August 2024 – Under The Hammers

West Ham face the stiffest Premier League test of all when Manchester City are the visitors on Saturday

Last Weekend at Palace

Before last Saturdays game at Selhurst Park I asked the question as to whether more of our summer signings would make the starting eleven. The answer was no. That was disappointing but I guess the head coach either believes they are not ready or he wants to give every chance to existing players to stake a claim. I was unable to see the game so had to make do with highlights. From those I would deduce that both Soucek and especially Bowen took their goals well in the second half, Kilman had yet another excellent game and looks to be a superb acquisition, and Wan-Bissaka too looked very good in the limited time he was on the pitch.

Kilman’s drive forward with the ball and well timed pass showed what a good ball-playing defender can add to a team. And Wan-Bissaka (ironically described as a world class one on one defender but limited going forward – not good enough for Manchester United anyway!) proved doubters wrong with some fine work down the right flank which led to Soucek’s goal.

There seemed to be chances at both ends in the first half with Eze (unluckily hitting the bar with Areola well beaten), Edouard missing a relatively easy chance, and both Antonio and Kudus missing chances where they could have done better.

I would also assume that Health and Safety people will be visiting the ground in view of the barrier that gave way when West Ham fans were celebrating Soucek’s goal. Well done to both Soucek and Bowen for rescuing what could have been a very serious situation.

That was my interpretation of the highlights. What did I miss?

Carabao Cup v Bournemouth

I was disappointed (I suspect not the only one) when the starting line-up was revealed for the Palace game. I had hoped for Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Fullkrug and Summerville to be in the starting eleven in place of Coufal, Mavropanos, Antonio and Soucek. But I am told that Mavropanos had a decent game (benefitting from playing alongside Kilman perhaps), and of course Soucek scored the opening goal so the right result was achieved. An important three points.

The summer signings who have yet to be involved from the start (or had minimal minutes on the pitch) will have been chomping at the bit to show what they can do in the all-Premier League cup tie against Bournemouth. The four I referred to all started in the game. The whole team looked rusty in the first half and it showed that they are not really up to speed yet in many cases. It didn’t improve much (if at all) in the second half until the substitutes appeared.

Wan-Bissaka was the pick of the four for me, I thought that he looked an absolute bargain for £15 million, once again showing attacking qualities as well as well-known defensive ones despite having to fill in at left back. For me he will provide so much more than Coufal. Once again Kilman looked very impressive. Alvarez was right on the ball from the off. For everyone else I’ll reserve judgement for the time being, although I thought that Coufal, Soucek and Mavropanos had very poor games.

Incredibly this is a competition that we have never won (although we have come close) yet in theory it is possibly the easiest trophy to lift with just a few wins needed to reach a Wembley final. Traditionally clubs field weakened teams in the earlier rounds to keep squad players happy and with the stronger squad that we appear to have assembled this time around you would hope that we would not be too disadvantaged, but at times in this game our team played like strangers who hadn’t played together (which I guess was the case!).

Bournemouth were rightly aggrieved to go out of the competition in the way that they did. After being robbed of a win last Sunday against Newcastle when VAR controversially disallowed a winner which went in off a shoulder, they would almost certainly have been saved by VAR this time, except it wasn’t in operation. Bowen was probably offside when the ball went in (it seemed) off his elbow, but neither of the two reasons that VAR would have found to disallow the goal were spotted by the officials and hence we went into the next round after a game that gave us little to get excited about.

The controversy doesn’t end there though. Winning the tie meant that we were ‘rewarded’ with a trip to Anfield in the next round, after a ‘rigged’ draw kept all the sides playing in the Champions League and Europa League apart. I remember the days when draws for domestic cup competitions were purely random! And don’t get me started about the draw for the Champions League and the other European competitions. To accommodate 36 teams in the Champions League which means more games (189 up from 125) and added revenue (£4.1 billion up from £3.1 billion) the draw for the new format (where ‘every game counts’) with a league phase replacing the traditional group games, was done using Artificial Intelligence. Apparently if the draw had been done in the traditional manual way with people unscrewing plastic balls taken from a bowl, it would have taken four hours with 1000 different balls in 36 bowls!

Historical memories of games v Manchester City

We have faced Manchester City 17 times in the Premier League since we last beat them in September 2015. Moses and Sakho put us 2-0 up in the first half that day before De Bruyne pulled one back just before half time. But we held on for a 2-1 win. Cresswell, Antonio and De Bruyne are the only survivors from that day that remain in the squads today. We did beat them 5-3 on Penalties in a League Cup tie in 2021 after drawing 0-0, and we have managed draws at Upton Park in 2016 and at the London Stadium in 2020 and 2022.

Back in March 1996 Niall Quinn deprived me of £400 in the fixture at Upton Park. City were a softer touch around that time and I had placed a £5 bet at 80-1 on us beating them 4-1 in the game. Unfortunately, Quinn scored with the last kick of the game and it ended 4-2! I should have repeated the bet four years later when, despite being 1-0 down at half time at Upton Park, we ran out 4-1 winners with goals from Lomas, Sinclair, Pearce, and a 90th minute penalty converted by Di Canio. But I didn’t.

In December 1994 Tony Cottee scored a hat trick in a 3-0 win at Upton Park. A year earlier in November 1993 we beat them 3-1 with goals from Burrows, Chapman and Matty Holmes. I remember that game as one of the first I can recall on Monday Night Football on Sky – it came shortly after Julian Dicks joined Liverpool in a swap deal which involved full back David Burrows and Mike Marsh coming to West Ham. To add some power to the forward line Lee Chapman was bought from Portsmouth.

A memory from the 1980s from September 1982 – at Upton Park we beat City 4-1 (that score has featured a few times hasn’t it in history) – Sandy Clark notched a brace (do you remember him?), Paul Goddard and our skilful Belgian Francois Van der Elst scored the goals.

In March 1970 we were struggling in the league and were 17th in the table. A new goalscorer was needed and one arrived when a swap deal was arranged with Tottenham as Martin Peters joined Spurs and the legendary Jimmy Greaves arrived at Upton Park. Greaves first game was at Maine Road in pouring rain on a mudbath of a pitch and was covered by Match of the Day in the days when only one game was shown on the programme. Greaves scored twice, Geoff Hurst scored twice and Ronnie Boyce scored from 50 yards volleying back City keeper Joe Corrigan’s kick from his penalty area straight into the net. An unforgettable game.

My memory stretches back even further to the 1962-63 season. We met fellow strugglers (we were 19th at the time) Manchester City early in the season (September) and beat them 6-1 at Maine Road. We faced them again on the final day of the season and again beat them 6-1 to relegate them from the top-flight. We had improved as the season progressed and finished twelfth.

Although City were co-founders of the initial Premier League when it was created in 1992 (they finished ninth in the first season) they then struggled and were relegated in 1996 – the season I referred to earlier writing about the late Niall Quinn goal – I won’t forgive him! After two seasons they then fell to the lowest point in their history when they were relegated to the third tier. Younger fans will find it hard to believe that City were that low at the end of the twentieth century, just a quarter of a century ago.

This Saturday’s Game v Manchester City

Of course facing the modern Manchester City is an entirely different proposition to the fixtures against them in the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s that I highlighted above. The revival began at the turn of the century and following purchase by the Abu Dhabi Group in 2008 they have gone from strength to strength with massive investment.

Following the appointment of Pep Guardiola in 2016 they have achieved unprecedented success. In the seven seasons from 2017 to 2024 they have won six league titles and finished second once. In 2022-23 they achieved the treble of Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League. In short, they are almost unbeatable and, as I wrote earlier we haven’t beaten them in our last 17 attempts in the Premier League going back nine years.

They already top the Premier League after just two games this season following a comfortable 2-0 win at Chelsea and then beating newcomers Ipswich 4-1 last Saturday. Six points and six goals already – Haaland has four of them. He has also scored four times in four league games against us and is an obvious danger once again, although they are so strong throughout the team, we will have to be at the very top of our game and hope they are below par to stand any chance.

Once our newcomers have bedded in I have no doubt that we will be a stronger team (and have a stronger squad) than we have been in under the previous manager. However, these are still early days and perhaps it would have been better for us to face the stiffest test of all in the Premier League after more time together. Undoubtedly we have some excellent attacking players – let’s hope for an early season surprise on Saturday. Bookmakers don’t think there will be. We are quoted at about 6/1 to win the game with City at 1/3 and the draw at 4/1. Can we defy the odds? We’ll need to improve considerably on our performances in the past week to do so.

Having Sunk Below Par Eagles West Ham Look To Cherry Pick EFL Cup Success

After an unexpected three points last Saturday, the Hammers set off on the path to Carabao Cup glory with the visit of AFC Bournemouth to the London Stadium

Picking up the first points of the new Premier League season last Saturday came as a huge relief. With only the annual slaughter at the hands of Manchester City standing between zero points and the first of the interminable international breaks, it was a perfect time to put them on the board. With West Ham facing a ninth consecutive league defeat at the Etihad, it could be time to add a charge of bullying to the 115 others faced by City.

The build up at Selhurst Park was again dominated by a sense of disbelief that Julen Lopetegui had named the same starting eleven which struggled to impress the previous weekend. It was largely the same side who had been soundly humiliated at the same venue just four months previously. At this rate it is shaping up to be the slowest transformation of football style in recorded history with the majority of summer signings continuing to kick their heels on the bench. And with wonderkid Luis Guilherme nowhere to be seen.

If the personnel looked familiar, then the display was similarly reminiscent of the Scottish manager’s early period. By that I mean the more enterprising days of swift counter attacking rather than the dour cautious fare that typified its long, painful death. This season’s performances are not yet the high press, possession based football promised on the tin – but neither has it been the dreadful low block and ten man defensive shield. And a precious away win will invariably forgive many sins.

The hosts had ended last season on a roll and might have expected to find themselves among the early pace setters when the opening fixtures were announced. As it is, they are one of five clubs yet to open their 2024/25 accounts. The departure of Olise has been a big loss and while Eze was the standout creative force of the first half, he is now operating as a one-man band.

The two West Ham summer signings that did make it into Lopetegui’s starting eleven both put in top class performances. Some felt the club had overpaid for Max Kilman but on the evidence of Saturday’s contribution it looks like money well spent. The carry out of defence to set up the second goal for Jarrod Bowen was a thing of beauty and simplicity. His defensive dominance rubbing off on centre-back partner Dinos Mavropanos who put in another sound shift and delay the introduction of Jean-Clair Todibo. The Greek could turn out to be a valuable squad member if he continues to keep the unforced errors to a minimum.

After seeming to be well off the pace in his debut against Aston Villa, Guido Rodriguez put in a far more settled performance to demonstrate his experience and competence in anchoring the midfield. The return from injury of Edson Alvarez as a second half substitute highlighting Lopetegui’s growing selection dilemmas – especially in the midfield areas. Even allowing for injuries, suspensions and option for squad rotation according to opposition it will be a challenge to find the right balance and keep everyone happy.

While Rodriguez and Alvarez would provide a formidable defensive midfield partnership who will take responsibility for directing midfield operations? Or will they not be played as a pair or double pivot? Will Lucas Paqueta be deployed in a deeper lying role and can he add better decision making to the undoubted crowd pleasing flicks and tricks? And what of Tomas Soucek? The Czech’s contribution is a perfect enigma. Useful for his defensive height and his late runs into the attacking third he offers virtually nothing in the areas inbetween. His goal attempts count is almost as high as his number of successful passes.

Attacking options are similarly confused – in both a good and bad way. Surely the pain of watching Michail Antonio flounder upfront has to put to a humane end sooner rather than later. His attributes of pace, strength and power have been useful in their day but are no longer relevant or as effective as they once were. The alternatives are more game time for Niclas Fullkrug, the signing of A N Other before the transfer window closes (not Tammy Abraham please) or playing without a recognised front man. A False 9 in modern parlance.

It is perhaps the ultimate dilemma that two of the squad’s best players – Bowen and Mohammed Kudus – are at their most effective from the same position wide on the right. I can’t believe the coach has reached the conclusion that Kudus is best deployed hugging the left touchline. It both reduces his effectiveness and keeps a natural alternative in “Jimmy” Summerville out of the mix. Kudus has to play, but where? A central role could be ideal but would require Paqueta to played much deeper.

On top of all this we have the closing days of the transfer window where – if the internet is to be believed – the Hammers continue to chase further signings, as well as shiftingout a number of players considered to be surplus to requirements.

Before all that happens West Ham face the ignominy of having to compete in the second round of the Carabao cup for the first time since 2020. Theoretically, the less glamourous League Cup offers West Ham their smoothest route to domestic glory but is a trophy that has so far eluded their grasp. With no European competition to muddy the waters, could this be an opportunity for a first EFL final since 1981?

Being drawn against Premier League opposition is not ideal at this stage of the competition. And we must wait to see how seriously the respective managers approach the game. It has become custom and practice – for unaccountable reasons in my opinion – to field weakened teams and it will be interesting to see if that happens tonight. At least Lopetegui has a stronger squad to pick from and it is an opportunity for several summer signings to get a full ninety minute run-out. It would be no surprise to see Todibo, Guileherme, Summerville, Fullkrug and mabe Lewis Orford and Oliver Scarles from the academy getting an outing.

The EFL Cup Final will be played on 16 March 2025. Put it in your diaries. COYI!

Will more of the summer signings make the starting eleven when West Ham travel to Selhurst Park this weekend?

Collins English Dictionary – “Inevitable” (adjective) – unavoidable, sure to happen, so regular as to be predictable, inescapable, certain, sure, fated, destined.

Take your pick. There were three things that many thought were inevitable in our first game of the season at home to Aston Villa last Saturday. Firstly, we would lose. I was optimistic prior to the game and hoped for a win as always, but past performances of the first game of a Premier League season already had us well clear at the top of the table for having zero points from the opener. It has happened so regularly as to be predictable.

Secondly, Duran might score the winning goal. As I wrote last week prior to the Villa game – “We’ve already had one Duran score against us this season (for Celta Vigo), let’s hope that Villa’s Colombian Duran doesn’t do the same on Saturday after all the early transfer window shenanigans”. When he came on (like many others) I just had the feeling … His cameo certainly showed the type of player we missed out on by not meeting Villa’s demands early in the transfer window.

Thirdly, that Paqueta would be booked. You could have bet on it – I wonder how many did? He was on the very edge of receiving a second yellow card too.

I was disappointed (I suspect not the only one) when the starting line-up was revealed. I hoped for Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Fullkrug and Summerville to be in the starting eleven in place of Coufal, Mavropanos, Antonio and Soucek but the manager thought otherwise (that’s his prerogative – he knows how ready the players are; he stands or falls by his decisions). To be fair I thought Mavropanos had a decent game but I wasn’t impressed with the other three that I had hoped would be on the bench.

So be it. Whilst not a massive fan of figures, the statistics of the game showed that we were virtually on a par with our (Champions League qualified) visitors in shots (14-15), shots on target (3-3), possession (51%-49%), passes (400-395), and pass accuracy (84%-84%). Considering Villa’s dominance in the first 25 minutes where they could have scored more than one it does show how we did improve as the game went on. I could certainly see why the manager wanted to buy Kilman who I thought was very impressive. Of West Ham players he had the most touches (82), passes completed (58), carries (55), clearances (7), interceptions (2), and blocks (2) whilst also being second with progressive passes (5), ball recoveries (5) and tackles won (2).

Despite the statistics Villa deserved to win, possibly because of superior tactics. They recognised that Coufal was perhaps the weak link, pushed their midfield attackers forward centrally to force our full backs narrow, and then used Digne and latterly Maatsen to exploit the width on their left (our right). Their winning goal was an excellent team move that Duran finished with a low shot straight through Areola. Their first goal was partly Antonio losing his man and Areola not commanding the goal area as perhaps he should.

Kudus stood out as our best player but to me he is not ideally suited to playing on the left. He’s so talented he could play in any forward position I reckon but I’d like to see him in the middle of the 3 behind the main striker (number 10 role). Summerville is perfect for the left side role to complement Bowen on the right.

Onwards and upwards (hopefully) we visit Palace this weekend who share an equal position in the inaugural league table with us, having lost their opener 2-1 at Brentford. I watched that game and thought that they were unlucky to lose. Eze’s superb free kick was disallowed (wrongly the referee bravely admitted afterwards) and Brentford went down the other end almost immediately went ahead with a free flowing move which was finished well by Mbuemo.

Palace equalised early in the second half and began to dominate coming close to going ahead. Wharton was impressive, (surprisingly to me he was an unused member of the England squad in the Euros) and was running the game but (surprisingly to me again) was withdrawn with 15 minutes to go. Co-incidentally (or not?) Brentford notched the winner a couple of minutes later. Palace should have capitalised when they were dominating and came close to an equaliser but Brentford held on for what I thought was an unexpected and unlikely victory.

Guehi, widely regarded as one of the best centre backs around, played well at the heart of the Palace defence throughout but is the subject of transfer speculation. I wonder if he will still be there by the time of our visit. They do have some outstanding players. In addition to Guehi, Eze always looks impressive to me, Wharton likes to control the midfield and I think will develop into an excellent player, and Mateta is a dangerous striker. Olise left for Bayern Munich in the summer so he won’t trouble us any more.

Palace are one of those teams against whom we have a superior record in head-to- head encounters in history but in recent times we have not been dominant – in fact we have only beaten them twice in the last eleven meetings. Our last four visits to Selhurst Park have been goal feasts with 24 goals scored in those games. In January 2021 we beat them 3-2, repeating the score the following January. Then in April 2023 we lost the game 4-3 and then just a few months ago last April (2024) we were comprehensively beaten (slaughtered really!) 5-2.

One of my favourite memories of visiting Selhurst Park was a 3-0 victory there in October 1971 when Ade Coker, making his debut scored one of the goals with Clyde Best and Billy Bonds netting the others. Conversely, one of my least favourite memories of playing Palace was the trip to Cardiff for the Play-Off final in 2004 when a goal from Neil Shipperley beat us. The journey back was slow and painful.

Two great goals to remember in games against Palace – Payet’s magnificent free kick in our final season at Upton Park in a game that ended 2-2. Definitely one of the great free kicks. Also Andy Carroll’s stunning overhead kick the following season (our first at the London Stadium) in a 3-0 victory.

Like ourselves Palace will want to bounce back quickly from the opening day defeat. They ended last season winning five of their last six games including victories over Newcastle, Manchester United and Aston Villa scoring 20 goals in that run-in. They will be disappointed that they didn’t hit the ground running this time.

My hope is that with another week for the new players to become accustomed to their new surroundings and their new colleagues more of them will be in the starting eleven this weekend, especially Wan-Bissaka, Todibo, Summerville and Fullkrug.

Lopetegui’s New Look West Ham Fall At First Hurdle In Invincible Stakes

A surprisingly tentative approach to blooding new signings and a competent Aston Villa opponent take the wind from the sails of optimism that had been blowing around the London Stadium

It was not the result we had wanted to kick-off an exciting new era at the London Stadium, although it was not too far away from what many had expected. The phrase ‘there’s still work to be done’ is likely to become a well-worn one over the next few weeks as new players are introduced, and the intricacies of a new style of play ironed out.

There were few clues on the extent of the work outstanding following Saturday’s outing in the season opener as Julen Lopetegui’s team selection baffled supporters and observers alike. Excluding so many of the new signings from the starting eleven was a huge surprise. Had Edson Alvarez not been injured it is quite feasible that Maxi40milian Kilman would have been the sole debutant on show. The coach may have felt he needed to show loyalty to the squad members he inherited, but is it not counter-productive when the aim is to have your best players performing as a cohesive unit in as short a time as possible?

It was disheartening to discover that the likes of Vladimir Coufal, Tomas Soucek, and Michail Antonio would be starting on Saturday. Each have had respectable West Ham careers, but it is impossible to imagine them as part of the bright new future, except in a backup capacity. The omission of Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Jean-Clair Todibo was equally baffling. Both had completed a full pre-season and were presumably raring to get their first taste of football with the Hammers.

With a reliance on the old guard, not much was revealed on the evidence of Satrurday’s game as to how Lopetegui expects his team structure, formation and tactics to evolve. The low block had disappeared, a higher defensive line was apparent and there was some attempt to move the ball forward by passing rather than quick transitions and long balls. However, there was little in the way of pressing, the front players rarely intercated with each other, too much space was conceded through the centre and the role of the full backs was ambiguous.

Some of those deficiencies may have be down to the personnel involved but others suggest the system is far from fully understood. If the intention was to prevent opponents attacking through the middle it did not work. Villa’s runners repeatedly sliced through what passed as the midfield defensive shield. And was the narrow back four a carry over from last season’s set-up or is it an intentional Lopetegui tactic? Either way it presented far too much space for Villa to exploit down the flanks. Although it was positive that Jarrod Bowen and Mohammed weren’t expected to operate as auxiliary defenders, the resulting space was an obvious weakness.

Saturday’s game was not completely one sided, but Aston Villa were easily the better side and deserved winners. They made better use of their possession, were more incisive and ramped up the majority of the presentable goalscoring opportunities. The opening goal was fully down to Alphonse Areola in my opinion – if a keeper is not going to take responsibility for that part of his six yard box then who is?

For a while it appeared that the visitors might run away with the game, such was their dominance. A disjointed Hammers attack had got little change from the Villa defence until Matty Cashed a West Ham Czech to concede a borderline penalty. I’m not a fan of the stuttering penalty technique but Lucas Paqueta despatched the spot kick with aplomb.

All square at the break, the equaliser had the effect of boosting the Hammer’s confidence and postponing what would surely have been a couple of half-time substitutions. Ultimately, it was surprising how late the substitutions were delayed in the context of an evenly balanced scoreline and a game that available to win.

In fact, it was Unai Emery who made the first moves to introduce fresh legs and when Jhon Duran replaced Ollie Watkins you just knew that the immutable laws of football consequences would contrive to ensure that he scored the winner. And a very well worked goal it was with three substitutes combining in a quick passing move that once again exploited the space conceded down the Hammer’s right flank.

West Ham had a few opportunities to snatch a draw in the closing exchanges despite an apparent lack of urgency as the minutes ticked away. The closest efforts were a Danny Ings header and a near range Soucek miss – which may have attracted the attention of VAR for a foul had he completed the simple task of putting the ball in the net rather than ballooning it over the bar.

Kudus was the standout man for the Hammers. What a player he is! From an end product perspective, he is wasted wide on the left where the option to cut inside and shoot for goal is restricted. ‘Jimmy’ Summerville is a ready made replacement for that position and looked very bright when he was introduced late on. Kilman had a steady game as did Dinos Mavropanos although the latter will surely make way for Todibo by next Saturday. Bowen was very quiet by his own standards (and is a strange choice for skipper in my opinion) while Coufal and Antonio were the weakest links. Have to say I didn’t really notice the work of Guido Rodriquez other than his speed of movement was towards the sluggish end of the spectrum. A penny for his thoughts on his Premier League debut.

Lopetegui had little to offer in his post-match interview comments. To say that the team must ‘keep doing the good things and improve on the bad things’ is an obvious everyday mantra for each and every coach. Still, it is only one game, and we weren’t expecting miracles anyway. The major disappointment was the decision to stick with the old guard instead of introduing new recruits or youth players. With more tough games on the horizon, the direction of travel needs to be more obvious even if the points tally remains modest during the opening weeks.

Player Ratings: Areola (5), Coufal (4), Kilman (7), Mavropanos (6), Emerson (5), Rodriguez (5), Soucek (5), Bowen (5), Paqueta (5), Kudus (8), Antonio (4). Subs: Fullkrug (5), Summerville (6), Ward-Prowse (5), Ings & Todibo (N/A)

With the transfer window still open, speculation is unlikley to dry up over its remaining days. Further ins and outs are highly possible. It is clear an additional striker option is badly needed (as long as its isn’t Tammy Abraham). Although I was not convinced a player like Duran could be relied upon as the sole striker in the squad he would be a great acquisition now that Fullkrug has also signed. The other significant gap for me is someone capable of carrying the ball forward at pace in midfield. It is a skillset currently missing anywhere in the squad.

Onward and upward then. It’s no time to panic but we must see the new signings bedded into the team starting from the very next game. COYI!

Here We Go Again – Season 67 as a West Ham Fan begins with a 5.30 kick off on Saturday for the visit of Aston Villa

It all began for me on Saturday 23^rd August 1958. 1958-59 was the first football season I remember. West Ham had just been promoted from the second division and I believe this was the first time back in the top-flight since the 1930s. After 6 games we were on top with a win and a draw against the champions from the previous season Wolves and a win against runners up Manchester United. It was a successful campaign finishing sixth, a feat we have only bettered twice since.

This season will be my 67^th as a fan and I’m looking forward just as much as ever to see what it will bring. We were warned to be careful what we wished for but I am hoping for a more enterprising brand of football than that we have witnessed in the last couple of years. The appointment of a head coach who had been in charge at Seville, Real Madrid and the Spanish national team was not especially welcomed by many but I am happy to wait and see. I hope that he can deliver a more progressive style of football than his predecessor. I read some statistics (which I have not verified) which suggested that Moyes has a better goals scored per game record than Lopetegui, but concedes more goals per game on average than our new Spanish boss. Whatever, it was time for something different.

The recruitment in the close season after a sluggish start has picked up in the past couple of weeks (with eight new recruits at the time of writing and perhaps one or two more to come if some existing players can be moved on) and on paper it would appear we have a much better, bigger, (younger? I’m not sure) and more balanced squad than the previous manager had left. Tim Steidten would seem to have done a superb job bringing in the likes of the Championship player of last season, an Argentinian World Cup winner, a current German international centre forward, a highly rated French international centre back, and the head coach’s number 1 pick from Wolves into the squad. Guilherme has also arrived from Brazil with a big reputation (and price tag considering his experience) but he would appear to be one for the future, we shall see.

All the new recruits have joined us without the prospect of European competition this season. The lack of the Thursday / Sunday fixtures should however be an advantage in one respect though given the reduced number of games to play – our record in Sunday games (partly due I suspect due to the small size of the squad) was poor last time. Ten Thursday games in Europe were followed by just two wins on the following Sunday. Perhaps with a fresher and bigger squad we can have a better tilt at the domestic cup competitions than of late.

Of course, this is on paper (and as Brian Clough and others have said the game is not played on paper). It remains to be seen how quickly the new boss can integrate the players into a cohesive unit. Many fans writing on social media are perhaps going a little overboard expecting a challenge for Champions League places but I believe that this may be a little premature. It would be great of course but it is likely to take time for the team to produce consistent results with so many new faces at once.

I am especially excited by Summerville who looked superb when I watched Leeds games on TV last season. He should hopefully provide the balance on the left that has been missing. With Bowen on the right and Kudus perhaps in a central ‘number 10’ role behind a goalscoring centre forward then our attacking threat should be potent and balanced. We have a number of alternatives in midfield – let’s hope that Paqueta can show his skills and best form alongside whoever plays there, probably Rodriguez to begin with while Alvarez is out. Unlike many fans (it would appear) I am a fan of JWP but he is likely to struggle to make the starting eleven such is the depth of the squad in the middle. For the times he does get onto the pitch I hope he rediscovers his free kick shots on goal speciality.

The central defence looks more solid than before with Kilman and the highly rated Todibo, and Wan-Bissaka should hopefully be an upgrade on Coufal, certainly in a defensive sense where he is highly regarded especially in one-on-one situations facing attacking wingers. Hopefully as a result we can improve considerably on our poor goals conceded record – the worst in the Premier League after the three relegated clubs. 74 was the biggest number we have ever conceded in the Premier League and the most ever since 1966-67! I’ve seen last season’s defence described as Swiss cheese – very apt.

The club were hoping that Zouma, last season’s strange choice as captain, could be offloaded to Saudi Arabia saving around £7million in wages. His legs seemed to have gone some time ago and it was no surprise when he ironically failed the CAT scan!

The squad as a whole should give us a much stronger bench than Moyes’ thin numbers could ever achieve, and I wondered if any of the promising youngsters would find their way into it. There were high hopes for three or four of them to do so, but with the strength in depth that we are likely to have it seems that there may be loans to lower league clubs to ensure that they gain experience that they would not have if they stayed this season.

In his relatively short time at the club the new head coach has completely managed to revamp the team from front to back with just days to spare before the new campaign gets underway. A big improvement on previous campaigns where late arrivals in the transfer window after the season had already begun was the order of the day. Nevertheless not a lot of time for the players to gel as a team and it may take a while before we see the best of the new recruits.

Where will we finish? Last season we were ninth so with the changes and investment we’ve got to hope for an improvement. Seventh or eighth perhaps or even better pushing for a place in Europe the following season. And wouldn’t it be great to have long runs in both the League and FA Cups with perhaps a trip to Wembley in one or the other (or both!)?

The season may well turn out to be a transitional one but I’m hoping for visible progress, a desire to retain the ball and not give it away so cheaply, and football that is better to watch than it has been for the past couple of years. I fear that if it takes too long for the team to adapt to Lopetegui’s methods then the fans will get restless. We’ve got to be patient and allow some time for it all to come together.

Aston Villa, newly qualified for the Champions League, will be a stiff test for the first game. We’ve already had one Duran score against us this season (for Celta Vigo), let’s hope that Villa’s Colombian Duran doesn’t do the same on Saturday after all the early transfer window shenanigans! Some fans have complained about our pre-season performances and results but I seem to recall that we had a poor lead into the 1985-86 season where we achieved our best ever finish. Conversely in the Avram Grant year the pre-season went quite well. It’s not always a good indicator of what is to follow, especially this year with the late returners from international football and also the late transfer incomings. Aston Villa have also lost a number of games pre-season too by the way.

So here we go again. My prediction for the starting line-up: Areola, Wan-Bissaka, Kilman, Todibo, Emerson; Rodriguez, Paqueta: Bowen, Kudus, Summerville: Fullkrug. That would mean just five of last year’s regulars added to six newcomers.

That leaves a bench to be chosen from the following: Fabianski, Coufal, Aguerd, Mavropanos, Cresswell, Irving, Soucek, JWP, Guilherme, Ings, Antonio, Cornet plus any of our promising youngsters who haven’t been loaned out. Hopefully I haven’t forgotten anyone. I’m not used to a full squad!

The new head coach may have other ideas, but whatever team is selected I’m excited and looking forward to season 67 as much as my first back in 1958. Who knows what we have in store? I’ll start this year’s score forecasts with a 2-1 win.

West Ham Season 2024/25: Hopes, Dreams and Expectations

It’s the most wonderful time of the year. But in the wake of the big kick-off will it be the hap-happiest season of all for the Hammers?

The numbers are in, the deals are done, and the collection of new home, away and 3^rd kits have been revealed. Now it’s time to get down to the nitty gritty business of the 2024/25 curtain raiser.

It will be a team of virtual strangers who take the field for West Ham at the London Stadium late on Saturday afternoon and then into the opening games of the new campaign. At best the coach’s preferred starting eleven will comprise only five or six survivors from last year’s ever presents. It is an unprecedented level of change usually only seen when a newly promoted club is desperately seeking to consolidate its place in the top flight. The extent of renewal that was necessary in the squad is a sad indictment of the mess left by the previous managerial incumbent. I still have to scratch my head when I read comments as to how he left the club in a good position, was underappreciated, or will be sorely missed. I trust I never have to witness a West Ham low block ever again.

On paper, the work done by Julen Lopetegui and Tim Steidten to refresh the squad on a tightish budget – without little in the way of saleable assets – looks impressive. How that translates onto the pitch will only become apparent over time. Once the players have become familiar with each other and the new style of play. A possession based game not only requires players to be comfortable on the ball but also needs far more movement off the ball than we have been used to. Attempting to play out from the back without at least a couple of passing options would be courting disaster.

The modern football supporter needs to understand finance and the intricacies of PSR and FFP as much as getting to grips with formations and tactics. While the media focuses mainly on transfer spend, the impact of player salaries cannot be overlooked. As an example, the recent transfer of Aaron Wan-Bissaka has been reported as £15 million (amortised at £3 million per annum over 5 years) while his earnings might well be in the range of £3.5 to £4 million (my estimate) for each of the seven years of his contract. Quite a commitment.

Views on the West Ham board are rarely positive but it is difficult not to be impressed by the sumer investment. And this time the spending looks to have been undertaken in a reasoned manner. In the past money has been spent, but unwisely. The current estimate of the club’s net transfer spend this window is £85.1 million. So what do we now have for the money?

The assumption is that Alphonse Areola will retain the keeper’s gloves with Lukasz Fabianski as deputy. Poor old Wes Foderingham will become the forgotten man of the transfer window like leftover Toffee Pennys in the Quality Street box at the end of the Christmas holidays. If there is a concern with the keepers, it is how well they can adapt to the passing out game having become so used to hoofing it long during their West Ham careers. Neither look the most comfortable with the ball at their feet.

With the exception of Emerson it will an all new back line. New recruits Wan-Bissaka, Max Kilman and Jean-Clair Todibo making up the defensive quartet. The two full backs offer very different styles of play and it will be interesting to see how they are integrated into the Lopetegui’s system. We may well witness a great deal more fluidity in formation than in the past with Wan-Bissaka dropping into the centre a lot more often than he is bombing down the flanks. Todibo is an exciting prospect who will hopefully adjust quickly to the physical demands of the Premier League. There has already been a little negativity over Kilman (and the price paid for him) on the strength of a few kick-about friendlies but it is obviously far too early to draw any conclusions.

Backup defenders are in short supply. Vladimir Coufal and Aaron Cresswell can provide emergency cover as full backs but the situation in the centre is more confused. Both Kurt Zouma and Nayef Aguerd are being ushered towards the exits while Dinos Mavropanos has proven accident prone inmost of the games he has played. If one or more are shifted, then there is still time to bring in another centre-back. Of those still being linked I like the sound of Nathan Zeze. Who wouldn’t want to nip down to the club shop to buy a Zeze top?

From what we have seen in pre-season, West Ham will be adopting a high defensive line. This will requires pace and alertness to deal with the ball over the top. In this respect, the Kilman – Todibo partnership will be key to plugging the leaks in the Hammer’s defence.

Defensive midfield duties will fall primarily to Edson Alvarez and Guido Rodriguez although we don’t yet know whether Lopetegui sees them playing as a pair of as cover for each other’s suspensions. At least one must remain deep to provide numerical support to the centre backs. I expect plenty of variation in the midfield while, in practice, most progressive sides now attack and defend as a team rather than being setup in rigid formations. Maybe Lucas Paqueta will also be deployed deeper in certain games where circumstances dictate.

Remaining candidates for defensive midfield duties are Tomas Soucek, James Ward-Prowse and potentially Andy Irving – provided they survive the transfer window cull. None have the look of regular starters to me but can make valuable contributions from the bench.

Attacking midfield provides the greatest selection conundrum with Paqueta, Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus, and “Jimmy” Summerville competing for three starting berths – with Luis Guilherme waiting in the wings to get Premier League minutes under his belt. Finding the right balance will be a challenge, especially in getting the best out of Kudus who (until now) has looked at his least effective when deployed on the left. But it would be a huge call to play him in place of Bowen or Paqueta on the right or in the centre resepctively.

This leaves finding a way to accommodate Summerville who is the one player capable of thriving out left while also contributing a decent goal return. It’s great to have option as long as the coach is able to keep everybody happy.

The signing of Niclas Füllkrug is the one that has most divided opinion among supporters, largely based on an apparent lack of pace. If the most pessimistic reports are to be believed he ranks somewhere between a snail and a glacier in speed of movement. He may not be a glamourous squad addition, but Lopetegui and Steidten clearly favoured experience over the potential of unproven alternatives. Hopefully attributes of strength, anticipation and instinct will see him make a valuable contribution in an exciting attacking line-up. It’s not only about pace!

There are outstanding decisions to be made on the futures of Michail Antonio and Danny Ings. One is likely to leave before the window closes. For me, Antonio still has something different to offer if he is happy to stick around in the role of impact sub. Ideally, I would still like to see an additional (younger) striker brought in as backup using any additional funds freed up by shipping out fringe players.

Hopes for the season are for West Ham to be in with a shout for the European places come the end of the season. A cup run would also be nice. So much will depend on how long the new look team and tactics take to hit the ground. Offensively we should be capable of causing any opponent problems but cutting out the mistakes and the giveaways further back may take more time to eradicate. I can foresee plenty of gnashing of teeth in the opening weeks where a keeper mis-controls or a defender earns the assist for an opposition goal.

Overall, I am excited for the new season. Then again, the opening day is always the time of peak optimism. Typically, the optimism doesn’t survive past August Bank Holiday but who knows? This could be the start of something big. COYI!

West Ham Monday Briefing: “Florida Threes”, “Disconnecting Flights” and the “Shape of Things To Come”

As the countdown to the season opener continues, West Ham transfer frenzy steps up to new levels while friendly displays fail to impress

As the unofficial curator of the West Ham transfer links list, it is my duty to wade through the daily slurry of stories on the news feeds to keep up to date with the latest rumours. For the record, the list of targets has now risen to an impressive 140, of which just four have turned into confirmed deals.

The latest trend for any aspiring rumour site wishing to stand out from the crowd of recycled news is to include an apparent quote at the beginning of your headline. Not an honest “We haven’t got a clue what’s going on, mate” or ‘Your guess is as good as mine” but a more teasing “Have been told” or “Deal on the cards” tag – the written equivalent of tapping ones nose to suggests a level of reliable insider knowledge.

One of the more intriguing snippets of in-he-know-ness this week was hidden among Friday’s news where it was claimed Inter Milan were ‘plotting a Saturday phone call’ with a view to hijack West Ham’s bid for Aaron Wan-Bissaka. Surely that’s the sort of information that only comes to light through undercover surveillance.

There is a tipping point in transfer pursuits when you start to get the feeling that this deal is just not going to happen. The Wan-Bissaka story is getting very close to that. Chances of a signing are following the same trajectory previoulsy seen with Jhon Duran. Time to look elsewhere, I think, for an upgrade to the rapidly diminishing powers of Vladimir Coufal.

There has of course been a signficant further signing in the last seven days with the recruitment of Crysencio Summerville from Leeds United. It represents an exciting addition to the squad and has led to plenty of speculation as to how and where the coach will deploy him alongside Jarrod Bowen, Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Paqueta and the promised new striker. It’s a lineup that suggests rapid and direct attacks rather than the composed possession and patient build up that Julen Lopetegui is known for.

Expectations are also high for the imminent signings of striker Niclas Füllkrug from Borussia Dortmund and free agent defensive midfielder Guido Rodríguez, formerly of Real Betis. Should those come to fruition the remaining top priorities will be at right back and centre back where the squad is highly exposed. Strengthening the defensive midfield areas may help stem the tide but last season’s leaky defence continues to have significant gaps to plug throigh an injection of speed, strength, mobility and awareness. Although the desire to find ball-playing defenders is understandable, their core competency must still be the art of defending.

When the Füllkrug story broke last week, it was reported that Tim Steidten was immediately flying from Florida to Germany to agree terms with club and player. While at the same time, Füllkrug was said to be boarding a charted jet taking him from Germany to London. No wonder these deals take such a long time to complete!

The prospect of a sizeable fee being paid for a 31-year-old striker has been met with a degree of negativity online. While someone younger may have been ideal, Füllkrug looks s less risky bet to me than the unproven Duran. The downside, of course, it the absence of a resale value at the end of his contract. But if Füllkrug can reproduce his Dortmund form both with his goals and by acting as a foil for the exciting talent behind him, he could turn out to be an inspired choice.

Should Füllkrug join Summerville at the London Stadium it would be a rare venture by West Ham into signing northern European players. Previous experiences with Dutch (Jeroen Boere, Marco Boogers, Raymond Atteveld) and German (Thilo Kehrer, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Savio Nsereko) players have never managed to reach the heights. Better luck this time, perhaps!

The Hammers ended their Florida pre-season schedule with a second successive 3-1 defeat, this time to Crystal Palace, who are fast becoming something of a bogey side. The value of participating in pre-season tournaments such as these has to be questionable. What is the point and what can be learned from them? The West Ham starting eleven contained just three players certain to be lining up against Aston Villa in just under two weeks’ time.

From what we saw it is hard to disagree with Lopetegui’s assessment that there is a lot of work still to do. That would apply equally if all the first-choice players had been available. Those returning from international duty have yet to feature in any pre-season fixtures, while others likely to start on August 17 have yet to sign for the club. Modern football has become increasingly structured with team shape and individual positions – both in and out of possession – repeatedly drilled into players over time. This is going to take more than a couple of extra weeks to get right. And there are sure to be a collection of howlers and calamities as the players get to grips with the idea of playing out from the back.

We don’t yet know exactly how Lopetegui plans to set up his side. Conventional wisdom has been that he prefers rampaging full-backs to provide width and pump in crosses. But the full-backs he has are not really equipped for that role. Such a tactic would also impact the way that Bowen and Summerville prefer to play. I’m sure the coach has a plan though and it will be intriguing to witness how it plays out.

The season approaches with a mix of excitement and nervousness. I genuinely feel the club is slowly going in the right direction but it may take a dozen games or so of the new campaign to get up to speed.