When you get to the latter stages of a European competition, like we have with the Europa League, you’re going to get a tough side. Yes, it would’ve been nice to get a lesser side but the positive I took away from us drawing Leverkusen is that we’re going out there first so we’re probably not going to change how we play too much, and I say bring it on.
The worst case scenario is going out there and ending the first leg two or more goals behind. But going there first, might suit us because we showed in the last European home game that if we let the handbrake off, then we can turn it on.
We’re going into this tie as underdogs and that will suit us. It could be that we see another Moyes masterclass with low possession out in Germany and we’ll know what we need to do when we bring them back to London Stadium. As well as our Europa League interest, we’ve also got a tough run-in on paper but I think we might surprise ourselves in some of these games. That’s the beauty of football.
At the time of writing, we sit seventh and that’s where I think we are as a club at the moment. Anywhere between seventh and ninth. I know there’s a good number of clubs close behind us, but all the other teams have got to play each other so there will be points dropped between now and the end of the season.
Realistically, we might be able to catch up with Man United in sixth but maybe the rest are out of reach. To get into the top five now would be an incredible run from us or someone imploding. I bet Moyes wasn’t too impressed that West Ham’s first game back after the international break was Newcastle away at 12.30pm.
He would’ve had limited time with them once everyone had flown back from around the world. It would’ve had an impact but I guess it was the same for both sides. Speaking on the international break, it was great to see Jarrod Bowen get good game time for England in their friendlies last month against Belgium and Brazil.
The more game time you get, whatever it is, the better you’re going to be and that breeds confidence.
Bowen is full of confidence at the moment and surely will fancy his chances of a place in Gareth’s squad for the Euros in Germany but equally he’ll be fearful of getting injured before the summer. Any injury now will have an impact on whether you make the squad or not. But, like we saw with the recent friendlies and the amount of injuries England had, it gives other people the opportunity like the chap from Man U, Mainoo, he’s come from nowhere.
One door shuts for someone and it opens for someone else, and it was great to see players show what they can do in an England shirt. Whilst it is a fantastic honour to play for your country, I’m sure there were some managers, like Moyes, hoping their players returned OK and in good nick for the run-in.
Some of the bigger clubs would’ve only had a few people left on the training ground during the international break as the majority of the squad would’ve been away for this international duty so there’s little Premier League managers can do. Two other talking points from the international break was Declan Rice leading England out against Belgium on his 50th cap.
That’s the ultimate dream, to captain your country, and you can’t really get much higher than that. Well, actually, the only thing that would top that is winning a trophy and being the captain of your country.
And I think Rice will captain England when Kane retires because that’s the way the pecking order looks at this moment in time. As for the saga around Ben White, we don’t know the ins and outs, and whilst I know everyone has had an opinion about his decision not to join up with the squad, my opinion is that it’s everyone’s choice to play.
There must be a reason why he didn’t want to join up with Gareth’s squad for these friendlies and only he knows that reason. If that’s what he wants to do, then we should let him do it. We don’t know the facts and we shouldn’t be jumping to any conclusion that he’s acting out of order in any way.
There are some people saying it’s the national side, he should play regardless but it’s really hard to pass judgement without knowing the facts. At the end of the day, as Gareth said, he’s made his decision and we move on.
There might be opposition fans that boo him in the coming weeks but i hope people remember there are two sides to every story.
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