By Kris Gonzo | Senior West Ham Columnist (Follow on X)
Well, I guess it’s time to move on from England’s World Cup adventure and get stuck into West Ham.
But if I’m honest, I’m still suffering something of a World Cup hangover.
Not in the literal sense, you understand. There was no alcohol consumed when I watched the game last night, just a few cups of tea which failed to take the edge off a disappointing night.
Reflecting back, it’s difficult to watch the Argentinian celebrations and mocking of England’s players, then lick our wounds after what was ultimately a self-inflicted defeat.
But anyway, I’m sure as the day progresses I’ll eventually stop banging on about it and start focusing more on West Ham.
Attention Turns To Southend
After all, we do have a friendly against Southend on Saturday.
Information regarding the streaming of the game is still not available, although I would expect either West Ham or the home club to feature the match on one of their social media channels.
It is, of course, that time of year when everybody reminds everybody else not to read too much into pre-season friendlies, which always seems to be a rather redundant plea because, as far as I’m concerned, nobody ever does.
That said, it’s a good opportunity to see the players in what is little more than a jazzed-up fitness exercise to get a few miles into the legs.
Who I’ll Be Watching
What was noticeable in the game earlier this week between Colchester and West Ham at Rush Green was that Nuno pretty much deployed two separate teams in each half.
In the main, the players least likely to feature in the first team this season played the opening 45 minutes, with the Hammers finishing the second half with what I would consider to be seven first-team players on the pitch.
At this stage of pre-season, everybody has one or two players they’re particularly keen to watch.
For me, they are Mohamadou Kanté and Keiber Lamadrid.
The former is exciting because I believe this will be his breakout season, and it would not surprise me if he turned out to be one of the best midfielders in the Championship by the end of the campaign.
As for Lamadrid, it’s pure curiosity.
I know practically nothing about the player.
At a cost of around £1 million, I suspect he was a punt worth taking, particularly considering Nuno has had the best part of six months to look at him and discover exactly what type of player he is.
A Chance To Impress
It’s also going to be intriguing to see what he can do, hopefully on the left wing, considering the club are highly likely to sell Crysencio Summerville.
Not that I would expect Lamadrid to move straight into the starting XI.
I still anticipate West Ham signing a first-choice winger during the transfer window.
However, with Adama Traoré no longer at the club, La Madrid could well see some serious game time from the bench.
So it’ll be fascinating to find out exactly what type of player he is.
So far Lamadrid is looking like this seasons Guilherme, but at a realistic price.
Tuchel “did a Nuno” last night. It never worked for Nuno and it didn’t work for Tuchel.
It makes you wonder that recruitment does all day, day in day out. Or is it just that they go though the doors at West Ham and suddenly they change from being effective to telling every man and his dog who are after and then do nothing. Get a shift on or we will be caught with the dregs and at inflated prices AGAIN