PL preview: A lackluster summer provides a chance for youth to blossom at West Ham
As it stands, West Ham’s summer is concerning.
Let’s have it right, last season they were nowhere near it and were lucky that Man United and Spurs both had tremendously embarrassing campaigns meaning the Hammers were let off quite easy. This was also accompanied by a late surge up the table from 17th to 14th which paints a slightly prettier picture than the actual state of affairs during the 2024/25 campaign.
Under Lopetegui, we all know what happened. From minute one, it was clear the Spanish manager and the East London club were not the right fit for each other. Tactically and physically West Ham were looked devoid of ideas and it was a small miracle that the former Real Madrid boss was able to last as long as he did.
Graham Potter arrived at the Olympic stadium in January on a 2 year contract and though there were some improvements across the squad, West Ham were still uninspiring. The defence got better and they became a team to break down (although they still conceded 23 goals across 18 games) with the English boss predominantly having them line up in a back 5, but going forward there was little to write home about. Their reliance on the brilliant Jarrod Bowen was as strong as ever and other than that, their top contributors were Wan-Bissaka and Thomas Soucek. Without Bowen, is it much of a stretch to say that the hammers would’ve been relegated? There simply wouldn’t have been enough goals in the team.
Image via USA Network
Graham Potter is a good manager. But he isn’t the sort of coach that is going to instantly raise the level of the side he’s taking over. His coaching style is one that takes a while, at least a year to see the real effects as players get used to the rigorous and his rigorous and slightly complicated ideas. On top of this, he needs players brought in who are capable for carrying out such an iteration of football.
Four months ago, an article was written about how West Ham needed a complete squad overhaul in the summer in order for vast improvements to be seen and yet as this is being typed out, the players that have been brought in hardly comply with this proclamation. Malick Diouf and Kyle-Walker-Pieters raise the physical and technical floor of the wing-back position whilst ex Leicester goalkeeper Mads Hermansen and 33 year old Callum Wilson have also been brought in to bolster attack and defence. It’s not bad but we’re not looking for ‘not bad,' we’re look for a statement of intent. A statement that says we want to be back in the big leagues like 3-4 years prior.
The midfield of Guido Rodriguez, Edson Alvarez, James Ward-Prowse and Tomas Soucek aren’t physically capable of matching the intensity of most other prem teams’ midfield and they struggle massively to progress the ball forward. Yet, as things stand there’s no real links to midfielders who will address these problems which greatly limits the ceiling of this squad. This means you’re going to be asking a lot of Lucas Paqueta who was a shadow of his usual self last season. You’d hope with all these match-fixing allegations now finally behind him, the Brazilian will now be fully-focused on the pitch and will be back to his mercurial best, but there’s no guarantee that it’s going to happen. However if Paqueta does get back to his 23/24 levels, a lot of the concerns about West Ham’s midfield will curtail because there’s no getting away from the fact that when he’s on it, Paqueta could walk into most Premier League outfits. Someone who can contribute greatly on both sides of the ball, the 27 year old’s physical prowess in addition to his security in possession are everything the midfield currently lacks.
In comparison to fellow teammate Edson Alvarez, the level of a full-flowing Paqueta is like night and day. If Potter is able to carve out a role which gets the best out of him, then West Ham will be all the better off for it.
In attacking areas, West Ham sold their second-biggest attacking threat behind Bowen to Spurs and although we can argue whether he should’ve been let go for a fraction of his supposed release clause, Kudus’ ability to carry the ball and get West Ham up the pitch is now gone. I look at the attacking options of Bowen, Summerville, Fullkrug, Paqueta, Guilherme and Wilson and I don’t see anyone who can really do the things Kudus excelled at. Summerville’s debut season at West Ham was relatively uninspiring, which isn’t a problem given his rawness at the top level. It was majorly halted by injury, but there’s now pressure on the young Dutchman to kick on to be a real contributor in this team due to the exit of the Ghanaian but whether he is able to do this is another question.
Other than that, if you’re asking Malick Diouf to cement himself as a player who’s going to consistently get output from the left-wingback position, you’re asking a lot of a 20 year old in his first season of English football. You can’t rely on someone so inexperienced. Although I think Diouf will be a great signing for the Hammers, is giving him such a responsibility from the offset such a good idea? He still has some areas of his game that he’ll be working whilst on the job and it may take him a few months to become fully acclimatised to Premier League football.
The signing of former Newcastle hitman Callum Wilson also casts doubts. You can hark on about how he was only signed on £6,000 per week with performance bonuses and there’s no disputing that when fully fit he’s a more than adept Premier League striker. But how often is he fully fit nowadays? Signing a 33 year old injury-prone number 9 to compete with and back-up a 32 year old striker whose injury record in England is also questionable defies logic. That’s not to say they aren’t good players, Fullkrug will score a decent amount of goals if his fitness complies, but in terms of squad-building and planning and future-proofing the team, it’s a bit lazy.
If no other signings in the midfield and attacking areas are brought in, then the Hammers’ saving grace might be their academy, or their ‘academy of football’ that fans like to remind people of. George Earthy in attacking midfield looks sharp and skillful enough to get good minutes in the next year and central midfielders Freddie Potts and Lewis Orford also look ready to fill some of the holes in the middle of the pitch. Maybe the lack of signings in these areas suggest that West Ham are ready to back their academy graduates who have all impressed in pre-season. It’s an exciting prospect but there’s no getting away from the fact that it’s a little risky. Even with the chance that these boys pick-up significant minutes in the Prem, you can still argue that the overall quality of the squad still ranks in the bottom 6 or 7 across the league. Some more investment in addition to the introduction of youth players will fill me with more confidence for the upcoming season.
Lewis Orford battling it out with Hwang in pre-season: Image via hammers.news
West Ham needed a big rebuild this summer and so far they haven’t completely got it. The signings of Hermansen and Diouf are great and will improve the team somewhat, but they need a bit more to ensure they aren’t battling relegation for the majority of the year. This was meant to be the window where they showed real ambition ensuring they didn’t let mid table sides such as Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Everton and Fulham leave them behind but the moves they’re making, or lack of moves thus far suggest to me they’ll be closer to those 16th and 17th spots than they will be to those teams.
It may be a while longer until West Ham are back competing for Europe again and fans might just have to hope that, like last season, there’s a few teams even worse than they are. But I think big seasons from Bowen, Paqueta with the steady growth of Diouf through the campaign accompanied by the introduction of the academy boys into the first-team, will mean that the Hammers will be alright for another season more.
