Daily WHUFC News - 25th September 2017

U23s deserve attacking and defensive praise after Sunderland win – Westley
WHUFC.com

West Ham United academy director Terry Westley believes his U23s side
deserve two different types of praise after their 2-1 win over Sunderland –
one for their attacking efforts in the first half and another for their
defensive resolution in the second. First half goals from Toni Martinez and
Martin Samuelsen was enough to give the Hammers victory over Sunderland on
Sunday, who got back into the match thanks to an effort from Luke Molyneux.
Westley's side had to contend with a lively Sunderland attack in the second
period however and, despite numerous attempts at getting into dangerous
areas by the Black Cats, West Ham were able to keep the hosts out and claim
the three points. And Westley is delighted that his side showed both their
attacking and defensive qualities in this game, saying that West Ham deserve
praise for displaying both in this win. "It was a tough game, Westley told
whufc.com: "I thought it had two completely different halves. The first half
we were very, very good. We dominated the ball. Our attacking players – Toni
Martinez, Martin Samuelsen, Nathan Holland, Dan Kemp – had too much for
their defenders. We kept opening them up and getting chance after chance,
and deservedly went two goals up. "The second half was the opposite.
Sunderland dominated much of the ball and we showed a different quality. We
should our defensive qualities, putting our bodies on the line and
maintaining a good team shape, yet still looking dangerous on the counter.
"It was a completely different type of well-done, if you like. It was well
done in the first half for keeping the ball and opening them up, and in the
second half it was determination and desire to keep them out. It was the
difference between three points and a draw."

West Ham's two goals came courtesy of a strong header from Martinez, who
also laid on the assist for Samuelsen's finish just a few minutes later.
Westley hailed the Spaniard's efforts in this contest as the striker's best
match for the team, and also made special mention of Nathan Holland, who had
another superb outing after making his first team debut against Bolton
Wanderers earlier this week. On Martinez Westley said: "I think today was
his best game for us. That's the best game with and without the ball. He was
a constant threat. They had to take the centre-half off at half-time because
Martinez just had too much for him. "The real pick today was Nathan Holland.
Holland, with the ball, was so exciting. He went past people, made chances I
looked at the end, when he picked the ball up, and the face of the full-back
said 'please don't run at me again!' He was the stand-out player today."

Sunday's result puts West Ham back on the winning track after a couple of
losses in the last few matches, and Westley has warned his players that the
hard work is just beginning, as other clubs throw top-flight resources at
the Premier League 2. But Westley is confident his team have the ability to
finish in the top six this campaign. He added: "It's going to be hard and
we're not going to win every game. We've played Leicester away and they had
£50m of players on the pitch. The next week we played Liverpool who have now
won six out of six. "These teams have decided not to loan players out and go
heavy in the U23 league. We're going to need to work this hard throughout
the season to earn that top six finish that we're after."

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Samuelsen – Goals like that are why Martinez and I are friends!
WHUFC.com

Martin Samuelsen has joked that the time he's put into becoming friends with
striker Toni Martinez paid off after the two combined to help West Ham
United U23s beat Sunderland 2-1 on Sunday. Martinez powered home a header
for the first goal in the weekend win before combining with Samuelsen,
providing the assist for the 20-year-old to get his side's second and
ultimately winning finish rather than shooting himself. The duo proved to be
the crucial duo as the Hammers earned a hard-fought victory and Samuelsen
has jested that he bothered becoming friends with Martinez for scenarios
such as the one presented against Sunderland. "I was delighted to get on the
scoresheet, particularly after my knee injury," Samuelsen told whufc.com:
"It was a good counter attack. A lot of people going forward made it easier
to run with the ball. "Martinez made a good run and I played the ball to
him. I thought he was going to shoot but I semi-hoped I would get it back. I
was praying! I got it back and was able to slide it in. I've invested a lot
of time in that friendship and it paid off!"

The victory over Sunderland ends a run of three consecutive defeats for the
West Ham U23s and Samuelsen believes the win is a huge confidence boost for
the team against a difficult and lively Black Cats' side. He added: 'It's
massive for us. Today was one of those games. It was very tight and when you
win those games it gives you a real boost going into the next games. "I'm
very happy. Today was a great win. It was a good, collective performance
from the players, with a lot of the boys playing out of position. It was a
brilliant team performance."

Samuelsen now has two goals for the season following his goal against
Sunderland but has warned that he feels he still has a lot more to give the
team. Although U23s teammate Nathan Holland made his first team debut
earlier this week, Samuelsen is currently focusing on improving his own game
before thinking about a move through the ranks. "Personally, I think I'm
nowhere near my best and where I should be," he said: "I've had a lot of
set-backs and my main focus is to get regular and consecutive games, and
work on all the areas I need to improve. "Right now, improvement is my main
focus, and then we can start to look at progression."

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Noble praises Hammers' fighting spirit
WHUFC.com

Mark Noble admitted Saturday's defeat to London rivals Tottenham Hotspur was
tough to take following a battling performance that deserved greater reward.
After making the brighter start and creating several promising openings, a
groin injury to Michail Antonio forced a reshuffle after just half an hour
and, as Hammers adjusted to a slightly different approach, the visitors took
full advantage to race into a two-goal lead courtesy of Harry Kane's double
strike. When Christen Eriksen made it 3-0 early in the second half, it
looked like last season's Premier League runners-up might cause an
embarrassment but – led by the never-say-die attitude of their captain –
Hammers fought to turn the tide and almost pulled off a memorable comeback.
"I thought we started really well and were on top for the first 35 minutes,"
said Noble. "The way we pressed, the way we played, created a couple of
chances and really looked good. "Mikey going off took our momentum away a
bit and slowed the game, and then we let in a couple of really sloppy goals,
which of course was disappointing. "There was a little bit of shock going in
2-0 down at half-time, though – I didn't think we deserved that. We could
easily have folded and given up at 3-0, but instead we dug in and managed to
make a game of it."

Headed goals from Javier Hernandez and Cheikhou Kouyate gave the London
Stadium faithful a genuine lifeline and, when Andy Carroll rose highest to
meet a cross from the left in the dying moments, it looked like Slaven
Bilic's side might get the point they deserved. However, a sly nudge from
Spurs defender Davinson Sanchez clearly impeded the big striker's momentum –
unfairly in Noble's eyes. "I'm pretty sure Andy would have smashed that into
the net – that's the way we saw it," he said. "We had a similar situation go
against us in the 93rd minute away at Southampton, having got ourselves back
to 2-2 with 10 men. Sometimes these things pay you back but that wasn't the
case today."

With the next four Premier League fixtures against Swansea, Burnley,
Brighton and Crystal Palace, Noble insisted confidence and belief is still
high among the squad given the fighting qualities displayed against Spurs.
"Every game in the Premier League is crucial," he said. "But if we play the
way we did today, we'll have a chance of winning the next three or four
games."

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Arthur showcases his attacking abilities
WHUFC.com

Arthur Masuaku has made quite an impact in West Ham United's previous two
matches. Last Tuesday evening, the 23-year-old completed the scoring in the
Hammers' 3-0 Carabao Cup third-round win over Bolton Wanderers with an
unstoppable, swirling 25-yard strike into the top corner. Then, on Saturday,
Masuaku emerged from the substitutes' bench with his side trailing Tottenham
Hotspur 3-1 in the Premier League, and again he most definitely caught the
eye. While he played as a left-back against Bolton, the French-born player
was handed a more advanced left-wing role as Slaven Bilic's team tried to
turn the game around against a Spurs side reduced to ten men by Serge
Aurier's red card. In just 20 minutes on the pitch, Masuaku was hugely
influential in the attacking half of the pitch, most notably when providing
the driving run and pinpoint cross for Cheikhou Kouyate's 87th-minute
header, which reduced West Ham's arrears to 3-2 and set up a grandstand
finish. That goal came as a direct result of one of four dribbles (denoted
by triangles on the pitch map) Masuaku embarked upon during his exciting
cameo, two of which were successful (green) and two of which were ended by
Tottenham tackles (red). When you consider West Ham players dribbled the
ball just 16 times in the entire game, you can see how Masuaku's individual
endeavour and willingness to take on his man – or men – created uncertainty
in the Tottenham defence and chances for his teammates. Masuaku was arguably
the focal point of West Ham's attack late on as they moved the ball from
flank to flank in an attempt to find a way through the deep-lying Spurs
defence, touching the ball 22 times in just 20 minutes. In comparison, Marko
Arnautovic touched the ball 26 times in the 65 minutes he was on the pitch,
and Cheikhou Kouyate had 32 touches in the full 90 minutes. Ten of those 22
touches were passes (denoed by green arrows on the pitch map), with all ten
reaching their intended destination to give Masuaku a 100 per cent
completion rate.

Masuaku has spent the majority of his career at left-back, of course, and
his defensive skills were also evident as West Ham desperately tried to get
themselves back into the game late on, with the No23 making two ball
recoveries in the final ten minutes, including one on the edge of his own
penalty area.
So, all in all, Masuaku undoubtedly made a positive impact on the game and
has given his manager another attacking option down the left flank going
forward.

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Kouyate: We need to stay focused and work hard
WHUFC.com

Cheikhou Kouyate admitted the joy of scoring his first goal of the season
was tainted by the disappointment of defeat by Tottenham Hotspur. The
midfielder's thumping header had West Ham United dreaming of pulling off a
stunning comeback at London Stadium, but Spurs held on to condemn the
Hammers to their fourth defeat in six Premier League matches, 3-2. And
Kouyate, who bagged his 14th goal in Claret and Blue from Arthur Masuaku's
left-wing cross to pull his team within a goal in the closing stages,
admitted conceding two goals in the space of five first-half minutes had
ultimately left the Hammers with too much to do. "We started the game very
well and played very good for 30 minutes but we lost Michail Antonio after
that [to injury], then we had five bad minutes and lost two goals in a
crucial game," the No8 told West Ham TV. "Everyone knows they are a very
good team and that you can't make mistakes against Tottenham, but everyone
needs to keep their head up and work hard. "After the first half, we spoke
with the manager and players and said 'Guys, we need to push because we are
2-0 down and we need to give everything'. We gave everything, but the game
was very bad for us so we need to stay focused and work hard."


West Ham conceded a third on the hour-mark, but set up a grandstand finish
when first Chicharito and then Kouyate planted unstoppable headers past Hugo
Lloris, only for a dramatic equaliser to elude them when Andy Carroll's
penalty claims were turned down in added time. The No8 was pleased to get
off the mark for the new season with his first goal since netting a vital
winner against Swansea City in March. The Swans visit London Stadium next
weekend and the Senegal midfielder would no doubt like to hit the net again
against the Welsh side. "I spoke with some friends on Saturday and they said
'You have one or two chances to score in every game, so you need to stay
focused and work and take your time' and I got my first goal," he said.
"Hopefully there will be many more coming in the future. "Swansea have a
good team, but we need some points because we need to forget the start of
this season because it has not been good. Hopefully next week will not be
the same."

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MY MESSAGE TO KARREN BRADY
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 24 SEPTEMBER 2017 AT 8:20PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Written by Katie Shergold @flump9

Dear Mrs Brady

I am writing this as a lifelong West Ham fan who considers herself a fairly
rational and levelheaded person. However, I felt compelled to write my
feelings down regarding some of your thoughtless and ill-judged comments
that appear to keep happening and how I believe they are compounding the
negativity surrounding West Ham United.

This is not going to be a personal attack on you, although I have very
different opinions to you on 99% of things I have read, this is purely about
West Ham United. You are undoubtedly an incredibly successful and
intelligent woman and I 'should' feel that you are an inspiration to women
like myself, however for such a successful business woman, can you not see
how some of your actions impact on us loyal West Ham fans. You clearly have
no love for West Ham and I do not expect you to, it is not something you
just switch on. For true West Ham fans, it is something that they didn't
choose, it is something we are born into and although we may suffer many
heartbreaks we would not have it any other way. It is not just a game and
to us it certainly isn't a business, it is a huge part of our lives that
brings extreme happiness as well as extreme pain – we certainly do not need
you causing more pain!

Whilst I appreciate you will not understand any of the above, I believe that
an intelligent lady with vast PR experience would know how to behave in the
media. Your actions seem to continuously shock me, do you honestly believe
that being quoted as "wanting Tottenham to win the league" (just one day
before we were playing them) is an acceptable thing to do whilst you're CEO
of our wonderful club? Tottenham are one of our biggest rivals, you must
have known that would rile our fans up. It is obviously just a job to you,
a business and there is no heart in anything you do regarding West Ham, but
it is unfathomable that you could be that clueless, or is it a case of you
simply don't care?

Karren, I do not expect you to have any passion for West Ham, but I do
expect you to have enough respect to stop making such embarrassing, idiotic
and classless comments. You plainly view fans as customers, but surely in
any business you should treat your customers with respect? You could not be
more detached from the fans/customers if you tried. Sadly, I do not believe
it is anything to do with you being clueless or stupid, but as I suggested
previously, you just don't care.

All you are doing is inciting more negativity and causing further
embarrassment to our club and I can't imagine Max Fitzgerald, Head of Media
Relations is enjoying this negative PR (although I am sure he has become
accustomed to it now). You are certainly more successful than me and would
probably view me as just another annoying working class football fan, but I
ask you to just please stop.

Yours sincerely,
Katie @flump9

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