As promised we have a nice little interview with Angello Ogbonna, courtesy of Betway, detailing his past involvement with some of the great Italian players of the past. The combative but fair Hammers centre back appears to have overcome his exteme anger at having been excluded from the current Italian squad currently at the Euros.
As we have highlighted before, Hammers financial woes are not just as a result of the Covid pandemic, but also because of previous manager Manuel Pellegrini's profligate spending. Now we know that the co-owners of West Ham don't do themselves a lot of good from a PA point of view, and thankfully they have kept out of the limelight during Hammers recent good run of results that saw the club qualify for a proper European competition for the first time at group stage level.
With all the outside media coverage there is, what is it like for the players? Here's a quick little vid that includes contributions from Angelo Ogbonna and Lukasz Fabianski as well as action from Vlad 'the impaler' Coufal. Click here.
We have a more personal interview with Angelo Ogbonna coming up tomorrow. - Ed
Yarmo Bumps Up His Value
Andriy Yarmolenko scored another goal and made another assist in the Ukraine's nervous 2-1 win over Northern Macedonia, he is currently joint top scorer in the competition and has already scored one of the goals of the tournament.
The new Barclays Premier League fixture list will have been well received by Hammers fans, because for once the club hasn't been handed a run of fixtures against the top six teams to start the campaign with, partly due to the fact that West Ham ARE in the top six themselves!
Hopefully, full Stadiums will be available for fans to embrace the new Barclays Premier League season, traditionally Hammers have always been handed the grimmest of fixtures to start the campaign, and this time is the exception, a full list of the fixtures just announced is here.
Saturday 14 August 2021
Newcastle
15:00
West Ham St. James' Park,
Newcastle
Saturday 21 August 2021
West Ham
15:00
Leicester London Stadium,
London
Saturday 28 August 2021
See, and if possible try before you buy, are the back bone of David Moyes' acquisitions mantra, no longer is the club suffering from 'Hammers Hubris', as it has moved from an amateur dramatic approach to a sleek 'Hollywood' style of attainment.
Yesterday’s Czech Republic v Scotland game was a case in point, where 'supposed' target, Spartak Moscow’s Alex Kral, had a poor game which saw him subbed well before the conclusion of the match. Another 'supposed' Hammers target Adam Hlozek came on but was barely involved.
All of West Ham's European Championship players have so far shone for their respective teams, following on from Declan Rice and Andriy Yarmolenko's performances, Hammers Czech duo, Vladimir Coufal and Tomas Soucek were instrumental in overcoming Scotland 2-0 at Hamden Park, with the former providing the cross for the Czech Republic's first goal.
Jesse Lingard turned up at a pub to watch the England v Crotia match in good spirits, despite having missed the cut for the final England squad. His choice of clothing was 'interesting', he chose to wear an England shirt with Rice and the number 4 on the back, Oh and a PARROT on his shoulder!
England expects is the sort of burden players have suffered from in the past when it comes to playing the actual tournaments rather than the qualifying, but this England team is exactly that, a team. Instead of a disparate set of players in cliques from their clubs, there is a genuine feeling of team spirit, and at the centre, literally, was Declan Rice.