The Hammers head for two more pre-season friendlies – one of which will possibly see Aaron Cresswell turning out for the lads at his former club Ipswich,
The cockney scouser appeared at Upton Park under Sam Allardyce, possible the last piece of a legacy which has seen home since leave the game after becoming the original Marmite manager down the years.
Cress though is still going strong and turned out in the first game of the new pre-season, playing for 45 minutes in the game against Swiss outfit Servette last week.
And he looked good as the lads showed much fitness and at times some sharp passing in what was an encouraging re-appearance.
Maybe we shouldn’t get too excited at too much that happens in pre-season but winning is a good habit at any time of the year and at times both the seniors and under 23s really looked on the case.
And afterwards Cress talked about the game and how the team needed to prepare ahead of the big kick off.
Speaking to www.whufc.com he said: “The was the most important thing, for the senior boys to get through their first 45 minutes, and the main thing was getting through the game with no injuries
“We’ve had a tough week, so it was all about getting through it and we got a good result as well.
“I don’t think it’s like it was years ago when some of the boys might come back a little bit overweight. I think those days are gone now and all the lads come back in great shape. We had a couple of weeks off but we all did our own individual stuff, so everyone has come back raring to go.
“We’ve had two tough weeks – one in St Andrews and one in Evian – but we’ve had fantastic facilities and the lads have done great.”
Cresswell was also pleased for the Academy of Football prospects who had joined the squad, praising them for their willingness to take on the challenge of training sessions of the intensity most had never experienced previously.
“They have been a credit to themselves, every single one of them,” he confirmed. “They’ve adapted when they’ve not been quite used to some of the runs they were expecting.
“They’ve all shown a great attitude, great commitment and pushed all the senior boys in the runs as well, so it’s been good and great experience for them, and two of them getting on the scoresheet is always nice.
“We’ve got a couple more weeks left, so hopefully they can do it again.”
Watching the game, I was impressed with the players’ fitness. Being the first game, it was brilliant compared to pre-seasons of the past which were without structure and the fitness seemed to come as a result of the games as the base levels of fitness were so poor. Not any more, as we have a manager whose expectations are very high.
There were good performances from the youngsters but I feel that Aji Alesse is the furthest ahead of the others in positional awareness I can’t wait to see his development and I was also pleased to see Longelo make an appearance too.
I do think that Mark Warburton will have a good effect on the youngsters who are looking to break through to the first team.