There’s one thing that I can guarantee is that West Ham will have a greyish of sorts third strip. I can’t guarantee who’ll be wearing it come what August when the Premier League finally gets underway.
Expectations are high now that we’ve got an experienced manager who’s been there and done that. With his backroom team assembled and a Director of Football scouring the earth for new talent things are finally looking up.
Rumours seem to link us with every available player, at the time of writing Anderson is still on the radar whilst Marlon is allegedly close. Here we go again. Whilst most clubs go about their business under a veil of secrecy we spring more leaks whetting everyone’s whistle with titbits of delicious gossip. Like a fool I buy into it, checking Twitter feeds by the minute, hearsay becomes fact whilst I look up on YouTube our new 22 million pound boy wonder.
Things look promising when you see that post, there’s always that post. “Such and such is heading to Milan mate, just seen it on Instagram mate”.
We’ve already been busy so far this window but we’re still waiting for the big one. Fabiasnki, Fredricks and Diop all look great additions to the squad but I want more much more. Mario needs to be signed up sharpish as well as our marquee midfielder, striker and centre-half. Pelligrini is no fool and must have had assurances of available funds before putting pen to paper, how much he’s been promised remains to be seen and in the coming weeks, we’ll see who he doesn’t fancy. Antonio, Reid and Byram all look to be under the microscope as does Carroll and a number of the youth team.
This will be our third manager in less than a year and players will once again have to adapt to a new regime and a new way of doing things. Senior players will once again do it all again and I expect there to be a complete overhaul of the squad before our first match against Liverpool.
The first big decision will be who’ll get the captaincy. Mark Noble I believe will be club captain whilst the honour of team captain will go to Arnautovic. This will be a shrewd move, guaranteeing to keep the main man happy.
As the World Cup starts to get to the business end of the tournament I expect the usual rumours to surface as to who we’re buying selling and can only dream about. Pelligrini loves a pacy wide man and this will be priority along with a midfield enforcer. Antonio maybe and Rice for the latter role although I believe he’s looking for a proven man to do the job. When all is said and done we’ve a strong enough competent squad capable of better things. Last season was one to forget and Pelligrini will expect better things. Preseason gives the opportunity to some of the youth team to express themselves as well as Snodgrass and Hugill who are being linked away from the club.
We must be looking at experienced players who can take us to the next level. Looking at the World Cup, teams are peppered with Premier League talent whereas West Ham have only had less than a handful. Joe Hart started last season as England’s number one and after a disastrous year with The Hammers saw him left out of the squad entirely!
If ever there was a time and a place for the owners to show a statement of intent then it’s now. Dig deep, you have a manager at the helm who likes expensive toys and knows how he likes to play with them. We can’t be playing catch up with the likes of Bournemouth and Newcastle it’s time to blow them away and create a season to remember at The London Stadium.
So keep your eyes peeled and be prepared for a month of highs lows ooohhs and arghs before a ball has been kicked.
Remember this is West Ham and we don’t do things the easy way.
