Jamie Carragher has taken a pot shot at West Ham as he defends an Arsenal and Newcastle claim following their clash.
After two memorable years West Ham are facing up to an ugly relegation battle this season.
The Hammers had been competing with the likes of Arsenal over the last couple of seasons.
But now West Ham have been replaced in the top six mix by newly-minted Newcastle with David Moyes under intense pressure to keep his job.
There was much hype around Arsenal’s clash with Newcastle United on Tuesday night.
The match at the Emirates was billed as a huge game between two of the Premier League’s most exciting, in-form sides.
After the big billing from the likes of Sky Sports, though, Newcastle’s game plan to defend and frustrate league leaders Arsenal was rewarded with a point in a 0-0 draw.
The Arsenal vs Newcastle clash was criticised by fans afterwards as it was revealed the ball was only in play for around 48 minutes.
But pundit Jamie Carragher said he found the match enjoyable to watch. He was taken to task by talkSPORT reporter Ian Abrahams, a big West Ham fan.
And Carragher took a pot shot at West Ham as he defended his Arsenal and Newcastle claim following the clash.
“How can Jamie Carragher think that (Arsenal vs Newcastle) was a good game?” Abrahams said on Twitter.
Carragher’s response had a pop at Hammers and ‘the West Ham way’.
“I liked the intensity of both teams,” Carragher said of the Arsenal v Newcastle match.
“I enjoyed watching Arsenal keep knocking on the door but also loved Newcastle’s defenders and ‘keeper throwing themselves in front of shots/crosses.
“We can’t all play the West Ham way.”
Talk about kick a team when they’re down.
Carragher has been absolutely loving West Ham for the last couple of years. And while he may be having a bit of banter, he’s let himself down by perpetuating the misunderstood myth about the West Ham way.
Hammers fans are often belittled by the media and rival fans for being so demanding and wanting the team to play ‘the West Ham way’.
Sneering pundits and journalists often belittle the club’s ideals and the ‘West Ham way’ as Carragher has done here.
The inference from those dismissing the West Ham way as a fallacy is that it is Barcelona-esque tika taka football. And that while fans of clubs like Liverpool and Celtic are perfectly entitled to expect a certain type of football, West Ham’s are not.
But that only demonstrates a lack of knowledge about the club ethos which was cemented into West Ham’s history by the likes of Ron Greenwood and John Lyall.
One person who does get it is former West Ham and Newcastle striker Craig Bellamy.
Earlier this season Bellamy said West Ham’s fans were the best he ever played for and defended the ‘West Ham way’.
“They get a bad rep the (West Ham) fans. But they were brilliant,” Bellamy told The Central Club podcast.
“They’re the most knowledgeable fans of all of them I ever played for, you couldn’t kid ’em.
“Do you know you see people go around kicking people and I’ve seen fans cheer like ‘Yea but he has a go’. He has a go at what?! He gives the ball away every time.
“There (West Ham) they won’t accept that. Because you’ve got to be a good player as well. ‘We expect you to have a go, we pay money for you to have a go, but what are you like on the ball and also what are you like when we’re not happy, do you still have the balls to go and get the ball?’
“And if you do then they’ll have you, they’re with you then. And I loved that about them, they weren’t kidded on because they’ve watched too many great players down the years, they’ve been brought up on Bobby Moore and all that type of stuff.”
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