Ian Bishop will have split loyalties when his two favourite clubs go head-to-head at London Stadium on Saturday.
The midfielder enjoyed nine seasons in a West Ham United between 1989 and 1998, splitting two spells with Manchester City, playing 284 times in Claret and Blue and becoming a proper cult hero in east London.
The Liverpool-born player now splits his time between the United States, Spain and England, but still keeps close tabs on both of his former sides and is thoroughly looking forward to seeing how the two unbeaten European trophy winners fare when they clash in the Premier League this weekend.
“Coming into 2023/24 off the back of their European victories, it’s been a brilliant start for both West Ham and City,” Bishop observed. “It’s great to see them each coming into this game, unbeaten and sitting in the top four and I’m desperately hoping that I can be at London Stadium for the match.
“The Hammers didn’t do themselves justice in the Premier League last season and now they’re also adjusting to life without Declan Rice – although he’s moved on, the supporters will always appreciate him never letting the Club down, whenever he was wearing Claret and Blue.
“With no-one seemingly coming through the door in the opposite direction, there seemed to be a few moments of panic during the summer but, patient as ever, David Moyes bided his time and, from what we’ve seen so far, he’s gone and done a good job in the market, bringing in Edson Álvarez and James Ward-Prowse, while Mohammed Kudus and Konstantinos Mavropanos also seem set to be really good additions to his squad.”
West Ham have collected ten points by, their 2-1 win at Luton Town aside, sitting in a low block before springing forward faster than any other Premier League team and creating opportunities on the break and through set plays.
City, meanwhile, have adopted their tried and tested possession-based game and won all four of their matches so far, and the stage is set for an interesting clash of styles.
“There doesn’t seem to have been too much change in the playing style, but it’s been working well with the team soaking up pressure and yielding possession, while hitting their opponents quickly with swift counter-attacks,” Bishop continued.
“Some people would describe it as ‘smash and grab’ but there’s so much more to it than that. Teams will always try to find different ways to win, whether that’s pressing, dropping deep or whatever. It’s for managers to come up with new ideas both in the Premier League and in Europe and that’s where we’ve seen David Moyes and Pep Guardiola excel, recently.”
