West Ham vs Manchester United | Pre-Season Friendly | 26.07.2025

[stubbo-admin]

Not sure the merits of chucking this up, but there's a Scoreaxis page for the game so went with it.

 
Match Centre:

Odds:
West Ham: 14/5
Draw: 11/4
Man Utd: 19/20

Pre-Match Press Conference:
TBC

Watch-along:
TBC

Streams:

 
https://en84.sportplus.live/football/cl ... y/6951759/




https://champagne.pages.dev/docs/gettin ... ive-sports


(With all live streams be mindful they can carry viruses etc.  Don't click on any ads and use a VPN).


 

[Massive Attack]

We finished 9th the previous season so very far from shit. We added numerous international players to that squad but both coaches made the team worse.

stop making excuses for the terrible football he has served up.
26% win ratio with those players is embarrassing.

Not what everyone on here was saying at the time. I get that it’s been crap but there seems to be some misty eyes over Moyes coming now. The football was dire then as well and he’s played a big part in why the squad is so inadequate now. 

the football was dire a lot of the time, but he picked up more points than Potter.
the football is still dire and Potter is less capable of picking up points.

And was very happy to clear off Kudus out the door at the 1st opportunity he got because he's too much of a weak cuck manager to handle him. Better manager's work with them and bring the best out of them, even if they are difficult. Redknapp/Di Canio is a great example of that.

Some managers can man-manage, others are hopeless at it and would rather take the easy option of launching them out the door at the 1st chance they get. 

[goose]

They were shit under Moyes, they were shit under Lop, they are still shit under Potter. They are just shit. Changing the manager won’t change that. The players need replacing. The clear obstacle to that is the owner. 

We finished 9th the previous season so very far from shit. We added numerous international players to that squad but both coaches made the team worse.

stop making excuses for the terrible football he has served up.
26% win ratio with those players is embarrassing.

Not what everyone on here was saying at the time. I get that it’s been crap but there seems to be some misty eyes over Moyes coming now. The football was dire then as well and he’s played a big part in why the squad is so inadequate now. 

the football was dire a lot of the time, but he picked up more points than Potter.
the football is still dire and Potter is less capable of picking up points.

[El Scorchio]

 

What’s the point of changing coach then? Surely question #1 in the interview is: ‘can you do a better job with these players’?
no he’s done worse.

hes a coach not a head of recruitment.
hes a squad of international players who have become shit.

They were shit under Moyes, they were shit under Lop, they are still shit under Potter. They are just shit. Changing the manager won’t change that. The players need replacing. The clear obstacle to that is the owner. 

We finished 9th the previous season so very far from shit. We added numerous international players to that squad but both coaches made the team worse.

stop making excuses for the terrible football he has served up.
26% win ratio with those players is embarrassing.

Not what everyone on here was saying at the time. I get that it’s been crap but there seems to be some misty eyes over Moyes coming now. The football was dire then as well and he’s played a big part in why the squad is so inadequate now. 

[Massive Attack]

I'm hoping it's just a last look at them to confirm they're not good enough. 

For fuck sake, he's had over 6 fucking months (plus the long time out of work overlooking us) and yet still needs time to suss them all out?! Not a good sign is it for a manager still struggling to get his head around it all, even though he's had such a long time to assess it all without a scintilla of pressure on him. Meanwhile, new season starts in 3 weeks around the time the window closes..
Sunderland A Chelsea H Forest A Spurs H

[Massive Attack]

 

What’s the point of changing coach then? Surely question #1 in the interview is: ‘can you do a better job with these players’?
no he’s done worse.

hes a coach not a head of recruitment.
hes a squad of international players who have become shit.

They were shit under Moyes, they were shit under Lop, they are still shit under Potter. They are just shit. Changing the manager won’t change that. The players need replacing. The clear obstacle to that is the owner. 

26% win ratio with those players is embarrassing.

Yep

[Nutsin]

Couldn’t give a shit about the result was looking for progress.

Still have a problem playing against press. Still no idea in going forward, midfield still too light weight and easily over run.

Only real positives was we got a chance to see some of the youth players, would like to see more of Preston, he looked good on the ball and nobody got injured.

Ill reserve my judgement on Potter until Christmas, however we need to see some big improvements in going forward immediately, what we offer right now is completely unacceptable.

 

[Pav BML]

It's only a friendly but can't understand how potter thinks a midfield 3 of Guido, Soucek and James ward side pass is going to compete against anyone. Overrun as anyone could've predicted, I'm hoping it's just a last look at them to confirm they're not good enough. Really impressed with Fearon coming on, some great play from him, showed more promise than anytime I've seen Orford given a go. Still hopeful for Fullkrug this season but he let himself down with a few poor touches, easily defended against. Areola a disaster. Did laugh at the very American sounding renditions of I'm forever blowing bubbles

[goose]

We have a disjointed squad that has been put together for years on an ad hoc, laissez-faire basis like pining the tail on a donkey with a blindfold on.

What do you expect Potter or anybody else to improve when everything has started on such a bad foot in the first place.

By the way, Potter has improved the team since he arrived. It's fucking boring and tedious to watch but the lines are much closer and tighter.

The problem is he still needs a couple of players with legs and energy in midfield which hasn't been addressed. Also a striker which isn't claiming disability benefit which still hasn't been addressed.

I've never been convinced about Areola but he was signed from PSG on a bloated contract and we're stuck with him.

With all the money spent on him we could have a decent French goalkeeper by now like Lucas Chevalier. But guess what? He'll be too expensive to sign now.

Surprise! Surprise! FFS

 

What’s the point of changing coach then? Surely question #1 in the interview is: ‘can you do a better job with these players’?
no he’s done worse.

hes a coach not a head of recruitment.
hes a squad of international players who have become shit.

They were shit under Moyes, they were shit under Lop, they are still shit under Potter. They are just shit. Changing the manager won’t change that. The players need replacing. The clear obstacle to that is the owner. 

We finished 9th the previous season so very far from shit. We added numerous international players to that squad but both coaches made the team worse.

stop making excuses for the terrible football he has served up.
26% win ratio with those players is embarrassing.

[Fauxstralian]

Areola made 2 errors that led to goals
Was reading despite the pressure he was under with a shit Leicester defence Hermansen made one of those errors all last season
Am sure we can get some sort of fee for Areola that will contribute to his cost … maybe £20m for Hermansen & half that for Areola

[El Scorchio]

Do you not think that the first part of the job when he took over was improving the players we have?
let’s be honest that hasn’t happened at all. 

We have a disjointed squad that has been put together for years on an ad hoc, laissez-faire basis like pining the tail on a donkey with a blindfold on.

What do you expect Potter or anybody else to improve when everything has started on such a bad foot in the first place.

By the way, Potter has improved the team since he arrived. It's fucking boring and tedious to watch but the lines are much closer and tighter.

The problem is he still needs a couple of players with legs and energy in midfield which hasn't been addressed. Also a striker which isn't claiming disability benefit which still hasn't been addressed.

I've never been convinced about Areola but he was signed from PSG on a bloated contract and we're stuck with him.

With all the money spent on him we could have a decent French goalkeeper by now like Lucas Chevalier. But guess what? He'll be too expensive to sign now.

Surprise! Surprise! FFS

 

What’s the point of changing coach then? Surely question #1 in the interview is: ‘can you do a better job with these players’?
no he’s done worse.

hes a coach not a head of recruitment.
hes a squad of international players who have become shit.

They were shit under Moyes, they were shit under Lop, they are still shit under Potter. They are just shit. Changing the manager won’t change that. The players need replacing. The clear obstacle to that is the owner. 

[Massive Attack]

I wish I could see the Improvement. 

 

 

We could have plonked that performance in-between any part of the last 6 months of Potter's reign and it wouldn't have looked out of place of Potterball. Same clueless tactics and selections which has set off the first warning flare in to the night sky that there is zero improvement by the Team or manager. If this is more of what we can expect in the season to come, we will be bang in trouble. We've got to see improvements. 

[Massive Attack]

Well we didn't get battered, so that's a positive. Although really it should have been had Man Utd had their shooting boots on. Good to see we are still a one-man Team relying on Bowen to score all our goals still, nice assist from Soucek. As for that clown in goal, get rid of Areola ffs. The new Calamity James.  

[Eerie Decent]

Alvarez fits that description, yet he kept playing JWP in front of him in central midfield. 

[eusebiovic]

It doesn't matter who the coach is the same old problems have plagued us since Sullivan and gang rolled up...

Never recognizing that full backs are an important part of the game and essential these days - not like 40 years ago when they were considered the least talented players in the team.

Never addressing central defensive midfield where you need two big fuck off, powerful blokes, all of the time. Mark Noble was NEVER a defensive midfielder but he was stuck there for years due to nobody ever thinking the issue needed addressing. He was definitely at his best further up the pitch but was wasted playing so deep.

Never signing a striker worth his salt. Bowen is an attacking midfielder that comes off the wing - playing centrally or off the striker - is totally wasted. But if you have Dad's Army up front then what are the alternatives?  The only bloke that can score 10+ goals a season will inevitably be stuck as a lone striker more often than not.

Nobody can fix this shit - you can pay £20 million quid to buy somebody out of their contract but the poor fucking cսnt still has to work with this car crash of an owner and having shit foistered upon him from the bring and buy at the agent's fuckin' yard sale.

[Vexed]

Do you not think that the first part of the job when he took over was improving the players we have?
let’s be honest that hasn’t happened at all. 

We have a disjointed squad that has been put together for years on an ad hoc, laissez-faire basis like pining the tail on a donkey with a blindfold on.

What do you expect Potter or anybody else to improve when everything has started on such a bad foot in the first place.

By the way, Potter has improved the team since he arrived. It's fucking boring and tedious to watch but the lines are much closer and tighter.

The problem is he still needs a couple of players with legs and energy in midfield which hasn't been addressed. Also a striker which isn't claiming disability benefit which still hasn't been addressed.

I've never been convinced about Areola but he was signed from PSG on a bloated contract and we're stuck with him.

With all the money spent on him we could have a decent French goalkeeper by now like Lucas Chevalier. But guess what? He'll be too expensive to sign now.

Surprise! Surprise! FFS

Fucking hell, this a mess. Potter took the job. Potters job is to work with the cunts available to him and improve us. Potter alongside his rentboy friend have control of the transfer targets. We have not been linked with any good midfielders or strikers that address our issues. Potter has had months and months to implement....something. We were exactly as bad this morning as were were when he rocked up and he made the exact same piss poor decisions when he fucking started that midfield - that was his starting lineup for Sunderland and we were fucking abysmal. We are going to struggle to stay up next season with this fucking idiot in charge.

[Vexed]

Do you think we suit 352? Looked to me AWB doesn't like playing wing back, seem to be facing our goal most of the time and not able turn so gave the ball away numerous times. Also negated our best player, Bowen, by playing him off Fulkrug. Just a point among many other issues!

 

 

 

 

No, it's fucking ridiculous. Potter is ignoring the players he has at his disposal and just playing his preferred formation, playing Bowen out of position is fucking ridiculous. We looked slow all over the park, leaky at the back and no ideas going forward. Just imagine how shit we could be when Potter has been in place a full year!

[goose]

Do you not think that the first part of the job when he took over was improving the players we have?
let’s be honest that hasn’t happened at all. 

We have a disjointed squad that has been put together for years on an ad hoc, laissez-faire basis like pining the tail on a donkey with a blindfold on.

What do you expect Potter or anybody else to improve when everything has started on such a bad foot in the first place.

By the way, Potter has improved the team since he arrived. It's fucking boring and tedious to watch but the lines are much closer and tighter.

The problem is he still needs a couple of players with legs and energy in midfield which hasn't been addressed. Also a striker which isn't claiming disability benefit which still hasn't been addressed.

I've never been convinced about Areola but he was signed from PSG on a bloated contract and we're stuck with him.

With all the money spent on him we could have a decent French goalkeeper by now like Lucas Chevalier. But guess what? He'll be too expensive to sign now.

Surprise! Surprise! FFS

 

 

What’s the point of changing coach then? Surely question #1 in the interview is: ‘can you do a better job with these players’?
no he’s done worse.

hes a coach not a head of recruitment.
hes a squad of international players who have become shit.

[Eerie Decent]

I wish I could see the Improvement. 

[eusebiovic]

Do you not think that the first part of the job when he took over was improving the players we have?
let’s be honest that hasn’t happened at all. 

We have a disjointed squad that has been put together for years on an ad hoc, laissez-faire basis like pining the tail on a donkey with a blindfold on.

What do you expect Potter or anybody else to improve when everything has started on such a bad foot in the first place.

By the way, Potter has improved the team since he arrived. It's fucking boring and tedious to watch but the lines are much closer and tighter.

The problem is he still needs a couple of players with legs and energy in midfield which hasn't been addressed. Also a striker which isn't claiming disability benefit which still hasn't been addressed.

I've never been convinced about Areola but he was signed from PSG on a bloated contract and we're stuck with him.

With all the money spent on him we could have a decent French goalkeeper by now like Lucas Chevalier. But guess what? He'll be too expensive to sign now.

Surprise! Surprise! FFS

[honky cat]

The other thing is - although I'm glad a bit of football is back on TV, these overseas competitions are a pile of shit. What is the value of travelling for 2 full days, jetlag, KWP signed and straight on a plane, no chance to integrate new players. And then every move is scrutinised, no opportunity to try new stuff out behind closed doors, or against Torquay, Southend etc in English weather conditions. Terrible disruption to preseason. 

[ragingbull]

I thought Todibo would be working on his fitness and last the whole match but after 60 minutes he was blowing bubbles out of his arse.

[threesixty]

As I’ve been saying for ages. You tend to take the form
from the end of last season into the next. 1st game and it’s EXACTLY the same problems. All this passing in unthreatening areas trying to look classy but can’t move the ball and hold it anywhere in the final third. Simply because our midfield is shit. 

wing backs not solving the problem either. Any half decent side can defend against us. 

our goal was a classic counter attack where we play direct and just run at them which opens up opportunities. It’s the only thing that works because we can’t make opportunities through potters style of play. 

the only good thing to come out of it is the kids coming on in the last 15. It was like night and day. That Fearon kid was great. And I’m sort of glad Guilherme had a shot. I want them all to think about that goal first instead of pointlessly passing sideways.

if Potter is serious he’ll see that he needs Fearon or someone like him to come in and start driving the midfield or we are fucked next season and my prophecy will come true (I’m really hoping it doesn’t). It’s obvious he thinks the starting 11 are his side for the season and that’s a bit scary. needs a rethink.  And Man U are shit as well so factor that one in. The score is meaningless to me, it’s the actual play I wanted to see and I don’t care about Areolas flaps (sounds dodgy) that’s not why we will lose points this season. It’s our actual outfield play that’s worrying again. 

 

[THUNDERCLINT]

If you can’t make players better what’s the point of a coach?

 

 

To serve as a hate sponge so Sullivan can sign the likes of Wilson and Brownhill unchallenged.

[ragingbull]

Looks like Kilman hasn't got much pace so his positioning will be key when marking players.

[GBHammer63]

Glad I didn’t stay up for that, same midfield problems, goalkeeper that’s scared to get his fucking hair messed up. Good to see a few new faces get a little run out. Same old. Potters learned nothing in 6 months.