Hernandez sale leaves Hammers short up front

Arrived back from the Lake District to learn that the Hammers have sold Javier Hernandez to Sevilla for a rumoured £7.2 million. It seems he asked for a transfer and it's difficult to keep an unhappy player, but with Antonio injured it leaves West Ham down to Haller up front with Ajeti (who didn't look that great at Newport) as back-up. Though it's unfair to judge a player on one game and we have to hope Ajeti cuts it in the Premier League. Meanwhile it's interesting to note that the not-much lamented Jordan Hugill has scored four times for QPR this season — might he be recalled if injuries bite?

I'm not sure if Chicharito was ever utilised properly by West Ham. Sixteen PL goals in 55 league appearances for the Hammers doesn't look that great, but we have to remember he only started 31 of those games. Injuries didn't help and he was unfortunate that Arnautovic emerged as a striker when Moyes was only ever going to play one front man. Chicharito could still finish, as he proved at Brighton this season. He never got a run alongside a striker like Haller and it's in that role he might have flourished. Javier leaves some good memories though, most notably a fine poacher's finish against Burnley last season, a double at Newcastle and another brace in the epic comeback against Huddersfield.

Hammers see off Norwich

West Ham 2 Norwich City 0

Welcome news reaches Part-Time Pete on top of Whinlatter that WHU have beaten Norwich and incredibly kept a clean sheet. Good to see Haller score again and Arthur Masuaku make the goal with a great run down the left. Yarmolenko’s goal was deserved after he hit the post a few seconds earlier and a moment of personal redemption celebrated with the medical team.

Cantwell, who looks about 12, went close for Norwich but the encouraging thing for Hammers fans was that Diop, Anderson and Snodgrass could all have added to the score and Haller had a blatant penalty turned down. Where was VAR? The only disturbing note to the afternoon was Nigel’s text claiming that Matt was drinking red wine. And for a moment we were fifth. Irons!

Hammers breach County lines

Newport County 0 West Ham 2 (Carabao Cup)

It's off to the World's End, our new Lucky pub, with Mystic Matt to watch this one over a pint or two of Camden Pale. Stranglers fan Matt wonders if the Rodneys will be queuing up at Rodney Parade as we are left just hanging around hoping that something better change in the Cup.

Pellegrini plays a strong side of squad players and for the first 20 minutes the Hammers dominate as Fornals hits the post from the edge of the box. The big minus is Antonio pulling up with what looks like a bad hamstring tear.

Then comes a very worrying spell as Newport create several chances and after Diop is muscled off the ball and a cross finds the unmarked Amond who shoots straight at Roberto.

Just as Mystic May and Mystic Matt are agreeing that Jack Wilshere will never again be the player who once outplayed the Barcelona midfield, he goes and scores. It's actually a poor ball from Jack in the first place that sets off the move, as after some farcical dithering from a Newport centre back Wilshere nicks the ball off his toes and runs through to finish well.

The second half sees some more scary moments at the back for the Hammers before a good run down the left from Anderson sets up Fornals for a tap-in. There's still time for West Ham to fail to get a third despite a lot of the ball and Newport to hit the post after sub Coventry is caught out.

But it's job done in what could have been a difficult tie. The worrying thing is that none of the fringe players have done well enough to demand a place. Ajeti hasn't done much apart from have a header over the bar, while Sanchez has a very poor game seemingly unable to play a simple pass. The good thing is that first Hammers' goals should give Wilshere and Fornals some confidence. Let's hope for a decent draw in the next round now.

One Haller of a win for Hammers

Watford 1 West Ham 3

Just the result West Ham needed to get our season going. It was an an ideal start with Lanzini winning a penalty and the returning Mark Noble converting after three minutes. But WHU still can't defend, and Gray promptly equalised just as I was texting Matt with the comment "Early lead — what could possibly go wrong?" 

It's worth noting that Watford had their chances and hit the bar through Deulofeu before Hughes missed a great opportunity at the far post. At the other end end Anderson headed a corner against a post.

But in the second half Antonio provided some speed on the break forcing a good save from Foster and West Ham played a shrewd counter-attacking game. Good work from Arthur Masuaku and Felipe Anderson set up Haller for his first West Ham goal. And then Sebastien obliged with an overhead kick into the net after Antonio headed against the bar. That's the first overhead kick West Ham have scored with since Andy Carroll's belter against Palace.

Interesting to note that Fornals was left on the bench (can he play in the same side as Lanzini?) to give Yarmolenko a game and that WHU still look a much better side with Mark Noble in the team. A much happier weekend. Irons!

Welcome point by the sea for the Hammers

Brighton 1 West Ham 1

In the context of West Ham's terrible record against Brighton, a point and preventing Glenn Murray scoring has to be regarded as a decent result. Particularly as Anderson and Haller (yes, already!) were out injured. Pellegrini dropped Cresswell and Balbuena from the defence and restored Snodgrass and Fornals to the starting line-up, while Chicharito replaced Haller.

Good to see Fabianski have a decent game, with the keeper pulling off fine saves from Stephens and March in the first half and VAR disallowing a goal by Trossard. The Hammers took the lead against the run of play soon after the break. Lanzini made inroads on the left to play a fine ball through to Chicharito who coolly slipped it past the keeper. 

The lead didn't last long, as after a tussle between Murray and Diop, Trossard fired a scorching shot into the Hammers' net. Late on Maupay blazed a great chance over for the hosts, while a determined run by Lanzini set up Snodgrass for a shot that Ryan parried.

Losing four in a row was a terrible start to last season, so at least there is now a point on the board and some encouragement in the form of Lanzini and the enduring poaching ability of Chicharito — though Fornals is still struggling with the pace of the Premier League. WHU need another determined performance at Watford now.

Can West Ham's lightweight midfield dig in away?

One of the worrying aspects of the defeat against Manchester City was that the WHU midfield looked so lightweight. Anderson, Lanzini and Fornals are going to look very good when West Ham are dominating teams, but when we're under the cosh they are easily bypassed. Poor Declan Rice is looking overworked as the only defensive midfielder and it's still not clear if Jack Wilshere can reinvent himself as a deep-lying midfielder. 

Mark Noble makes a good point in his Evening Standard column that City, for all their skill, were also masters of the innocuous tactical foul to break up play last Saturday. We could do with Noble in midfield, though he's not fit for today's game at Brighton. There might even be a case for bringing in Sanchez to restore some solidity early on or for playing Antonio to give the side some physicality. It's going to be a big test of Pellegrini's side against a side that is flying after a 3-0 away win.

Adrian's wall

Great to see Adrian make the penalty shoot-out save that won Liverpool the European Super Cup. He struggled to win the Betway Cup with West Ham, so it must all be a bit of a shock to him, particularly as his last game for West ham was the lamentable 4-2 capitulation at Wimbledon in the FA Cup. It all brought back memories of Adrian scoring a penalty for WHU in that epic shoot-out against Everton. Adrian's extended run in the Liverpool side thanks to Alisson's injury proves the footballing Gods are now on his side — he sat on the bench for every game last season while Fabianski was never once injured. Let's hope he has some good games for 'Pool in the league now — and it's surely a given that he'll have a blinder against West Ham.

Value of Sterling rises as West Ham's currency plummets

West Ham 0 Manchester City 5

It's an early-morning trek to Hackney Wick with daughter Lola and City fan Catherine for the 12.30 kick-off. In a cunning plan to deny Matt a programme there is a mysterious dearth of programme sellers — eventually we find a stall by Block H.

Inside the London Stadium we find Matt wearing last season's second-choice away kit to remind him of the Wimbledon defeat in the FA Cup, plus Fraser, Michael, Lisa and the Clacton contingent of Alison and Scott. Scott predicts a 4-0 home win while I opt for a mere 2-1. Well, you have to be optimistic at the start of a new season. Meanwhile Part-Timer Nigel is at Trieste airport as part of his cycling tour — the closest to Europe he'll get as a WHU fan.

West Ham play reasonably well for half an hour without creating a clear chance. Haller lays the ball off well and Antonio causes a few problems with his strength. There's an early VAR debut as a penalty claim by Lanzini is correctly turned down. Wilshere elects to pass when he should shoot, but at least the Hammers match City initially. There's also a strange VAR red card check for a challenge by Antonio that doesn't even result in a yellow card.

It all falls apart after half an hour. City's Walker speeds past Cresswell with embarrassing ease and crosses for Jesus to score with an instinctive flick. Pellegrini really should have addressed the Hammers' left back problem. 

FIRST ON MATCH OF THE DAY
Fornals comes on for Antonio at the break, but the game rapidly drifts away from the Hammers. De Bruyne skips past Balbuena too easily, Fredericks has had to cover and the unmarked Sterling prods under Fabianski. It looks like it's 3-0 when Sterling crosses for Jesus to score. But after a lengthy VAR debate via the big screen it's ruled out for Sterling's shoulder being marginally offside and the home crowd reacts like it's a goal.

With the crowd roused the Hammers try to get back into the game. Diop heads a corner over when he might have scored. The crucial moment comes as Ederson saves from sub Chicharito's prod goalwards and then races across goal makes a fantastic save to deny Lanzini. 

City, well-marshalled by new signing Rodri, simply wait for their moment on the break. Mahrez plays in Sterling who looks offside. The England man controls instantly and lobs in with some class. Another VAR pause ensues and it turns out that he's just onside even if two inactive City players are offside

Heads go down and the Irons lack leadership without Noble. There are huge gaps between attack and defence and Rice is overworked defensively in a team of number tens. The isolated Haller looks increasingly frustrated as City break at will. A terrible kick from Fabianski sees Diop panic and give away a penalty. Aguero's effort is saved only for VAR to spot that Rice has encroached before clearing the rebound from Fabianski's save. Aguero buries the re-taken penalty. At least City fan Catherine is enjoying it, even if she's not allowed to cheer.

It's five in added time as Haller is caught in possession and Sterling gets between Diop and Cresswell to poke home after the badly-positioned Fabianski has presented an inviting target. "At least we'll be first on Match of the Day," quips a fan behind us. And the new home shirts do look quite nice.

Mystic Matt remains relatively resigned to the defeat — perhaps confused by the question of should he be abusing ref Mike Dean or VAR judge David Coote? He does sensibly query why Chicharito is allowed to fire a late free kick over the bar when he's never scored from outside the box in his career.

"We go 20th!" texts Nigel, now in Munich. To take the positives, Fraser does manage to get us to the boat bar by the giant swans on the River Lea, which serves bottles of Doom Bar and pints of San Miguel (sadly there's no hemlock) and isn't too crowded. 

A worrying start, even if it was Man City. We need to get something from the next two away games before the relegation six-pointer against Norwich. Things can only get better.

PLAYER RATINGS: Fabianski 4; Fredericks 4, Diop 4, Balbuena 4, Cresswell 4; Anderson 5 (Chicharito 5), Rice 6, Wilshere 5 (Snodgrass 5), Lanzini 5, Antonio 5 (Fornals 4); Haller 5.

What fresh Haller is this?

Roving correspondent Mystic Matt reports on Saturday's Betway Cup match…

West Ham 2 Athletic Bilbao 2

It is the most West Ham start ever to the season at the  London Stadium: 74 seconds into his home debut, record signing Sebastian Haller smashes into his own net trying to defend a half-cleared corner needlessly given away by Ryan Fredericks. It was his first touch. 

The day had started with a new menu at the Best Caff, including avocado in a bid to entice the fickle North London quinoa burger crowd. Although the ciabatta was off, which would have had them muttering into their mung bean lattes. 

Scott with a collector's item programme

At the ground, there are 38,000 proper fans in attendance, including Fraser. There are no programmes anywhere, and a steward thinks she knows why: "I expect they've not printed enough." Scott was there early enough to grab this collector's item.

We've started with Haller ahead of an exciting attacking trio of Felipe Anderson, Manuel Lanzini and Pablo Fornals, who is excellent on his debut, although he's replaced at half-time. Declan Rice and Jack Wilshere are the pivots, with Issa Diop, The General and Captain Cresswell in front of the heavily tattooed Roberto, with Lukasz Fabianski missing. We concede a second after 15 minutes, the dangerous Inaki Williams attacking a ball cut back from the byline as the defence doze. This is Man City's archetypal goal, which doesn't bode well for Saturday.

ARE YOU STOKE IN DISGUISE?

The Bilbao fans, dressed in Stoke's home strip, are basqueing in the August sunshine. I haven't seen fans in red and white stripes so happy since Rory Delap was taking long throws at the Britannia. But the team, in a stylish green away kit, then concede two in 90 seconds. Haller and Fornals with an overhead kick set up Lanzini for a close-range finish, then Wilshere sweeps home from the edge of the area - his first goal for the club - superbly set up by Haller.

At this point, after the midweek 5-3 win over Hertha Berlin, there's been 12 goals in 112 minutes, a rate of scoring so high even Fraser can't complain. There seem certain to be more goals, but Bilbao create few chances, and our rhythm suffers when we make a series of substitutions, although Arthur Masuaku plays well, celebrating his new contract. Anderson has a fierce shot saved, and ex-Cheltenham Town player Yuri Berniche fires wide when he should have hit the target. Grady Diangana heads one narrowly over, and nearly connects with a miscued Angelo Ogbonna header from a corner, but it ends 2-2.

Many in the 38,000-strong crowd get up to leave, only to return when they hear there's going to be a penalty shootout, the first I can recall in this ground. The drama hardly matches the famous defeat of Everton, with Adrian throwing off his gloves to score the winner, before a knee slide into the corner. 

PENALTY WOE

Chicharito, famously deadly from inside the penalty box, can't score from 12 yards, sidefooting tamely at the keeper. Robert Snodgrass and Andriy Yarmolenko are confident enough and, despite a cheeky Bilbao Panenka, we're still in it when they hit the post. But Diangana blasts a woeful effort miles over, and we've lost our own cup on our own ground.

There are reasons to be cheerful, as our attacking options are improved by the impressive Fornals, and Haller does enough to show he can replace that bloke who went to China. But the defence looks no better, and with Mark Noble likely to be out, Rice will have a difficult job against City, as none of the other five midfielders/forwards can tackle.

Still miracles can happen - there's already been one this season, as the ref, Michael Oliver, had a decent game. 

Super Slav on the box

And in a second one, we found a seat at the boat bar on the water, where they provide Doom Bar and a Britpop soundtrack. They it's off to meet Gavin and Ilona at the Refreshment Rooms, where they're showing a triumphant Slaven Bilic who won his first West Brom game at Nottingham Forest.

This should be an exciting season, with West Ham scoring plenty of goals, but also likely to concede a fair few. We could possibly challenge for Europe if we can keep the injury list down. But there's a nailed-on defeat heading our way on Saturday.

Klopp kops Adrian

Slightly sad to see Adrian join Liverpool, but I'd like to wish him the best of luck at Anfield. Liverpool will be getting a quality understudy for Alisson — and if the number one ever gets injured Adrian could easily come in and do well. He's also the sort of big character the Kop should love, particularly if he takes a penalty. Have a San Miguel on us, Mr Adrian.

West Ham predictions in the Observer

My pre-season round-up can be found in today's Observer. Foolishly I've predicted West Ham will finish eighth — which means we'll almost certainly be in a relegation scrap! Click on the link to read the full piece.

Oxford bagged

So Reece Oxford has finally departed for Augsburg in the Bundesliga. It would be fascinating to know what has happened behind the scenes with a player who was seen as a future West Ham captain. It was just four seasons ago Oxford was making his debut at the Emirates as a 16-year-old and starring in the Hammers' win. Perhaps the next game was more prescient though, when he failed to track his man and was subbed in the home defeat against Leicester. 

Something went badly wrong and eventually Bilic, Moyes and Pellegrini all declined to give Oxford a chance, even when West Ham were struggling defensively. He was loaned to Reading and Borussia Monchengladbach without making a great impression. Did all that initial success make him complacent? The professionalism of the Bundesliga should be good for Reece, though it will be interesting to see if he ever fulfils his potential. 

Can Anderson be the new Payet?

Saturday's game at Arsenal was my first live match of the season and despite the defeat the form of Felipe Anderson was hugely encouraging. He was the best player on the pitch and whenever he had the ball West Ham looked like causing problems. Yes, at times he goes down too easily and appeals for fouls that he won't get in the English game. But he also showed an easy mastery of the ball and some effortless flicks to gain space. 

Anderson looked more involved playing as a number ten just behind Arnie and made the goal with his give and go. In the second half he made three fantastic breaks from his own half, crossing for Arnie to fire straight at the 'keeper and again crossing for Perez to shoot wastefully wide. Felipe also made a great dribble across the box firing a shot at Cech that could easily have rebounded to a West Ham striker. 

He'll need to add goals to his game to justify his £36m price tag, but it's a joy to be watching a Brazilian in our side and you sense that he could possibly be the successor to Dimitri Payet (remember him anyone?) as the sort of special player West Ham fans love to watch.

Diop's drive helps see off the Dons

Wimbledon 1 West Ham 3 (Carabao Cup)

West Ham's season seemed to getting even worse when Pigott powered a header past Adrian after 75 seconds. The Hammers were helped by the fact that Wimbledon's McDonald was sent off after 18 minutes, though they still struggled to break down a determined home side. 

We have Mystic Matt to thank for the equaliser after 63 minutes, reports Lisa. Just as Matt declared, "don't give it to Diop, he's just going to smash it over!" the centre back fired home a great low drive. A fine response from Diop to his own goal at Arsenal, and the giant centre back was unlucky to hit the bar a few minutes later. The Hammers won it with Ogbonna's simple finish from a Snoddy corner and then Hernandez rounded the keeper in added time to make it 3-1.

It was encouraging to see Pellegrini take the Carabao Cup seriously. He didn't hesitate in bringing on Anderson at half-time when it looked like we might be going out. The game also showed how strong the West Ham squad is, with the B line-up full of established players. Good to see Yarmolenko and Perez complete near-full games. It was a struggle, but a welcome win and another chance for the new squad to get used to playing together. While the prospect of a Cup Final breakfast round at Nigel's house in Kew remains on.

Poor finishing costs Hammers result at Emirates

Arsenal 3 West Ham 1

We really should have got something from this. I’m up among the Gooners for this, sitting opposite the West Ham fans in the Library. 

Ramsey has an early header correctly disallowed for the Gunners. But West Ham, wearing the new blue and yellow away kit, play pretty well in the first half, looking speedy on the break through Masuaku, Antonio, Fredericks and the excellent Anderson. Sanchez has come into midfield for the injured Noble and does the simple things well in front of the back four.

The home fans become frustrated with Arsenal’s tactic of Cech playing the ball short to his centre backs, both rapidly pressed by the Hammers forward line. After Arnie hits the side netting following a fine through ball from Snodgrass and Antonio shoots straight at Cech, the Hammers take the lead on 25 minutes. Anderson plays a one two with Arnautovic, leaving the Austrian plenty of time to slot into the corner of the net.

WE'RE WINNING AWAY

“How shit must you be, we’re winning away!” chant the away fans. The Irons don’t keep the lead for long enough though. Five minutes later Bellerin is given space to cross and the ball flicks off Iwobi to Monreal who finishes. Before the break West Ham have more chances with Arnie having an effort disallowed for offside and then Snodgrass fluffing a one-on-one as Wes Ham walk through the home defence.

Lacazette comes on for the Gunners and makes a difference. Fabianski has to make a couple of fine saves, most notably from Mustafi's header. Anderson's shot ricochets off Cech and Arnie injures himself as he fails to connect properly after a great Anderson break and cross. Hernandez replaces him as Pellegrini pops up in the technical area looking like Peter Capaldi trying to apply a sonic screwdriver to Arnie’s injured knee. But on 70 minutes the Gunners score a rather fortuitous second as Diop's sliced clearance causes confusion in the box and Lacazette’s chip into the box is luckily deflected in off Diop’s body.

Surely WHU can still grab an equaliser? The worst miss is when more good work from Anderson sees sub Perez shoot across the Arsenal goal. Crosses still come into the Arsenal box in added time, only for the Gunners to break and Welbeck to have an unacceptable amount of time and space to score, after Masuaku allows a cross to come in too easily.

It’s a flattering score for the Gunners. But there were signs here that this group of players could develop into a decent team, while Anderson looks like he will be a delight to watch. The defence needs to improve and the partnership of Balbuena and Diop is a work in progress, while Masuaku gets exposed in a back four. There might be a case for playing five at the back to shore things up, as with Anderson we now have a player who can break at speed. We just need to learn how to finish. A bad result, but a better performance.

PLAYER RATINGS: Fabianski 7: Fredericks 6, Diop 5, Balbuena 6, Masuaku 5; Snodgrass 5 (Yarmolenko 5), Sanchez 6, Wilshere 5, Anderson 8, Antonio 6 (Perez 5); Arnautovic 7 (Hernandez 5).

Repka banged up

And I always thought Tomas Repka would become a Doctor of Philosophy after hanging up his boots. But no, in the Czech Republic the former Hammer has been sentenced to six months in jail for posting fake escort adverts in the name of his former wife Vlad'ka Erbova. He is now appealing. 

Repka's current partner, TV star Katerina Kristelova was fined £1750 for her role in the crime. Tomas was in trouble in 2015 for not paying full child maintenance and was sentenced to 180 hours of community service. He's also been fined for drink-driving. Strange, as he seemed such a level-headed player.

Though thinking of Repka does remind me that had Tomas not returned to Sparta Prague and been replaced by Lionel Scaloni, West Ham might have won the 2006 FA Cup. Repka would surely have put both ball and man into touch rather than let Steven Gerard get anywhere near it.

It's not been a good week for ex-West Ham stars. I just hope that Christian Dailly is leading a respectable life so that he can remain the love of my life.

Where's the money gone? Carlton Cole is bankrupt

News from the High Court that one Carlton Cole has been declared bankrupt, despite earning £30,000 a week at the peak of his 16-year career. Clearly his creditors no longer believe in Carlton Cole and there's very little Gold (Gold!) in his portfolio. CC seems to blame it all on taking bad advice. The Daily Mirror reports that Carlton is now, "mentoring young people and footballers about the pitfalls of life and money." A subject with which it seems he's very familiar. 

Defensive errors see Cherries pick off Hammers

West Ham 1 Bournemouth 2

Thanks to Euston being closed and the consequent chaotic railway timetables we're still in Cockermouth for his fixture, wandering lonely as a cloud around Wordsworth's childhood home. The team news reveals that Pellegrini had shown his ruthless side, axing Antonio, Fredericks and Rice from both the side and the bench. Unexpectedly Robert Snodgrass gets his first start for a season.

The first half has me dreaming of intimations of immortality as the Hammers go into the lead through Arnie's penalty. Hernandez has been tripped after latching on to Anderson's fine through ball. But even in the first half there are warning signs with Fabianski having to pull off a couple of sharp saves.

The news worsens as we wander the garden listening to the "beauteous stream" of Wordsworth's childhood. The game turns on Calum Wilson's individual goal, where he beats seemingly the entire West Ham defence. The midfield is slow, Balbuena makes an ineffective challenge as does Zabaleta, with Ogbonna out of position and Fabianski letting the strike go through him. More defensive calamity follows, with Ogbonna giving away afee kick and then failing to look at the ball as Cook outjumps him to head home. New players, but the same frailties as last season.

Still, it's not as if anyone has travelled 12,000 miles as a Prelude to disaster. Well, apart from Matt's brother Adam that is. "Reasonable first half, terrible second" texts Nigel, while Michael reveals, "it was dire…" Mystic Matt writes: " It was JUST like watching West Ham and not in a good way. We played well for 20 minutes in the first half and were shocking in the second with two incredibly soft goals." At least Fraser hasn't organised a pitch invasion, though he must have been tempted.

You have to give some credit to Eddie Howe (who looks a nice young man, says Nigel's mum) and Bournemouth who have quietly established themselves in the Premier League and benefit from the continuity West Ham lack. 

Pellegrini is right to say that some home fans shouldn't be leaving ten minutes before the end. Manuel is still testing his squad, but more changes will have to be made. Can Wilshere and Noble play together in midfield? There's a strong case for bringing in Obiang or Sanchez in midfield and Diop at the back, while Yarmolenko, not yet fully fit, surely has to start soon. Arsenal away isn't an optimistic venue, but if the squad really has improved then we must get something at the Emirates.

Opening day disaster at Anfield

Liverpool 4 West Ham 0

Luckily I was up on Castle Crag in the Lake District whole this was happening. There seems to be a new PL rule that WHU have to lose the opening game 4-0 as it’s happened two seasons running. It was always going to be a difficult game but Robertson was given a worrying amount of space to cross for Salah’s opener. The Irons’ defence went to sleep for the second as the excellent Milner chased a lost cause and crossed for Mane to score just before half-time. The third was offside but Keita again found too much space while poor marking gifted Sturridge the fourth from a corner. All we could muster was an Arnie effort dragged wide and a Balbuena header straight at Alisson.

Match of the Day highlighted the worrying gaps between West Ham’s defence and midfield and you wonder if Noble and Wilshere can be mobile enough at this level. Perhaps there is a case for bringing in Obiang or Sanchez. It’s also strange that Pellegrini chose to leave out big money signings Diop and Yarmolenko. Early days yet but a reaction is needed against Bournemouth.

Ten men in

So it’s ten men in now West Ham have signed Lucas Prez and defensive midfielder Carlos Sanchez. The Colombian is micknamed The Rock and comes from the rainiest city in the world. Not a lot of people know that. He’s 32 and played in a relegated Aston Villa side but has had a long career so let’s hope Pellegrini has done his homework. Threre’s a real South American feel to our squad now. Just hope WHU haven’t signed too many players as it’s going to be virtually a new team. Can’t knock our renewed sense of ambition though.