u/HammersAndPints

Just wanted to give a massive shoutout to our man Edson Álvarez. He’s absolutely bossing it as Mexico's captain right now. Two games, two wins, two clean sheets, and Mexico are the first team officially through to the Round of 32. He also just hit his 101st cap against South Korea. Honestly, after he spent the season out on loan at Fenerbahçe, seeing him look this sharp and confident on the world stage is massive for us. If we are going to push properly for promotion and get back into the Premier League where we belong, keeping a fit, firing, world-class leader like Álvarez in the squad feels essential. Are you lot watching him? Reckon his value is skyrocketing or are you hyped to see him back in a West Ham shirt?

He talked about how he was sitting on the couch with his family when he got the call from Koeman, and they all just broke down celebrating and praying together. He also mentioned watching Sneijder score those crazy goals in 2010 when he was just an 8-year-old, and now he’s actually there representing the Oranje himself. It’s amazing to see our No. 7 out there on the biggest stage in football. Hopefully, he puts on a masterclass tonight and shows the world what he can do!

With the 2026 World Cup officially starting today, I’m building a theme team in Ultimate Team featuring only players who have represented West Ham and been called up to a World Cup. I’ve got the attack sorted with World Cup icons and former heroes, but the midfield is causing me a massive headache. Do I stick with the reliable, high-defensive stats of Tomáš Souček (who is leading Czechia this month), or do I go with Edson Álvarez captaining Mexico?

I spent my entire Thursday night deep watching Series 4 of Shooting Stars and some peak era Never Mind the Buzzcocks from the mid 2000s. No matter how many brilliant new concepts come out, there is a very specific era of British television where everyone just felt a bit more unhinged and less worried about corporate brand safety on screen.

I’ve been going back and forth on whether Essex still makes sense as a place to stay long term, especially with London and Kent both being options not too far away. Part of me likes the balance Essex has, but then I start comparing it with the pull of London or even the quieter feel you get in Kent and it gets hard to decide what actually works better.

Creative Swansea is aiming to bring creatives, organisations, and opportunities together under one hub. If your local creative community had a platform built for it, what would you want most- jobs, networking, showcases, events, collaborations?