Penalty shoot-out told us so much about these Irons
Having looked at the starting line-up I believed I was looking at the weakest team the manager could put on the pitch .
But at the end we saw in the penalty shoot-out what is making this team so great – the self confidence of every one of our five was so fabulous to watch.
Body language is a huge giveaway before a penalty is taken and in Nobes, Bowen, Dawson. Cresswell and Benrahma we saw five guys displaying nothing but certainty that the ball was going to hit the back of the net.
The pressure not to miss was from the start when City’s first penalty was struck wide but the five simply took the remainder of the shoot out entirely in their stride. That most certainly wouldn’t always have been the case over past seasons. The spirit and self confidence is the key to everything.
It was clear the manager had been ensuring that plenty of training ground practice had preceded such a situation.
Not one of them looked likely to miss and I was particularly pleased for Mark. His joy was clear after scoring having missed against Manchester United in the League.
I am doubly pleased that such a loyal servant is likely to be ending his playing days with the season of his and our Hammers lives.
The defence had been brilliant over the 90 minutes and the midfield had battled like crazy, Areola was utterly magnificent – we are currently a team that doesn’t know how to lose.
Staggering, stunning amazing times.
COYI