At one point, I got a little confused listening to West Ham play Manchester United on Saturday. I heard the commentator tell me that “Valencia’s moving forward, now dispossessed by Valencia… Valencia’s still there” and I was concerned that our energetic Colombian player was having a battle with himself—until I realized Manchester United had also brought on their Valencia – Antonio – and I began to understand what was going on in the game.
This was then followed by news stories on Saturday that Diafra Sakho had stormed out of the stadium after not playing—confusing, as I swear I saw him play – and that turned out also to not be ‘our’ Sakho. Too top it all off, I was so pleased when I heard Morrison scored for Cardiff City (and then disappointed when I found out he also put in an own goal) – until I found out it wasn’t ‘our’ Morrison. It was some Sean bloke.
In leagues that source players from all over the world, it’s beginning to be crowded space for player names – and I’ve got to stop assuming it’s our boys the world is always talking about. Having said that, let’s see how our West Ham players compete with their other Premier League/Championship namesakes – and who has earned the right to be the default player when that last name gets used.
A tale of two….
Sakhos : Diafra v Mamadou
Liverpool defender Mamadou Sahko is not a happy camper right now. He was left out of the Merseyside derby game between Liverpool and Everton, and as a result he simply walked out of Anfield and went home. Professional. He’s reported to still have a thigh injury, but has only featured in three games this season.
In comparison, Diafra Sakho is having a hell of a season so far. In his last four games in all competitions, he’s scored in three of them and set up an assist in the fourth. Regretfully, our Sakho also cropped up in the news this week – over an alleged head butt on Luke Shaw, an incident that was missed not only by the ref, but apparently also by everyone else in the ground – and an incident that was fortunately dismissed by the FA.
Preferred Sakho?
It’s Diafra. It’s Diafra every day of the week, even if Shaw might not agree with me.
Valencias : Enner v Antonio
The two had a proper Valencia-Showdown the other day when Antonio came on as a substitute for United in their 2-1 win against West Ham. Antonio may have walked away with three points, but Enner is putting on quite the show at the moment with a goal and an assist in his last three games. Both are getting similar amounts of playing time, but Antonio has had just one assist to his name—and he’s gone five games since then with nothing.
Preferred Valencia?
The two players are fairly evenly matched, and this showed on Saturday, but I think that over time Enner will prove to be far more valuable to West Ham than Antonio will be to United.
Morrisons: Ra’vel v Sean
In this instance of name sharing, both men play for the same football club – Championship side Cardiff – but that’s where the similarities end. Sean Morrison is a defender who has started in six games for Cardiff this season, and has scored one goal (and one own goal!) Ra’vel has traveled to Cardiff on loan in order to secure him more playing time (and possibly to keep him out of trouble) and the talented midfielder has made two substitute appearances for the Welsh team so far.
As well as similar last names, both have criminal records; but Sean’s regards peeing on the Ritz Hotel in London, whereas Ra’vel’s is a little longer and more serious- and as we all know, he currently has some very serious charges to face.
Preferred Morrison?
Ra’vel is by far a better player, but as of yet, he has yet to be able to focus on his football and leave his off-the pitch troubles behind. Sean has not peed on a hotel since 2012, suggesting he’s a little more focused. Sean will probably see a lot more playing time this year, so at the time of writing (and until Ra’vel can start concentrating on his career) I’ll go with Sean.
What do you make of the name shares listed above? Would you have had the Hammer come out on top in each instance? Do let us know!
Hey Emily, if you are going to mention someone then please spell their name correctly, his name is Sakho & not Sahko as was spelt in a previous article of yours, and you were saying that you lost your feed when Carlton was being substituted during the Man U game, well if you were a football sports writer a few decades ago you would not have been able to comment unless you were at the game, as footballers are so much under the spotlight now. It was always rock stars before but now the role has reversed to footballers. Every game used to start at 3pm on a Saturday with the occasional mid week game, and just the 1 sub was allowed to be used from the mid to late 60s on, but before that there were no subs. There were no games on live-to-air television unless they were cup final games. There were always a featured match’s highlights on “Match of the Day” on a Saturday evening from 1964 onwards and then later ITV’s “The Big Match” would feature highlights of 3 games in its 1 hour show, so if you are going to give reports from telecast feeds, then get the players names right, and I think all of us need to pay a bit of respect to the amount of pressure the players are under now, as most of Moore, Hurst & Peters shows were a private show with only those at the game who witnessed just what great players West Ham have had playing for them. I am not sure how those great old players would have handled the spotlight and the pressures of the modern game now, in fact a lot of them have said they’d be banned from playing most of the time as people used to do a lot of swearing in the old days, but everything they say gets picked up on audio now, and also referees have changed the game, in that football always used to be a contact sport, in fact in the old days it was quite legal to shoulder charge a goal keeper who was holding the ball, into the net, and the goal would stand, try doing that now, no chance. No, I’ve got nothing but the utmost respect for these guys who are under the spotlight now, and I am sure that Valencia, once he has settled in, like Sakho, will start getting bags of goals, so let’s try and keep the pressure off of these guys OK?
And seeing as we are now talking about things other than West Ham, here are my observations on how the season is unfolding, and a top 6 spot is looking a real possibility for our Irons COYI!
Chelsea- have spent heavily as they always do, but can absorb this due to their owner being a Russian oil billionaire and with the players they now have, it’s either them or Man City who can win the title
Southampton – looking extremely healthy after a big sell off of around 97 million and now have money in the bank to improve even further. They may hold a top 6 place?
Man City – spent heavily again, but are steaming along although their Champions League form is still waiting to happen, but domestically they definitely have what it takes to retain their title.
Arsenal – spent heavily but are now a real threatening force again with Welbeck in the side
Swansea – have had a good start but I can’t see them holding their current lofty position, but look good for a mid table finish at least
Aston Villa – haven’t spent much but have had a good start, but they could slide as the season goes on, at least they have some points on the board.
Man Utd – are looking in total meltdown and implosion after a record spend, the pressure is really on them now to get a top 3 finish, as if they don’t qualify for Champions League football for a 2nd year running they will lose a lot of their sponsors. It’s looking like the Premier League hierarchy are on the brink of becoming just a normal club again as they were in the 1950s which in the long run, has to be good for football, as 1 club dominating anything is bad for sport!
Tottenham – for all of the money they have spent and managers they have changed are going nowhere.
Crystal Palace – after sacking the manager of the season have turned things around a bit under Warnock, can’t see it lasting but they should stay in the Prem
West Brom – played a master stroke in signing Joeleon Lescott, who’s totally transformed them. They won’t score many goals but they don’t need to with Joeleon in the team and could finish top half
Stoke – as sound and as strong as ever, don’t think they’ll do as good as last season but should be a mid table team
Leicester – surprisingly with a lack of star personnel are doing great. They may just survive?
West Ham – Now have they team they have needed for seasons, they should kick on, and could win a top 6 finish, or at least not far below that. They need success with these new players signed in order for them to want to stick around, as if they do win Europa League qualification then they will need this big squad that has strength in numbers!
Liverpool – Suarez looks to have blown it for them with his FIFA 10 game suspension. He had to be sold for Liverpool to have kept their credibility, trouble is, is that there was no replacing the man and they are falling like a stone without him, sorry, they’ll get top half but I can’t see them even getting Europa football next season, such a shame and being mainly because of Suarez’s Brazil 2014 actions
Everton – have had a tough start but have the squad and manager to turn it around, are doing well in Europa which will also lift them and look good for another top 6 finish
Hull – have strengthened and should improve to around mid table this season
QPR – already QPR look like they are struggling and I think Harry will have a real battle to keep them in the Prem, but things don’t look good even with Rio in the team, who now maybe past it, sorry Harry and QPR cannot spend anymore
Sunderland – don’t know where they are going at the moment and have had another slow start, but should head mid table bound
Newcastle – although 2nd from bottom and under fire from their fans, do have the squad and will improve as the season commences
Burnley – already are not looking good at all. They have no funds and the best they can hope for is to bounce back next season after a Premier League injection of funds, but this season, look favorites to return straight back to the Championship