It’s been a long time coming, but London’s sleeping giant, West Ham United, finally appear to be on the verge of something special according to Stan Collymore.
Though David Moyes was never the most popular manager with the fan base principally because his style of football was anathema to all they hold dear, he did get the Hammers into Europe for three seasons running, and brought them their first major silverware in over four decades.
The hire of Julen Lopetegui potentially takes them to a different level altogether, and if the Spaniard can hit the ground running at the London Stadium, there’s no telling just how far the East Londoner’s can go this season.
Collymore certainly believes that the club have turned a corner.
“I think that we got it absolutely spot on in this column previously about West Ham having to make sure that Lopetegui’s ego, which is big, is assuaged and pandered to,” he said to CaughtOffside for his exclusive column.
“The fact that he wanted a player that he worked with at Wolves in Max Kilman, and West Ham got him straightaway, tells you that the club have effectively said ‘we’ll back you.’
“So that’s a really positive sign and it’s one step forward and not two steps back, but another one forward for a change.
“Like other clubs, they will get mentioned and linked with several players over the next few weeks, but I think that Lopetegui has his wish list, and they’ve got target number one.
West Ham United manager Julen Lopetegui
“The manager will already feel like he can walk into the office and start to put his plans for pre-season together, knowing that the West Ham board are going to put their money where their mouth is.
“They did put in a lower bid for Kilman which was turned down, but the West Ham of old would’ve walked away. Not anymore.
“They’ve got a very good, top 10 squad already, and on the back of the Euros if they want to tap into the whole ‘West Ham won the World Cup’ thing, they all of a sudden become a more attractive proposition for players.”
For far too long now, it’s always been a case of what might’ve been for West Ham.
They’ve had a good standard of players in their starting XI but not too much in the way of strength in depth.
Their Achilles heel has always been lifting their performance levels against supposed ‘smaller’ clubs too.
Beat a top team one week, lose against a relegation-threatened opponent the next. It’s the way it’s always been.
Perhaps with technical director, Tim Steidten, pulling the strings off the pitch and Lopetegui doing the same on it, that way of working will be a thing of the past.
