The Football Rant - We're back baby! (I'm forever blowing bubbles)
by
, June 20, 2020 at 06:54 AM (5322 Views)
Matchday! Now that's something I haven't said in a loooong time, but now the Premier League is back, and West Ham are ready to play!
I find this weird for two reasons - first off, it's football, which has been gone for a long time, first game I've seen in several months was this week, so I'm sort of unused to it. In addition, seeing as it's behind closed doors (Due to Covid - in my opinion the season shouldn't resume at all) there won't be any fans, which also has positives and negatives. For the Hammers, I'm actually optimistic. There's a few key players that are back from injury, and although they've been very shaky when playing I believe that the removed pressure of the fans will allow them to flourish and play well. This especially goes for Felipe Anderson, who looked to have lost all his confidence previously. So ah well, I'm hopeful.
However, Wolverhampton is a scary team. They're in 7th, and West Ham is just above the relegation zone on goal difference. And West Ham is famously bad at defending, and I distinctly remember a certain Wolves player causing me to literally grab a pillow every time he made a break for it. I am of course talking about Adama Traoré. Simply terrifying. Thus, if we are to win I don't think we can focus on defending, we just have to outscore them. Which we can, our attack has potential. The various signings we've done over this season, Sebastian Haller, Jarrod Bowen, Pablo Fornals all show potential for some serious stuff in attack. The biggest problem with Haller, the 45 million star signing from Frankfurt was that the former manager Pellegrini played him alone up top. He needs a partner, someone to bounce off. David Moyes has given him that, with Antonio. So I have hope. I have faith. Though knowing West Ham we'll score a goal in the first half, and then concede two in the last ten minutes of the second
So as we move towards the restart I'm filled with both hope, doubt and a little bit of anxiety. Relegation isn't anything new, but I had expected so much more. At the beginning of the season I thought a top 8 was possible, and now we're battling against relegation. Just as it has always done, the song echos true.
I'm forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air,
They fly so high, nearly reach the sky,
Then like my dreams they fade and die.
Fortune's always hiding,
I've looked everywhere,
I'm forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air.
West Ham is a club that constantly gives you hope, constantly fills you with ambition and the promise of greatness. Then it constantly lets you down, constantly fails you and every low feels so low. But without the lows the highs wouldn't be as high. My favorite moment this season? The 1-0 win away to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Not because we beat Chelsea. (Well, a bit), but mostly because of the goalie. David Martin. His father, Alvin Martin was a West Ham legend, but David was brought in at the start of the season as the third choice goalie. After the first choice got injured, and the second choice proved to be completely terrible and will be the one to blame if we go down, David got his debut in the Premier League, for his family club West Ham after years of playing at a lower level. He played, kept a clean sheet after some on-fire saves and West Ham won. Afterwards, the emotion got to him and all of us.
https://www.skysports.com/watch/vide...west-ham-debut. This. This is why I'm a Hammer. This is why football matters. This is why I care. (Ayy callback to blog post #1 or something)