West Ham 2015-2016: Bye Bye Boleyn

[Cellar-Door]

The final season in Upton Park is upon us.
 
The new manager will be former Croatia and Besiktas manager Slaven Bilic (not bad, but apparently only got it after Bielsa decided to return to Marseilles in a sad decision for all Premier League fans).
 
Europa League begins in less than a month.

 

[Cellar-Door]

The draw is in:
FC LUSITANS of the Andorran League, likely at the 900 person capacity stadium they share with every other team in the league on July 2nd.
 
Not much for signings, Pedro Obiang is the big one, otherwise just rumors, and poaching 18 year old Martin Samuelson out of  Man City's youth setup.
 
Edit- and it's already been reversed, July 2nd at the Boleyn July 9th in Andorra.

 

[DLew On Roids]

No Googling: What other UEFA country's top-division league plays all its games in the same stadium?

Spoiler

Gibraltar!

 

[Cellar-Door]

Gibraltar.
Though Andorra actually has 3 stadiums that they rotate the games between apparently. Also they sometimes use a 4th, but it is in Spain.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

It's convenient for teams to come to Gibraltar, too, since the stadium is about 100 feet from the airport.

 

[Cellar-Door]

So an easy win against Lusitans playing only one likely starter, and a bunch of U-18s.
 
Obiang done, Payet done.
 
Rumors are Song is basically done and Angelo Ogbanna is in London for a medical before a move from Juventus.
If they can get those two and Jenkinson, it's a strong summer. Though one more striker might be nice.

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

Carl Jenkinson is going back to you guys on loan for another year.  This seems to be a good arrangement for all involved and I hope he does well for you.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Carl Jenkinson is going back to you guys on loan for another year.  This seems to be a good arrangement for all involved and I hope he does well for you.

I'm glad he's back, though annoyed that Arsenal wouldn't even negotiate for a permanent move. It would have been nice to have a young FB locked up on each side.
Oh well, at least that money will go toward a striker. Current rumor is they made a £9M bid for Chicharito.
And of course the best news is they were confident enough in getting a loan that they didn't sign Glen Johnson.

 

[Morgan's Magic Snowplow]

I'm glad he's back, though annoyed that Arsenal wouldn't even negotiate for a permanent move. It would have been nice to have a young FB locked up on each side.
Oh well, at least that money will go toward a striker. Current rumor is they made a £9M bid for Chicharito.
And of course the best news is they were confident enough in getting a loan that they didn't sign Glen Johnson.

 
I think a permanent move next summer remains likely.  Wenger probably wants to make sure that Bellerin is his RB of the future before committing to selling Jenkinson.  And Jenko is a very, very popular player among Arsenal supporters, being not just an all-around good guy by every account but also a lifelong Arsenal fan who got to live the dream (at least for a while) of playing for his favorite club.  I think the club is also attentive to that and so won't sell him until they are sure that he will not be a central part of the team's plans moving forward.
 
This is the bedroom in which he grew up:
 

 

[Cellar-Door]

Enner Valencia has a "significant" knee and ankle injury. Rumor is he'll be out for half the season.
Probably means we add 2 strikers instead of one.
Top target is rumored to be Chicharito but ManU won't sell.
Raul Jiminez on loan from Athletico and Fenerbahce's Moussa Sow  are other rumored options.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Well that was a surprisingly excellent start to the season.
Oxford obviously got the press for doing a pretty good Segio Buckets impersonation for a 16 year old, but Payet was the best player on the pitch yesterday.
A nice debut for Ogbonna as well, and Tompkins did a pretty decent job moving over to RB since we had none available.
The team should look stronger with Jenkinson at RB, and Obiang coming into the midfield.
 
Also rumor is THE NOTORIOUS JOEY BARTON will be signing, which is probably a loss for civilization, but a win for midfield depth.
 
Supposedly still chasing a striker (will ManU just splash an obscene amount of cash on someone so we can have Chicharito please?)

 

[Cellar-Door]

And a loss to Leicester city.
Some poor defense early, then thoroughly CONCACAFed by the ref.
Should have had a penalty to end the first, and likely their keeper sent off.
Can't get a call in the second, then our Keeper sent off on a terrible call.
 
Only good thing is Adrian should easily win his appeal.

 

[FlexFlexerson]

Looks like we're in fine mid-season form already.
 
Had to listen to the second half on a radio stream because NBC seems to have cut all their feeds for the second half this morning.
 
Obviously, with all the call/non-call controversy, feels like a game we shouldn't have lost.

 

[FlexFlexerson]

On the one hand, it's insanely frustrating that West Ham couldn't take the lead in the second half; on the other hand, part of me thinks we should count our blessings that we didn't end up losing this game 4-2 or something. That first half was a mess and the inability to seal the deal in the second half was aggravating.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Dimitri Payet is so so good.
Lanzini is really promising for a 22 year old as well.

 

[FlexFlexerson]

So, I'm taking a little vacation to London and will be going to the Boleyn to see West Ham play Stoke City. Any recommendations for folks who may know of how to maximize the experience? I've never been (obviously) and would love and tips or suggestions on how to get the most out of what will be my only trip ever to the Boleyn Ground.

 

[Cellar-Door]

So, I'm taking a little vacation to London and will be going to the Boleyn to see West Ham play Stoke City. Any recommendations for folks who may know of how to maximize the experience? I've never been (obviously) and would love and tips or suggestions on how to get the most out of what will be my only trip ever to the Boleyn Ground.

I've never been unfortunately, but from planning for a trip then ended up not happening I got these suggestions:
1. Sit with the home fans, cheer for the home club (If you're a neutral)
2. Get to the area early and hit one of the pubs (they'll likely be segregated so you'll need your home ticket to get in).

 

[Cellar-Door]

Payet out 3 months after a filthy challenge in the Everton game.
Gonna be tough to keep in the Europa chase without the best creative midfielder in the world.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Rough stretch ahead. Probably the three best attacking players in the squad (Payet, Sakho, Valencia) all likely out until at least February. Hopefully there is some money left to pick up a Striker and/or a CAM at the start of the window.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Oh hey, a point at Man U... not bad.

OH, Moses, Lanzini, Reid all injured this week.
So only 6 of our 10 or so best players out with injuries.

How does one go about having a curse lifted?

 

[soxfan121]

How does one go about having a curse lifted?

Make your own destination.

 

[FlexFlexerson]

Fun (well, fun towards the end) listening to the FA cup game this morning on a radio stream. Stringing together some nice wins recently. I enjoyed this, Bilic's explanation for why he'd prefer to with the FA Cup than qualify for the Champions League:
He has completely won me over this season.

EDIT: Oh, and my trip to the Boleyn Ground in December was phenomenal. Scoreless draw - just what Americans love most - but otherwise an amazing experience. Glad to be able to attend a game there before it was too late.

 

[Eric1984]

My brother in law is in London for work and went to the FA Cup match on Saturday. He said the atmosphere was phenomenal. Regrettably it looks like I'll never get to Upton Park.

 

[Jettisoned]

This team is amazing. Wins against Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool 2x. Losses to Bournemouth, Watford and Newcastle. They are the Robin Hood of the EPL.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Ugh this game was awful.

 

[FlexFlexerson]

This season, over 270 minutes, West Ham is 5-0 over Liverpool. I'll take it.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Brutal first goal by Southhampton, deflected off our midfielder, off our defender and right to Yoshida 8 yards out.

 

[Cellar-Door]

And then Yoshida clips Valencia's heels in the box, should have been a penalty, assistant ref somehow missed it despite being right there.

 

[Cellar-Door]

brutal loss, didn't get a penalty to tie it up early, then dominated the 2nd half, went up a man for 25 minutes, had all of the ball, just could not score against the stacked box.

 

[FlexFlexerson]

Great bounceback win after the loss to Southampton this Saturday. Love gutting out wins like that.

 

[deconstruction]

I bet no one wants to face the Hammers in their current form. Three points off the top 4, three wins on the bounce (after a miraculous comeback against Everton). Payet certainly a contender for Player of the Season.

Some tough ones in four of their next five fixtures: Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Leicester.

West Ham supporters out there want to comment on any details?

 

[Cellar-Door]

I bet no one wants to face the Hammers in their current form. Three points off the top 4, three wins on the bounce (after a miraculous comeback against Everton). Payet certainly a contender for Player of the Season.

Some tough ones in four of their next five fixtures: Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Leicester.

West Ham supporters out there want to comment on any details?

Really great recent run despite a ton of injuries that forced a 3-5-2 against Everton and playing some youngsters.
When Tomkins/Reid/Collins/Byram get back we should have the depth to make a good run at any team every week even with the cup still going. I think our most likely finish is somewhere between 5 and 7, but 3 or 4 is possible.

League we have this left
Home:

Watford
Palace
Arsenal
United
Swansea.

I think they should take 10 from that, but that's probably a bit optimistic. However I do think that there isn't a game I see as a clear loss there either.

Away:

Chelsea
Leicester
Stoke
West Brom

Have to take care of West Brom and Stoke with 6 points. Anything from the other two is gravy.

I'd predict 15 or so? Probably keeps them top 6.

Outside of Payet even injury won't hurt too bad once some of the defense gets back, we're ridiculously deep in midfield and a few can even sub in up top like Antonio.

Edit- As to how they've done it, they are a terrific countering team, but also just made great additions. Payet was obviously a steal, but Ogbonna was the 4th CB at Juventus, but that's because their CB pairing is maybe best in the world, Lanzini was a nice steal, a rising star in ARG that a bunch of top teams were after he took a value dip by playing in UAE (he and his ARG club got crazy money out of it), Antonio was the best winger in the Championship, Tomkins was a very good CB last year who shifted outside due to necessity and fit well, Obiang was a strong CM/DM for Sampadoria who has plugged it nicely. Kouyate has really benefited from moving up and to the outside at times under Bilic (though he had to fill in at the back recently with the injuries).

On the whole it is just a really deep strong team that is fit and quick, and now finally has the skill MFs (Payet, Lanzini, Antonio ) to connect from the good distributors (Noble, Song, Obiang) to the attack.

 

[FlexFlexerson]

Don't really have anything to add to cellar-door's analysis. I'm dreaming of a top 5 finish. It's possible!

 

[Dummy Hoy]

Bilic certainly seems key.

Michail Antonio was a huge part of Wednesday's promotion run in '12. Wednesday's managers were boring and uninspiring though, and Antonio shut down. It's too bad, he'd be a beast with our current manager, although I won't lie, I didn't think he'd be this impactful in the PL.

 

[Cellar-Door]

At this point any free kick 35 yards or in I assume Payet will either get a goal or assist. He's so so good at it.

 

[Cellar-Door]

Ugh, draw with Chelsea after they equalize on a horrendous penalty call.

 

[DennyDoyle'sBoil]

Good result for West Ham in the Manchester Derby. The donnybrook for fourth could turn out pretty exciting.

 

[Conigliaro's Potential]

I've just watched Payet's free kick goal against Palace today...I mean, that was the up-and-down equivalent of Roberto Carlos' side-to-side free kick goal for Brazil in Le Tournoi back in '97. It reminded me of Andy Brehme's free kick goal in the 1990 World Cup semifinal against England, except without the bit where it first hit off the top of the wall before looping up in the air - he just got the loop and dip on his own. He has to be the best deadball specialist in the world at the moment, no? I mean, I just Googled "free kick", and a video of this goal was the first thing that popped up.

 

[fletcherpost]

I was watching the Norwich game, but I had one eye on the BBC Final Score and they don't show the footage but they had Garth Crooks and Dion Dublin as they watched the ball go in, and they almost fell off their chairs. As they described the kick, they were like a couple of school kids. The Palace goalie had seven in the wall and basically challanged Payet to put it in his left top corner. And all he did was take a half step to his right, and that was it, game over. On MOTD Shearer and Ian Wright were creaming themselves over it, pointing out that it was literally placed in the top corner (on a postage stamp). The technical skill to do what Payet is doing is almost unreal; to be so precise. I dunno if he's got his own boot deal, but if i was hit boot supplier I'd be getting him in to shoot an advert. And it's great for Hammers fans that Payet is in the conversation for player of the year.