As West Ham United’s youngsters pulled off an impressive 2-1 victory over reigning U18 Premier League champions Aston Villa, it was a landmark day for one member of Lauris Coggin’s starting XI.
During a month in which West Ham appointed Mark Robson, Steve Potts, Gerard Prenderville and Billy Lepine to the club’s first-team staff – Nuno Espirito Santo ‘cannot thank them enough’ for helping him settle into East London life – another of their highly-rated youth coaches gave his own burgeoning reputation a little boost.
Lauris Coggin was hired to oversee the development of West Ham United’s Under-18s during the summer of 2024.
A decision speedily justified as Coggin secured Premier League U18 Cup glory in his debut season at the helm. The likes of Emeka Adiele, Preston Fearon and Airidas Golambeckis came on leaps and bounds under his stewardship, too. Golambeckis is now emulating Declan Rice, by the way, by captaining the Hammers’ Under-21 side at the age of just 17.
Emmanuel Onyeka-Fejokwu will now be hoping to follow in Golambeckis’ footsteps, not to mention Rice’s, as he too benefits from Coggin’s coaching.
Emmanuel Onyeka-Fejokwu earns Lauris Coggin praise on first start for West Ham United U18s
Onyeka-Fejokwu made his first start for West Ham’s Under-18s – promoted from the U16s in the process – during Saturday’s 2-1 victory over Aston Villa.
Premier League U18 champions Villa were beaten by goals from Lewis Beckford and Andre Dike. Onyeka-Fejokwu came close to marking his debut at this level with a third late on, only to see his effort drift over the bar.
Debut goal or no debut goal, this was an impressive introduction for the talented centre-half.
“The nature of the age group is that we change personnel most weeks,” Coggin tells the official West Ham website. “Really pleased with the three points and what they gave.
“Emmanuel coming in as an U16 as well, his first start and it was fantastic for him. We want to make winning a habit and build on that mentality.”
Andre Dike scores a stunner against champions Aston Villa
After a dreadful start to the season which included a 5-0 defeat by local rivals Tottenham Hotspur, West Ham have now won three home games on the spin. Beckford scored his second of the campaign, while Dike did the same shortly after making his debut for the Under-21s.
Academy manager Kenny Brown feels Dike is progressing with regards to his end product. This, a magnificent curling effort to see off Aston Villa, was proof of that.
“I thought we started the game really well,” Coggin adds. “Controlled the game with and without the ball. Some positive performances and created a decent amount of chances.
“I’d like to see more quality in our final actions to really assert ourselves, especially in the first half, and make the game clear. We leave the door open in the second half, and it becomes nervy in the last 10 minutes. I think that’s more on us rather than the opponent.”
Coggin channels Pep Guardiola with Joe Scanlon role
Coggin had particular praise for the performance of Joe Scanlon. The 16-year-old left-back showed real tactical maturity when drifting into midfield in order to create superiority in the centre of the park.
“We want to be flexible and give the players what we think they need moving forward,” the coach said, embracing a tactic popularised by Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
“The game in this country is changing constantly, so we need to try and be ahead of that phase. Joe’s position and what he’s done throughout the season is an example of that.”
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