West Ham United 2-1 Everton
West Ham’s youngsters will have mixed feelings following their Premier League Summer Series clash against Everton.
Young striker Callum Marshall was given a deserved start in a lone forward role and looked incredibly sharp. Much has been made of the Hammers’ need for a new striker, but the Northern Ireland international’s work rate and skill were impressive.
Kaelan Casey was guilty of a sloppy pass to Freddie Potts on 17 minutes, which gifted Everton a counter-attack. Wes Foderingham should have done better with Idrissa Gueye’s resulting strike, which slipped under the keeper’s unconvincing dive to make it 1-0.
Poor Casey—deployed as the central figure in a three-man defence—struggled with the responsibility of building play from deep and made several uncharacteristic poor passes. However, he did redeem himself with a well-timed block to deny Ndiaye later in the half.
Andy Irving tested Mark Travers with a stinging shot, and Lucas Paquetá was at the heart of West Ham’s best moves. The Brazilian levelled the score after capitalising on a goalkeeping howler, with Travers misjudging a punch and missing the ball entirely.
Max Kilman got the better of a lively duel with Nathan Patterson, putting in a couple of firm but fair challenges. West Ham enjoyed more possession in the first half, but Everton looked more dangerous on the break. Marshall was often far too isolated—a shame, as the Toffees’ defence clearly struggled to handle him.
Freddie Potts grew into the game, positioning himself well and shielding the ball with intelligence against a feisty Everton midfield. Bizarrely, the officials decided that 5 mins injury time was necessary in the first half which probably suited neither manager.
West Ham 2-1 Everton: Potts & Marshall impressed again for West Ham
Second Half
West Ham made seven changes at the break, with only Paquetá, Foderingham, Mavropanos and Irving remaining from the first 45.
Luis Guilherme was again deployed in the unfamiliar role of left wing-back. While out of position, he showed more confidence than in previous outings and arguably had a bigger impact than Malick Diouf did in the first half. There’s clearly more to come from the young Brazilian.
In midfield, the second-half pairing of Irving and Guido Rodríguez lacked the control seen earlier. Rodríguez gifted possession with a poor pass, and Irving was soon replaced by Tomáš Souček.
Jean-Clair Todibo and Nayef Aguerd added composure to West Ham’s play from the back, both looked considerably fitter than against Man U which is an excellent sign.
Then, on 64 minutes, the Hammers pounced in midfield. Paquetá won the ball and fed Niclas Füllkrug, who drove forward and unleashed a low, precise left-footed strike from distance, finding the bottom corner to put West Ham ahead.
Jarrod Bowen kicked an air-shot from a freekick won by Guilherme and Aaron Wan Bissaka volleyed wide from close range but we deserved our lead. Ollie Scarles replaced the injured Mavropanos after 83 mins to make his third consecutive appearance as a central defender.
Lewis Orford was introduced for another 5 mins of injury time and showed incredibly quick feet as he jinked past a couple of defenders and forced a save from Travers.
The usual problems remain in midfield concerning the usual suspects for Graham Potter but there were far more positives than negatives and a very useful outing. Certainly the current Irons boss will be far happier than former gaffer David Moyes who has much work to do.
Nice to win!
Potts was a shinning star and Orford’s cameo at the end showed great potential. Casey was given a lot of responsibility as the cental defender of three, which was something of a surprise, particularly as Kilman and Mavropanous were the two other defenders.
Kilman had a better game than against Man Utd but still doesn’t look like a £40m price tag,
Diouf didn’t really do much and Callum Marshall did enough to warrent being kept on after halftime but clearly there was a pre set plan given the wholesale changes.
An improvement on the Man Utd game but a long way to go. if Potts continues to play like this then he will get some game time this year.
Why is it that whenever Soucek demonstrates why he should be nowhere near our first team, nobody calls him out on it? He was atrocious, with the usual lumbering, pointless movement, awful passing and typical ‘late to the party’ fouls.
I get that he’s a lovely guy who has contributed much in his earlier years, but enough already! Move on. Potts, Orford and Irving all offer SO much more than Soucek does. So why does Potter keep giving him minutes??
The only good thing he did, was exchange a long conversation with Moyes after the final whistle. Fingers crossed it was a “If we bid £15m, would ye come up to me?”
Reported Everton want to sign 9 players, how many do whu need?
Dithering Dave says they are running out of time can you believe that comment with his history.
No matter how many whu need there needs to be some urgency from both clubs.
Casey isn’t ready for the first team as his positioning was woeful.
Our new £20m wing back was equally poor. Think he will be targeted in the Premiership big time.
Paqueta has to stay / no ifs, buts or maybes! Lovely finish by the big German, clinical and looks like his pre season sharpness will benefit us.
Sullivan has to hurry up and sign quality players. Over to you Will Salthouse.
I hope the youngsters get a fair crack this season and I’d like to see C Marshall have a run, I think with an arm around and Fullrug guiding him, this will be only good for him, especially as we are skint etc
West Ham gave away possession too easily and too often and if that persists into the coming season it will be punished. Something seemed to be bothering Luis Guilherme who had a game to forget this time out. Foderingham was not much of an improvement on Areola, highlighting the need for a new number one, and soon. Potts looked very mature again but the team as a whole is still in dire need of some top class midfield input. I hope Potter learned more than I did from this game.
Agree Ray, really don’t understand why Guilherme isn’t selected in his natural position which provides us with a far more attacking threat, and his ability to run at defenders and create goals. Foderingham was dreadful and offered no improvement on Areola, demonstrating he is nowhere near Premiership standard. Our youngsters impressed and I really enjoyed seeing Callum Marshall get another 45 minutes and show Potter what he brings to our attack. His ability to find space and work the channels demanding the ball was great to see. Freddie Potts provided more evidence of how his game has improved after his 2 loans, and the creativity which he adds to our midfield, Would loved to have seen Lewis Orford and Ollie Scarles get more time as their cameo performances showed real promise,
Kaelan Casey will learn from his uncharacteristic error and hopefully fulfil his potential. He really needed some of the more experienced players to guide him, especially playing the central defender of the 3 alongside the far more experienced Kilman and Mav. Sadly the huge gulf between U21s and Premiership pace and quality showed why so few Academy players get many first team opportunities which these types of tournaments provide. Really hope he gets another chance and good luck to all our youngsters this season.
Good to see Paquetá showing glimpses of what was missing last season and his equalising goal, and the finish from Fullkrug was sublime. We need lot of signings in the next few weeks, but be interesting to see how many Academy players are used to replace first team players who have gone. Just hope Potter has moved on from signing the likes of Callum Wilson and gets the backing he needs from Sullivan.
You stayed awake until the end! 😉
Ha ha, just about Mark. I wasn’t sure I’d manage it mate.