Sorry, but I am not one of those fans who wet themselves at a pre season loss. I’m old enough to remember winning every pre season game under Avram Grant, and look what happened there! However, it’s not long before we get down to business for the season, so I thought the time was right to have a look where we are,
Sunday’s friendly against Karlsruhe was possibly a bit more than a friendly, being the last match before our first competitive game in the UEFA on Thursday. The performance was pretty solid, especially at the back. The only black mark was the challenge on Aaron Creswell, which we are still waiting on to see how bad it was. You could tell by the players reaction that they know the value of Cress, I get the feeling if it was Enner Valencia, they might have just shrugged it off a bit more! Speaking of which, up front i still don’t doubt there are changes but the board are waiting for the merry go round to kick in before they are able to get their targets. I’m not panicking, we’ve still got more strikers than Spurs , and their main man played (arguably) in the Euros.
Of the new signings, Nordveidt impressed me, strong in the air and assured on the ball, he looked like a class act. Likewise Feghouli impressed with sensible passing and perception. Tore was the weakest looking of the three, looked like he was possibly trying too hard, but I have the feeling he will frustrate and delight in equal measure. We’ve also got some classy youngsters coming through, so some ocver at left back and a quality striker and we will look fairly solid for the season. That said, I’d say we have enough right now to see off our UEFA cup qualifying challengers.
Further predictions for the season to come, but until then, enjoy the sunshine and up the Hammers!