West Ham almost ran out winners in their final preseason friendly in east Germany this afternoon, thanks to Max Kilman’s first goal for the club . Sadly the Hammers had to settle for a draw as a 90th minute equaliser saw their opponents equalise to end the game level.
The surprise was in the team selection with Nuno pivoting from his previous midfield choices and suddenly starting Lewis Orford centrally and Keiber Lamadrid as a left winger. Which was a real head-scratcher for those watching, and presumably a new set up for the team to cope with too.
Of course that is what pre-season games are for but it seems odd that after three appearances in the centre of midfield Lamadrid suddenly finds himself on the left wing, as if in some last-minute change of heart by the Hammers boss. Orford grabbed his first senior assist with the corner from which Max Kilman’s swinging volley nestled in the corner.
Magdeburg responded, efforts forcing saves from Hermansen but West Ham went in at half time with their goal intact. A good 45 minute workout, Bowen also coming close.
The second half began with a spell of feisty challenges on both sides, Bowen and Mavropanos flattened, Castellanos emerging with a yellow card and several team mates wearing the bruises.
Lamadrid was the last to wear a challenge and he stayed down for a few concerning minutes, after which he was shepherded off to be replaced by Ajala – whose first touch was a turn and shot which almost went in – whilst Taty was replaced by Earthy: Five former academy graduates on the pitch, just in case anyone still doubts Nuno’s commitment to ‘youth’.
Played the whole game and didn’t let Nuno down: Lewis Orford
Another rare appearance from the lesser-spotted Maxi Cornet offered some prospect of pace on the pitch for the last 15 minutes as the game grew increasingly scrappy. Diouf came on for his first few minutes of preseason alongside Mayers and Golambeckis as the tackles kept going in: Good preparation for the real thing next weekend, for both sides.
Sadly, sloppy 90th minute defending led to an equaliser when the Hammers should have seen the game out: Perhaps the price of such an inexperienced line up for the last few minutes but job done, work outs complete.. but several clear issues remain: We’ll look at those in detail later.
Lewis Orford needs to pull his socks up if he wishes to be taken seriously.
Just seems crazy, that’s us done with friendlies and no signings. We might get the Celtic lad in and a few loans by the end of August but how long will it take us to click? Defence looks solid so probably plenty of draws on the way. All very uninspiring.
Could it be that the difficulty in signing players is because players are not that keen to come to West Ham ? A shambolic dysfunctionally run club for years, which is stil not fully resolved. Lack of ambition and a winning mentality. More chance of relegation than success. These are the perceptions that we have, so you can bet the football world is very well aware of it. 50,000 season tickets sold in the first season after relegation is a fanrastic and no doubt unprecedented reflection of the supporter base. But those who own the club have yet to demonstrate that they will do right by this vast number of super loyal supporters.
this team looks so short up front it’s unbelievable.
we were short last year, we’ve let a load go and have absolutely nothing.
what is our record for a forward playing games and not scoring or maybe even having a shot? Pablo must have smashed it….
the team looks under prepared, and 6 players short….
Commitment to youth? He doesn’t have much choice does he?
Can only repeat what’s being said 3-4 signings needed next week.
All games are important but lose first two and Nuno will be on chopping block.
Suppose to have such an upgraded recruitment strategy but they are proving nothing.
There’s more pace on Hackney marshes during Sunday matches.
Us layman (fans) are making the call which is utterly obvious.
It is amazing how quick other teams sign our players, but we have trouble in signing players.
We need to see some signings or this is going to be a very long season
Nuno is playing players out of position, why not play players where suited and buy in players too fill the gaps
But get a move on
Time is running out
And patience is starting to run thin with the fans
The early talk looked good, 2 players sold for good money, but we have not spent a penny yet, plus fringe players have been sold so more money banked
Not sure what is going on
Looks like all efforts have gone in to selling the clubs shares.
Let’s have some action now
Please
Bad result on paper. If we can’t beat a side that almost got relegated from the Bundesliga 2 last season it doesn’t bode well especially if Staveley’s consortium takes control.
get viptnik from swansea b we will be up by christmas
“West Ham ran out winners in their final preseason friendly” This is what it says in the preview!
try typing two articles at the same time as watching a game …
That’s the problem right there Martin, guys don’t do multi-tasking.:)
Ok, Martin, you are forgiven. This time!
At least you can rest assured it’s never AI at C and H. Far too many ‘human’ moments for that !
Not sure how they “ran out winners” there but what’s new? West Ham have not changed from May to now and PL football is looking a long way off as things stand. Are you absolutely certain Donald Trump is not running this club?