Hull City versus West Ham United – not particularly an exciting fixture and one that you wouldn’t expect to be first on Match of the Day anytime soon. Luckily for you, it’ll be available to watch live on Monday Night Football.
The two sides finished in the bottom half of the Premier League table last season and, although the last two meets have produced a decent four goals and a red card, not many will be excited about this one outside of the two sets of supporters.
The teams may be at opposite ends of the country, but this fixture has been spiced up primarily by one man – Mohamed Diame. West Ham fans are now desperate to take the three points from Diame’s new team. The Senegalese international was signed by Hull City on deadline day and his comments sparked outrage at Upton Park.
Diame had been wishing for a move away ever since he joined West Ham from Wigan Athletic, however he was only after a move to a ‘top 4’ side. He didn’t get that wish because he isn’t good enough – or at least he is sometimes, but certainly not regularly enough. He is the definition of consistently inconsistent.
Just hours after his move to the KC Stadium Diame had some things to say about his time at West Ham.
“At West Ham I was shunted around all different positions,” Diame was quoted as saying by the Daily Star. ” I remember one time I and to play as a striker”. Nothing like a team-player eh, Mohamed?
“That was not good for my career. I wanted to play for a club that is high in the Premier League table. At least with Hull I will be certain of playing in my favoured role.
“I should have left West Ham a long time ago, as with them I wasn’t permitted to play in central midfield. I wasn’t able to get the biggest clubs interested in me, as when they came to watch me I’d been put in a position that was not mine.”
It’s now clear to see that Diame was incredibly unhappy at Upton Park, but it never came across that way other than when his agent told him otherwise. Mohamed is in a dream world if he genuinely thinks that he can produce at a higher level than mid-low Premier League side – there’s a reason he’s played for Wigan, West Ham, and now Hull.
Hull City were incredibly active on the final day of the transfer window and Steve Bruce appeared to have a policy in mind to sign players who on their day are fantastic, but they only have a few of them each season. Gaston Ramirez, Diame and Hatem Ben Arfa can all produce pure magic moments and, if they manage to coincide their ‘on’ days to the same day, Hull City will be a big threat to any side.
The Tigers will be handing debuts to more or less all of their deadline day signings and the atmosphere at the KC will benefit from this. The reception that Mohamed Diame will receive from the travelling West Ham fans will certainly be worth watching, and if he is on his game, he may well silence the Hammers’ supporters.
This game was set to drift by into obscurity but, thanks to Diame, this may just be one worth watching for the neutrals.
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