Does a Millwall v West Ham derby mean more to the supporters – the older group, in any case, than to the participants? The theory goes that these intense, inter-club rivalries have lost their spice with the influx of overseas players combining with the passing of time to dilute the impact which a true London derby has on the pitch.
Certainly it looked as if West Ham’s starting eleven found the level at which their south London opponents came out of the blocks too hot to handle as they were bullied all over the pitch.
One of the newer recruits from the summer, Arne Engels, was asked to consider how the Millwall clash measured up with his experiences of no less than nine ‘old firm’ Rangers v Celtic derbies in Scotland:
“I think it’s up there!” he smiled. “To be honest, it was a really intense game. It’s all about the fan base, to be honest, and we want to make our fan base really proud and I hope we did that a little bit. Of course, we wanted to have three points, but in the end, it’s a good result.
“But yeah, it’s definitely up there. It’s a really intense atmosphere. You really feel the crowd on you, and I’m sure when they are coming to the London Stadium, they will feel the same.”
Engels, along with the rest of the team, admits that the team didn’t do themselves justice in the first half and came out determined to pay back the supporters in the second ’45:
“I think it went pretty okay,” he said. “Of course, we wanted a win, but if you see that we were two-zero down at half-time, then you want to show something in the second half, and I think we showed great mentality.
“Then we wanted to give something back to the fans also because we were really disappointed in the dressing room [at half-time], and then coming out and doing actually what we were asked for and doing really well trying to score and then get another one and still playing 2-2 here is pretty okay.
“It’s says a lot about the team, how the mentality is, so overall, it’s a positive feeling.” (whufc.com)
Arne Engels ‘celebrates’ West Ham’s equaliser going in: Already a Hammer at heart
There’s a wonderful image doing the rounds of social media showing Engels celebrating right in the face of opponent Osei-Tutu as the equaliser went in: Young he may be, new to the club he may be as well, but Engels has clearly ‘got’ what it means to be a Hammer.