Everton arrived in London on a mission to turn around a dreadful sequence of away results, they have the worst record in the Premier League. Managed by ex-youth and young pro Hammer Frank Lampard Jnr, the visitors were arguably the better side for quite a lot of the game, had it not been for their profligacy in front of goal they may well have left with at least a point.
West Ham: Fabiański, Fredericks, Dawson, Zouma, Cresswell, Rice ©, Souček, Bowen, Benrahma, Fornals, Antonio Subs: Areola (GK), Alese, Diop, Coufal, Masuaku, Noble, Král, Vlašić, Yarmolenko
Everton: Pickford, Kenny, Keane ©, Godfrey, Mykolenko, Iwobi, Doucoure, Van de Beek, Gray, Richarlison, Calvert-Lewin Subs: Begovic (GK), Holgate, Branthwaite, Price, Alli, El Ghazi, Gordon, Dobbin, Rondon.
In Disney's 'Never Ending Story' as Bastian makes his wishes, he ensures that all the friendships made before the Nothing's rampage remained intact. Now West Ham fans know all about a 'tall story', after all they have been on the receiving end of so many 'smoke and mirror' transfer stories that they could ALL write a book about the shenanigans at the club!
Ahead of Sunday's clash between West Ham and Everton, Toffees boss and ex-Hammer Frank Lampard has been 'talking up' his time with the irons before his departure to Chelsea where he went on to establish himself as one of the top midfielders in the Premier League.
The relationship between Lampard, son of Frank Lampard Snr who made over 550 appearances for the club, and Hammers supporters has always had a bit of needle attached, dating back from accusations of nepotism when he was at the club and recriminations from both sides when he left the club.
It has been a long time coming, it is nearly SIX years since West Ham moved to the London Stadium in the Queen Elizabeth Park Stratford from the club's beloved Boleyn Ground. It is almost 'criminal' that the Stadium has remained unnamed as a result of infighting between ALL the stake holders, especially the LDDC and the ODLC as well as West Ham.
Shareholders and stakeholders have agreed to change the rules, meaning Premier League clubs will be able to make five substitutions each game from next season onwards. Substitutions can be made on three occasions during a match, and at half time, up to nine substitutes can be named on the team sheet.
The original five substitute ruling was introduced across the game in May 2020 after the shutdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Clubs then voted against continuing the rule for the congested 2020-21 season, which had a catastrophic effect across the board.
When West Ham United's record £45 Million signing Sebastien Haller was sold on to Ajax for a £25 Million loss, many fans thought good riddance to a player who was clearly NOT suited to the particularly frenzied pace of the Premier League. However Haller thrived in the Eredivisie on his arrival inHolland and more importantly set the Champions League on fire by breaking the record for the most goals scored in an initial group stage.
Sometimes it is easy to add two plus two regarding football transfers and end up with five, or more often than not, zero! The Jesse Lingard to West Ham story occupied a lot of column inches before it subsided, even interest from the 'Stone Throwers' wasn't sufficient to fan the flames enough to re-ignite the story during January's transfer window fall out period.
England face Ivory Coast on Tuesday for what will be another decent test following their narrow victory over Switzerland who are currently 14th in the FIFA World rankings. So bearing in mind it will be the last World Cup warm up, Ivory Coast will provide a totally different test to an England team that will have West Ham's Declan Rice at the heart of its defence.
David Moyes has been in need of a straight 180 as his Hammers team chase down glory on TWO different fronts, juggling injuries to star players hasn't helped his demeanour which is 'prickly' at the best of times, so the news that one of his 'top boys' is ready willing and able to join the fray for the team's remaining eight Premier League games AND the vital UEFA Europa League Cup ties beginning with the two legged 1/4 final against Lyon will have pleased the manager no end, as hopefully he can navigate a path to the final in Sevilla later this year as well as maintaining the club's domestic