Manu makes Argentina debut
Our Argentine midfielder Manuel Lanzini made his debut for the national side in a friendly against Brazil on Friday afternoon at The Melbourne Cricket Ground. The 24 year-old came on as an 81st minute sub for Ever Benega as a Gabriel Mercado goal was enough for Lanzini’s teammates to see off their South American rivals in front of a 90,000 strong crowd down under. ‘The Jewell’ becomes only the fourth Hammer to make their senior Argentina debut with Lanzini following in the footsteps of the likes of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano. However, the number ten wasn’t the only Hammer on international duty this weekend; Jose Fonte played a major role in keeping a clean sheet as Portugal claimed a vital victory over Latvia in their World Cup qualifier. Edimilson Fernandes was an unused sub as Switzerland overcame Faroe Islands, and, onto yesterday, where two Hammer’s started in draws for their respective nations. Robert Snodgrass started and came off in the second half for Scotland in their dramatic 2-2 draw with England, a game in which Aaron Cresswell was unused on The Three Lions bench. Havard Nordtveit also started in his usual centre back role as Norway drew 1-1 with The Czech Republic in Oslo. Two more of Slaven Bilic’s men will be in action later today as Darren Randolph is set to start for The Republic of Ireland in their World Cup qualifier with Austria in Dublin, Andre Ayew is also set to play a huge role as his Ghana side kick off their AFCON qualifying campaign against Ethiopia. Both games will take place this evening.
Upton Park demolition almost complete
It has been more than a year since we left our historical former home of The Boleyn Ground, and the demolition of the cherished site is nearly complete. As Slaven Bilic begins to prepare his players for our second season at The London Stadium, the remains former West Stand of Upton Park have now been mainly bulldozed, signifying the end of 112 years of the famous terraces towering over East London. We sent a reporter to Upton Park before the final home game of the season at The London Stadium against Liverpool, at this point the famous West Stand or Betway Stand as it was later known, still stood. However, now the progress of demolition has coincided with the announcement that Green Street will now be the home of 850 new apartments named ‘Upton Gardens’. However many Hammers fans still grumble about the stadium move, one thing is for sure, the new development will serve as a constant reminder of what we have left behind.
Transfer gossip: Hammers eye attacking swoops
It has been rumoured this week by The Sun that Slaven Bilic is eyeing up a summer approach for Toulouse front man Martin Braithwaite. The 26 year-old his impressed in France, scoring 12 goals in all competitions last season. So could The Danish star be the answer to our attacking problems? It has been reported in the last few days by The Daily Star that we are plotting a move for Chelsea striker Bertrand Traore. The Burkina Faso international spent the majority of last season on loan at Dutch giants Ajax, as he notched nine goals in all competitions for The Europa League finalists. However, Antonio Conte has reportedly not made the 21 year-old part of his future plans; despite this The Blues have still set an £18 million price tag on the youngster. So could the born goal scorer be lighting up The London Stadium next season?
Hammers yet to announce pre-season plans
It seems to be that in this time of the year, the only excitement for West Ham fans is the announcement of an extensive program of pre-season fixtures. However, this year we have been left waiting in anticipation for the announcement. In recent years we have travelled to places like Germany and Austria, but also as far afield as locations such as The USA and Australia, so just where could Slaven Bilic be taking the squad this summer? A repeat of the 2014 tour has been rumoured in travelling to Australia and then Germany, but the main rumour seems to be a trip to Austria and then to Germany, which is very similar to last season’s pre season trip. While the U23’s have announced a full program pre-season fixtures, still nothing is set in stone for the first team.