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West Ham start preseason perfectly with thumping win

By Henry Tomlinson

HIGH WYCOMBE, ENGLAND - JULY 06: The empty stands during the Sky Bet League One Play Off Semi-final 2nd Leg match between Wycombe Wanderers and Fleetwood Town at Adams Park on July 06, 2020 in High Wycombe, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images)
HIGH WYCOMBE, ENGLAND - JULY 06: The empty stands during the Sky Bet League One Play Off Semi-final 2nd Leg match between Wycombe Wanderers and Fleetwood Town at Adams Park on July 06, 2020 in High Wycombe, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images) /
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One West Ham side started their pre-season perfectly with a thumping 5-1 win over Championship side Wycombe Wanderers.

It is a weird pre-season day where West Ham divided itself into two different squads. David Moyes took one side to Ipswich Town, and another half travelled to Wycombe Wanderers.

Team News

The West Ham side that travelled to Wycome included first-team regulars such as Angelo Ogbonna, Mark Noble, Andriy Yarmolenko, Manuel Lanzini, Jarrod Bowen, Pablo Fornals and Michail Antonio.

The mixed-up team did include academy graduates such as Josh Cullen and Ben Johnson. There was also a surprise inclusion for youngster Jamal Baptiste. At only 16-years-old the defender is very highly-rated by the club.

Match Report

West Ham got off to the perfect start. A deep cross from January signing, Jarrod Bowen, eventually made its way out to Arthur Masuaku. The defender unleashed a thunderous effort over the Wycombe goalkeeper and into the goal via the underside of the bar.

The Hammers spurned a great chance to double their lead before the 20th minute. Antonio found a pocket of space and worked his way into the box before losing the ball. Lanzini picked up the loose ball and after beating a couple of Wycombe player was just unable to fire a shot goalwards.

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There was a second goal for West Ham, and it came about in very unfortunate circumstances. Wycombe had control of the ball and a simple pass-back from Darius Charles to goalkeeper David Stockdale was miss-controlled. The ball then trickled towards goal and Stockdale was unable to stop it from rolling in.

Wycombe did fight back and get themselves a goal. A deep free-kick was headed goal-bound and forced a brilliant save by David Martin. The ball was tipped on to the bar and kindly bounced for Alex Samuel who buried it.

Jarrod Bowen almost restored the Hammers two-goal lead immediately. The winger picked up the ball 25-yards out and dribbled at the defender before firing his shot against the right-hand post.

The two-goal margin was restored soon after Bowen’s miss. After some good link-up play between Bowen and Lanzini. The Argentinian wriggled his way into the Wycombe box and fired a vicious effort past Stockdale. That was Lanzini’s first goal since pre-season last year.

West Ham then made it four before the end of the first half. Pablo Fornals worked the ball well down the left side of the Wycombe box, the Spaniard’s shot was saved by Stockdale. The goalkeeper’s save fell for Bowen who calmly slotted it home for a deserved goal.

After the second half had gotten off to a slow start, West Ham soon got their fifth of the afternoon. After some great passing play, Masuaku was found in space on the left-side who played a perfect cut-back for Bowen. The forward buried his finish for his second goal of the game.

Stuart Pearce and Alan Irvine started to ring the changes on the 69th minute. The two coaches were in charge of the Hammers against Wycombe while David Moyes was in charge at Ipswich Town.

Antonio, Martin, Noble and Ogbonna were all taken off the pitch and replaced by Joseph Anang, Olatunji Akinola, Xande Silva and Emmanuel Longelo all came on to give the Hammers a more youthful look.

The Hammers continued to put together some impressive sequences of football. The possession control was very effective and did not allow Wycombe many chances to add to their one goal. For the last five minutes, Sean Adarkwa and Bernardo Rosa replaced Jarrod Bowen and Pablo Fornals.

The other half of West Ham put in an equally impressive performance as they beat Ipswich Town 4-1 including a hat-trick from Sebastien Haller. Of course this is preseason and needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. But, it was a very good performance that could get fans excited for the start of the season.

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Man of the Match: Arthur Masuaku

The left-back started the scoring with a brilliant effort from range and continued to contribute towards the attack throughout the game. Masuaku was also responsible for Bowen’s second goals with his perfect cut-back pass.

Often criticised for his defensive ability, Masuaku displayed a brilliant all-round performance, making him deserving of the Man of the Match award. It should be noted that Manuel Lanzini (one goal), Jamal Baptiste, Josh Cullen and Jarrod Bowen (two goals) also had very impressive games.

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