Three Lionesses on my shirt

Well, certainly enjoyed watching England win the Euros round at fellow West Ham fans Matt and Lisa's gaff in Holloway. Watching England has been rather like watching West Ham in that the team usually go a goal down and do things the hard way, but unlike with the Irons England's subs always seem to work. 

Chloe Kelly, Alessia Russo, Hannah Hampton and Jess Carter at the back were the standout players for me while Lucy Bronze playing with a fractured tibia brought back memories of Stuart Pearce. There was a West Ham link too with sub goalkeeper Anna Moorhouse being a former Hammer. 

Both goals and the winning penalty were scored by Arsenal players so expect the Gunners to regularly attract up to 60,000 fans for women's games next season. The West Ham women's team is really missing out on the WSL boom because they are not allowed to play at the London Stadium under the terms of the rental lease. Not a lot of fans from London or deepest Essex want to trek to Dagenham to see West Ham play. Surely something could be worked out with new landlords GLA Holding Limited and subsidiary company London Stadium LLP, which are ultimately responsible to the Mayor of London?  West Ham are the only one of 12 WSL clubs not have played a game at their men's stadium last season.

To be positive the Daily Mail reports that West Ham have been in touch with the stadium landlords about staging at least some games at the London Stadium but are currently being put off by the high price being quoted. Talks are set to resume when the WSL fixtures are published in August.

West Ham women playing at the London Stadium would be beneficial to both landlord and tenant. Perhaps a profit-sharing agreement could be put in place? It's time West Ham took the women's game more seriously as clubs like Arsenal are surging ahead.

Jarrod Bowen's on fire for England

Great to see Jarrod Bowen bag his first goal for England against Ireland last night. It took him all of 28 seconds on the pitch to score with a fine strike from the edge of the box. My pal Mystic Matt was there too and in fine form, predicting that Bowen would never score for England as Jarrod came on. Bowen also forced a good save form Kelleher. Jarrod had a couple of decent cameos in the Euros (he'd have had an assist of Kane hadn't hit the bar) but once Lee Carsley took charge, Chelsea's Noni Madueke was promoted above him. Madueke is undoubtedly a player of potential, but Jarrod is more experienced and better defensively. He deserves some starts under Thomas Tuchel.

Homer defeat for England but a great night for Dinos

It was Acropolis now for England last night. Gaffer Lee Carsley might have chosen to play without strikers but even so, Dinos Mavropanos had a very good game for Greece in their victory at Wembley. Final score England 1 Philosophy Football 2. He seemed to get everything in the air, won all his tackles, had a goal disallowed and didn't make any silly mistakes. 

Dinos now looks to be West Ham's third-choice centre back behind Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo, but he had a decent game as a second-half substitute right back against Brentford and a victory at Wembley will also boost his confidence, as well as being a fitting tribute to George Baldock, brother of former Hammers striker Sam. Well done Konstantinos, even if it was a Greek tragedy for England.

It's coming home?

What a great late winner from Ollie Watkins for England last night. My WHU pal Matt has to take much of the credit for declaring, "Watkins hasn't done much" six seconds before Ollie scored. In a different world the Irons might have signed Watkins rather than Said Benrahma from Brentford, which would have solved our long-standing striker problem. David Moyes might have enjoyed an 81st minute substitute winning the game. He used to get all sorts of stick for his late reactive substitutions, as has Southgate, but mainly the England gaffer's substitutions have altered games. Perhaps Gareth does know what he's doing, though England got very lucky with that ridiculous VAR penalty. Now let's hope that Jarrod Bowen gets to come on in the final. If the game is close Southgate will surely keep on Saka, but if he wants someone to work hard and run down the clock Jarrod just might get a chance late on. Come on you Lions!

Irons on international fire

It's been a decent break for Hammers on international duty. Jarrod Bowen had a couple of good games for England and must have given Gareth Southgate a few issues to ponder. Jarrod had a fine game against Belgium, he was unlucky to have a header disallowed and set up a great chance for Phil Foden with some quick footwork. This was the West Ham Bowen finally emerging for England. 

Lucas Paqueta played well for Brazil against England too, setting up Vinicius Junior for a chance he mishit and almost scoring with a great first time effort. He also scored a late equaliser with a penalty against Spain in the 3-3 draw. While Hammers' fans should also be proud that Declan Rice, an Academy product, captained England on Tuesday night at the age of 25, even if he does now play for a small team in north London. 

Rice work in Italy

Good to see Declan Rice score from close range for England in Italy last night. And also for Deckers to respond to some of the recent criticism from pundits Graeme Souness and Roy Keane. He might be leaving in the summer, but he's still been putting in shifts for West Ham. Against Notts Forest he was the best player on the pitch while at Brighton he was booked through frustration, which isn't the sign on a player who no longer cares.

Souness had said of Rice's defensive midfield role: “This role is a vital part of any team because in an ideal world, it’s multi-dimensional. You’re creative, you chip in with goals and you’ve got a defensive head at all times. If you’ve got all three of those attributes, you’re worth your weight in gold. For me, Rice has just one." Which isn't really true. Rice has scored two spectacular goals for WHU this season, but his role is mainly to shield the back four and start attacks. The best defensive midfield specialists like Kante, Makelele and Deschamps were rarely super creative going forward. Declan's not going to be able to beat ten players or score 15 goals a season, but at the moment he's the best at his role in the country.

Bowen's England debut, Yarmy's mixed fortunes

Mixed fortunes for Hammers current and former in the international games of our never-ending season. Jarrod Bowen and Declan Rice both started for England against Hungary in the Nations League, the first time two West Ham players have started for England since Rob Green and Matthew Upson played together in 2010. Bowen worked hard during England's defeat and was a little unlucky not to score with a first time volley that went straight to the keeper. But England looked jaded and after the demands on Bowen this season it's surely asking too much of all the players to perform at this stage.

Meanwhile former Hammer Andriy Yarmolenko scored a great goal against Scotland for Ukraine, featuring some fine control and a clever lob. He then scored an unfortunate own goal against Wales nodding in Gareth Bale's free kick as Ukraine's World Cup dream ended. Yarmy always looks much better when playing for Ukraine and it's still a bit of a mystery how a top international could have flopped at West Ham. He clearly has class, but after a bad cruciate injury lacked the pace and intensity for the Premier League. But bearing in mind the horrific invasion of his country we all wish him well and will enjoy the memories of that crucial winner against Chelsea and Yarmy's emotional goals against Villa and Sevilla.

Jarrod Bowen's on fire for England

A worthy call up from England for Jarrod Bowen — even though the lad could do with a rest rather than more games. It's a testament to the work Bowen has done, running through potato fields at his uncle's farm in Herefordshire and pulling cement mixers, as you do. He came up via Hereford and Hull City, so  still has the hunger that David Moyes spotted when he signed him for what now seems a bargain at £22 million. The season before last he was effective, but the first player to be subbed. This season he's made himself undroppable and after missing several one-on-ones early on has kept getting into scoring positions and ended up with 18 goals in all competitions — and also scored on the dating front with Dani Dyer. Congratulations on your England call-up Jarrod.

Meanwhile Kurt Zouma has pleaded guilty to charges of animal cruelty and West Ham have had an inquiry about Jesse Lingard. Something tells me it's going to be a busy summer.

A good night for Declan

Congratulations to Declan Rice on scoring his first goal for England last night — albeit aided by a Hungarian goalkeeper who appeared to have been coached by Roberto. It was a good night for Rice all round. He made the opening goal for Sterling with a classic example of the defensive midfielder's art, winning the ball and releasing Jack Grealish. And he also managed to mock the racist boneheads among Hungary's fans who booed taking the knee and abused Raheem Sterling by pretending to drink from one of the cups they had thrown at Sterling. That's the second cup he's lifted this summer, having also picked up the Betway Cup.

Declan goes underground

One happy legacy of Euro 2020 is that thanks to this Adidas ad, Declan Rice is still big in Finsbury Park station. This poster can be found on the Victoria line right in the heart of Arsenal country. COYI!

It's not coming home

Still proud of Declan Rice for his performance last night and it was a strange decision to substitute him late on as he was one of England's best players, along with Pickford. Declan certainly proved he could compete against top class players like Jorginho, Chiesa and Verratti. And his tears at the end showed just what it meant to him. At least not being on the pitch meant he didn't have a penalty. The new season will soon be with us and there will be fresh opportunities for Rice. He's played in a European Championship Final at 22 and can only get better. So let's go out there and win something with the Irons...

Declan's coming home...

Good to see Declan Rice play so sensibly in England's historic win over Germany. After picking up an early booking for a foul on the edge of the box he avoided giving the ref any more decisions to make and really grew into the game in the second half. It was great to see him launching into some inspiring tackles and then geeing up the England crowd. And to round off a good week for Dec there's now a giant poster of him in Finsbury Park station.

So next up it's Andriy Yarmolenko's Ukraine. Yarmy really is one of those players who looks better at international level rather than club football. He made another goal last night with a fine clipped cross and has already scored twice. If only we could see more of this at West Ham. Ukraine cant be underestimated and a semi-final against Denmark or Soucek and Coufal's Czech Republic wouldn't be easy either. But rather like Moyes at West Ham, Gareth Southgate seems to have developed a real bond among his players. If England can remain focused there's surely every chance of getting to the final and ending 55 years of hurt.

Declan done good

Proud to see Declan Rice make his England debut last night. Never mind all the nonsense about what he said on twitter as a 15-year-old (and what 15-year-old hasn't said stuff they later regret to try and impress their mates?) this was a West Ham youngster in an England shirt. Coming on when England were 3-0 up after 63 minutes was a nice way for Gareth Southgate to ease him into the England set-up. Rice even started the passing move with fellow youngsters Sancho and Hudson-Odoi that resulted in England's fifth goal. Declan has also made a little bit of history as having played for Ireland and England he's West Ham's first double international. And now he's completed a full 90 minutes in Montenegro — a good week for Declan. 

England's number 41!

Congratulations to Declan Rice on his first call-up for a England squad, though it's tough on Ireland fans. He's deserved it on his form this season (Deckers has even started to score goals), though we have to hope he doesn't draw too much attention to himself with the likes of Man City sniffing around. But still, it's always a source of pride to see a West Ham player in the England squad. Declan has made it after just 63 league games for the Hammers, which is quite an achievement. There will be blips in his form as he's still learning, but he could certainly be an England mainstay for the next decade.

Declan declares!

It's seemingly taken longer than Brexit, but Declan Rice has finally come out in favour of playing for England over Ireland. His procrastination has made Theresa May look almost a model of alacrity. But he's surely made the right decision football-wise, even if his family roots might be Irish and he's already played friendlies for Ireland. At least he can ditch his England/Ireland half and half scarf now. The way Rice is developing he can be better than Jordan Henderson or Eric Dier as a defensive midfielder. This is much to Gareth Southgate's gain and now we have to ensure that Declan has a great England career while remaining a West Ham player. 

England's dreaming

As a West Ham fan it's very difficult to feel optimistic about any football match and in particular an assured march to the World Cup Final. As W B Yeats, the bloke who started all those wine bars, might put it, "the centre forward fails to hold, things fall apart…" I didn't get where I am today by feeling optimistic. And we'll never win the World Cup unless we play three Hammers.

 PS I never doubted you for a moment, Captain Southgate!

Hart's heroics will help Hammers

Good to see Joe Hart get some credit for a great double save late on against Slovenia that was instrumental in securing England's World Cup qualification. He was brave to dive at the striker's feet and despite being hurt then reacted really quickly to leap up and save the second effort with his foot. Yes, it was a poor match but without Hart England could have lost. He's actually kept clean sheets in four out of five of his last games for club and country, so that should be good for his confidence. A lot of papers are still clamouring for Butland to replace Hart as England goalie, but right now he's got the shirt and he's not letting go of it easily.

Respecting the English point

So it seems that England will now be respecting the point while needing to improve their game management and just be more clinical up front. Even if my pal Fraser wants him out already, Big Sam could still be good news for Mark Noble, Cressy and Big Andy. Though maybe Matt Jarvis and Freddie Sears shouldn't get their hopes up just yet…

Big Sam for England?

There must be a few West Ham fans rubbing their eyes in disbelief at the news that Sam Allardyce is being interviewed for the England job. He did a solid job at West Ham, but never fitted in because he was a results-at-all-costs manager and was too brash to acknowledge the West Ham way.

It should be acknowledged he's a decent Premier League manager with a lot of experience. Big Sam kept Sunderland up last season through instilling a system and making some astute signings and he's managed at Bolton, Newcastle, Blackburn and West Ham without ever getting relegated and mainly improved those sides. Though if Allardyce is the best English candidate, I'd certainly prefer a foreign coach like Jurgen Klinsmann.

But if the England job did go to Big Sam, then concentrating on results might not be such a bad thing. We don't have to watch them play every week, and grinding out results and respecting points is what tournaments are all about. The team spirit certainly improved while he was at West Ham and players seem to want to play for him. A clear system and a slightly scary manager might improve things after the misery against Iceland, when Kane, Alli, Sterling, Rooney and co choked.

And at least Mark Noble might finally get a call-up from Big Sam, along with Aaron Cresswell and Andy Carroll. While Kevin Nolan will presumably be plucked from the Orient and installed as captain…

England's England's number three!

Good news that Robert Green is back in the England squad. His call-up is fully deserved after some great saves against Spurs and Bolton.

He was treated somewhat shabbily by Capello after the USA game and deserved a match to redeem himself after his blooper. Had he come in for the Algeria game and kept a clean sheet his confidence would have been restored, while if he'd made any more errors Capello would still have had the option of dropping him.

Meanwhile Matty Upson and Carlton Cole are out and Danny Gabbidon's retired from Wales without bothering to ring Bryan Flynn…