Grasshoppers vs West Ham | Pre-Season | 19.7.25 | Match Thread

[stubbo-admin]

So the circus rolls back into town, with our first Pre-Season friendly of the 25/26 campaign.

Ol' Cock Piss Potter finally given a "full preseason" to turn his crab football into a thing of beauty that we can all behold. The commitment to the 'Wing Back System' shaping the squad in a way that anyone to follow him will likely need to rip up and start again.

Anyway....with 29 players out in Germany, it's likely to be a substitute-laden shitfest, with shoddy camera work and uninterested commentary from the media guy on the official site.

But also a chance to see Diouf, Potts, Orford, Marshall, Cornet, Fullkrug, Aguerd, and maybe build an understanding of what is to come.

So strap in, remember it's a "fitness exercise" and we can all have a row about what it all means when they turn us over 3-1 and we're told they're "3 weeks ahead of us in their Pre-Season preparations".

COYI

Live Match Video:

[dealcanvey]

Marshall sounds like he has some talent. Wonder if he will get the nod this season or his progress will be overshadowed by the arrival of someone like Wilson!

[Fauxstralian]

Saw that we played two 60 min halves in a behind closed doors game at Rush Green v Ipswich
Won 2-0 with goals by Marshall & Paqueta

[El Scorchio]

Isn't Diouf supposed to be good in the air? 

I hope so... 

The Leicester keeper also supposed to be good at coming and collecting crosses and actually catching them. 

That’s Areola’s other big weakness aside from kicking/footwork. He is dodgy as fuck  commanding the box aerially. He’s not as poor as he was at defending crosses a few years ago but he’s still not good at it. Cant get through players and get to the ball. Not strong or sure enough. 

[Fauxstralian]

Saw the Leicester keeper Hermansen a few times and despite the poor defence in front of him he looked good
Read that he only made one error that led to a goal last season while Areola made 3
Just turned 25 

[onsideman]

Yeah, Aguerd does come across as a really nice bloke. He's just not cut out for the Premier League. I'm not sure anyone can disagree with that (I reckon he knows it too which is probably why he wants to leave)

[fraser]

Isn't Diouf supposed to be good in the air? 

I hope so... 

The Leicester keeper also supposed to be good at coming and collecting crosses and actually catching them. 

[stubbo-admin]

Is Aguerd staying?

Everytime I’ve seen the guy in club videos he is always the most welcoming character there. Seems like a really great guy. I don’t get what the club did to him? 

I hope he stays. If we want to play out from the back surely he’s ideal? 

 

The 'ITK led rumour' is he wants away, but the club have told him unless they get an offer of GBP 20m or more he stays, and that Potter is keen on him staying.

Bit worried with him, Todibo and Kilman, despite having 3 in the middle we will be prone to being bullied at the back....they're all a bit on the 'soft side'.

Noticeable yesterday just how bad Todibo is in the air.  There's been a resurgence of typical number 9s in the league of late.

Couple these 3 with the fact that Fullkrug is also known to be hopeless in the air defensively at set pieces (weird given he's good in the air at them attacking, but it's apparently well known) and we'll continue to be weak at corners and the like, and it will make Soucek continue to be an important piece of the puzzle.

I like the 'idea' of Aguerd, but the reality doesn't seem to match up typically.   He seems a good centre back if you don't actually have to do too much defending!

[threesixty]

Is Aguerd staying?

Everytime I’ve seen the guy in club videos he is always the most welcoming character there. Seems like a really great guy. I don’t get what the club did to him? 

I hope he stays. If we want to play out from the back surely he’s ideal? 
 

[El Scorchio]

Probably the nicest thing you could say about it is ‘it’s boring’. Shirt looks like a plain claret t shirt some sort of school side would wear. 
 

[honky cat]

Dodgy kit = Winners kit
Everyone knows that 
 

[Mex Martillo]

Jesus, Onsideman, don't say that, relegation shirt! Made me laugh, but worried, as they say, many a true word in jest.

[onsideman]

Pleased to see Aguerd back in the mix and Irving starting. 
That shirt just doesn't look like West Ham!

Agreed. Any blue elements are totally invisible. We're basically playing in Claret and White this year. Whoever signed off on it needs a bit of a talking to.

Seems a weird shade of claret, too. Looks like a relegation shirt

[onsideman]

Couple of years ago we absolutely smashed Celtic pre season. Benrahma looked top drawer.

Ha! I remember that... Armstrong Oko-Flex looked top drawer too

[fraser]

Looked even worse when it was wet, too dark 

[stubbo-admin]

Pleased to see Aguerd back in the mix and Irving starting. 
That shirt just doesn't look like West Ham!

Agreed. Any blue elements are totally invisible. We're basically playing in Claret and White this year. Whoever signed off on it needs a bit of a talking to.

[John Drake]

Only a pre-season game of two halves but what I saw was same old, same old. Plenty of possession, slow paced, giving the ball away too easily and little penetration.Lots of work to do.

[Mex Martillo]

Pleased to see Aguerd back in the mix and Irving starting. 
That shirt just doesn't look like West Ham!

[Sydney_Iron]

Irving and Marshall took their goals well, Paqueta with a Pen

[goose]

Couple of years ago we absolutely smashed Celtic pre season. Benrahma looked top drawer.

[Fauxstralian]

Hansa Rostock 3 Villa 1
Celtic 4 Newcastle 0

Think we are top of the preseason league

[twoleftfeet]

Are you telling me that we didn’t look like world beaters after the first game? Potter out I say. 

[Massive Attack]

1-3 win for an opening Pre-Season match, can't ask for much more than that. Keep it up..  

[Fauxstralian]

It’s a training session after a week of (hopefully) hard physical work with everyone getting some minutes

Elsewhere for comparison
Man U 0 Leeds 0 FT
After about 70mins
Blackburn 1 Everton 0
Celtic 3 Newcastle 0

[Sir Alf]

Central midfield remains the biggest issue. First half we were unable to progress the ball thru to the final third. 2nd half we were having our pockets picked and our central midfield was struggling when pressed.  In short, nothing really improves until this area of the team is improved and we have pace, strength, physicality in that atea. Tbh today Irvine looked the best  of a mediocre bunch imo although not the same as a proper game. Aguerd looked ropey as did Dinos. Cornet and Guilherme struggled to make an impact as did Potts. Mind you, even AWB looked a bit sloppy but all the above has to be taken in context of the fact it was the first pre season friendly. 

Positives? No injuries, Diouf showed already he has strength, running, Marshall showed a few flashes of quality and a nice goal. Bowen will be a key player again. 
 

[ironsofcanada]

Decent run out.

Diouf looked good as did the people we know are good already. 

The positions that need options were on display.