After 10 years with FM, my first career update

[trman73]

August 29, 2035 - EFL Cup, Second Round: MK Dons vs. West Ham

We get a midweek match for the EFL Cup, and I don't want to start the regulars against this League Two team, so only Leiva, Mario Romero, and Juan Pablo Cuevas start this one from the main squad. The board doesn't care about this competition, and despite making the final last season, I really don't either. Still, our reserves should be enough to win here.

I also really don't want to see this game go to extra time, but that's exactly what happens after a dull 0-0 match. In the first 15 minutes, we finally break through courtesy of Daniel Boyer in the 95th minute. It's the only goal of the 120 minutes, and despite what could hardly be called an inspired effort, we're on to the next round, where we will face... Derby, on the road.

[trman73]

September 1, 2035 - Premier League: West Ham (2-0-1, 6 pts., 6th) vs. Manchester United (3-0-0, 9 pts., 3rd)

The three-time defending champs are rolling, knocking off Leicester, Derby, and a scrappy Stoke team to start the season. But we're playing well too, having knocked off a pair of quality teams in Arsenal and Newcastle. Honestly I thought if we got seven points from our first seven matches we'd be in decent shape. We've got six points in three games.

We play another solid defensive first half but we're not even coming close on offense, and it's 0-0 at the half. Then United takes over. They score in the 50th, then in the 65th, and that's it. We lose, 2-0, although we really don't play that poorly, and I remain encouraged over our start.

[trman73]

September 15, 2035 - Premier League: Wolves (3-0-1, 9 pts., 4th) vs. West Ham (2-0-2, 6 pts., 9th)

This is a big early season matchup as Wolves are playing well and I don't want to fall six points back of them, even with the campaign this young. We had two weeks off for the international break, and during that we lost Oscar Bonet. He'll miss only this match, but he's been our catalyst on offense, scoring two of our four goals and assisting on a third. But Tom Butterfield starts in this one, so let's see what he can give us. I'm giving Mario Romero another start at center back in this one even though Felipe Fidalgo is back to full health. Romero has played very well this far.

This one's incredibly frustrating. We give up an early goal in the 13th, and despite dominating the remainder of the match, our forwards just can't get the job done, and we fall, 1-0. We're wasting quality defensive performances, and now we've got Chelsea at home.

[trman73]

September 22, 2035 - Premier League: West Ham (2-0-3, 6 pts., 9th) vs. Chelsea (5-0-0, 15 pts., 1st)

Chelsea has been absolutely dominant to start the season, outscoring their five opponents 18-1. This is going to be a tough one, but we showed last season we can beat these guys at home. Bonet is back for us, and we need him desperately to make things happen. But we lose Cesar Meneses in training, and he'll miss three weeks. Maybe inserting Tkachenko will help us offensively.

Man our offense is really sputtering, as we have some quality first-half chances but can't get one in. We catch an enormous break late in the half, when Victor Bounou is sent off with a straight red. We go to the break 0-0, but early in the second, we finally get it together and Sander Drent, who has not played well early in the season, scores in the 49th and Chelsea is down for the first time this season. Everything is great in the second half and we're on our way to a huge win, until the 87th, when Chelsea plays a cross perfectly and they score past Leiva to tie it. We get two corners in stoppage time, but don't convert, and we settle for a maddening 1-1 draw, becoming the first team to take points from Chelsea this season.

[trman73]

September 25, 2035 - EFL Cup, Third Round: Derby vs. West Ham

Derby has lost all six of its EPL matches thus far, and has yet to score a goal while conceding 20. Yikes. They needed penalties to beat League Two side Notts Co. to get to the third round of the cup (although we needed extra time to beat our League Two opponent as well). Still, we should be fine here, and I give Fidalgo the start in the back to build his fitness up. I also start Boyer and Reed-Dennison at forward, as our starting strikers have been terrible thus far.

Well, it's yet another uninspired offensive effort from us, but Derby barely cracks through at all. It's 0-0 after 45, and 0-0 after 90. We go to extra time, and in the 103rd, a long pass is lobbed ahead to Jack Wilson, and he finally gets one through for us to make it 1-0. That's the only goal, and we escape another subpar opponent with a 1-0 victory.

[trman73]

September 30, 2035 - Premier League: Everton (2-2-2, 8 pts., 9th) vs. West Ham (2-1-3, 7 pts., 12th)

This is the final game of our seven-game opening stretch that saw us play six of last season's top nine teams. I actually feel good about where we are despite us getting just a point from United, Wolves, and Chelsea. If we can manage a result at Goodison Park today, we will have survived and remained mid-table.

Sander Drent joins Meneses on the shelf for this one as he's nicked up, so our midfield is in a bit of shambles. I'm also giving Boyer a league start to see if he can breath some life into the attack. Romero is back on defense in place of Fidalgo.

One of the replacement midfielders makes something happen for us quickly, as a free kick finds Mark Lloyd, who passes to Jack Wilson and he scores to make it 1-0. We go to the break with that lead, then a huge mistake by Everton's keeper leads to the easiest goal Daniel Boyer is ever going to see in his life, and it's 2-0! Just a minute later, another bad play by Everton's defense leads to a Marriott cross, and it finds Boyer's head to make it 3-0! I really like what I'm seeing from us defensively all year thus far, and we pitch the shutout in this one, getting a fantastic 3-0 win at Everton that moves us up to 7th in the table as we go 3-1-3 through those tough first seven matches.

[trman73]

October 6, 2035 - Premier League: West Ham (3-1-3, 10 pts., 7th) vs. Huddersfield (1-2-4, 5 pts., 17th)

I wrote all year about those rough first seven matches, and now that we survived it and are in the top half of the table, we've got to take advantage of some matches where we will be clear favorites, starting her against the struggling Terriers, who are back in the league after a year away. I see no reason to change the team that routed Everton, so Lloyd and Boyer get the start again. A win here puts us in good position as we approach the quarter point of the season here in a couple weeks.

After playing three straight excellent defensive games, we concede in the 6th minute of this one and are down early. But we rebound soon after, with Wilson scoring on a pass from Boyer, and it's 1-1 into halftime. In the second half Boyer goes down with an injury, and we lose some steam after that and settle for a disappointing 1-1 draw.

After the game we learn that Boyer is out 5-6 weeks with a knee injury. We can't really afford this injury, and he's been a spark plus for us on offense.

[trman73]

October 21, 2035 - Premier League: Bolton (2-3-3, 9 pts., 15th) vs. West Ham (3-2-3, 11 pts., 7th)

Just two points separate 6th-place Stoke from 15th-place Bolton, so once again here's a chance to separate a bit. But we give up a goal just 52 seconds in, and we'll have to come back on the road if we want a win here. We get the game-tying goal in the 35th from Sander Drent, who's turned it up a bit here recently, and it's 1-1 at the break. We control the second half, and in the 63rd we take the lead as Mario Romero scores on a corner kick to put us up. Bolton gets a few chances late, but we pick up the 2-1 win, our third road victory of the young season. Very nice comeback win for us here.

[trman73]

October 27, 2035 - Premier League: West Ham (4-2-3, 14 pts., 7th) vs. Leicester (1-2-6, 5 pts., 20th)

Leicester is back up after being relegated two seasons ago, but they're not playing like a team that's going to stay in the EPL. At this point only Michael Platt and Juan Carlos Navarro remain from my tenure, and Platt doesn't start anymore for some reason. We are on a five-match unbeaten streak in all competitions right now, and really that should continue in this one.

We get off to a good start in the 11th thanks to another free-kick goal from Oscar Bonet, his third on a free kick in the young season. We get a second goal in the 31st from Sander Drent to make it 2-0, then right before halftime Wilson finds Bonet for a wicked shot from outside the box, and we're rolling, 3-0. We go defensive in the second half as I want the clean sheet, and we get it, but not before Drent scores his second of the match late to give us a dominant 4-0 victory. I'm starting to believe in this team, people!!

[trman73]

October 30, 2035 - EFL Cup, Fourth Round: West Ham vs. Barnsley

The door's really open for the 16 remaining teams in the EFL Cup, as United, City, Arsenal, and Chelsea all lost in the third round. So this thing is wide open, and we face our third straight very beatable team in Barnsley, which is currently 14th in the Championship. I continue to start some reserves in this one, but if we win here I may start to put more first-team players in. I switch out three-fourths of our back line to give guys a rest, start Reed-Dennison at forward, and bring in two replacement midfielders. We've yet to allow a goal in our two cup matches thus far, but would certainly rather not play an additional 30 minutes in this one.

We won't. It takes just two minutes for us to put one in, and it's Chris Barker scoring on a pass from Bonet. In the 21st Mark Lloyd sets up a rare goal from Cesar Meneses, and we're up 2-0. We should be fine now, as Barnsley doesn't look like it has the firepower to score twice on us. We're cruising through the second half, and in the 56th Bonet adds a goal to make it 3-0. It's sub time as this one's in the bag. It's an easy 3-0 win, we're still yet to concede a goal in this tournament, and we're on to the quarters, where we will face... Huddersfield, at home, in a month.

[trman73]

A quarter of the way through the season, here's what the Premier League table looks like...

I can't complain 10 games in. We beat Arsenal, drew with Chelsea, and destroyed Everton on the road. If it wasn't for the PK in the opener against Middlesbrough and the late goal by Chelsea, we'd be 6-2-2 (yeah yeah, if's and but's). Still though, seventh in the table with Tottenham and City as our big games in the second quarter of the season is fine with me. Our next few matches are at a terrible Derby team, then home vs. Stoke and Spurs, and at Watford. If we can keep this run going - we're 5-2-0 in all competitions in our last seven - I'll feel great.

The big surprise thus far has been the play of our defense. We've allowed just eight league goals in 10 matches, and only United have put more than one past us in any game. Throw in the three shutouts in the EFL Cup, and that's six clean sheets for Leiva and the defense in our 13 matches. I'll take it. The other surprise has been the distribution of goals. Of the 20 goals we've scored in both the league and the cup, 12 have come from non-forwards. Usually with my setup the strikers score the majority of the goals. Sander Drent and Oscar Bonet have been our best scorers, with each putting in five. 

I'm really digging this team thus far. Let's keep it going!

November 3, 2035 - Premier League: Derby (2-0-8, 6 pts, 19th) vs. West Ham (5-2-3, 17 pts., 7th)

Derby is just terrible. I have no idea how they've won two, as they've scored three and conceded 26 thus far. But their two wins have come in their last three matches, and were back-to-back 1-0 victories over Leicester (also terrible) and Tottenham (a pretty shocking result), so we can't just waltz in and expect a win. They also played us tough in the EFL Cup.

Derby totally outplays us in the first half but they can't score to take the lead. In stoppage time, Mirko Stanojevic gets called for his second yellow, and if we're going to get a result today it will be playing a man down for the final 45 minutes.

We play a really poor game today, and I feel like any of the other 18 teams in the league would have beaten us, particularly up a man. But Derby never scores, and we settle for a disappointing 0-0 draw that improves our unbeaten streak to eight, but really we left points out there today.

[trman73]

November 11, 2035 - Premier League: West Ham (5-3-3, 18 pts., 7th) vs. Stoke (6-2-3, 20 pts., 6th)

We haven't allowed a goal in more than 350 minutes since the early goal Bolton scored on us in a game we came back and won, 2-1. But our best defender, Sanojevic, is suspended for this one due to his red card against Derby, so Ardit Mali, who was absolutely terrible for me in limited duty last year, steps into the right back spot for this important match against the team right above us in the standings. Stoke's having its second straight solid campaign, as they finished sixth a year ago and are in that same spot now. They've allowed just nine goals in their 11 matches thus far, one more than us, and their +9 differential is third-best in the EPL.

We get Daniel Boyer back at striker for this one and he's inserted right back into the starting 11. Chris Barker's really not giving us anything this year as he has just a single goal in nine league matches. This is a big one; with a win today, we'd not only pass Stoke, but also Watford and a scuffling Arsenal team and jump into fifth. A draw or a loss keeps us right where we are, in seventh, or could bump us down a spot.

Like us, Stoke is on a lengthy run without giving up a goal, but we end that in the 10th as a corner kick from Bonet finds Romero, and the defender heads it in for the 1-0 lead. We hold that lead at the half, but just two minutes into the second Stoke breaks our shutout streak with a cross that finds a foot right in front of Leiva, and it's 1-1. Then, in the 70th, they score again on virtually the same play, and we're down 2-1. It looks like our undefeated streak may end, but in the 82nd, Bonet heads a ball to Joel Reed-Dennison, and he scores to tie it! The 2-2 draw is a fair result, but given the defensive form both of these teams came in with, I'm surprised to see four goals scored.

[trman73]

November 25, 2035 - Premier League: West Ham (5-4-3, 19 pts., 8th) vs. Tottenham (7-3-2, 24 pts., 3rd)

With Arsenal (6th) and Man City (10th) struggling, Spurs have taken advantage and are in Champions League position 12 matches into the season. But they are hardly unbeatable. Their goal differential is the same as ours, +7, and they've yet to play the two top teams in the league, United and Chelsea, each of whom we've played. So we've got a chance here. Cesar Meneses was injured on the international break and is out 2-4 months, but he's become the backup to Tkachenko anyway, so that softens the blow a bit. But right before the guys get back from break Joel Reed-Dennison is injured in training and is lost for 5-6 weeks with a knee sprain, just as he was starting to take on a bigger role. That one actually hurts more, as we're already thin at forward.

Our defense continues to play incredibly well and keep us in games, and they're doing so again as it's 0-0 at the half. The game drags on, until finally in the 77th, Sander Drent finds Chris Barker, just on as a sub, for the goal to put us up! In the 84th, Barker scores his second on a run that's set up by Wilson, and we're going to win this match. Barker completes an incredible match with his third of the game just a couple minutes later, and this is one of our best wins of my tenure at West Ham.

[trman73]

December 1, 2035 - Premier League: Watford (6-4-3, 22 pts., 7th) vs. West Ham (6-4-3, 22 pts., 5th)

Four teams are tied with 22 points: us, Stoke, Watford, and Wolves. We lead the pack based on our +10 goal differential. And as of right now, we're just two points back of both Arsenal and Tottenham for third. It's safe to say we're one of the pleasant surprises of the league thus far, and so it Watford, which has an identical record to us. This match kicks off the winter death march, where we'll play 15 games in December and November, not counting the EFL Cup semifinal legs if we make it that far. We lose another player in training as left back Adrian Marriott, who's having a great year, goes down for three weeks. Youngster Dan Donoghue, who has been starting the EFL Cup matches, takes over his spot.

We score first, on a goal from Bonet in the 24th, but Watford ties it later in the half and we're at 1-1 heading to halftime. We appear headed to a draw and our 11th straight match without a loss, but Watford scores in the 80th on a corner, and despite going into attack mode in the final 10 minutes, we don't tie it. The undefeated streak is over, and we surrender three points to a team that it looks like we'll battle for position all year.

[trman73]

December 4, 2035 - EFL Cup Quarterfinal: West Ham vs. Huddersfield

Huddersfield is struggling in the league and we've got to be considered the favorites to get to the semifinal. But the injuries are piling up: Daniel Boyer will miss this one, joining Meneses, Marriott, and Reed-Dennison on the shelf. We are down to just two healthy forwards, so Wilson and Barker will go the whole way in this one. Now that we're in the quarters, I want to win this thing, so a number of starters remain in. We'll see.

It's a scoreless first half, but just two minutes into the second Donoghue hits Barker with a cross, and we're up 1-0. We still haven't given up a goal in this competition, and we're 40 minutes from the semifinals. We seal it in the 81st, as Bonet hits Barker to make it 2-0. We're on to the semifinals with our fourth straight shutout in this competition.

We're joined in the semifinals by Bolton, Watford, and Wolves, and in the semifinal draw, we get... the team that just ended our unbeaten streak, Watford.

[trman73]

December 9, 2035 - Premier League: West Ham (6-4-4, 22 pts., 7th) vs. Reading (5-6-3, 21 pts., 11th)

We are a real skeleton crew for this one as Chris Barker and Mark Lloyd are nicked up and can't play, and Sergey Tkachenko is suspended. Sander Drent moves to the center of the midfield, and 21-year-old Dan Pavey takes the right side. We need a win here, as right now just four points separates third place from 11th.

We don't get off to a good start as Reading takes a 1-0 lead in the 21st. But 10 minutes later, Jack Wilson equalizes, and we go to the half 1-1. We take the lead in the 56th as Boyer scores, and each of our forwards has a goal and an assist. That winds up being the winner, as we clamp down on defense, and pick up a much-needed victory that, for now, vaults us up to 5th place.

[trman73]

December 15, 2035 - Premier League: Liverpool (7-2-6, 23 pts., 9th) vs. West Ham (7-4-4, 25 pts., 5th)

Liverpool's right where its been the past couple seasons. After back-to-back 10th-place finishes, they're ninth right now, although they're 3-1-0 in their last four. But we're 5-4-1 in the league in our last 10, and 8-4-1 in all competitions since September 22. So something's got to give here, and I hope it's their good run, not ours. After this match we close out the first half of the EPL season with three home matches. We'll also get Joel Reed-Dennison and Adrian Marriott back soon, if not after this match then the next one.

Obviously I'd like to beat my former employers here, but as with everything the bitterness has dissipated and I'm just focused on our team. That's probably helped by the fact that I made the statement I needed to make last year, knocking Liverpool out of the semis of the EFL Cup and drubbing them 4-0 in league play.

It's a 0-0 half and neither team comes close to scoring. In the 63rd, Liverpool gets one, but it's called back for offsides (a very questionable call, but I'll take it). Just a couple minutes later, Oscar Bonet hits Boyer with a lead pass down the middle, and he's not offside, giving us a 1-0 lead. But Liverpool ties it in the 75th on a play that clearly looked offside, where their striker takes a pass and it bounces off Stanojevic for an own-goal. Given that they had a legit goal called offside earlier, I can't get too upset over this, but it's disappointing to concede the tying goal.

Both teams kind of run out of steam in the final minutes, and we settle for a 1-1 draw that's a fair result for the day.

[trman73]

December 19, 2035 - Premier League: West Ham (7-5-4, 26 pts., 7th) vs. Crystal Palace (3-5-8, 14 pts., 16th)

We finish the first half of the season with very winnable home games against Palace and Middlesbrough, then home against Manchester City. If we can handle up on the first two, the City match could move us up into solid continental position. At the halfway break I'll share why I actually think it will be hard for us to stay in the top seven, but for now, we'll try to just keep up this momentum and get solid results as 2035 comes to an end.

Mirko Stanojevic is suspended for this one due to yellow card accumulation, so we're without our starting fullbacks (Marriott is still not ready for this one, although he should be for our nexxt match). Things fall into perfect place for us in the matches the day before ours, as Arsenal and Bolton draw, Watford and Liverpool do as well, and Derby shocks City, 1-0. With a win here, we can actually move into fourth if Reading can knock off Spurs.

Three minutes in, we score on a corner kick that finds Rafik Mahsas for his first of the season. It's 1-0 at the break, but once again we can't hold the lead, as Palace scores in the 70th to tie it. We really can't settle for a draw here, and we need to go back up. But it's not to be. Sander Drent has a pair of good chances late, but we don't convert, and it's our second straight 1-1 draw.

I'm going to have to take much of this week off from playing, but will be back the next week. Later!

[trman73]

December 22, 2035 - Premier League: West Ham (7-6-4, 27 pts., 8th) vs. Middlesbrough (5-5-7, 20 pts., 14th)

The opening day loss to Middlesbrough remains probably our most frustrating defeat of the year, as we were a man up and gave up a PK for the only goal of the match. Luckily we rebounded quickly with the win over Arsenal, but that loss still eats at me a bit, and now's our chance to exact a little revenge. We've fallen out of the top seven with our two latest draws, but Middlesbrough's underachieving after two straight top-half finishes. Adrian Marriott and Mirka Stanojevic are back on defense for us today, so are starting back line is intact. I feel confident heading into this one.

In the 29th minute of this game, we give up the worst goal I've ever seen. A ball is saved by Leiva, and he takes forever to set it down to clear it upfield. When he does so, he tosses it in front of him, and right to Middlesbrough striker Michael Robinson, who takes the gift and scores. What in the hell was that???? Incredible. I tear into the team in the locker room at halftime, questioning their passion and desire. They respond immediately. Less than two minutes into the second half, Sander Drent finds Jack Wilson for the tying goal, then in the 53rd, Wilson is fouled in the box, takes the PK himself, and scores to give us the 2-1 lead. Wilson scores his third goal in the first 10 minutes off the second half in the 55th, and it's 3-1. We've rebounded from the crazy goal and are in total control all of a sudden. We do get our revenge with the 3-1 win, but Leiva will have a lot of questions to answer about that strange play.

[trman73]

December 26, 2035 - Premier League: West Ham (8-6-4, 30 pts., 5th) vs. Manchester City (10-2-6, 32 pts., 4th)

The first half of the season ends on Boxing Day and it provides us with a chance to break into the top four of the league. City is right above us, and after a poor start to the season they've really turned it around. They've won eight of their last nine matches in all competitions, although their one loss was a 1-0 defeat to Derby. But we're 9-6-1 overall all of our competitions since September 22, so this would be a huge statement for us heading into the new year. We're basically at full strength now, with only backup midfielder Cesar Meneses still on the shelf. Of course, just as I write that, Stanojevic gets hurt in training and will miss this one, then the next day Marriott goes down with a more serious injury that will keep him out 3-4 weeks. Argh.

On our first possession of this match, Ardit Mali, in for Stanojevic, finds Danial Boyer with a cross, and Boyer scores 29 second in! 1-0 West Ham! At the two-minute mark, Oscar Bonet is fouled in the box for a PK. Jack Wilson takes it, it's saved, and the rebound comes right back to him and he puts it in!!! It's 2-0 2:02 into this match. City gets one back in the 8th, but then in the 33rd, Ardit Mali lobs in a harmless looking shot, and it winds up in for his first of the year, and we're back up two. We finish off a fantastic first half with a goal from Rafik Mehsas off a corner in the 43rd, and go to the break up 4-1. We don't let up in the second half as Daniel Boyer gets one to make it 5-1, and Wilson gets one in stoppage time for the 6-1 victory. We close out the first half with an absolutely dominant win over a team that came in on fire. This is our best win of the season.

[trman73]

West Ham 2035-2036 Mid-Season Report

Well I'm not sure I could have asked for much more than what the guys have given me thus far...

That's right: fourth position halfway through the year. Our goal differential far outpaces the rest of the teams bunched up between 3rd and 7th, and we've scored 34 goals, good for 3rd in the league, and allowed just 17, good for 5th fewest. So we are playing incredibly good football right now. The highlights of the first half have got to be our performances against the league's best clubs. We beat Arsenal 2-1, Tottenham 3-0, and City 6-1. We drew with Chelsea, and fell to United. So that's 3-1-1 against the top five. All five of those matches have been at home, so we're going to obviously face all of them on the road in the second half, which I'm not too excited about. We've also played 11 home matches already to just eight on the road, and that will balance itself out in the next couple months. So we're riding high right now, but we've got some obstacles if we want to keep it up.

We've outscored our last five opponents 18-3 at home, winning all five. We're 6-4-1 at home, falling only to United, so if we can go, say, 5-2-1 at London Stadium the rest of the way, that will give us 39 points at home, and I'll feel like our chances to qualify for Euro Cup will be good. To be honest, I just can't see us staying in the top four, although that would be one of the highlights of my career. For now though, taking into account that we're also one of the last four teams standing in the EFL Cup, I cannot think of any way we earn less than an A for the first half of the season.

We have many options for our first half MVP, but I'm giving it to our two central defenders, Rafik Mahsas and Mario Romero. These two guys have just been anchors for us throughout the first half, to the point where our up-and-coming central defender, Felipe Fidalgo, can barely see the field. Runners-up are central midfielder Sander Drent, attacking midfielder Oscar Bonet, and forward Jack Wilson, who have combined for 18 goals and 16 assists in the league.

In looking at the schedule for the second half, the record that I come up with is 9-4-6. That would put us at 18-10-10 and 64 points for the year, and should be enough for Euro Cup, especially if we beat some of the teams bunched up with us, like Watford, Stoke, and Reading.

It's been a great first half. I want knock off Watford to advance to the final of EFL Cup, advance to Europe next year, and win a couple matches in FA Cup, which kicks off in a couple weeks with a home match against Championship side Burnley.

Edited October 5, 2017 by trman73

[trman73]

December 29, 2035 - Premier League: Brighton (4-2-13, 14 pts., 19th) vs. West Ham (9-6-4, 33 pts., 4th)

Brighton is the only team we've yet to play thus far, and I'm more than happy that we'll see them twice in the second half, as they are just terrible. They certainly look like a team that's going right back down to the Championship next season. We should continue our streak of good play here, and keep the pressure on the teams above us. After this we've got Arsenal, United, and Chelsea in our next five, so we've got to bank some points here.

At no point are we the second-best team in this match. But, we never put one in, and we settle for a frustrating 0-0 draw in which we get 12 shots on goal to Brighton's two. Arsenal jumps us, Tottenham beats Chelsea, and we're down to fifth. Not a great way to start the second half, and now we head to Arsenal.

[trman73]

January 1, 2036 - Premier League: Arsenal (10-6-4, 36 pts., 4th) vs. West Ham (9-7-4, 34 pts., 5th)

Nothing would ring in the new year better than a second win this season over Arsenal. Everyone is tired with the run of matches we've had, but Arsenal's had the same number of games, so that's no excuse. The transfer window opens today and I feel like we could use another forward, but we've got just about $8 million left for transfers and salaries, so I don't know if I'm going to make anything happen. I've actually got my eye on a former Liverpool player, Bradley Kretzschmar, who is listed by Reading. But it's been more than two years since I've seen him in action, so I've got my guys scouting him.

A loss here would drop us a full five points behind Arsenal, and with Tottenham playing well, we'd almost certainly fall more than a game back of the top four. We haven't lost in exactly one month, since falling to Watford, and we're 4-3-0 in that stretch.

Prior to this match our central defender, Rafik Mahsas, is named the African Defender of the Year. Really nice honor for a guy who's been one of our best players, and one of the best defenders in the EPL this season.

On a rainy pitch, we get off to a quick start as a cross from Marriott gets caught between the post and the keeper and winds up in for an own goal in the 8th minute. We're playing very well, but in the 33rd Arsenal lobs a long pass ahead to a streaking forward, who scores to tie it. We need to respond now. But after going to the break 1-1, Arsenal takes the lead on a nice bit of passing, and we're down in the 54th. We don't get the equalizer, and we fall to Arsenal, 2-1, dropping us to 7th.

[trman73]

January 5, 2036 - FA Cup, Third Round: West Ham vs. Burnley

Everyone basically gets a rest today as even though the FA Cup is the more prestigious tournament, I'm more focused on the EFL Cup semifinal, which kicks off later this month. So it's a reserve-heavy lineup, and we'll take our chances at home. We get a full seven days off after this one, so if some starters do wind up seeing time as subs, that's fine.

It takes until first-half stoppage time, but we finally grab the lead on a nice goal from Bonet set up by Joel Reed-Dennison. Then Reed-Dennison gets his own just three minutes into the second half, and it looks like we'll advance to the next round of the cup. Burnley gets one back in the 77th, but Barker gives us the two-goal lead back late in the match, and we're on to round four with the 3-1 victory.

We'll go on the road for our next FA Cup match, and face a team relegated from League One to the Championship a season ago... Plymouth.

[trman73]

January 12, 2036 - Premier League: West Ham (9-7-5, 34 pts., 7th) vs. Newcastle (7-7-7, 28 pts., 12th)

We've won our last eight home matches over all competitions and our last five in the league. Newcastle is the definition of average at 7-7-7, and we really need this one to keep pace for continental competition next season. Prior to this match, I do sign Bradley Kretzschmar, my former Liverpool player. He's still just 27 years old, and with Daniel Boyer out of contract after this season and showing signs of decline, Kretz can team with Barker, Wilson, and Reed-Dennison to form a good collection of strikers moving forward. We now have a grand total of $425,000 left i our coffers, so that's it for us unless I'm bowled over by an offer for someone and we're able to free up some funds.

Five minutes in, we get our first goal of the season from... Juan Pablo Cuevas, who is generally really reluctant to shoot. But Bonet finds him and he gives us the early 1-0 lead. But Newcastle ties it in the 13th, and we go to the half 1-1. No one scores in the second half, and it's a draw. I expected to have six points from our last three matches; we got just two.

[trman73]

January 16, 2036 - EFL Cup Semifinal, First Leg: West Ham vs. Watford

As our continental standing becomes more precarious, it's starting to look like our best path to Euro Cup may wind up being a victory in this tournament. To do so we'll have to get by a Watford team that beat us in EPL play earlier this year. They are, like us, having a surprisingly good season, and are just a spot back of us in the league (despite the draw with Newcastle we're back up to 6th; the Hornets are 7th). Despite this being our toughest competition in this cup as of yet, I'm going to stick with my formula of starting a large number of reserves. 

Once again we score first, this time in the 9th as Ardit Mali finds Chris Barker for the opening goal. Bonet puts us up 2-0 in the 23rd, and given that we haven't allowed a goal thus far in this competition, I'm feeling very good about our chances now. Those two early goals are the only ones of the match, and we're in control of this semifinal with an opening leg 2-0 win. We've now outscored our five opponents 9-0 in this competition.

[john1]

Hope you can finish the job off in second leg  

[trman73]

January 19, 2036 - Premier League: West Ham (9-8-5, 35 pts., 6th) vs. Wolves (10-3-9, 33 pts., 9th)

It looks like Wolves will be the team we face if we advance to the EFL Cup Final, as they hold the same 2-0 lead over Bolton that we hold over Watford. But if that happens it won't be for six weeks or so, and this match is right now. They trail us by just two points, and we've got a brutal road stretch after this that will see us visit Old Tratford and Stamford Bridge back-to-back. So We need a win here as we can't expect too much success on the road against the league's top two clubs.

We play easily our best match of the second half of the season in this one, getting first-half goals from Bonet and Wilson to go up 2-0 in the first half. Wilson adds his second in the 82nd minute, and we cruise in this one, 3-0.

[trman73]

Thanks John! Would love to bring home our first trophy in 50 (!) years.

January 23, 2036 - Premier League: Manchester United (18-3-2, 57 pts., 1st) vs. West Ham (10-8-5, 38 pts., 6th)

We have to face facts here: this is a monumental challenge. If we can somehow get just one result from United and Chelsea in our next two, I'll be ecstatic.

We play well early, but United takes control in the latter part of the first half, scoring twice to take a 2-0 lead to the break. I bring some subs in, including Cesar Meneses and Adrian Marriott, who are back from injury and need some field time. We get one back in the 76th, and there's hope, but United closes it out with a late goal to make it 3-1, and we fall to them for the second time this season. I'm happy to not see them again until 2036-2037.

[trman73]

January 26, 2036 - Premier League: Chelsea (16-6-2, 54 pts., 2nd) vs. West Ham (10-8-6, 38 pts., 6th)

Our double of death continues with this match at Chelsea, which is six back of United but has an incredible +42 goal differential, scoring 57 and allowing just 15 in 24 matches. Let's see what we can do!

Chelsea opens the scoring in the 17th and it looks like the inevitable is going to happen. But we rebound and hold them down the rest of the half, trailing just 1-0. In the 52nd, Bonet finds Jack Wilson for the tying goal, and we're back in this! It looks like we might get a point out of this match, but in the 84th Chelsea retakes the lead on a nice goal off a cross. They add another just two minutes later, and we fall again, 3-1.

[trman73]

January 30, 2036 - EFL Cup Semifinal, Second Leg: Watford vs. West Ham (West Ham leads, 2-0)

I'm going with the same team that's started all along in this competition. I'd love to make the final, and I'd love to get a sixth straight clean sheet in this cup. The day before this match Bolton and Wolves draw, 2-2, so Wolves are on to the Final. I want to join them.

We play a 0-0 half and we just continue to stifle our opponents defensively. In the 70th Watford has a man sent off for a second yellow, and our chances get even better. We don't allow them to mount any serious offensive challenges... until stoppage time, when they finally break our shutout streak with a breakaway goal. But there's not enough time for anything else. We win, 2-1, and we are on the face Wolves in the EFL Cup Final!

[trman73]

February 2, 2036 - FA Cup, Fourth Round: Plymouth vs. West Ham

The board set an expectation that we make it to the fifth round of FA Cup, and we should do that with a win over a Plymouth team that is 23rd in the Championship. We'll continue to give most of the starters a rest for this one, as the so-called "B Team" has played really well in the cup competitions. So the likes of Mali, Fidalgo et al. see starting spots once again.

Prior to this match we receive word that starting midfielder Sergey Tkachenko has signed with Inter for next season. We half-heartedly entered into contract extension talks with him a few weeks ago, but at 32 years old and with a $12.4 million salary, he wasn't willing to take the reduced contract we were offering. So we'll either go back to Meneses as the starter next year, or look for another option. He's played the past 10 years for West Ham, racking up 327 league appearances, so at the end of the year we'll wish him well and move on.

Oh my. In the second minute of this match, Ruben Luz is called for a foul in the penalty area, Plymouth converts, and just like that we're down 1-0. But we tie it in the 14th on a goal from Chris Barker, and it's a new game. We go to the break 1-1. Words can't describe how much I don't want to play a replay match against these guys. We need to win this outright in the second half. Well we may avoid that, because Plymouth retakes the lead in the 64th, and now we've got work to do. We go into attack mode starting in the 70th minute, but we don't tie it up, and we lose to a far inferior team and are out of the FA Cup.

[trman73]

February 6, 2036 - Premier League: West Ham (10-8-7, 38 pts., 7th) vs. Everton (8-6-11, 30 pts., 14th)

We've actually lost four straight if you count the 1-0 defeat at Watford as a loss, which it is even though we advanced to the EFL Cup Final. Everton is probably the most disappointing team in the league this year, though, as they've gone from three straight 7th-place finished to a non-factor thus far this season. We've got a bunch of winnable games coming up and despite the back-to-back losses to United and Chelsea, we're still right there for a top seven spot. We've got to get out of this funk and get back to winning. It looks like top five is out of the question as United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham and City have pulled away from the pack, but there are a bunch of teams huddled around each other for those top two spots, and as the final match of the week this time around, we know that with a win here we bump past Watford into 6th.

We're a little nicked up with Jack Wilson and Mario Romero nursing minor injuries, so Boyer and Fidalgo start today.

It's a sloppy game early, with each team giving the ball away multiple times. Finally, in the 30th, we get a free kick from right outside the box, and Bonet nails it for the 1-0 lead that we hold into halftime. Everton is a poor offensive team, and the one goal holds up, as we break out of our rut and get a clean sheet in the process. We jump into 6th with the 1-0 victory.

[trman73]

February 9, 2036 - Premier League: Huddersfield (5-6-15, 21 pts., 17th) vs. West Ham (11-8-7, 41 pts., 6th)

Huddersfield's in a relegation battle but have won two of their last three. We've got a chance to really distance ourselves from some of the teams chasing us here, as after these guys we get two more bottom-feeders in Bolton and Leicester.

We play a terrible first half and fully deserve the 1-0 deficit we face. I rip the team at the break, and once again they respond. Chris Barker scores 22 seconds into the second half, then adds a second less than two minutes later, and it takes a total of two minutes to turn the 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 lead. It looks like our poor run of road results will come to an end, but in the 88th, Huddersfield gets a counter attack and a fantastic cross leads to the tying goal. But just two minutes later, in the 90th, we get a run of our own, and it leads to a penalty on Huddersfield. Wilson steps up... and nails it! We really get lucky there, and hang on for the 3-2 win. Whew!

[trman73]

February 17, 2036 - Premier League: West Ham (12-8-7, 44 pts., 6th) vs. Bolton (7-6-14, 27 pts., 15th)

We've just got to keep getting three points against these lower-ranked teams, and at home against Bolton we should. Not much to say in the build-up to this one. We got a full week off between matches, so we're finally rested, and ready to go. With a win or a draw here, we'll actually surpass our point total from a year ago.

Once again we play poorly early, and go down 1-0 on a goal in the 18th. But this time it doesn't take until halftime to light a fire under our guys, as Wilson scores in the 28th and Barker gives us the lead in the 42nd to give us the 2-1 lead that we hold at the half. No late heroics needed in this one, adds Bonet adds a third in the 66th to make it 3-1, then we get a PK that Wilson converts just a bit later and it's a rout. That's three straight wins, and with last-place Leicester next, we have a chance to head into the final stretch run with a lot of momentum.

[trman73]

February 27, 2036 - Premier League: Leicester (4-8-16, 20 pts., 18th) vs. West Ham (13-8-7, 47 pts., 6th)

We've got a decent lock on 6th right now as we're four points up on Watford and now face one of the league's worst clubs. We play a midweek match as over the weekend we'll face Wolves in the EFL Cup Final. It would be great to go into that crucial match on a four-game winning streak.

We score first, as Bonet finds Barker streaking toward the goal in the 24th to make it 1-0. That's all we need. We win, 1-0, for our fourth straight victory. We now take a break from league play to try to win our first trophy since the 1980 FA Cup.

[trman73]

March 2, 2036 - EFL Cup Final: Wolves vs. West Ham

Again, West Ham United has not won a trophy since the 1980 FA Cup. Our path here was not hugely difficult: we knocked off MK Dons and Derby in extra time, then beat Barnsley and Huddersfield easily, and took care of Watford in the smis. Wolves have played a more impressive schedule, beating Blackburn, then knocking off United at Old Tratford, Everton, Reading, and finally Bolton. They also won this competition five years ago, knocking off my Leicester team in the semifinals.

We've got a problem with depth at forward for this one, as both Jack Wilson and Daniel Boyer have minor injuries, and Bradley Kretzschmar is ineligible. So it's Joel Reed-Dennison and Chris Barker for the entirety of this one. I also have to make a decision: do we go with the reserves that got us here, or the starting squad that's won our last four matches. I decide to insert Felipe Fidalgo into a central defender spot, and Mark Lloyd starts for Sander Drent, but other than that, I'm going with the starters.

I really want this win and to bring the first trophy to West Ham in 56 seasons. I also want to guarantee our spot in the 2036-2037 Euro Cup. Let's go.

Wolves dominate possession early but our defense holds firm. Starting in about the 25th minute, we begin to exert ourselves offensively, and in the 37th we finally convert courtesy of Oscar Bonet. It's 1-0 at the half. Our defense has been what's gotten us to this point, and if we can just hang on for 45 more minutes, we'll be EFL Cup champs.

That's exactly what happens. We keep the pressure on throughout, and the few chances Wolves get are easily pushed aside. We win, 1-0, and West Ham United lifts the 2036 EFL Cup!!

[trman73]

March 9, 2036 - Premier League: West Ham (14-8-7, 50 pts., 6th) vs. Derby (4-5-20, 17 pts., 20th)

I guess you could say the pressure's off a bit as we've qualified for the Euro Cup with the EFL Cup win, but I don't feel that way. We need to solidify our position in the league as we head into the final push to the end of the season. With nine games to go, we lead Stoke by five points for 6th, and we're up 11 points on Newcastle to ensure the top-half finish the board expected from us this season. At this point the top half is just about a lock. The bigger thing right now is that we're just three points back of Man City for 5th, and we have a healthy +21 to +13 goal differential advantage over them. So if we can just hang tough and stay within three, the last game of our season at the City of Manchester Stadium could really mean something for us.

We should handle up on this terrible Derby team for our sixth straight win, but we (perhaps) took them lightly the first time we played them and wound up with a draw. We can't let the euphoria of lifting the trophy last week cloud our performance today. These guys have not won a match since January 5, and have lost nine straight in the EPL.

On a rainy field we go to the break 0-0, and we've scored no goal in three halves against Derby. Finally, in the 56th, Jack Wilson finds Chris Barker and he fires one in to give us the 1-0 lead. Five minutes later, Wilson leads Barker with a long pass down the middle of the field, he jukes a defender, and scores, and it's 2-0. Just a minute later, they connect yet again to make it 3-0, and this one's over. Wow... in the 70th Wilson gets his fourth assist, and Barker gets his fourth goal, and these two guys are really feeling it.

[trman73]

With eight games to go in the season, the table looks like this...

It's not inconceivable that we finish fourth in the league. We've got road matches with Tottenham and City as part of our final eight, and we're absolutely rolling right now. If we can keep this going, especially when we face Spurs in two matches. Most likely, though, we finish somewhere between 6th and 8th. Some of that will be determined by our next match, which is...

March 12, 2036 - Premier League: Stoke (13-9-8, 48 pts., 9th) vs. West Ham (15-8-7, 53 pts., 6th)

A win here and we're eight points up on Stoke with seven to go. Stoke is on a five-match undefeated streak in the league, so these are two hot teams squaring off here. Adrian Marriott is suspended for this one, but the rest of the team is in place.

We catch a break early as Stoke has a player get two yellow cards in under a minute, and they are down a man. We capitalize in the 35th on a goal by Jack Wilson, and then we proceed to shut Stoke down for the remainder of the match and collect a big 1-0 win. This is one of the best runs of my career as we've won six straight in the league, with a cup victory thrown in.

[Johnny-Trotter]

Congratulations on the trophy! Hope you can round out the season well based on current form.

[trman73]

Thanks Johnny! I'm really excited to take my real-life favorite team to a trophy, even if it's a "minor" one. I'm more excited about how we're just rolling in the league.

One thing I did this year was bring in some of the coaches that I had with me back when I was succeeding with Leicester, including my former assistant coach, Chris Hogg, who is now my assistant at West Ham. I have him recommend opposition instructions and I generally go with what he recommends, whereas last year, coming in halfway through, it didn't seem like I was on the same page as the coach making those recommendations.

Anyway... let's see if we can keep this going!

March 23, 2036 - Premier League: Tottenham (17-5-8, 56 pts., 5th) vs. West Ham (16-8-7, 56 pts., 4th)

Technically we're fourth right now, but neither Spurs nor City played last week, so they have a game on us. I'd say we're still in sixth, but if we can somehow pull off a win here, we'll at least be fifth legitimately, as we have a nine-goal differential advantage over Spurs (and 12 over City). City plays struggling Everton at home, so we can't expect any gifts there. 

We're pretty shorthanded for this one as Tkachenko and Stanojevic join Marriott with suspensions, so that's three reserves in, although all of them (Ardit Mali at right back, Dan Donoghue at left back, and Cesar Meneses at center midfield) have played quality minutes for us this year. Still, I'd like to have my full squad available for this one, and we don't. Spurs are reeling a bit right now, as they've lost four of five (including a Euro Cup match and two FA Cup matches), and have been outscored 7-1 in those games. With that low goal output and the fact that we've got four straight clean sheets, maybe we're getting them at the perfect time. After this we get two of the teams chasing us, Watford (8th) and Reading (9th), so these are three big matches coming up.

We control play in the early going, and in the 18th Oscar Bonet leads Chris Barker with a pretty pass and he flies past his man and puts it in, and we're up, 1-0. In first-half stoppage time, Spurs get two big chances; one hits the crossbar, and the other is saved by Leiva, and we head to the break up 1-0. In the 54th, we head a ball out of our box but it bounces to a Tottenham midfielder, who makes a good pass to a wide-open man, and they tie it. More bad news in the 71st, as Ardit Mali picks up his second yellow and is sent off, and we'll have to hold on here a man down. Tottenham turns up the heat after that, but we're resilient, and we hang on for the 1-1 draw. I'll take it.

Edited October 8, 2017 by trman73

[trman73]

April 12, 2036 - Premier League: West Ham (16-9-7, 57 pts., 6th) vs. Watford (13-10-9, 49 pts., 8th)

We get a three-week break before the stretch run sees us play every weekend for the last six weeks of the year. During the break, Chris Barker, who scored three goals and added five assists, is named the March Player of the Month in the EPL. Great honor for him. Also during the break, our Under 23s win the Checkatrade Trophy, which honestly I don't know what that is, but we'll take it.

We've got an enormous problem heading into this match as our only two right backs, Stanojevic and Mali, are each suspended. So we bring in a youngster, Nick Pratt, to start. He's a highly-rated prospect, and we need him to perform in this match. If we can win today, we'll all but clinch at least 6th place with five games to go, as we'd have to totally collapse for Stoke or Watford to catch us.

In the 15th minute Watford makes a poor clearance that goes right to Cuevas, and he finds Bonet for the opening goal. Bonet gets a second in the 31st, and we're up two and looking great. Watford's incredibly poor defense continues in the 34th, as they give the ball up in our zone again and Bonet finds Wilson for an easy goal, and we're routing these guys, 3-0. It's 3-0 at the half, and in the 64th Watford puts in an own-goal that really should have been credited to Wilson, and it's 4-0. We get our fifth when Mario Romero scores on a corner. It's a 5-0 destruction, and we're 8-1-0 in our last nine matches.

Tottenham falls to United, and we're up three on them for 5th position. They have a game in hand, but we now have a huge goal differential lead on them, and we could be a top-five team!

Edited October 8, 2017 by trman73

[trman73]

April 19, 2036 - Premier League: Reading (14-8-11, 50 pts., 7th) vs. West Ham (17-9-7, 60 pts., 5th)

Reading has surged of late, going 4-1-0 in their last five EPL matches. But we're on a mission here. A win essentially locks out Reading and would basically do the same for Stoke, Liverpool, and Watford for 6th place, and would allow us to focus only on who's above us. We are, for the first time in forever, fully healthy, with no suspensions. these guys are getting our best. Our 60 points are already the best since West Ham got 67 back in 2025, and we can surpass the 67 we got that season with a quality finish to the season. We finish with these guys, then Liverpool, Palace, Brighton, and the season-ender at City. We're three points back of City for fourth, and, amazingly, just four back of third-place Arsenal. Oh man, can this happen? Can we be in Champions League????

This is a crazy match. We give up two goals early in the first half, and are down 2-0 after 28 minutes. But we get one back in the 34th from Jack Wilson, go to the break down 2-1, and then Sander Drent ties it in the 54th. Tottenham is losing to Watford, so the door is open for us here. But in the 90th minute, Reading gets a corner, and scores. We go into overload but don't tie it. The win streak is over, and we lose a chance to really put the clamps on Spurs. City wins, and we'll now need a minor miracle to make it to Champions League. But still, this was a great run, and we can be proud of that.

[trman73]

April 26, 2036 - Premier League: West Ham (17-9-8, 60 pts., 5th) vs. Liverpool (13-10-11, 49 pts., 10th)

Liverpool still has a chance to advance to Euro Cup, and I want to put those chances down today. I don't want to head into our final three matches on a two-game skid, as there's still an (admittedly very minor) chance we sneak into the top four. We're basically going to have to win out to do that, but we've got two weaker teams after this match, so I'm still being optimistic.

Well the good news in this one is that we get back to playing good defense. The bad news is, we don't score. It's a 0-0 draw, and with Tottenham winning, they now trail us by just a point and still have an extra game to play.

[trman73]

May 3, 2036 - Premier League: Crystal Palace (9-9-17, 36 pts., 15th) vs. West Ham (17-10-8, 61 pts., 5th)

Crystal Palace is safe from relegation with three to go, so they have nothing to play for but pride. We, however, need to beat these guys and then Brighton next week and see where we stand heading into our final match with City.

We get off to a hot start as in the 4th minute a shot bounces off a Palace defender for an own goal. But things fall apart from there. Palace ties it in the 23rd, and then take the lead in the 60th. We've got to go on the attack to get three points here. But it doesn't happen. We fall, 2-1, and we're stumbling toward the finish line now. With wins by Arsenal and City, Champions League is now out of the questions, and it's most likely that we'll wind up 6th in Premier League.

Edited October 9, 2017 by trman73

[trman73]

May 12, 2036 - Premier League: West Ham (17-10-9, 61 pts., 6th) vs. Brighton (6-8-22, 26 pts., 17th)

Tottenham has now passed us in the league with 63 points and a game in hand. But their final three matches are all on the road: at Chelsea, Newcastle, and Liverpool. So there's still home for 5th place. If we beat Brighton, we'll clinch 6th and our final game at City will be basically meaningless. But we've got just one point from our last three matches, and Brighton's trying to fight off Huddersfield for 17th, so we can't take these guys for granted here.

We're the Monday match this week. Before we play, United clinches the league title, its fourth straight, with a 3-0 win over Huddersfield. Tottenham falls to Chelsea, so we can put a little bit of pressure on them, but Stoke wins, so technically we lead them based solely on goal differential. Basically, we just need a win in our last home match of the year.

This terrible team is just the tonic we need. Chris Barker scores twice in the first half, and it's basically over. Sander Drent adds another to make it 3-0, although it's called an own goal. Brighton gets one in the 67th to make it 3-1, but they don't come any closer. We basically clinch 6th place, and we'll wait to see what Spurs do in their midweek makeup match to determine what we'll need to do in our final game.

[trman73]

Tottenham loses its midweek match to Newcastle, so with one game to go, here's what we've got...

Unless there's a 13-goal swing between us and Stoke in our final matches, we're going to finish either 5th or 6th in the league. Of course there's no real difference between the two in terms of Euro Cup as both us and Tottenham will be in group stage. But there's something to be said for being a top-five club, and I want it. So let's finish off this season.

May 19, 2036 - Premier League: Manchester City (23-3-11, 72 pts., 4th) vs. West Ham (18-10-9, 64 pts., 5th)

A win clinches 5th for us, as does a Spurs loss or draw on the road at Liverpool. We've scored four more goals than City this year and allowed four fewer, but this is still a tall task, and I may need my former employers to help me out. We're also without Chris Barker, who was hurt in the Brighton win and will spend the off-season break nursing a torn hamstring. So Daniel Boyer starts in what is very likely to be his final game at West Ham, as his contract will not be renewed over the summer. This is also Sergey Tkachenko's last match for us before he heads off to Inter.

City strikes first, with an early goal in the 6th. But we keep going, and Rafik Mahsas scores on a corner in the 23rd to tie it. We play really well the rest of the match, generating a number of chances, but don't score again. City doesn't either, and we collect a well-played 1-1 draw to cap a very good season.

Tottenham falls to Liverpool, 4-1, and we finish 5th in Premier League!

[kidthekid]

congrats on the FA cup win. The progress is solid

[trman73]

Thanks kid. This was definitely one of my most enjoyable seasons of this save. Now I really want to take this club far in Euro Cup next season. I'm not sure how realistic it is to think we'll jump into the top four next year, but we're going to have something like $80 million to play with in the off-season and I see some areas we need to strengthen.

At the end of the season, two of our players are named to the Premier League Team of the Year: defender Rafik Mahsas and midfielder Oscar Bonet. And as for our internal fan or media awards, Sander Drent wins the West Ham Player of the Year, despite him not being one of the two guys in the EPL Best XI.

[trman73]

West Ham United 2035-2036 Season Review

It was a great year. We entered the season with a board expectation that we be a top-half team, and a personal prediction that we'd finish 8th at 14-12-12. So to go 18-11-9, finish 5th with 65 points, and qualify for Euro Cup was just outstanding. It was West Ham's third-best finish in the 19 years of this save, bested only by a 4th-place finish in 2024-2025, and a 5th-place finish with 71 points in 2018-2019.

In the Premier League, there were a lot of season highlights. We had a brutal first seven matches but went 3-1-3, giving us confidence that we were a good team. We went 3-3-4 against United, City, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Tottenham, including probably our single best game of the season, the 6-1 home destruction of City at the halfway point of the season. And of course the big highlight was the stretch between February 6 and April 12 where we went 8-1-0 to vault us up the standings. I suppose the lowlights were that we never really challenged United in either of our matches with them, and we stumbled at the end of the season, needing the win over Brighton and the draw with City to secure 5th instead of possibly playing for a Champions League spot. But again, I really can't complain about our league season at all. I'm giving us an A- for our EPL play.

As for the EFL Cup, we did exactly what we needed to do. We outscored our opponents 10-1 in our seven matches and took the trophy, our first in 56 seasons. Grade: A+.

The only dud was the FA Cup, which I've not done well in since I've been a Premier League coach. We get a D for falling to Plymouth, but honestly, who cares.

Overall, I'm giving us an A-.

I know Sander Drent was named our team Player of the Year, but for me, our MVP is defender Rafik Mahsas. He was co-MVP of the first half with fellow center back Mario Romero, and he only got better, starting all 38 Premier League matches and finishing with a 7.42 league rating. We allowed 59 goals a season ago; this year, we gave up just 37, a fantastic 22 goal improvement. He was our best defender, and for long stretches our defense was what was winning games for us, so he gets it. Our runners-up are the trio of Oscar Bonet, Jack Wilson, and Chris Barker. These three guys combined for 54 goals and 36 assists over all competitions this year. They formed one of the best attacks in the EPL, and were just incredible.

I can't wait for the off-season and for next year to begin. I think we can make noise in Euro Cup and wind up close to where we finished in the league again.

Edited October 9, 2017 by trman73