October 19th 1968. Does that date mean anything to you? It does to me. And to Geoff Hurst probably. It was a Saturday that didn’t start particularly well. I was playing football for the school 3rd year team (I think that’s Year 9 in new money). We were a relatively small school with not a lot of boys to pick from. We (Barking Abbey) were at home and lost the game 8-0 to Dagenham County High. How can you remember such detail I hear you ask? The reason is what happened that afternoon.
With my school mates we headed off to Upton Park to watch the Hammers. We were 14 and could go to games without parents, not that we’d have wanted them with us. I’m not sure that you can go without them these days at that age. I remember lining up in the queue to get in. I think it was 2 shillings (10p) to get in but it may have been a little more. The programme cost 1 shilling. We had eaten our hot dogs from one of the stands in Green Street and were always keen to get in early to take our place on the ‘big step’ in the North Bank slightly to the left of the goal about halfway back. We always bought peanuts (tanner a bag) from the vendor who walked round the pitch before the game and at half time. We threw the sixpence down to the pitch and the bag of nuts was duly passed back.
But I digress. The game that day was against Sunderland. What were our hopes? Well we had started the season with six wins in our first eight games. Martin Peters had scored eight goals in those eight games. Geoff Hurst had scored six in the eight games. Those six wins had included a 5-0, 4-0 and a 7-2. We were third in Division One and at one time had topped the league.
We then went nine games without winning prior to the Sunderland game (although to be fair it included six draws). Geoff thought it was about time he overtook his good mate Martin and duly smashed home six goals against the Mackems (I think only the second double hat-trick scored by a West Ham player). Martin didn’t score that day but Trevor (Brooking) and Bobby (Moore) chipped in as we thrashed Sunderland 8-0. Ironically the first goal in the game took half an hour to arrive but once the goals started to flow it became a rout. Our next three home games that season saw us beat QPR 4-3, Leicester 4-0, and Man City 2-1. I remember them all with fondness for different reasons. We finished the season in a very respectable eighth place. Again, in true West Ham fashion we lost the return game to Sunderland at Roker Park 2-1 just nine weeks later. Geoff Hurst inevitably scored our goal. In fact he scored quite a few goals against them in other games too.
When I was young in the sixties I was always bemused by the older generation fondly telling me about how great football used to be in the days of heavy leather footballs held together by laces. They reckoned the game was better when shorts were longer and hair was shorter and players had a maximum wage. I suppose I’ve probably turned into one of them myself – the ‘it ain’t as good as it were in my day’ brigade!
So let me return to last Saturday’s opening day debacle in the North East. Remember we were playing against a side promoted via the play offs with eight newcomers in the starting eleven. An even first half was followed by an absolute shambles in the second period especially when the first goal went in. The 3-0 loss wasn’t just a bad result it was a performance that screamed fragility, collapse, and so many other words that you could insert. There was no bite in midfield, no pace, no power, no plan, no strategy, three central defenders who couldn’t seem to head a football. The third goal was exactly what I warned about in last week’s article – the 3-5-2 system leading to potential problems when the opponents broke forward at speed leaving gaps in the traditional full back areas. I wrote that better teams would exploit a weakness in the system. If Sunderland did then others will follow. There were defensive gaps that you could drive a bus through and attackers who barely threatened (Bowen excepted).
And now we face a home game against the top club side in the world. Well of course they’re not really but they have just won the Club World Cup defeating teams who we couldn’t even get close to at the moment. Our relegation odds collapsed from 7/1 to 3/1 after just the first game and Potter’s odds have shortened to 2/1 to be the next Premier League manager out. Unless he can manage to galvanise the squad and rectify the ‘oh so many’ issues then we are in a season-long survival scrap.
I hate to write this but surely we don’t have a prayer against Chelsea on Friday night. They have the tactical structure, Palmer’s creativity, Pedro’s flair and Caicedo’s midfield bite that gives them a spine that we cannot match as well as a choice of so many players that we can only envy. They have defensive solidity (6 clean sheets in last 10). Our confidence is surely fragile so is there any hope? In the past I would have fancied us under the lights at home but surely the result is just a foregone conclusion in our current state.
Chelsea have won four of the last five meetings between the sides. Their recent form includes victories over AC Milan, PSG and Bayer Leverkusen. Despite a 0-0 draw against an easily underestimated Palace team, who performed so admirably winning the Community Shield a couple of weeks ago, Chelsea did dominate possession (71%) and chances (19-11 shot advantage). Failure to win at home will have stirred them into upping their game this week. Finishing is a potential weakness and despite creating chances they perhaps lack a clinical edge (am I just clutching at straws?). Maresca will be pushing them for sharper execution in front of goal.
I desperately hope that I am wrong. The Opta supercomputer apparently gives us a 22% chance of winning the game. I find it hard to believe that the figure is that high! Come on you irons! Prove me wrong!