Daily WHUFC News - 29th July 2017

Cottee: I'd love Chicharito to break my record
WHUFC.com

The last man to score more than 20 goals in a top flight season for West Ham
United believes that new arrival Javier Hernandez has every chance of
breaking his 30-year record. The Mexican striker hadn't even been born when
Tony Cottee hit 22 goals during the 1986-87 campaign – a return that proved
crucial in keeping the Hammers away from a relegation battle, just 12 months
after they had been within a whisker of winning the League title for the
first time in their history.
Since then, the closest anyone has got to reaching the 20 mark at the
highest level is Paolo Di Canio, who managed 16 Premier League goals in the
1999-2000 season and, while his prolific exploits of the mid 80s remain
proudly intact, Cottee admits he won't be disappointed if Chicharito manages
to steal his crown in his debut campaign. "It has been a long time!" he
smiles. "On one hand, it's obviously nice to still hold a record at the Club
but, as a West Ham fan, I'm quite sad that no one has managed to beat it
since 1987! "I am really excited by the signing of Javier, though, and I
genuinely believe that he is the type of proven goalscorer who can score 20
goals a season for us next season. "And if we do have a striker reaching
that figure, then you are looking at the team pushing up a lot higher in the
table than we have been in recent seasons. "So I would love to see
Chicharito score 20 goals because it would most likely mean a successful
season for West Ham."

Cottee, who struck 146 goals in 336 appearances during his two spells with
the Hammers, became a British record signing when he joined Everton for
£2.05million in the summer of 1988. He went on to repay that fee with a
further 99 goals over the course of six years at Goodison Park, and insists
that the £16m paid to Bayer Leverkusen for Hernandez's services this summer
will prove value for money in today's market if the 29-year-old finds the
net on a regular basis.
"For West Ham, it is a big transfer fee and a big investment," says TC, "but
if he can score the goals we want him to, then we will all be saying what a
bargain he was. I know David Sullivan is very excited and said he could turn
out to be one of the best players we have signed in the modern era, and I
would love to think that could turn out to be true. "We had a wonderful
season two years ago when we finished seventh without a 20-goal striker, and
if we'd had someone like Hernandez in attack then, who knows where we would
have ended up. "There's no doubt he has the potential to score a lot of
goals, but just as important is the service he gets. Like me, he's not the
type of player who is going to get the ball on the halfway line, beat four
players and smash it in the top corner. "But if you get crosses in, thread a
pass so he can make a blindside run, then invariably he is going to hit the
target and score goals."

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Hammers edged by Werder in Betway Cup first leg
WHUFC.com

Werder Bremen 1-0 West Ham United
Betway Cup first leg, Friday 28 July 2017, Scheverdingen, Germany

West Ham United will need to beat Werder Bremen on Saturday afternoon if
they are to lift the Betway Cup after falling to a 1-0 defeat in Germany on
Friday evening. The Hammers controlled possession for long periods and
dominated the second half in front of 3,350 fans in Scheverdingen, 50 miles
east of Werder's home city, but Werder took a first-leg lead through teenage
striker Johannes Eggestein's 12th-minute goal. On the positive side, Marko
Arnautovic made his first appearance in Claret and Blue against his former
club, while fellow attacker Nathan Holland produced another encouraging
performance. And West Ham could still win the Betway Cup if they can secure
a victory over the Bundesliga side when they meet for the second time in
less than 24 hours in Lohne on Saturday afternoon. Slaven Bilic named a
youthful starting XI, with six players aged 21 or under in the Croatian's
team. Despite their youth, the Hammers controlled possession for extended
periods in the opening 45 minutes, but could not break down the five-man
Werder defence.

Academy products Reece Burke, Declan Rice – who impressed in a deep-lying
midfield role – Josh Cullen, Moses Makasi and captain Mark Noble all
started, as did teenage attackers Nathan Holland and Toni Martinez.

Werder Bremen coach Alexander Nouri also named an unfamiliar starting XI,
with star names like Max Kruse, Thomas Delaney, Fin Bartels, Ludovic Sane,
Ludwig Augustinsson and Zlatko Junuzovic all absent. Summer signings Jerome
Gondorf and Yuning Zhang – a China striker on loan from West Bromwich Albion
– did feature, however, as did 16-year-old centre-half Julian Rieckmann. And
it was Gondorf who created the opening for the game's first goal, threading
an expert ball through for 19-year-old striker Eggestein, who finished low
to the corner with a first-time left-foot shot. Werder had already wasted
one decent chance five minutes earlier, when Czech Republic wing-back
Theodore Gebre Selassie sliced his volley over after latching onto Niklas
Schmidt's lofted through ball.

While the youthful Hammers passed the ball patiently, Bremen were the team
creating the chances. Midway through the opening half Philipp Bargfrede
smashed a long-range shot over the bar, then Aron Johannsson cut out James
Collins' back pass before being denied superbly by the onrushing Adrian.
Noble was replaced by Pedro Obiang shortly after the half-hour mark, and the
Hammers' best chance of the period fell to the Spaniard three minutes later
when Toni Martinez's low cross flashed past his toe. And West Ham were
almost made to pay double for that missed opportunity just before the break,
but Adrian made another fine save to turn aside Schmidt's well-struck shot
from 20 yards.

The second half was a completely different game as the English team
dominated for virtually the entire 45 minutes. Holland (pictured, above)
initially carried the biggest threat, winning a corner which Aaron Cresswell
delivered and Rice saw his powerful header clawed away by Werder goalkeeper
Michael Zetterer.
Arnautovic was one of seven players introduced on the hour-mark and the
Austrian was quickly into the action, playing his part in a sweeping
counter-attack that ended with Makasi's shot behind blocked inside the
Bremen penalty area.

Werder did threaten on a couple of occasions after the interval and again
Adrian was there to stop his side falling further behind with a miraculous
double save from Schmidt and Gondorf. So, with the seven substitutes
scheduled to start on Saturday, Bilic's men will need to win by two clear
goals to deny Werder a second Betway Cup triumph in the space of three
pre-seasons.

West Ham United: Adrian, Byram (Zabaleta 60), Burke (Arnautovic 60), Collins
(Fonte 60), Cresswell (Masuaku 60), Rice, Noble © (Obiang 34), Cullen
(Fernandes 60), Holland (Snodgrass 60), Makasi, Martinez (Ayew 60)
Subs not used: Hart (GK), Ogbonna

SV Werder Bremen: Zetterer, Gebre Selassie, Ulisses Garcia, Verlaat,
Rieckmann, Veljkovic, Gondorf, J.Eggestein, Schmidt, Bargfrede, Johannsson
Subs: Drobny (GK), Caldirola, Kainz, Zhang, M.Eggestein

Attendance: 3,350

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Adrian: I will always try to help my teammates
WHUFC.com

Adrian admitted to having mixed feelings after producing a wonderful
individual performance in West Ham United's 1-0 Betway Cup first leg defeat
by Werder Bremen. The Spanish goalkeeper was at his brilliant best in the
German town of Scheverdingen, producing four fantastic saves to keep the
Hammers in the tie ahead of Saturday's second leg. While the arrival of
England's No1 Joe Hart has added competition for the same job at West Ham,
Adrian reminded everyone why he is so highly-rated and so beloved by the
Claret and Blue Army. After being beaten by Johannes Eggestein's accurate
finish, the 30-year-old took centre-stage, saving superbly from Aron
Johannsson and Niklas Schmidt before half-time, before producing a
miraculous double stop to deny Schmidt and Gondorf late on.
"Of course, I will always try to help my teammates with saves when I play
and to keep the game open," said the popular goalkeeper. "But, at the end of
the day, we lost the game and we are not happy with that result.
"Personally, with my performance, I could do nothing more. The goal was so
quick, a quick ball to the striker and he passed it into the corner of the
net via the goal post, so I had no chance. Then we had a good chance before
the end of the first half to draw level at one-one with Pedro Obiang "In the
second half, we played with more tempo and intensity but at the end of the
day we had no clear chances to score a goal in the second half and we needed
to be a bit more clinical, so we will work in the training to do this in the
next one."

Adrian has been his normal committed, enthusiastic and intense self in
training, giving his all in Chris Woods' sessions alongside Hart and Latvian
youngster Rihards Matrevics. In typical fashion, the Seville-born star is
not letting the arrival of a rival for his position in the team to get him
down. Instead, he has welcomed Hart and the pair are working effectively
together, sharing their experiences and jokes and training with smiles on
their faces. "We are training very well and working hard, as we have from
the beginning of the pre-season," he observed. "Everyone is excited for the
season, so we will try to give our best always when we play together. This
is pre-season and we have time to learn to make no more mistakes and to win
games. "Joe is a great 'keeper and is an international for England he brings
great competition. He is a great worker and, like everyone, we are both
training very well. "We have a lot of competition in goal this season, so I
will try to give my best and we will see the manager's decision."

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EVALUATING WEST HAM'S TRANSFER WINDOW SO FAR
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 28 JULY 2017 AT 9:31PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Written by @whufcbulletin

We are now just sixteen days away from the start of the 2017/2018 Premier
League campaign, and West Ham have been busy in the transfer market as
preparation for the upcoming season. As well as bringing in four different
high profile signings, the club has also moved on a number of players from
the squad roster. I will go through each of the exits and arrivals so far
and give my opinion on them. Since the start of the window, the club has
brought in Paolo Zabaleta, Joe Hart, Marko Arnautovic and Javier Hernandez.
At the same time, the club has sold Darren Randolph, Havard Nordtveit and
Enner Valencia, whilst releasing Sam Howes, Sam Ford, Kyle Knoyle, Sam
Westley, Stephen Hendrie and Raphael Spiegel. In addition to all of these
completed transfers, there are still a number of exits and incomings that
are being talked about, and so I will spend some time looking at that too.

Paolo Zabaleta was the first player to come to the club this summer. At the
age of thirty-two, Zabaleta arrived at the club on a free transfer two-year
deal which would earn him around £90,000 p/w, making him one of the highest
earners at the club. Zabaleta is an experienced international and I think he
is a great signing. One of our greatest problems last season was our poor
organisation in defence which led us to concede a number of sloppy and
costly goals. Zabaleta will bring structure and cohesion in the defence,
alongside the quality of Reid, Ohbonna and either Cresswell or Masuaku. In
addition, right-back was a very inconsistent and disjointed position last
year with players often being used out of position to fill it, creating yet
more problems in defence. Kouyate was often forced to play out of position
in order to fill that hole. It is good to see that we now have an
experienced professional to fill the role of right-back.

The second signing of the season bought Joe Hart to the club on a season
long loan from Manchester City. Although it was initially reported that the
deal was a loan to-buy, in reality, it is just a loan and West Ham will not
have the option to make his deal permanent. Hart has had an illustrious
career, occupying the spot of England goalkeeper for a number of years now,
however, I am reluctant to treat the deal with as much excitement as the
Zabaleta deal due to his recent form. Although at his best he is fantastic,
Hart's last couple of seasons, especially the latter when playing for
Torino, have been mistake ridden and incredibly inconsistent. In addition,
the deal worries me because of what it means for Adrian. I was never
inclined to believe that we needed a new keeper, Adrian showed incredible
form towards the end of last season and is undoubtedly one of the best
keepers in the Premier League, therefore I saw little need for him to be
replaced. In addition, the club's desperation to sell Adrian, despite his
willingness to stay is also concerning. The owners are unlikely to find a
player as talented as Adrian who can fill the place of a backup keeper, so
it seems crazy to me to stop the competition between the keepers by selling
Adrian. In addition, this means that regardless of Hart's performances, he
is likely to stay as the first-team keeper throughout the season. The
management seems to think that competition is a bad thing.

The next addition to be made was the record signing of Marko Arnautovic from
Stoke City. He signed for a club record fee of £25,000,000. In addition,
Arnautovic was also momentarily made West Ham's highest earner, raking in
£100,000 p/w until Javier Hernandez signed a few days later. The signing of
Arnautovic is undoubtedly a good one, he has been one of Stoke's best
performer's over the years and has been one of the most underrated wingers
in the league for a long period of time. With the lackluster Robert
Snodgrass occupying the wing at times last season, it was important to bring
in a strong attacker with genuine quality, and that is exactly what has been
done. The only part of the deal that worries me slightly is the price tag.
Although he has the ability to be brilliant, Arnautovic has often been
criticised for his inconsistency and his 'trouble-maker' attitude, it is for
this reason that I feel the club may have paid slightly too much for the
Austrian winger. Nevertheless, the money is not coming out of my pockets and
he is still a class signing!

The final player that West Ham have brought in so far is Mexican striker
Javier Hernandez. For £16,000,000, this is undoubtedly one of the best buys
of the window so far as West Ham have bagged themselves an International
superstar for an extremely reasonable price in the modern market. Hernandez
has experience in the Premier League with Manchester United and he has
retained one of the best minutes-to-goal ratios in the world for any
striker. Hernandez is a proven goalscorer and has been a threat for every
club that he has played for. This was exactly the sort of player that David
Sullivan and David Gold needed to bring to the club, and they have. For this
reason, a lot of credit must be given to the owners. Amidst a lot of
criticism, this window is turning out to be one of West Ham's best and the
owners definitely deserve credit for that.

As well as the signings, the window has also seen the departure of some
players too. Firstly, Havard Nordtveit left the club for 1899 Hoffenheim in
a £7,000,000 deal. At the start of his career at West Ham, I was incredibly
critical of him, seeing him as a waste of space on the pitch. His form did
pick up and improve significantly over the season, however, to be able to
move him off the wage bill while picking up £7,000,000 is far too good an
offer to turn down, and so it is no surprise to me that he did leave the
club. Another player to leave the club was Ecuadorian, Enner Valencia.
Valencia spent three seasons at West Ham, however, there was always a sense
of underachievement during his time at the club. Valencia had some great
moments, none more so than his thunderbolt against Hull City early on in his
Hammer's career, however, in the end, his inconsistent form meant that he
was not a regular side and was eventually loaned out to Everton for the
16/17 season. When Mexican side Tigres placed a £7,000,000 bid, the Hammers
took their opportunity and moved Valencia along while they could. Valencia's
exit from the club always seemed to be inevitable. Furthermore, West Ham
also sold Irish international goalkeeper Darren Randolph to recently
relegated side, Middlesbrough. Randolph was given a chance in the first team
last season and while at times he showed signs of brilliance, however, he
often countered that with silly errors which led to Adrian being reinstated
as the first-team goalkeeper. Although Randolph proved to be an excellent
backup option for the Hammers, a £5,000,000 bid is too good an offer for any
backup keeper and so the club accepted the offer. The transfer seemed to
suit all parties, with Randolph needing minutes on the pitch with the World
Cup coming up.

However, the transfer window is by no means at an end. West Ham are still
aiming to bring in more players. A £30,000,000 fee has been agreed with
Lazio winger Keita Balde Diao and it is now down to the player whether he
wants to move to West Ham. In addition, a deal to sign Jack Wilshire is
still very much on the cards, with the player himself publically making it
clear that he would like to move to West Ham. West Ham are interested in
Wilshire but are wary of his injury record. Furthermore, we are still eager
to sign another striker, with both Andre Gray and Lucas Perez being linked
with moves to the club. On the other side of the coin, there are still a
number of possible exits at the club. Sofiane Feghouli is on the verge of
moving to Galatasaray after West Ham recently accepted a £5,000,000 offer,
while at the same time, Robert Snodgrass, Diafra Sakho, Andy Carroll and
Adrian could all leave the club before the window closes. Overall, the
window has undoubtedly been a strong one for the Hammers, but it would be
nice to see the club complete a couple more signings before the window
shuts.

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Werder Bremen 1-0 West Ham: Marko Arnautovic makes first appearance as
Hammers suffer slender defeat
Last Updated: 28/07/17 10:41pm
SSN

Marko Arnautovic made his first West Ham appearance as Slaven Bilic's side
suffered a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Bundesliga side Werder Bremen in the
first leg of the Betway Cup on Friday. Slaven Bilic, who started with
Arnautovic on the bench, named a young side which featured Reece Burke,
Declan Rice, Josh Cullen, Nathan Holland and Toni Martinez. Moses Makasi and
captain Mark Noble also started as West Ham controlled possession in the
early stages, but they could not find an early breakthrough. And they were
behind in the 12th minute when Jerome Gondorf picked out Johannes Eggestein
with an inch-perfect through ball, and the striker picked out the bottom
corner. Werder continued to create chances as Philipp Bargfrede fired over
from distance, before Aron Johannsson was brilliantly denied by Adrian.
Noble was replaced by Pedro Obiang just after the half-hour mark, and he
almost levelled the scores but the midfielder failed to make contact with
Martinez's cross. The Hammers nearly fell further behind just before the
interval, but Adrian was called into action again, making another superb
save to keep out Niklas Schmidt's long-range effort. West Ham started the
second-half on the front foot and Rice's header almost brought them level,
forcing Werder goalkeeper Michael Zetterer into a smart save. Arnautovic was
introduced on the hour mark alongside several others and the new signing was
involved in an excellent counter-attack which saw Makasi's shot blocked
inside the penalty area. Bilic's men continued to push for an equaliser but
it failed to materialise as Werder held on for a slender victory. However,
West Ham, who are expected to make several changes for Saturday afternoon's
second leg, could still win the Betway Cup if they can beat the Bundesliga
side by two clear goals when they meet again in Lohne.

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JUST LIKE OUR DREAMS - PATIENCE IS THE KEY.
By Blind Hammer 29 Jul 2017 at 08:00 4 comments
WTID

Blind Hammer argues that despite our recent signings there may still be a
need for patience next season.

Football is an emotionally extreme business. This is why we love it, we may
face the despair of defeat but we also experience the joy of success.
Compare the contrasting emotions last season at the London Stadium after
depressing and inept performances against Manchester City, to the ecstasy of
beating Chelsea, earlier in the season, and Tottenham late in the season. In
a way the magic of football is that the anguish of defeat makes the happy
delirium of victory all that much sweeter.

Football thrives on this emotion. The Board criticism and negativity on West
Ham Till I Die comments sections and other forums so prevalent a couple of
weeks ago have now been transformed into assertions here and elsewhere that
the Board has "played a blinder". Now there is a new positivity approaching
the new season.

However all this positivity could evaporate if we lose our first three games
away in August, which is not beyond the realms of possibility. The fact will
be that even if this happens we could have a good season, despite the need
to start out with three away games in a row.

Our new signings have Premier league success behind them. Which should make
the task of settling in easier. Despite this past PL experience, some
settling in and gelling may be required. Even Scott Parker took a little
time to settle in before producing world class performances. The credentials
of Zabaleta, Hart, Arnautovic and Hernandez will not guaranteed that all
will hit the ground running at 100%. The first Hart mistake will start a
narrative about whether he still has what it takes, Zabaleta may face
questions about his age, Arnautovic is already experiencing queries about
his commitment and work rate and Hernandez will have to thrive in a team
which has, for the most part played with one up front rather than the two he
is apparently best suited to. In addition injuries to Antonio et al will
mean that it will be some time before we can put out our strongest team.

All clubs experience the highs and lows of emotions. However the issue for
West Ham is more sensitive and tricky. We still have the problem of
negativity surrounding the move to the London Stadium. It is clear that a
section of our fan base will never ever forgive the Board for leaving Upton
Park and the negativity surrounding this instantly emerges as soon as
results take a turn for the worst or transfers seem slow in arriving. It
seems that only winning a trophy or again qualifying for Europe will ever
quell this negativity.

All this matters because we materially affect the quality of player's
performances with the quality of our support. The club has, as I reported in
a recent post, revealed how some players need emotional and psychological
support in dealing with criticism not just from the terraces but from the
ever burgeoning arena of the blogosphere and social media.

The extent a crowd can influence games was revealed to me not at West Ham
but another club. As a young man I lived in Liverpool between 1973 and 1978.
Whilst remaining a true Hammer throughout these years I did stand on the Kop
every other week, and Liverpool during this period became temporarily my
second team, unless of course they were playing West Ham. The legendary
support the Kop gave Liverpool in those years was extraordinary. It is now
apparently consigned to history and the Liverpool crowd is nowadays as
critical as any other. However in those years the extent to which the Kop
could influence games was something I have never witnessed before or since.
The support was unbelievably positive. If Liverpool went, on the rare
occasion, a goal down, the support became louder. If they went 2 goals down
the support got even louder. When Liverpool played St Etienne, in 1977 they
were playing a shocker. They lost the first leg 1-0, a margin of defeat
which could easily have been more. Despite Kevin Keegan scoring on the
return leg, Dominique Bathenay spectacularly put the classy French side
ahead again and their superiority seemed assured. Liverpool seemed down and
out, requiring 2 to overcome the French away goal. The Kop had other ideas,
and roared the team on to eventual victory. First Kennedy equalised the
scores before "super sub" David Fairclough scored the winner with 6 minutes
to go to send the Kop into delirium. It was for me definitely the Kop that
won it that night. I could see in those days. Well enough to see the players
faces. Even whilst winning the St Etienne players were clearly being
unnerved by the Kop, whilst the Liverpool players seemed to grow and gain
strength from this support as the game progressed.

Now I have been similarly witness to fantastic comebacks by West Ham,
feeding on support from the crowd, I will never forget the Trevor Brooking
inspired comeback to ultimate victory against Eintrecht Frankfurt. However,
whilst our crowd can reach the heights, we can also turn on players. During
this past era of the 70s I never heard the Kop turn on a single Liverpool
player, no matter what mistakes they made. Instead they made them feel 10
feet tall. This unconditional and fervent support was Liverpool's secret
weapon during the 70s. .

Unconditional support like this is probably unrealistic nowadays. People pay
incredibly more for their match tickets compared to the 70s and this must
increase the sense of grievance when a team does not perform. This
unconditional support has vanished at Liverpool as much as anywhere else.

However this upcoming season for West Ham is critical in a number of ways.
Upton Park is no more and like it or not we have to make the London Stadium
our fortress. Speculating on various disasters or the need to move on to
another location will not help the team one jot in settling in. The Board
have to my mind, delivered on what they promised at the start of the
transfer window. We have, as supporters, just as critical a role to play.
When our new look team takes the pitch against Huddersfield. For our first
game we need to make them feel they are at home and can thrive on our
support. Huddersfield will not be easy and expectations of a victory will be
high for us. Our team has struggled with this expectation against so called
lesser teams in the past. . Huddersfield will feel like they are at Wembley
again in a massive stadium and may well raise their game as a result, as
others did last season. Our job will be to make this task as difficult as
possible for Huddersfield, no matter how well they are playing, and easy as
possible for our team, however limited the levels of their performance.
Encouragement nearly always works better than the stick of criticism.

COYI

David Griffith

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Lanzini and Hernandez mobbed by fans, the new-look midfield - moments you
missed from West Ham vs Werder Bremen
The Hammers lost 1-0 to the German side
Football London
BYSAM INKERSOLE
07:51, 29 JUL 2017

West Ham are having to adapt their style now thanks to the continued absence
of Andy Carroll. Slaven Bilic experimented with Declan Rice as a defensive
midfielder in the first half, with Mark Noble and Josh Cullen in central
midfield. Rice played well but the other two couldn't quite figure it out.
Any change will take time to implement and is clear there is still work to
be done on the training ground.

A nostalgic setting

Schneverdingen is not the Premier League but it was a wonderful hark back to
the glory days of football. Groups of lads, standing on the terraces
drinking a beer and having a cigarette, watching the football. It's such a
difference from the sterile Premier League we see these days. The Ostwerald
had plenty of high visibility jackets on display but well, they didn't do
much. At half time, Manuel Lanzini and Javier Hernandez were mobbed by young
fans wanting a photo as the youngsters just jumped on to the pitch. There
were some worried faces among the Hammers media team with the swarms of
people surrounding the duo but it was alright in the end.

Speaking of Lanzini...
There are serious worries among fans over the stays of his knee injury but
our Hammers writer Sam Inkersole played a video of him on Twitter. Lanzini
seems to be walking fine alongside Hernandez in the clip and that should
ease a few worries among supporters. He won't play today or against Altona
but fingers crossed he will be fine for the start of the season.

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Adrian dismisses Crystal Palace rumours and vows to fight for his West Ham
place next season
The Hammers goalkeeper has been linked with a move across London over the
last few weeks
Football london
BYADAM JONES
07:00, 29 JUL 2017

West Ham goalkeeper Adrian has vowed to stay at the club and fight for his
place next season - despite rumours that Crystal Palace held a strong
interest in signing him. The Hammers stopper has been linked with a move
away from the London Stadium this summer, with those reports only being
intensified after the arrival of Joe Hart. Republic of Ireland international
Darren Randolph has already left West Ham to move to Middlesbrough this
summer as Slaven Bilic continues his shake-up a the club. It is yet to be
seen who will be the manager's No.1 choice in goal next campaign - but
Adrian claims that he is up for the fight that comes with strong
competition, essentially dismissing rumours of a proposed move to Crystal
Palace. He told the official club website: "Joe is a great 'keeper and is an
international for England he brings great competition. He is a great worker
and, like everyone, we are both training very well. "We have a lot of
competition in goal this season, so I will try to give my best and we will
see the manager's decision."
The Spaniard played the full 90 minutes on Friday evening as West Ham were
beaten 1-0 by Werder Bremen in the latest stage of their pre-season
preparations.

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Adrian lays down a marker to Joe Hart at West Ham but Toni Martinez gets a
rough deal
After the Hammers were beaten 1-0 by Werder Bremen in Schneverdingen, here
are five things we learned from the game
Football london
BYSAM INKERSOLE
22:00, 28 JUL 2017

Slaven Bilic said earlier in the week that he wanted to offer Adrian a new
contract to keep him at West Ham for the long-term despite the arrival of
Joe Hart on loan. The Spanish stopper played the full 90 minutes against
Werder Bremen and when Mark Noble went off the pitch with a knock, Adrian
was given the captains armband. Hart is likely to play on Saturday in the
second leg of the Betway Cup as he makes his long-awaited debut in a Hammers
shirt He is surely going to be the number one but Bilic is certainly on the
charm offensive with Adrian. Whether the Spaniard is happy to play back up
this season remains to be seen. You suspect he won't be.

The new style of play might take time to settle in

football.london asked West Ham assistant Nikola Jurcevic if they are
employing new tactics in the continued absence of Andy Carrolll nd the Croat
said they were.
A lot will depend on how new signing Javier Hernandez fits in and gels with
his new teammates but he will need to hit the ground running. It is entirely
different from the hoof ball up to Carroll we often see when the number nine
is on the pitch, but that is all too rare an occurence these days and with
no time frame for his return, things have got to change. The Hammers are
certainly using this pre-season to do that but it might take a while for it
to have a full effect and Chicharito will have a huge part to play.

Masuaku inching ahead in the race for first choice left-back?

Both Arthur Masuaku and Aaron Cresswell need a refresher course in defending
properly sometimes but the Frenchman is standing out more than the
Englishman so far this pre-season. Masuaku's attacking flair, searing pace
and ability o get back to *try* to defend is what sets him apart from
Cresswell, who is trying to implement the same way of thnking but just can't
quite manage it. Cresswell's previous excellent form a couple of seasons
back is what favours him slightly and last year he was hit by injury and
Bilic will take tht into account. The fans would probably prefer Masuaku
though and Biilic really does have a headache over selection at left back
for the trip to Old Trafford on August 13.

You have to feel sorry for Toni Martinez

The Spanish striker has featured in every friendly so far but he has barely
touched the ball in any of them as he is being asked to play an Andy Carroll
role, which is not his strength. Martinez is getting bypassed and is also
not being helped by not having the senior players around him during his time
on the pitch - the front three against Bremen was him, Moses Makasi and
Nathan Holland. Holland did well but Makasi didn't but neither of them
helped out Martinez enough. He is doing well in training, football.london
has seen that, but when it comes to game time, Martinez is getting a rough
deal.

Three more games to go...

West Ham have three more matches to play before the Premier League season
kicks off so expect them on the pitch now to up it a gear. They have had
their fitness games you could say but they now need to star nailing down
exactly what the process is going to be ahead of the new season, starting on
Saturday in the second leg versus Bremen. Altona 93 will be a good test next
week and then it's the prestigious friendly in Icleand against Manchester
City on August 4 before the top flight gets into gear and West Ham, with
three away games on the bounce to start it, need to be ready and raring to
go.

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Hammers gazumped in defender chase
KUMb.com
Filed: Saturday, 29th July 2017
By: Staff Writer

West Ham have missed out on signing former Barcelona youngster Oriol Rey.
The 19-year-old defender had recently spent time on trial with the Hammers
at Chadwell Heath, but has opted to join Championship side Leeds United
instead. He confirmed his decision with a post via his social media channel,
in which he thanked the staff at his former club for their assistance in his
development. Rey was made surplus to requirements by the Spanish giants
after nine years at the club and decided to join fellow former Barca
youngster Kun Temenuzhkov, 17, at Elland Road instead of becoming part of
Terry Westley's Academy

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Feghouli set for medical
KUMB.com
Filed: Saturday, 29th July 2017
By: Staff Writer

Sofiane Feghouli is expected to complete a £4.5million switch to Galatasary
early next week. The Algerian winger is on his way to Turkey having served
just 12 months of his lucrative four-year contract, signed last summer after
he moved from Valencia on a free transfer. According to Turkish channel NTV
Spor, Feghouli will fly to Turkey this weekend ahead of a medical on Monday.
He is one of two players Gala are hoping to sign next week, along with
Manchester City's Brazilian international Fernando. Feghouli, who was
withdrawn from West Ham's match against Werder Bremen yesterday made 27
appearances for West Ham last season, scoring four goals.

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