THE football season is once again upon us. It feels like it has never been away, with the European Championships running for a month from June to July. Managers have changed and the usual market in players has been turning over.
West Ham are one club where there has been substantial change, with a new manager, Julen Lopetegui and eight new signings.
Lopetegui replaces David Moyes, who got the club into European competition three years running, winning the European Conference League in 2023. Big shoes to fill.
It is hoped Lopetegui will not only bring European football but a new, more entertaining style of play. A style more in the tradition of the club and the so-called West Ham way.
This, sometimes mythical, belief goes back to the 1960s and ’70s, when Ron Greenwood, then John Lyall were the managers of the club. It emphasised entertainment, often over results.
These were the halcyon days of World Cup winners Bobby Moore, Martin Peters and Geoff Hurst. The mythology surrounding this period tends to filter out the fact that West Ham were often at the wrong end of the table, fighting relegation — odd, given the quality of players at the club at the time.
Underperforming is a consistent theme in West Ham history. Remember the 1990s with the crop of outstanding young players that came through, including Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole and Jermain Defoe. All were sold to balance the books and satisfy player ambition.
Then there was the team that was too good to go down in 2003, with the likes of Paolo Di Canio, Glen Johnson, Cole and Carrick.
So, this is the history and challenge Lopetegui faces. Winning, but in an entertaining “West Ham way” — no small ask. He seems to have made a good start, but what would please fans would be to see some of the younger players coming through.
West Ham again have some outstanding youngsters, but few are ever given the chance to develop at the highest level. They tend to be sold on to fund the academy, with the hope that occasionally a Declan Rice comes along.
Among the present crop of youngsters, Freddie Potts, Lewis Orford, Callum Marshall and George Earthy are among those who should be given the chance.
If Lopetegui manages to blend the new signings with this young talent in producing an entertaining, winning team, he will be the toast of West Ham.
