Daily WHUFC News - 16th August 2017

Rice: I just embraced the challenge of playing at Old Trafford
WHUFC.com

Declan Rice has vowed to learn from the experience of facing Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic in Sunday's Premier League defeat at Manchester United. The 18-year-old spent 30 enlightening minutes playing in a central midfield role at Old Trafford, during which he completed 22 out of 23 passes and made two interceptions during an eye-catching cameo. The young Irishman was always available to receive possession from his more experienced teammates and held his own against seasoned internationals Paul Pogba and Nemanja Matic. "I thought it was a very good challenge for me, coming on after my experiences with the U23s last year," said Rice, who made his first-team debut at Burnley in May. "It is my aim to play in the Premier League and I felt I did OK on the ball when I came on. "When you play against those players, you know you have got to be so good to compete against them every single week. "The pace of the game was frightening and Manchester United have got a very, very good side, but so have we and it just wasn't our day on Sunday."

Rice's pride in his own performance was tempered by the disappointment of suffering his first loss at senior level. "When Slaven told me, I just embraced it, to be honest," said the Irishman, who again filled the central midfield role he was cast in during pre-season. "I never really get nervous and I just tried to play my normal game. There were 70,000 people watching, but I just had to play how I do and show everyone what I can do. "To lose 4-0 does hurt. When you hear the ex-players and pundits talking about how much a big defeat in front of a big crowd hurts, I now understand and feel quite hurt about that result."

Rice was introduced with West Ham trailing 2-0 to Romelu Lukaku's double, but moments after Marko Arnautovic had hit the Manchester United crossbar with a header. Had the Hammers nicked a goal back, the teenager could have been part of a grandstand finish, but instead Pogba and fellow Frenchman Anthony Martial added late goals to put a one-sided look on the final scoreline. "They were a very good side and we can't take anything away from them," Rice observed. "For us, we've just got to get back on the training field and go again and keep pushing and working towards Southampton. "Personally, I've got to learn from this result and do what I can to help us put it right at Southampton, where we will do all we can to get three points on the table. "We've got a few players coming back who will massively strengthen the side and knowing they are on their way is a major boost for us. We've got to go out and put things right again."

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Spurs tickets on sale to Claret Members now!
WHUFC.com

Become a Claret Member now to give yourself the chance of securing tickets for the unmissable visit of Tottenham Hotspur.

Tickets for our London Stadium Premier League meeting with Spurs are now sale to Members.

Slaven Bilic's men secured a memorable 1-0 victory over the north Londoners on a thrilling Friday night at London Stadium last term, and will be going for a third successive home win against Mauricio Pochettino's team when they meet on Saturday 23 September, kick-off 12.30pm.

Last season all but two Premier League fixtures sold out to Members, go make sure you're first in line for tickets by joining up today.

Claret Membership benefits include:

Ticket priority on Premier League and Cup fixtures
Access to the Ticket Exchange – once a fixture is sold out, you can purchase seats which have been relisted by Season Ticket Holders
£5 discount on official away coach travel
Exclusive Claret Member access card
Additional merchandise discounts and offers
NEW: Exclusive monthly competitions – prize draws for signed shirts, memorabilia and money-can't-buy experiences
NEW: Invite to Junior Hammers party for Claret Kids
NEW: Attend PL2 matches at London Stadium for free
NEW: Attend West Ham Ladies home matches for free
Claret Members will also receive an FREE West Ham branded portable phone charger with Claret Kids receiving a FREE gift pack including face paint sticks, a bedroom wall poster and an exclusive Claret Kids scarf which you can't get anywhere else!
Claret Membership costs £40 for Adults and £25 for Kids, with International Membership subject to an additional £5 to cover shipping.

If you are on the Season Ticket Waiting List, you can take advantage of a £10 discount on Membership if you sign up before 8 September

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Westley: We fully deserved our win over Swindon
WHUFC.com

Terry Westley praised his West Ham United U21 side after they were 3-2 winners over Swindon Town on Tuesday night in the Checkatrade Trophy and said his youngsters fully deserved the victory. The Hammers were twice pegged back on the night after Martin Samuelsen and Moses Makasi goals were cancelled out by the hosts. But Dan Kemp scored an unanswered third to round off the goals at the County Ground and see West Ham pick up their first ever three points in the competition. Sead Haksabanovic impressed on his Hammers debut and there were a number of other attacking youngsters whose performances pleased Academy Director Westley. He said: "To come here against a full strength side of Swindon and to get our first ever win in this competition is a great boost for us. I have to say, I think we dominated the game. We were the team creating most of the chances. "Sead was dangerous, [Nathan] Holland was a real threat, [Toni] Martinez's work and goal threat was very good and Samuelsen is starting to get back to something we know he can do; our attacking players were great. "Moses and Domingos [Quina] behind that, that section of a team was really effective tonight and we made numerous chances to stretch the lead even further than is was.
"Haksabanovic should be very pleased with his debut. He cut inside once and hit a great shot off the top of the crossbar, and that side of the pitch and the front players were brilliant. "I'm really looking forward to working with Sead and trying to help him. He didn't know all of our players – he's trained once with us – but he was a real threat today."

The east Londoners have already bettered their involvement last year in the competition having not won a tie in 2016/17, and Westley is confident the experience of facing senior Football League sides this year will be crucial for the development of his squad. "When you play in the Premier League, it's a possession based game and you need to keep the ball and if you lose it, the opposition will hurt you," he explained. "That wasn't the case tonight; they were direct and we had to deal with long balls and those second balls and then try and establish our own game. "Swindon were dangerous from corners and set-pieces with their physical presence, but in the end I think we came out on top and deserved the victory."

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Former Hammer condemns 'Wall to defeat
KUMB.com
Filed: Tuesday, 15th August 2017
By: Staff Writer

Former Hammer Jordan Spence is the toast of Suffolk tonight after scoring the last minute goal that downed Millwall. Spence, who spent a decade at the Boleyn Ground before being released on a free transfer in 2014 struck in the 88th minute to score the winning goal in a seven-goal thriller at the New Den tonight.
Having led twice and been behind on the same number of occasions, Town snatched all three points in tonight's Championship clash courtesy of Spence's last-gasp header, which came from a Grant Ward free-kick. The three points lift his current side up to third in the table and leaves poor Millwall just one place above the relegation zone. West Ham's bitter rivals are yet to win a game since being promoted from League One last season.

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HAMMERS ON HIGH ALERT AFTER LAZIO STAR'S SUPER CUP ABSENCEFeatured Image
Date: 15th August 2017 at 9:45pm
Written by: Forever Westham

West Ham are on high alert following the absence of transfer target Keita Balde Diao from Lazio's tunning 3-2 Supeercoppa victory over rivals Juventus. The Senegal international played no part in the clash after being sidelined with injury, however his non-attendance alerted the attention of both West Ham and Tottenham with both clubs linked with a move for the star this summer. Keita is reportedly keen to leave the Serie A club, and has allegedly handed in a transfer request and refused to a sign a new deal in an attempt to push a move away from Stadio Olimpico through. Keita has only one year left on his current contract with the Italian giants. West Ham reportedly agreed a €32 million deal for the Senegal international earlier this summer, but no such move materialised. However after his Super Cup absence the Hammers could revive their interest in the highly rated forward. The 22-year-old scored an impressive 16 times in 31 appearances for Simone Inzaghi's side.

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SWINDON TOWN 2 V WEST HAM UNITED UNDER 21S 3
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 15 AUGUST 2017 AT 10:27PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Written by Jack Lebeau

West Ham U21 started this season's Checkatrade Trophy campaign with a thrilling 3-2 away win over professional League Two side Swindon Town.
It was an absolutely incredible game at the County Ground resulting in no less than five goals, two disallowed goals, the woodwork hit three times, a red card and a few controversial referee decisions!
West Ham U21 lined up 4-2-3-1 with new boy Haksabanovic playing out wide right, Holland on the other wing and the returning Quina in DM. Makasi retained the captaincy from the 0-0 draw with Everton U23.


West Ham U21 started the better side with a good couple of early chances. This was shown with Samuelsen grabbing a goal after six minutes when he nicked the ball off the defender, then rounded the keeper before cooly slotting home into the back of the net. West Ham U21 continued to dominate their professional opponents, with impressive debutant Haksabanovic hitting the bar with a beautiful curling shot shortly after going 1-0 up.
Within the next 20 minutes, Haksabanovic & Martinez both had brilliant chances to extend West Ham's lead but the former forced the goalkeeper into a good save whilst the latter shot just wide after some brilliant movement from Holland. Swindon had the ball in the back of the net too but the linesman correctly called out for offside.
The last 15 minutes of the first half brought little to write about and West Ham entered the break very deservedly 1-0 up. Immediately after half-time the referee controversies started to begin.
Firstly, the referee awards a correct free-kick just outside the box to Swindon for hand-ball. Except just as Swindon are about to take the free-kick, he changes his mind and rules it as a penalty – despite not talking to his linesman at all. Swindon stepped up and sent Trott the wrong way for 1-1.
Then within a minute of kick-off, the ball had ended up sitting still dead on the side-line, then the linesman crazily flagged for a throw-in. Despite the referee not blowing his whistle & giving the throw-in, one of Swindon's defenders picked the ball up. As it was right in front of the away fans, everyone stood up and was screaming at the referee for hand-ball. Luckily, he correctly awarded West Ham with a free-kick! But he was quickly losing control of the game and this was just the beginning of awful decisions because the referee John Busby also failed to book one of Swindon's players for pushing one of West Ham's during this fiasco.
Five minutes later the referee gave a free-kick to West Ham just outside the box, but very evidently only got the wall to move back 7 yards instead of the required 10. Shortly after, West Ham made the first sub of the game with Diangana replacing Quina, who definitely wasn't up to his usual standards tonight.


Just before the 75th minute mark and West Ham had regained the lead to make it 2-1. The ball dropped to Makasi about 8 yards out and he managed to curl the ball home past the keeper into the bottom corner. Straight after the goal and it was time for very impressive debutant Haksabanovic to come off for Dan Kemp. Dan Kemp was barely on the pitch two minutes though when one of Swindon's players rose high to head home an equaliser for 2-2.
Martinez had been a nightmare for the defenders all night long and it looked like he had finally got the goal he deserved when he rounded the keeper to score, but the linesman was quick to rule that one out for offside.
It didn't take long for West Ham to take back control of the scores though with substitute Dan Kemp tapping home from three yards on the rebound from Martinez hitting the post. Six minutes were added on at the end of full-time but West Ham had to try to hold on with ten men after left-back Neufville had been sent off for two yellow cards. The game certainly wasn't over with Trott having to make an excellent save from the resulting free-kick to keep West Ham in-front!
The full-time whistle blew though & West Ham U21 had deservedly won 3-2! My Man of the Match had to be Samuelsen, he controlled the game going forward and created an endless amount of chances. Closely followed by Haksabanovic, Holland & Makasi but everyone was good tonight, with the exception of Quina who was probably lacking a bit of match fitness.

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New signing features as West Ham youngsters win at Swindon
BY LONDON FOOTBALL NEWS 15/08/2017

Sead Haksabanovic made his debut and Dan Kemp scored a late winner as West Ham's Under-21 side began their Checkatrade Trophy campaign with a 3-2 victory at Swindon Town. Teenager Haksabanovic, recently signed from Swedish club Halmstads BK, started at the County Ground, where Martin Samuelsen opened the scoring early on. Samuelsen pounced on a defensive mix-up and rounded the keeper to put the Hammers ahead after just six minutes. Nathan Trott equalised with a penalty two minutes into the second half following a handball by Moses Makasi, who atoned by restoring the lead on 68 minutes. Paul Mullin levelled for Swindon but West Ham again regained the lead, this time when Kemp scored from the rebound after Toni Martinez's shot had hit the post.

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FORMER HAMMERS STAR ON TRIAL WITH CARDIFF CITYFeatured Image
Date: 15th August 2017 at 10:30pm
Written by: Forever Westham

Former West Ham youngster and son of Premier League legend Gus Poyet, Diego Poyet is on trial with Cardiff City. Poyet was released by West Ham last summer having made 10 appearances for the Hammers in all competitions during three year spell with the club, and subsequently moved to Argentina with Godoy Cruz.
However after an unsuccessful spell with the club, Poyet found himself unattached and as since joined Cardiff City on trial. The 22-year-old played the full 90 minutes for the Bluebirds' Under-23 side in a 2-1 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday on Monday afternoon. His trial is believed to be on a game-by-game basis, with Cardiff not ready to commit to a contract with the youngster as it stands. Should he impress, Poyet could be offered a permanent return to English football, with development manager at Cardiff Craig Bellamy in charge of the midfielder's future at the club. Poyet has 13 caps for England at youth level, but has since switched his allegiance to Uruguay for whom he has earned 7 caps at U20 level.

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LJUBOMIR FEJSA CONSIDERED AS CARVALHO ALTERNATIVE
MICHAEL OLIVER @MichaelOIiver
ReadWestHam

Much to the dismay of West Ham fans on social media, the club's reported pursuit of William Carvalho is stalling. The belief is that Sporting aren't budging on their £36m asking price for their star midfielder and would like that fee to be paid up front, while the Hammers were hoping to secure a deal nearer to £31m with that fee spread across two years. While the player wants the move and the Hammers are continuing to work towards and agreement with the Liga NOS side, if no agreement can be reached, they will turn their attentions elsewhere. Ljubomir Fejsa is said to be a player who has caught Slaven Bilic's eye in recent times and the Benfica holding midfielder is being considered as an option if they can't agree a deal for Carvalho. The 29-year-old is regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders in Portugal, along with Carvalho and Porto's Danilo Pereira, who has also been identified as a contingency plan for the Sporting midfielder. Fejsa has also been linked with Tottenham and has won 10 successive league titles, four with Benfica, three at Olympiacos and three at Partizan

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WEST HAM'S KOUYATE COULD RETURN AFTER FIFA BREAK
AfricanFootball.com
by Austin Ditlhobolo
Tuesday Aug 15, 2017. 16:00

English Premier League (EPL) side West Ham United have provided an injury update regarding Senegalese international Cheikhou Kouyate. Kouyate, who is nursing knee injuries, missed the Hammers' 4-0 defeat to Manchester United in their first 2017/18 EPL game this past weekend. West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has since revealed that the central midfielder will be fit for their EPL clash with Newcastle United on Saturday, 26 August 2017. The Hammers welcomed Diafra Sakho, who is also a Senegalese international, back from a back injury this past weekend. "We are expecting a few of them who were injured last season, along with Cheikhou and Manuel (Lanzini) from this pre-season," Bilic told the club's official website. "Michail Antonio should be back for the game against Southampton and then Cheikhou, Manuel and even Andy Carroll should be there for the game against Newcastle in the third game of the season, or latest after the international break which is after that game. "All of them will be back very soon and we can talk about that, but we had a decent team out on Sunday and I expected more."

Sakho was introduced on the hour-mark against Manchester United. He made only four league appearances for the Hammers last season due to injuries.

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West Ham to target Arsenal-scouted Danilo Pereira as Carvalho deal stalls over late demands
HITC
Olly Dawes

West Ham United's deal for William Carvalho may be stalling. According to The Mirror, West Ham United will target Porto star Danilo Pereira as they contemplate pulling the plug on a deal for Sporting CP's William Carvalho at the last minute. The Hammers snapped up four major signings over the summer as Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez all arrived at the London Stadium - but they couldn't stop West Ham from being thrashed 4-0 at Manchester United on Sunday afternoon. That thumping at Old Trafford may now force manager Slaven Bilic to dip back into the transfer market, with a powerful holding midfielder seemingly on his wish list - but a move for William Carvalho could fall through. The Mirror claim that whilst West Ham were poised to seal a deal for Sporting CP star William Carvalho, the move is stalling as Sporting are making demands for more money late in the day, with West Ham potentially moving on to Porto's Danilo Pereira instead.
Pereira, 25, has starred for Porto since joining from Maritimo in 2015, scoring ten goals in 61 appearances despite predominantly being a defensive midfielder for the Portuguese giants. A powerful midfielder who stands at 6ft 2in tall, Pereira has impressed with Porto and has even been scouted by Arsenal, with Arsene Wenger considering options to boost his midfield options. Now though, West Ham are considering a move to lure Pereira to the Premier League before this month's transfer deadline, as they weigh up alternatives to top target Carvalho. Pereira and Carvalho battle it out against each other when Porto take on Benfica, but also for a place in Portugal's midfield, with both players key figures in Fernando Santos' squad - and they could now be at the centre of a transfer dilemma for West Ham too.

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HAKSABANOVIC SET FOR HAMMERS DEBUT IN CHECKATRADE TROPHYFeatured Image
Date: 15th August 2017 at 5:30pm
Written by: Forever Westham

Summer signing Sead Haksabanovic is set for his debut in Claret and Blue after being named in Terry Westley's Academy side to take on Swindon Town in the Checkatrade Trophy this evening. The Montenegro international is one a number of stars named in the strong squad that will travel to the county ground, including Toni Martinez, Moses Makasi and Domigos Quina, all of whom spent pre-season training with Slaven Bilic's first team. Westley's U23s side will be looking to get their season up and running after a stalemate draw with Everton on the opening day of season. The young Hammers were held by the Toffees – the current PL2 champions – last Friday night in what was a tense affair. The competition allows for Academy sides to field five over 21's in their line-ups, however the Hammers will field none, with captain Makasi being the oldest participant at 21 years-of-age. Swindon are expected to field their strongest line-up as David Flitcroft's side aim for cup glory.

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What William Carvalho has said about his future as West Ham close in on £36m deal
The latest West Ham transfer news sees the club closing in on a deal to sign Portual Euro 2016 winner William Carvalho from Sporting Lisbon
Football London
BYSAM INKERSOLE
10:14, 15 AUG 2017

West Ham are continuing to thrash out a deal to bring in William Carvalho from Sporting Lisbon this summer and the Hammers are certainly not the first English club to have been linked with a move for his services. We understand that the Hammers will launch a £30.1m bid at some stage this week - with add-ons - to seal a deal for the midfielder, with wages and personal terms already agreed on his move to the London Stadium. It's hoped a switch could be sealed by the end of the week, with the club having had a £27m bid knocked back already.
The Portugal international had been linked with the Gunners, as well as Chelsea and Manchester United in previous season, while West Bromwich Albion have also expressed an interest, as well as Liverpool. Back in 2015 in an interview with Portugues newspaper A Bola, Carvalho revealed his affection for the Premier League but touted himself for a move to Arsenal. He said: "I am where I want to be right now, which is Sporting, but if I ever do leave then it's a sign that my work here was well done. "I dream of winning the Primeira Liga here. "I prefer not to say too much, but there is a club with which I've always been fond of: Arsenal. Because of Thierry Henry, a player with whom I have always enjoyed watching. "Maybe this is why I look with so much affection to the Premier League."

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Danny Gabbidon shifts focus from Arthur Masuaku to Winston Reid in West Ham blame game twist
HITC
Damien Lucas

Former West Ham United defender Danny Gabbidon has some interesting views on his old club's 4-0 humbling to Manchester United. The Hammers got the new Premier League season off to the worst possible start at Old Trafford, putting in a timid performance in a resounding defeat at the hands of the title hopefuls.
A brace from Romelu Lukaku and goals from Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba brought Slaven Bilic's side crashing down to earth after what seemed a successful summer of recruitment. The likes of Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez could do little to prevent the kind of scoreline Hammers fans have long been accustomed to on visits to Old Trafford over the years. But the player who was on the receiving end of the most criticism from not only Hammers fans but pundits and supporters of other clubs too, was left-back Arthur Masuaku. West Ham fans have never taken to Masuaku. Castigated last season for one horror showing after another despite initially impressing on his debut against Chelsea, Masuaku started against Jose Mourinho's side with Aaron Cresswell not 100% fit. The defender is careless, at times lazy and often caught out at the back while very rarely getting beyond his man to deliver a telling pass or cross in attack.
So it didn't go down well with supporters or pundit Gary Neville when he was caught on camera laughing and joking while marking Lukaku on a set piece before fiddling with his shin pads just as the cross came in for the Red Devil's second goal - as reported by Sky Sports. But with Masuaku taking the brunt of West Ham fans' fury, former Hammer of the Year Danny Gabbidon has spoken out in defence of the Congo international, and blames Winston Reid instead. "(Winston) Reid's the leader in that back line he needs to take charge of it and know Masuaku can't be trusted to mark a player of that size/strength," Gabbidon said on Twitter.

Daniel Gabbidon ✔ @Gabbidon35
Reid's the leader in that back line he needs to take charge of it & know Masuaka can't be trusted to mark a player of the size/strength.
3:10 PM - Aug 14, 2017
1 1 Reply 1 1 Retweet 2 2 likes

Many West Ham fans feel the club has neglected to address real issues in their defence over the summer. Bilic's side were awful at the back last season but have only brought in ageing right back Pablo Zabaleta and handed a new deal to Angelo Ogbonna.

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Robert Snodgrass set for West Ham exit as Slaven Bilic continues clear-out
KEN DYER
Evening Standard

West Ham have sold Sofiane Feghouli to Galatasaray and Robert Snodgrass could be the next player to leave. Standard Sport revealed yesterday the Hammers are making a £30million bid for Sporting Lisbon midfielder William Carvalho. However, West Ham want to move out some players too, with winger Feghouli leaving last night for £3.8m while Snodgrass's time at the London Stadium could be over soon, just eight months after he joined from Hull. Feghouli spent one season at West Ham after joining from Valencia last summer. The Algeria international scored four goals in 27 games for the Hammers. He said: "I have been expecting to sign for Galatasaray for a long time. I am very happy to join a club which has such big support. "

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Liverpool fans react on Twitter to West Ham's imminent move for William Carvalho
HITC
Dan Coombs

Should Liverpool be making a move for West Ham target William Carvalho? West Ham are closing in on the signing of midfielder William Carvalho, with ESPN reporting a deal is imminent. The Portugal international is set to depart Sporting Club de Portugal for what would be a club record fee for the Hammers which could reach £40 million after add-ons. Sporting CP midfielder William Carvalho from Portugal during the Friendly match between Sporting CP and AS Monaco at Estadio Jose Alvalade on July 22, 2017 in Lisbon, Portugal. West Ham were battered at the weekend by Manchester United, conceding four goals, highlighting their need for a top defensive midfielder. Another team whose defensive frailties were evident was Liverpool, who conceded three goals at Watford as they drew 3-3.
Carvalho has been previously linked to the Reds, with ESPN reporting their interest back in January this year. He may lack the dynamism and attacking talent of top midfield target Naby Keita, but Carvalho is a gifted defensive midfielder who could allow the rest of the Reds attackers to thrive. Carvalho also has a physically imposing presence which could help defend set pieces, which proved to be their downfall at the weekend as was throughout last season. He is expensive, but Liverpool have bid more money unsuccessfully for players this summer, and if they really wanted to, potentially have could brought him in. As it stands West Ham are set to win the race, and Liverpool fans are a little perplexed at their club's decision to stand by...

Steve MacMillan @Steviem777
So, are we going to sit back and watch West Ham sign Carvalho for what is, in this current market a bargain of £30m ? #LFC
3:18 PM - Aug 14, 2017
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Tom @LFCTOMM
What's the deal with William Carvalho, few years ago was meant to be great. West Ham R close to signing him now, what about #LFC
4:51 PM - Aug 14, 2017
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Craig @craigest1979
Why aren't Liverpool in for Carvalho? #lfc great signing for #Westham
7:07 PM - Aug 14, 2017
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Life On Mars @jjassen
@LFC @ViktorFager LFC We need a DM or two, why aren't we in for William Carvalho? What's going on? #LFC #YNWA
7:26 PM - Aug 14, 2017
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Anthony @dickson87
Why on earth are we not going for Carvalho from Sporting be a boss signing add a bit of strength and height to our midfield #LFC
2:23 PM - Aug 14, 2017 · Liverpool, England
Replies Retweets 2 2 likes

oddjobbobajobbob!! @Robbiejohno
How can #LFC just let West ham sign Carvalho... Again no plan B
7:08 PM - Aug 13, 2017
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The Whites' loan star Burke maturing nicely
Mike Glendinning
BoltonNews.co.uk

HE is barely out of his teenage years but Phil Parkinson has an old head on young shoulders in Reece Burke. The 20-year-old anchored the Whites' back three in the cauldron of The Den and showed great poise and leadership way beyond his tender years. Burke who, along with another White-hot prospect in Josh Cullen, is with the Wanderers squad on loan from West Ham United until the turn of the year. And they are really catching the eye as they continue their development. While many will have been surprised it seems it is nothing less than Parkinson expected when he sent on a more-than able replacement for David Wheater in the opening-day defeat to Leeds. "I'm pleased with Reece, he's a player I've worked with before at Bradford," he told The Bolton News. "He adds something different to the team, so we were keen to bring him in, he's got qualities, good pace which is important but also he's got quality on the ball. "But first and foremost he's a defender and when he was called upon he defended well."

Parkinson knew what he was getting in Burke, as he took him to Bradford City on loan two years ago. His faith in the youngster was repaid when he won the club's player-of-the-year prize. And he is not short on experience either, having played top-flight and Europa League football for his parent club as well as gaining England under-18, u19 and u20s caps. So, despite him having had an injury-hit season with just 10 appearances for Wigan Athletic last time around, making the move to join up with him again was an easy decision for Parkinson. "I had no doubts about Reece going in the centre at all. In that position in the middle of the back three it's important to be a good communicator and he really is, and for a young man he's showed really good leadership qualities so far," he added.
Burke and his team-mates can expect another hard day's night tonight at Birmingham City, with the aerial threat Harry Redknapp's Blues possess.

And ahead of going up against one of the bigger clubs in the Championship Parkinson is relishing the challenge of once again pitting his wits against a manager he clearly has a great deal of respect for. "It's fantastic going to St Andrew's, the lads are relishing it," he said. "There's a spring in everyone's step after getting the point at the weekend and now we want to go and build on it. "The mentality will have to be right, it'll be everyone doing their job for the team first and foremost and we're going down there looking to give a good account of ourselves and send our travelling supporters back up the M6 in good spirits. "They're putting in long throws and they're a big, powerful side and we're going to have to be ready to stand up to that, we need to be conscious of their threat, and everyone needs to understand their role in the team, and know it's going to be similar to Millwall, that type of game, strong and physical. "Obviously they're a team where Harry's still looking to invest but he's spent a few quid already. "Harry always has time for everybody and he's always been good to me as a younger manager, it's good to see him back in the game. He's a character who should be in the game because of his record and it will be good to lock horns with him and (assistant manager) Kevin Bond.

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NO NEED TO PANIC JUST YET.
By Tony Hanna 15 Aug 2017 at 08:00
WTID

I am going to try and take out as many positives from our 4-0 defeat as possible before I state some alarming stats. Whilst no player was anywhere near their best it was not hard to look at this side and wonder what the addition of Lanzini, Antonio, Kouyate and hopefully Carvalho would make to it? Slaven Bilic has a really good squad of players this season and it his job to get the best out of it, but can anyone actually remember the last time he could pick our strongest team for a match? Iain made a comment on Sunday that Obiang, Noble and Fernandes is not a midfield that will ever play again. I am not so sure about that but I would bet that we would never win a Premier League game against a top 6 side playing that trio in a midfield triangle.

Now I watch a lot of football, not just West Ham, and I watched every preseason game that both Manchester clubs played. City were seriously under done in their first friendly against United, but one thing was very evident. United already in preseason had a real edge to them despite being outclassed against Real Madrid last week. They have come into the start of the Premier League season with a squad that is already firing on all cylinders. Whether they can keep that up for an entire season is unknown, but when any team playing them in this mood is not totally at the races it is not going to be pretty. I don't think I have ever seen Matic play so well but he also took his turn in the relay of punishment that was sent Chico's way. This is one thing that United and Spurs in particular do so well against teams they are dominating possession wise. Once any counter is on against them the professional foul is at a budget price, especially if you can rotate it around. The price of a warning or a yellow card is worth it if you can allow your team to reset defensively.

So, despite our lack of possession, it was us who got caught on the break with a four on three after that man Matic broke up play intervening on an attempted pass from an idling Obiang. Not sure who's idea it was for Masuaku to be marking Lukaku at set pieces, pure genius that one, but that was number two. However, I would be more concerned if we had been 4-0 down with half an hour to go and the opposition took the foot of the gas, rather than conceding two goals in the last 3 minutes of normal time when we were actually trying to get something out of the game.

For me, Arnie looks a really decent player and he didn't shirk his work in his defensive duties. I am sure he will be working on his set pieces this week though! Chico was brave and despite the score line Zabaleta had a fair enough game despite his rash challenge that gave away the free kick that led to the second goal. Obiang, probably understandably looked very rusty coming back from a lengthy injury and Masuaku disappointed. I am still not convinced Cresswell is the better option but time will tell. Mas had a pretty poor game as did some others, but if Cresswell had been marking Lukaku for goal number two the result would have been the same. Many on the blog complained about the level of commitment but I didn't see that. We had four players making their debut against a quality team that is already primed and at times we were really getting stuck in – well as much as you can in the modern game.

The one thing that I don't understand though is why did we revert back to four at the back? Whilst the Moaners have quality all over the pitch surely their main threat was always going to be Lukaku? Collins, Reid and Fonte did the job on him last time he played against us and at the end of last season we looked a much better side playing with three centre backs? I can appreciate the desire to play four at the back at home against equivalent or lesser opposition, but three centre backs away from home against top six clubs is surely our best option? Another tactic that is becoming very prevalent from sides playing against us is the extreme desire for the high press, especially when our keeper has the ball. Teams have sussed out our weakness in playing out from the back and with the way we are set up, tactically and personnel wise, the long ball is just handing back possession to them. Not sure if Carvalho will make a difference here but I hope so as it is a problem.

Whatever our tactical problems are, and I know many of you reading this will have your own opinions, the managers and coaches of the top 6 clubs have certainly known how to target them over the past year. Since the beginning of last season we have played 15 times against top 6 sides in the Premier League and Cups. In those matches we have scored eleven goals and conceded forty four. Six times we have conceded four or more and on nine occasions we have conceded three plus goals. Only once have we stopped the opposition scoring and that was in our 1-0 win at home to Spurs. That win against Tottenham provided three of just five points gained from an available thirty nine against top six sides.

Back to the positives. The first few weeks always throw up an array of results as all the teams are at different levels of fitness and cohesion. My view, based on over 50 years of watching football is that everything starts to take shape after about eight games. So, no need to panic just yet. City won their first five games in a breeze last season and looked unbeatable yet they finished fifteen points behind eventual winners Chelsea. After four games Hull and Boro were 7th and 9th respectively. After eight games last season the top eight clubs were the same top eight at the end of the season and the relegated clubs lay in 16th, 17th and 20th. It is not an exact science but it is a good guide of where the lay of the ground is. Our eighth game of the season is at home to Swansea on the 30th September.

A quick bookies update; The odds on Carvalho coming to West Ham are now 1-6 (about 85%). There has been good money for Adrian to stay and he is now even money (50%) to remain a Hammer. Robert Snodgrass is now odds on (4-9 or 69% chance) to move to Villa and there has been more money (5-2) for Lanzini to go to Liverpool (28% chance)

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