Football Poets

Germany again

And so the European odyssey
Surges forward unabated
Like the rolling stone
That gathers no moss
With one notable exception
The claret and blue collective
Locks horns with the land of Teutonic
Discipline and efficiency
At ease gentlemen
Shine those boots laddie
Your attention undivided
This is your night
And the opposition are trembling
With fear and terror
Or so Bill Shankly might have said
West Ham, destiny awaits
Our East End acquaintances
Against the one and only
Freiberg, you were conquerors
Once so do it again
One down after the first overture
Now let’s reach a thunderous crescendo
In the second verse
The London Stadium
Hardly knows what to expect
After Premier League
Burnley, yes Burnley
Basement dwellers snatched
A point with purpose
On weekend assignments
Claret not so appealing
Leave that bottle in the wine cellar
And yet tonight
The Hammers must be
At their bludgeoning best
To Iron out the wrinkles
Of that Sunday during
The Ides of March
Freiberg, completely
Overshadowed by Bayern
Munich, Borussia Dortmund
And possibly Leipzig
Swallowed up by bigger
And stronger fish
In the Bundesliga
But still a power
In their neighbourhood
A smaller but tighter
Community of skillsets
Clever and delicate
And not to be dismissed
Or brushed under the carpet
Taken for granted
One European trophy
In the claret and blue cabinet
But the Europa League
Could be a trophy to be polished
For the devoted London Stadium
Followers for many a season
Memories bound in leather for
An eternity
But let us not get ahead of
Ourselves
Surely one trophy in our lifetime
Should suffice
We see Liverpool and Roma
In the headlights
Mighty European institutions
World class on their day
Pedigree personified
Breeding of the highest rank
Still, it could be a night
Of nights
In the East End furnace
Simmering and bubbling
Ready to pass judgment
Happily forthright
Bubble blowers
In the rarefied Stratford
Air with no airs or graces
Olympians in the Olympic park
But then again no fretting
If defeat means the departure gate
But let’s concentrate on
Premier League dynamics
Villa on Sunday
Dangerous this season
In fact lethal at times
Trampled on by Tottenham
Last time out
But frighteningly formidable
On their day
Villains of the piece
Ollie Watkins on fire
John Mcginn, like a puppet
Pulling strings
They seek him there
Everywhere
Goals on their minds
West Ham fragile as glass
On Sundays
Don’t drop the box
Thursdays and Sundays
Never did make sense
Faulty, dodgy connections
Loose wires
Perhaps still in the land of Nod
First though Freiberg
Communication has to be correct
Before Unai Emery’s
Aston Villa
Test the vulnerable chin
Of David Moyes, West Ham
Doughty band of warriors
On the day of Sunday sermons
Germany though
Calling tonight
Defeat far from shameful
But those disgruntled will
Wallow in a slough of Despond
Miserably supping at what
Might have been
Clouds of amber nectar
Scudding across hang
Dog cheeks, sunken
For a while but never mind
So close but so far
But then again victory
May climb off the ropes
Now that’s another story
Happy Hammers
Once again

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