We Are West Ham Podcast

Two wins in four days puts us back in control of our Europa League group and in the top-half of the Premier League table.

The 1-0 win over Olympiacos on Thursday night wasn't pretty, but it was a much-needed win all the same. Then the 3-2 victory over Nottingham Forest on Sunday was exciting and arguably more in need given our poor run of form in the league up to now.

Now it's another international break, the last one of 2023, and we head into it with a lot of confidence. We travel to Burnley in two weeks, which gives us another opportunity to climb further into contention for a top-eight finish.

On this week's episode, James and Will discuss...

🇬🇷 Europa League win over Olympiacos

🔴 Victory over Nottingham Forest

🔥 Bowen experiments

🤷🏻‍♂️ Moyes polarising the fanbase

⚒️ LOADS MORE!

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After beating Olympiacos on Thursday night, West Ham turn to the visit of Nottingham Forest on Sunday and will be looking to get back to winning ways in the Premier League as well.

Joining us this week is Rich Ferraro from 1865: The Nottingham Forest Podcast, who gives us the lowdown on his beloved Forest and discusses the likes of Jesse Lingard, their away form since promotion back to the top flight and how he thinks this game will go.

Note: This podcast was recorded BEFORE West Ham's 1-0 victory over Olympiacos.

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If ever there was a four-day period that summed up West Ham perfectly, it was the one we've just had.

We comfortably thrashed quadruple winners-elect, Arsenal, on Wednesday night with a thoroughly enjoyable 3-1 victory at London Stadium, knocking them out of the Carabao Cup and preventing Declan "I want to win it all" Rice from 'winning it all.'

We then followed that up with a 3-2 defeat at Brentford where, despite going into the break 2-1 up, suffered from having a striker on the pitch who just struggles to score goals. Michail Antonio's decision to stick a toe out instead of allowing Said Benrahma to tap in from two yards essentially cost us at least a point at Brentford, which is hugely frustrating given the win over Arsenal had appeared to have gotten us back on track after a poor run of results.

But that's just West Ham for you, isn't it!?

Also this week, we welcome back Ari from the Gate 7 International podcast ahead of Thursday night's big Europa League clash with Olympiacos in Stratford.

We then wrap up with the Betway Charity Bets, where we've FINALLY won a bet for charity before some final thoughts from the lads for another week.

LOADS to get through this week.

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It's a funny ol' game, isn't it? Just days after losing at home to a struggling Everton side, West Ham go on to thrash Arsenal at home in the Carabao Cup to bring some positivity back to east London after a torrid run of three defeats in a row.

Now we travel to Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon. We've lost all four of our previous top-flight meetings with the Bees and have scored just one goal, although we did beat them on their own patch in the FA Cup last season.

Joining us this week to preview the game us Mike from the Ealing Road Podcast!

Note: This podcast was recorded BEFORE West Ham's 3-1 cup victory over Arsenal.

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The thrashing by Aston Villa felt like one of those days when you just had to brush it off as a bad day at the office, but having followed that result up with back-to-back defeats to Olympiacos and Everton, all the positivity from a solid start to the season has been well and truly dampened.

The team selection in Athens had many fans scratching their heads and the performance that followed led to heads in hands, while the starting XI to face Everton was arguably the one everyone has been calling for since the beginning of the season, only for the performance to be just as bad as the one just a few days earlier in Greece.

Where do we go from here? How does David Moyes turn it around? It's a huge week for him and the club as we prepare to welcome Arsenal to London Stadium in the Carabao Cup before travelling to Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday. If we lose both of those as well, is Moyes' job under serious threat?

You will have to forgive us both for the dull nature of this episode, but we do have friend of the show and huge Arsenal fan Dan Cutts dialling in from New York to discuss Wednesday's London Derby in Stratford to help lighten the mood, even if that does come via some very smug Arsenal chat.

Loads to unpack this week, so make yourself comfy and enjoy!

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West Ham take on Olympiacos in Athens tonight knowing that a win will put us within touching distance of making it three European group stage wins in as many years.

We had labelled Freiburg away as arguably our toughest fixture of the group stage this season but we made relatively light work of that one. Tonight, in Athens, will also be a test but we definitely have enough about us to take all three points back to east London with us.

Will speaks to Kostas from the Gate 7 International Podcast, who gives us the full lowdown on Olympiacos and his views on how this game will be won and lost.

This one is a fantastic listen ahead of a huge Europa League clash for the Hammers.

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West Ham face Olympiakos in Athens on Thursday night in our third Europa League Group A fixture, where a win would put us firmly in control and within touching distance of winning a European group for the third consecutive season.

But against the backdrop of what is sure to be a great game and a memorable experience for those going, is the ongoing threat of violence from Olympiakos' ultras. They made headlines at the weekend when clashes with rival fans of Panathinaikos caused their derby match to be abandoned. That begs the question, are West Ham fans safe in Athens right now?

Joining Will this week to discuss that in more detail, as well as look ahead to the game itself, is Ari from the Gate 7 International Podcast.

This is a BONUS Opposition View, with another one LIVE from Athens due tomorrow ahead of the game.

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We don't get thrashed very often, not since David Moyes returned to the club almost four years ago. In fact, we've only lost by 3+ goals and conceded 4+ six times in 190 matches. That's pretty good going.

Sunday's thrashing at the hands of Villa was fully deserved, too. They were better than us, hungrier than us and more clinical than us. No complaints from us, other than the fact there were several poor performances throughout the team, not least Michail Antonio who looked like he was just there for a day out in Birmingham.

Every team has a bad day at the office every once in a while, but good teams are defined by how they recover from them. We've got a big week with a trip to Olympiakos in the Europa League on Thursday night before the visit of Everton in the Premier League on Sunday. If we win both of those, we can write Villa off as a blip. If we don't, will there be cause for concern?

Also on this week's show, the Claret & Blue View returns and it's The Sun's Sport Head of Content and massive West Ham fan, Mike Anstead, joining us this week to talk about his love for the club and his thoughts on the season so far.

We also discuss our Betway charity bets, as we STILL wait for our first win of the season, before wrapping up for another week. Our two Opposition Views with Olympiakos and Everton fans will be out separately later this week.

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Now that the international break is over, James and Will are back ahead of Sunday's hugely anticipated trip to Villa Park.

With both sides having ambitions of finishing in the top-seven this season, this is going to be a huge test and will give us some indication of what we might be able to achieve this term. Avoiding defeat away from home, especially at Villa Park, will be a good result, but all three will send a huge message to the other clubs who have the same ambitions as we do.

Given the break, this is a shorter episode than normal but we did manage to fill some of the time discussing pumpkin picking and Thorpe Park, before Will put James on the spot once again with an invite to his birthday party next month.

Also this week, we're joined by friend of the show, huge Villa fan and BBC journalist, Tim Warwood, who entertains us once more with his views on Villa, while he also introduces us to more of his family members!

It's great to have proper football back!

Remember, if you love what we do then PLEASE leave us a nice review on whatever platform you're listening on. It helps us more than you know and allows us to be found by new listeners, helping us grow even more!

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Fans were told VAR would make football better but instead, it appears to be doing its very best to make it worse with every passing game.

It was our turn (again!) last weekend to suffer from inept and not-for-purpose officiating, that could've been cleaned up by the use of VAR, but they're still hellbent on only helping sub-standard referees in only very specific incidents in the game. That cost us against Newcastle, in what was a very good performance that warranted all three points, let alone a draw.

James and Will discuss all of that this week, as well as look a bit further back to the victory over Freiburg in the Europa League, which sees us top Group A and cement ourselves as favourites to qualify as winners.

Also this week, James' mate, very opinionated West Ham fan and bondholder, Steve Hart, is the Claret & Blue View guest as he discusses his experience in Prague, love for West Ham, deep hatred towards Arsenal and what he thinks it means to be West Ham. This interview is well worth the listen for the Declan Rice-Arsenal rant alone, to be honest!

It's an international break now, so no Opposition View or Betway Charity bets, but we'll be back again next week as we look ahead to the trip to Villa Park.

Remember, if you love what we do then PLEASE leave us a nice review on whatever platform you're listening on. It helps us more than you know and allows us to be found by new listeners, helping us grow even more!

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