West Ham’s under 23s – having taken Arsenal apart 6-1 – in their last game will be looking for more of the same at Brighton on Monday evening.
These are exciting times among the under 23s and academy generally with the emergence of such as Ben Johnson and Conor Coventry – never forgetting former captain Declan of course.
Although they received a little help from the likes of Arthur Masuaku and Andriy Yarmolenko against the Gooners, the boys were particularly impressive regardless.
Goals from Odubeko, Coventry, Nevers and a hat-trick from exciting striker Okoflex saw off the north London outfit with the last bamed looking a really promising prospect.
Goalkeeper Krisztian Hegyi is determined for Monday evening’s blockbuster performance to not be a one-off.
Season-opening results don’t get much better for development squads than a 6-1 win over your London rivals at your first-team’s ground, but that was the result West Ham’s youngsters attained in thrashing Arsenal at London Stadium earlier in the week.
Everything went right for the young Hammers against the junior Gunners as they got off to the best possible start, but Hungary youth international Hegyi recognises that – at the end of the day – the result still only marked three points in the context of the Premier League 2 Division 1 season.
“I’m feeling very good!”Hegyi told whufc.com. “On Monday, we played very well from the start against Arsenal and dominated the game, and a 6-1 win was a good start to the season.
“It was a really good experience playing in front of our fans and at London Stadium especially. It was a really good feeling.
“Honestly, we are very happy as a team. Every member of the team played very well and we all put the effort in, so we’re happy to get a 6-1 win.
“Now, our next game is against Brighton, and we know we need to win that too. I’d be really happy if we could do that – whatever the scoreline! We just need to keep going.”
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“I’m a bit disappointed we couldn’t get the clean sheet, losing it in the last minute, but we just need to keep working hard and hopefully we can get a clean sheet next game instead.
“I just want to be as solid as today. We just need to keep working hard.”
Does anyone know if they’ll be fielding 4 first team players again? Masuaku, Yarmolenko, Johnson and Lanzini could be considered an unfair advantage.
Goalkeeper and up to 3 outfield players allowed. Johnson is only 21 so is eligible.