is definitely a plus for the manager and gives him the option of resting either Rice or Soucek when they succumb to match fatigue as a result of the congested fixture list that comes with qualifying for Europe.

He may look like sideshow Bob, but Alex Kral is proving that his appearances for the Czech Republic during the Euro's were an apparition and he is actually a top top player, Hammers fans had best get used to his 'poodle hair' and flowing locks, because it will be HIM that replaces Declan Rice when he finally moves on to a 'bigger' club.

It is going to have to be a VERY big club, because there aren't that many clubs that currently have Hammers upwards trajectory. -LN