West Ham - 2024/25

Bastian

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Zouma likely off, which is a bit of a shame as I was starting to think of them as an incredibly aerially dominant team with Ward-Prowse delivering pinpoint free kicks and corners onto those beasts. Is Mavropanos a likely starter? At least Soucek is in the 99th percentile for aerial duals won, while Füllkrug is in the 85th. Lopetegui is obviously more sophisticated than that, but it's an opportunity to capitalise on an outstanding squad attribute.

They've kept hold of Kudus, Alvarez and Paqueta, while no one has been in for Bowen either. They've got the makings of a top half finish for sure. Might push into Europa, what with no other distractions from the league.

Maybe they could improve on a keeper (Ramsdale perhaps)?

Will be watching them more this season with AWB moving there. Shame they're not picking up McTominay too to build a tall set-piece side of beasts.
 
Bastian said:
Zouma likely off, which is a bit of a shame as I was starting to think of them as an incredibly aerially dominant team with Ward-Prowse delivering pinpoint free kicks and corners onto those beasts. Is Mavropanos a likely starter? At least Soucek is in the 99th percentile for aerial duals won, while Füllkrug is in the 85th. Lopetegui is obviously more sophisticated than that, but it's an opportunity to capitalise on an outstanding squad attribute.

They've kept hold of Kudus, Alvarez and Paqueta, while no one has been in for Bowen either. They've got the makings of a top half finish for sure. Might push into Europa, what with no other distractions from the league.

Maybe they could improve on a keeper (Ramsdale perhaps)?

Will be watching them more this season with AWB moving there. Shame they're not picking up McTominay too to build a tall set-piece side of beasts.
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Someone posted it in the AWB thread but their starting lineup looks excellent. Particularly the CBs, the midfield, the attackers. With no fixture congestion and a good manager, they could be this seasons Villa. It's honestly a better lineup than we'll be playing with this season. I'd say only Bruno and Mainoo of our midfield and attack get in this side, which is crazy. And then Todibo and Killman vs a bunch of crocks? Martinez hopefully can stay fit, but as of now the defence also just seems reliable while ours is always broken.

Areola
AWB Todibo Killman Emerson
JWP Alvarez
Bowen Paqueta Kudus
Fullkrug​
 
I hope they flop hard with AWB being the only standout performer for them. Can’t be arsed with all this giddiness from these hammers while we’re struggling in the market being linked to the likes of Sander fecking Berge!
 
Agreed, they could be this seasons dark horses for the European places. Steel in midfield, pace and goals on the flanks and a decent backline. Looking strong on paper and expect them to play a more possession based style.
 
They do have a genuinely very strong starting eleven and a selection of excellent players that have youth on their side and can kick on/continue to flourish: Tobido, Paqueta, Kudus, Bowen.

I don’t see why they can’t push for a Europa League position. Personnel-wise I don’t see them as being far off Newcastle, Spurs, United, Chelsea and Villa. It’s just a case of whether Lopetegui can extract more from a glut of attacking talent than his predecessor managed to do.
 
bosnian_red said:
Someone posted it in the AWB thread but their starting lineup looks excellent. Particularly the CBs, the midfield, the attackers. With no fixture congestion and a good manager, they could be this seasons Villa. It's honestly a better lineup than we'll be playing with this season. I'd say only Bruno and Mainoo of our midfield and attack get in this side, which is crazy. And then Todibo and Killman vs a bunch of crocks? Martinez hopefully can stay fit, but as of now the defence also just seems reliable while ours is always broken.

Areola
AWB Todibo Killman Emerson
JWP Alvarez
Bowen Paqueta Kudus
Fullkrug​
Click to expand...

Aye, they're ones to watch. I would say though that Todibo-Kilman as a pairing is aerially not ideal (hence asking about Mavroponos) and neither Emerson nor AWB are positionally good defenders. Those are certainly the weak spots. Zouma is pretty shoddy on the ball and lacks concentration at times, but aerially quite strong. Wonder what fee they get for him.
 
Bastian said:
Aye, they're ones to watch. I would say though that Todibo-Kilman as a pairing is aerially not ideal (hence asking about Mavroponos) and neither Emerson nor AWB are positionally good defenders. Those are certainly the weak spots. Zouma is pretty shoddy on the ball and lacks concentration at times, but aerially quite strong. Wonder what fee they get for him.
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Absolutely £0. Sadly his knees are finished and can barely run anymore. It's either move to Saudi and get a wedge or retire next season. I suspect West Ham would pay him off regardless as he is just a waste of a squad space now sadly.

Shame as he is in many ways our best defender, but even a modest high line leaves him so badly exposed its just a goal waiting to happen.

Unfortunately not being able to run anymore kills dead any kind of career in this league.
 
Is there any chance that Paqueta gets suspended for his gambling scandal? The accusations came out in May, and I just searched for any news and there doesn't seem to be any updates.

I like there squad though. Good wingers in Bowen and Kudos. Summerville is an interesting signing too and Fulkrug should be servicable.

As an arsenal fan, I'd love for them to sign Ramsdale but I haven't seen any links for him to go there.

Lopetegui is a better option than David Moyes. But he's a "big name" manager that I feel like lives on a false reputation. I think people think that he plays attractive, attacking football because he managed spain and real madrid, but he's really just a boring, uninspiring manager imo. We'll see how he does. Maybe he does get them into europe. But I think he'll get them 7th or 8th and and then leave midway through next season.
 
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Gene Loblaw said:
Lopetegui is a better option than David Moyes
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Based on what exactly? Moyes won West Ham their first trophy since the early 1980s and had their best back-to-back league finishes as well (Lyall had that one good season in the league). Think he has the best win percentage of any long-term manager for them as well.

Moyes has a long-standing level of performance in the Premier League whereas Lopetegui doesn’t.

Pellegrini has a much better pedigree but still got outperformed by Moyes.
 
Bastian said:
Aye, they're ones to watch. I would say though that Todibo-Kilman as a pairing is aerially not ideal (hence asking about Mavroponos) and neither Emerson nor AWB are positionally good defenders. Those are certainly the weak spots. Zouma is pretty shoddy on the ball and lacks concentration at times, but aerially quite strong. Wonder what fee they get for him.
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Zouma’s problems are physical. At his best for them he was outstanding but his knees are shot.
 
LawmanMan said:
Based on what exactly? Moyes won West Ham their first trophy since the early 1980s and had their best back-to-back league finishes as well (Lyall had that one good season in the league). Think he has the best win percentage of any long-term manager for them as well.

Moyes has a long-standing level of performance in the Premier League whereas Lopetegui doesn’t.

Pellegrini has a much better pedigree but still got outperformed by Moyes.
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Are you Scottish by any chance?
 
bosnian_red said:
Someone posted it in the AWB thread but their starting lineup looks excellent. Particularly the CBs, the midfield, the attackers. With no fixture congestion and a good manager, they could be this seasons Villa. It's honestly a better lineup than we'll be playing with this season. I'd say only Bruno and Mainoo of our midfield and attack get in this side, which is crazy. And then Todibo and Killman vs a bunch of crocks? Martinez hopefully can stay fit, but as of now the defence also just seems reliable while ours is always broken.

Areola
AWB Todibo Killman Emerson
JWP Alvarez
Bowen Paqueta Kudus
Fullkrug​
Click to expand...

Nobody is mentioning Luis Guillerhme in these lineups and I think he’s a signing people have already forgotten being so early, but he’s a super talent too.
 
Is Paqueta actually going to be allowed to play after that whole spot fixing business?
 
Wonder how many of their season ticket holders will be sitting in their jail cell instead of their seat after the past couple of weeks...
 
The Fullkrug signing is intriguing. Not a gigantic fee, but you don't see too many 31 year old strikers going for that kind of money. Kind of a late bloomer too, career hampered by injuries at times.
 
bosnian_red said:
Someone posted it in the AWB thread but their starting lineup looks excellent. Particularly the CBs, the midfield, the attackers. With no fixture congestion and a good manager, they could be this seasons Villa. It's honestly a better lineup than we'll be playing with this season. I'd say only Bruno and Mainoo of our midfield and attack get in this side, which is crazy. And then Todibo and Killman vs a bunch of crocks? Martinez hopefully can stay fit, but as of now the defence also just seems reliable while ours is always broken.

Areola
AWB Todibo Killman Emerson
JWP Alvarez
Bowen Paqueta Kudus
Fullkrug​
Click to expand...

Onana

Shaw
Martinez
De Ligt
Dalot

Mainoo
Casemiro
Bruno

Garnacho
Hojlund
Rashford

Sub
Amad
Mazraoui
Zirkzee
Yoro
Mount

They have undoubtedly strengthened well but I think you are being overly negative about what we have if I’m honest and vastly underrating.
 
bosnian_red said:
Someone posted it in the AWB thread but their starting lineup looks excellent. Particularly the CBs, the midfield, the attackers. With no fixture congestion and a good manager, they could be this seasons Villa. It's honestly a better lineup than we'll be playing with this season. I'd say only Bruno and Mainoo of our midfield and attack get in this side, which is crazy. And then Todibo and Killman vs a bunch of crocks? Martinez hopefully can stay fit, but as of now the defence also just seems reliable while ours is always broken.

Areola
AWB Todibo Killman Emerson
JWP Alvarez
Bowen Paqueta Kudus
Fullkrug​
Click to expand...
West Ham aren't anywhere near as good as us. How strange.
 
TheReligion said:
Onana

Shaw
Martinez
De Ligt
Dalot

Mainoo
Casemiro
Bruno

Garnacho
Hojlund
Rashford

Sub
Amad
Mazraoui
Zirkzee
Yoro
Mount

They have undoubtedly strengthened well but I think you are being overly negative about what we have if I’m honest and vastly underrating.
Click to expand...
TBF it was before the de ligt and mazraoui news. I do think it's tight though. Depends on Casemiro and how our CFs do. Their attack has a good balance and both fullkrug and Kudus would start for us
 
Remember the geese said:
West Ham aren't anywhere near as good as us. How strange.
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I do think they're going to be a dark horse with the manager and signings they've made. I was also particularly pessimistic that morning before the transfer news came out and before we played pretty well vs City (and Casemiro especially had a good game). A lot for us depends on guys like Shaw, Martinez and Casemiro. Casemiro I'm not optimistic for that he can put in Sunday's level consistently, we'll really need to manage his minutes. Shaw has missed pre season and that's usually a bad sign for him. Hopefully Martinez is good to go now and avoids the bad luck of last season. But there is just such a wide range of outcomes for us IMO that it really could collapse pretty badly given the injury prone players we have, or just pan out really well. A lot of the other sides in the league I feel have a safer/more reasonable floor to how the season will go.
 
It’s quite amusing how people spend the best part of four years telling us how AWB is utter shit and barely PL standard, then put him straight into a West Ham team that is now apparently better than ours. There’s mental takes, and then there’s that.
 
simonhch said:
It’s quite amusing how people spend the best part of four years telling us how AWB is utter shit and barely PL standard, then put him straight into a West Ham team that is now apparently better than ours. There’s mental takes, and then there’s that.
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Are these the same people though?
 
Wan-Bissaka is clearly a very good, Premier League level player and by extension a right-back that is comparable to the majority in the Premier League.

People go from one extreme to the other - many would have you believe that he’s utterly atrocious simply because he’s not the most pleasing footballer on the eye/good in attack but he’s still a decent player.

Think he’ll fare well at West Ham. Personnel wise, they have quite a few players that could make a case for starting in our side. I really don’t think there’s such a huge disparity that some people like to make out.
 
Tough to call this season. On paper we have a very solid first 11, and even our bench is looking increasingly solid these days.

However there has been considerable changes in squad makeup and manager, which can go either way.

I think we probably have the widest range of possible finishing places out of any team. I'd legitimately not be surprised if it doesn't gel and we end up at 16th. I'd also not be surprised if it does all gel and we pull a Villa this year, especially with no European football.

I think anything from 4th-16th is possible this season.
 
Koldbeer2021 said:
Absolutely £0. Sadly his knees are finished and can barely run anymore. It's either move to Saudi and get a wedge or retire next season. I suspect West Ham would pay him off regardless as he is just a waste of a squad space now sadly.

Shame as he is in many ways our best defender, but even a modest high line leaves him so badly exposed its just a goal waiting to happen.

Unfortunately not being able to run anymore kills dead any kind of career in this league.
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That is so sad to hear. He had some really fantastic periods for us, but he had one disastrous knee injury that really curtailed his potential.
 
SilentWitness said:
What's going on with Paqueta then?
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Cleared to play, though who knows what headspace he is in. Rumours are we are looking for one more creative MF player who i guess would be his replacement should the ban hammer come down or his head isnt where it needs to be.
 
Think they'll be the surprise team of the season. Depending on how Utd, Spurs, Liverpool and Chelsea do, I think there's a good chance West Ham might sneak into 4th. Their first XI is very strong now. That front 4 is genuinely among the strongest in the PL (assuming Paqueta can play) and they have 2 excellent cbs.
 
simonhch said:
It’s quite amusing how people spend the best part of four years telling us how AWB is utter shit and barely PL standard, then put him straight into a West Ham team that is now apparently better than ours. There’s mental takes, and then there’s that.
Click to expand...
ArjenIsM3 said:
Are these the same people though?
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Probably not - there's this tendency to just group everyone together even though there's certainly been a myriad of opinions on AWB on a board that has thousands of active users. It's lazy.
 
Kind of unfair on Moyes. He did great work there under limited resources. They let him go, mainly due to style of play, and then this summer sign Todibo, Kilman, Wan-Bissaka. Rodriguez, Guilherme, Summerville, and Fullkrug. 7 first team players of genuine starting quality; some of them highly rated. Meanwhile he couldn’t get scraps from the board.

If Lopetegui doesn’t go on to finish several places higher, consistently, and challenge for some minor cups; he will have badly failed. Because I think Moyes would have them routine top six challengers with that squad. Might not have always been the prettiest, but would have been effective.
 
simonhch said:
Kind of unfair on Moyes. He did great work there under limited resources. They let him go, mainly due to style of play, and then this summer sign Todibo, Kilman, Wan-Bissaka. Rodriguez, Guilherme, Summerville, and Fullkrug. 7 first team players of genuine starting quality; some of them highly rated. Meanwhile he couldn’t get scraps from the board.

If Lopetegui doesn’t go on to finish several places higher, consistently, and challenge for some minor cups; he will have badly failed. Because I think Moyes would have them routine top six challengers with that squad. Might not have always been the prettiest, but would have been effective.
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Kudus, Alvarez, JWP, Paqueta seem like pretty decent scraps. Scamacca was a very highly rated young prospect being linked with bigger clubs when they got him as well.

They've had a big summer window, but it's not like they've only just started showing any ambition now.
 
V.O. said:
Kudus, Alvarez, JWP, Paqueta seem like pretty decent scraps. Scamacca was a very highly rated young prospect being linked with bigger clubs when they got him as well.

They've had a big summer window, but it's not like they've only just started showing any ambition now.
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Im not saying they didn’t have decent players before, but they had no depth at all. Moyes was constantly saying they needed more players because they didn’t have enough. Even if they had added 3-4 new players for him to give the squad some genuine competition for places and depth, he’d have had a better chance. This summer though they’ve bolstered their squad enormously compared to other years. No big sales. And they have a proper, deep squad. It’s apples and oranges to compare what Moyes had to work with vs Lopetegui.

Just look at the CBs. Last year he had Mavropanos, Aguerd, Zouma (wrecked), and Ogbonna (ancient). This year Kilman, Todibo, Mavropanos and Aguerd. Last year he had 3 viable forward options in Kudus, Bowen and Antonio, with Danny Ings in reserve. After that absolutely nothing. This year they’ve brought in a whole new trio of options, Guilherme, Fullkrug and Summerville. He had no option to rotate last year at all, and still did well in the league. This year they don’t have to play the same xi every game and have subs that can actually change the game. Moyes even had to sell his best player, Rice, in order to get Alvarez and Ward-Prowse. This year they’ve kept the midfield intact and added Rodriguez.

Moyes was shit at United but he did a brilliant job at West Ham. I have no doubt he’d have done even better if he’d been backed like Lopetegui has. It’s also a bit unfair to talk about style of play, when the manager basically has about 13-14 decent first team players to work with, meaning he can’t rotate and has to constantly conserve energy of his players.
 
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simonhch said:
Im not saying they didn’t have decent players before, but they had no depth at all. Moyes was constantly saying they needed more players because they didn’t have enough. Even if they had added 3-4 new players for him to give the squad some genuine competition for places and depth, he’d have had a better chance. This summer though they’ve bolstered their squad enormously compared to other years. No big sales. And they have a proper, deep squad. It’s apples and oranges to compare what Moyes had to work with vs Lopetegui.

Just look at the CBs. Last year he had Mavropanos, Aguerd, Zouma (wrecked), and Ogbonna (ancient). This year Kilman, Todibo, Mavropanos and Aguerd. Last year he had 3 viable forward options in Kudus, Bowen and Antonio, with Danny Ings in reserve. After that absolutely nothing. This year they’ve brought in a whole new trio of options, Guilherme, Fullkrug and Summerville. He had no option to rotate last year at all, and still did well in the league. This year they don’t have to play the same xi every game and have subs that can actually change the game. Moyes even had to sell his best player, Rice, in order to get Alvarez and Ward-Prowse. This year they’ve kept the midfield intact and added Rodriguez.

Moyes was shit at United but he did a brilliant job at West Ham. I have no doubt he’d have done even better if he’d been backed like Lopetegui has. It’s also a bit unfair to talk about style of play, when the manager basically has about 13-14 decent first team players to work with, meaning he can’t rotate and has to constantly conserve energy of his players.
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The business they’ve done this Summer has not been too dissimilar to what they were able to do for the past 3 years. They spent north of £150m prior to 22-23, bringing Paquerta, Scamacca, Aguerd, Cornet and a few others, and £130m last season to bring Ward Prowse, Alvarez, Kudus and Mavropanos.

Moyes did very well with them but he would struggle to get them to make another step. Whether Lopetegui will be able to establish them as a top half team playing progressive, modern football I’m not sure either but it was worth giving it a try because there clearly was a ceiling of how far they could go with Moyes.
 
Moyes is a better manager than Lopetegui. That will be clearer come the end of the season. His resume across his Everton and West Ham stints is excellent.

The Everton teams at the end of his spell there played excellent football and finished above Liverpool in the league.

Wouldn’t be surprised if he is back in the game come Christmas.
 
Probably made a huge mistake by sacking Moyes. But they still have Jarrod Bowen he'll save them from relegation.
 
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