What a great weekend. Apart from the Hammers win my Canadian Football team ( like American football not soccer) won the western semi finals and then found the better half a Xmas present so live is good. How long who knows LOL One question though are we playing 442 or 433 or a mix?
What a great weekend. Apart from the Hammers win my Canadian Football team ( like American football not soccer) won the western semi finals and then found the better half a Xmas present so life is good. How long who knows LOL One question though are we playing 442 or 433 or a mix?
Glad you had a nice weekend. Good result, but again we dropped back after taking a lead, when we should have killed them off. We played 4-4-2 as usual, but changed to what seemed to be a 3-4-3 formation after they got the equalizer. Great goal by Harewood to win the match. Looked like he'd break the net. We were so good in the first half, I thought Arsenal had changed their colours. AS for your other team: what can I say? A game for giants who can all run 100m in under 11 seconds, whilst wearing 20kgs of moulded plastic and crash helmets...HMMMMMMM. Why are N. American games designed for freaks? Basketball: A game where you have to be 8' 4", wear size 14 shoes and shorts, that use more silk than a parachute. It's really just netball for boys. Sorry I'll get my coat. Enjoy your Christmas and let's hope the Hammers can now start a run. Tony
Generally 4-4-2 but Pardew did something quite out of character on Saturday, when QPR equalised he changed the formation to an attacking one and we went 4-3-3. I worked but I still don't expect to see it too often.
A post so nice it had to be said twice. __ My weekend was good as well. West Ham gave it a good start then the MLS game between DC and NE was just awesome. One of the best ever. Speaking of which, those expats here in the states and up north, what is your impression of MLS? ( I may be opening a Pandora's box, but you lot seem good natured and inteligent so why not)
How much do you expect Hutchinson to play in the future? It sounded like he and Harewood worked really well.
The sale of Nowland, the injuries to Reo-Coker and Rebrov and Zamora's lack of form made it necessary to play Hutch and in fairness to him he grabbed his opportunity. The cynics, myself included, will say that he is putting himself in the shop window for the January transfer window. Hutch is on huge wages for a club in our circumstances (£25k/week + bonuses). We paid £5 Million for him and we'll be lucky to get 10% of that back if we sell him now that his contract has only a short time left to run. If Pardew is looking to recover at least some cash for him then I think we'll see him play a lot more between now and January. If his performances are as good as the last one and he helps the club stay in the hunt for promotion then it's good for everyone. If, however, January comes and goes and Hutch is still at West Ham and we're not looking good for promotion then expect him to disappear into obscurity again before being quietly allowed to leave for free. In those circumstances the club couldn't justify continuing to pay him appearance bonuses on top of his inflated salary. So, to answer your question Pething, I expect to see a lot more of him until January, then it all depends where we are and if he's still with us.
"Speaking of which, those expats here in the states and up north, what is your impression of MLS?" It's interesting that you said 'up north'. I spent 10 years in Florida and both franchises (Tampa and Miami) disappeared. For some reason people south of the Mason-Dixon line don't seem to give a damn about MLS, I've always followed my local teams so while I was there it was The Buccs, The Lightning, The Devil Rays and The Mutiny. The Buccs won a Superbowl and were attracting 75,000 to home games, The Lightning did well in the Stanley Cup and were packing out the Ice Palace every game(c.10,000),The Rays had a couple of decent seasons and Tropicana Field was getting around 15,000 people, and The Mutiny disappeared without a trace because their average gate was less than 2000 people. After that I did start to follow DC if anyone and they had some very good young players but the general apathy towards the sport in the US is making it hard for these players to develope much beyond college level with any real hope of wealth and fame.
I think that the MLS is starting to mature somewhat. We desparately need a Canadian franchise as our talent has no where to go (Not everone is a Hargreaves, the traitor!) and our national program is in chaos. I watched one or two of their play-off games and thought they were pretty exciting.
The thing that really gets me is when they play our great game on a field that is marked for Gridiron. It is really difficult to get into the game, especially on t.v. with so many lines. There are some really skillfull American kids and you are right Toronto, Canada does need a team in the MLS. Preferably Vancouver.
There are some really skillfull American kids and you are right Toronto, Canada does need a team in the MLS. Preferably Vancouver.[/QUOTE] Vancouver Whitecaps play in the USL ( Which has ties with MSL ) they are in the A league and play Canadian teams Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal and Portland, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Seattle from the States. Too far for me to attend any games but do remeber watching them many years ago when Peter Beardsley was a young lad. Biggest problem with teams here is the cost of travelling to play. Most of Canada's better players end up in euro. Devos, Hume names come to mind. Not forgetting Graig Forrest that is
Yes, CanadaHammer, Canada has developed some pretty good talent despite not participating in a "senior" league. With the proposed 25,000 seater national team stadium in Toronto, it would make sense to have an MLS team here! Still, I'd settle for Vancouver (unlikely we'd ever see both again). Too bad you don't get to see any games - I guess it's all lawn bowling on the island! Cheers. Up The Hammers!