Who'd have thought Paul Konchesky would end up at Liverpool? Always thought he was a decent player (though probably not England class) as well as being a West Ham fan. He was rather unfairly treated by Curbs, but a good manager in Roy Hodgson got the best out of him. And, of course, but for Scaloni's clearance to Gerrard, he'd have scored the winning goal in the FA Cup Final.
Looking back at that 2006 FA Cup Final it's interesting to see how quickly teams change and how many players moved on to supposedly bigger clubs. The side was Hislop, Scaloni, Ferdinand, Gabbidon, Konchesky; Benayoun, Reo-Coker, Fletcher, Etherington; Harewood, Ashton. Subs: Zamora, Sheringham, Dailly.
Reo-Coker and Harewood were not worth the money Aston Villa paid, while Ferdinand has struggled to get in the Sunderland side. But Konchesky and Zamora have done well at Fulham, as has Etherington at Stoke, and Benayoun has been a qualified success at Liverpool and now Chelsea.
As ever with West Ham, it's a case of "what if?". Without Dean Ashton's injury, managerial upheavals, Tevezgate and the Icelandic bankers, that side might have achieved a lot more.
2 comments:
I have always, very unfairly, blamed Reo-Coker. He was supposed to be marking Gerrard, but I guess was fooled by the way he was limping and rubbing his leg. So Nigel's failure to make his mark at Villa has given me a small guilty pleasure.
I would replay it to check but can't endure that much pain again after the Chelsea game…
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