Ben & Rob’s preview - West Ham | OneFootball

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·29 January 2022

Ben & Rob’s preview - West Ham

Article image:Ben & Rob’s preview - West Ham

It’s West Ham away in the Premier League on Sunday (2pm) - N17 Live presenter Ben Haines and Club commentator Rob Daly gather their thoughts as we prepare to head east...

The Hammers

Here we go then - first up - what do you think of immediately when we say, ‘West Ham’?


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Ben: “My first thought is, ‘we have to beat them’ because if you lose to West Ham, it’s just different than, say, losing to Arsenal. But they are decent, they’re a good side and their starting XI has a really nice balance to it.”

Rob: “Weirdly, I associate this fixture with Upton Park, all those fantastic games there...”

Ben: “The 4-3, Gareth Bale 3-2."

Rob: “Yes, Bale’s 3-2 goal. So, I associate this fixture with going to Upton Park and trying to get a result. West Ham are playing well at the moment, and they are always desperate to beat Spurs, I think that’s fair to say. I remember when I first joined the club and it was a League Cup tie (October, 2018, won 3-1), Juan Foyth started, Oliver Skipp came on for his debut, Sonny scored, Llorente scored... that’s when I realised. That was a bit of an eye opener for me. But, as I said, it’s those away wins at Upton Park I think of, the Paul Stalteri 4-3, Bale’s 3-2, Eric Dier’s 1-0 in 2014.”

Form

What did the guys make of West Ham at the moment?

Ben: “Annoyingly, I would argue that West Ham are one of the best sides to watch at the moment in the Premier League, for the way they are approaching games. It pains me to say that! Watching Everton-West Ham last week, you’d expect a bit of a slug-fest, but West Ham looked quite exciting. They have that pivot of Tomas Soucek and Declan Rice in midfield, and then the front three... I really like Jarrod Bowen. They work so hard. Michail Antonio as well. He’s worked so hard on his game to make himself an all-round striker.”

Rob: “For me, the switch in their recruitment has been a massive part of their improvement. They being smart in getting players from the Championship and turning them into Premier League players, that’s been huge for them. The rise of Antonio as a striker has been a decisive factor, the Czech boys, Soucek, Coufal and now Alex Kral. I can’t praise Declan Rice enough, either. He’s key to the balance of the team.”

Random question...

What is your favourite West Ham moment?

Rob: “I’m going for the Bale strike, 3-2, 2013. The way he set himself, there's nothing on and to do that (pinged it top corner from 35 yards) was just ridiculous.”

Ben: “Remember the Sergei Rebrov goal in the FA Cup? 2001! The Bale goal, obviously, the 4-3 in 2007, the Harry Kane double in the 3-2 at home in 2106 and watching Harry Winks’ celebration after he scored... the thing about the Eric Dier goal in 2014, I just remember what that meant at the time, it set a tone that we were no longer going to be the team conceding late, we were going to be the team scoring late. I remember thinking, ‘what is Eric Dier doing up there?’. Let’s hope we’re celebrating the 90+1 winner this time around!”

Watch - late winners v West Ham!

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