It’s that time of year when we’re treated to lots of rankings and ‘best ofs’ as the world prepares to say goodbye to another year.
2024 has been a tough one for West Ham. We came into the year with so much promise. We’d just beaten Man United and Arsenal to end 2023 as one of the most successful calendar years in the club’s history. We were 6th in the Premier League table, the fans were singing ‘Champions of Europe, we know what we are’ at every opportunity and there were calls for David Moyes to get a new contract.
But it seems like the moment the clock struck midnight and January 1st ushered in 2024, every single ounce of luck and good fortune was left behind.
We’ve won just 11 games in all competitions in 2024, have conceded 83 goals – our worst year defensively since 1976 – and have seen us go from 6th in the Premier League to 14th. David Moyes left and was replaced by Julen Lopetegui, who everyone wants to be sacked just a few months into what was supposed to be a new and exciting era in east London.
Put simply, 2024 will statistically go down as one of the worst calendar years in the club’s history.
But as we look back on the horrors of the year, and businesses also do the same for their own performances and fortunes, one 2024 quirk has appeared that will put a smile on West Ham fans’ faces.
Popular football statistics website Fbref has been revealing which players are the most searched on their website in all the major cities, regions and states in the world in 2024. Naturally, their graphics are dominated by Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the world continues to be in awe of the pair’s god-like abilities.
In London, Bukayo Saka is the most searched player because presumably the city is still sleeping on Jarrod Bowen’s quality, former Hammer Declan Rice appears to be everyone’s favourite player in Edinburgh and Birmingham, while Max Kilman is unsurprisingly the most searched for player on FBref in the west Midlands.
Jarrod Bowen
Not much to be surprised about there, but it’s when you pop over to America where something strange is going on, which also shouldn’t be a surprise.
Messi and Ronaldo dominate the map, but there are a few states that are clearly more interested in other world class players.
In Hawaii, the most popular player was Francesco Totti. In Minnesota it was Federico Chiesa and in Oklahoma, Demarcus Beasley topped the search rankings.
But it’s in Pennsylvania where football fans really, really know their ball. That’s because the most searched for player on FBRef in that particular US state is none other than Aaron Cresswell.
It’s certainly an odd one, given Cresswell has only made 19 appearances for the club in all competitions this calendar year, making the starting XI just seven times. His West Ham career is winding down and it’s likely this will be his last season in claret and blue after 11 fantastic years of service.
That makes his popularity in Pennsylvania that little bit weirder. What is it about Cresswell that they love in that part of the US? Is it his perfectly immaculate hair? His wand of a left boot?
Whatever it is, seeing Cresswell’s face among a sea of Messi and Ronaldo on a US map made me smile at a time when there really hasn’t been much to smile about where West Ham is concerned…
The most viewed FBref player pages in each U.S state this year. pic.twitter.com/wEQWkJbohL
— ⚽ FBref ⚽ (@fbref) December 10, 2024