What the preseason taught us about West Ham Heading into Opener

As West Ham United get set to face Manchester City in this season’s opener, the preseason has cleared up a few things for Manuel Pellegrini’s second-year squad.

WHU needs a healthy Lukasz Fabianksi

The excitement and enthusiasm I had heading into the season opener vs Manchester City has been dampened quite a bit with the news that current Hammer of the Year Lukasz Fabianski is likely to miss out with a knock.

For West Ham United to achieve anything this season, from finishing in the Top 7 and threatening for European Football to making a Cup Final, Fabianksi has to play and play as well as he did last year.

Roberto has been shaky at best in the preseason. And now everyone’s safety net Adrian isn’t going to be re-joining the club after signing for Liverpool. Which means the former is going to be in the starting XI backstopping a club that has had trouble keeping the ball out of the net this summer. Not a good confidence builder facing last year’s League Champions who regularly score in bunches vs the Irons.

Haller and Fornals look the Real Deal

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As soon as new signings Pablo Fornals and Sebastian Haller joined up with the club for the last half of preseason, things really started to click. Both have been involved in the goal scoring and the offensive creativity shown by the Hammers.

Haller is unlike any striker I’ve seen in the claret and blue in some time. He has the size to occupy defenders coupled with the skill to set up teammates, knockdown balls, hold them up and finish himself. If he can quickly adapt to the rigors of a full season in the Premier League, the club will have really found a gem. Even if it does take him some time to settle, I expect him to be a presence all season long

Fornals was a star in Spain’s U21 side winning the European Championship. Good thing West Ham already secured his signature or other clubs would surely have sniffed around this playmaker. He hasn’t missed a beat since joining the Hammers. He has carried the ball through midfield, dropped back to cover for teammates when necessary and had the prettiest assist of the preseason. I wasn’t so sure about Fornals and Lanzini playing together, but apparently, Manuel Pellegrini knows more about football than I do!

Wilshere, Anderson, Lanzini, Fornals and Rice have Locked Up Midfield Spots

Call it a 4-1-4-1 a 4-5-1 or even a 4-2-3-1, but no matter how the club lines up, the 5 players behind Sebastian Haller and in front of the back four will be Declan Rice, Jack Wilshire, Filipe Anderson, Pablo Fornals and Manuel Lanzini. In the final three preseason games when that group was on the pitch together, they accounted for 5 of the Club’s 8 goals. Not to mention being involved in the set up of some of those finishes too.

Jack Wilshere has been the clubs best player in the pre-season. Manuel Lanzini has found his goal-scoring touch. Pablo Fornals has been all over the place and set up Lanzini with a mesmerizing overhead kick-pass. Declan Rice has done his typical Declan Rice things. And Felipe Anderson has occupied his usual spot along the flanks, opening up opposing defenses for his teammates, while using his skill to create in the final third.

I am probably guilty of drinking the preseason kool-aid, but this West Ham United midfield looks primed to give their opponents fits.

From Not Enough Fullbacks to Depth at Fullback

Now that Ryan Fredericks has come back to form, and with the real eye-opening performances of youngster Ben Johnson in the pre-season, the Club that just a few seasons ago that was so short on fullbacks it tried to convert Antonio into one, now seems to have (gulp) depth at the position.

If Johnson gets fully up to speed and can play either right or left, not only does that provide cover, it pushes Aaron Cresswell and Arthur Masuaku for playing time. Cresswell started the summer slowly but has since improved. Masuaku joined the club later after his stint with his international club. All the while Ben Johnson soaked up the minutes.

And there still is the player-coach type of Pablo Zabaleta that is a solid safety net and can play when needed. At his age, the idea of not overexposing him for long stretches is a good one.

Fredericks suffered a long term injury but has shown the pace and ability to join the attack that the club bought him for in the first place.

dark. Next. What can West Ham expect of Carlos Sanchez this season?

Now, the club takes the pitch in the first one that counts of 38, against the very difficult Manchester City side that had no problems taking care of West Ham last season. I had hopes that maybe the Hammers would “sneak up” on City in this one. But if Fabianksi doesn’t play, it’s a tall order for WHU to pull three points here.

Things preseason taught us about West Ham’s season opener

By Jeff Catlin | Aug 7, 2019