West Ham United earned a vital three points against Fulham during Graham Potter’s first game in the London Stadium home dug-out.
It was a closely fought contest, but one that West Ham emerged from victorious in the end, and Graham Potter would have been delighted with the application shown by his players.
Potter offered words of praise for numerous players after the 3-2 win, including a shout-out for Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
Carlos Soler opened the scoring for the Hammers against Fulham with a wonderfully taken goal, and in doing so he became the 175th West Ham player to score in the Premier League – a new record.
Just two minutes later, Tomas Soucek made it 2-0, and that’s how the scores remained until half-time.
Fulham then came out firing after the break, and Alex Iwobi made it 2-1 after 51 minutes.
West Ham fired back 15 minutes later with a strike from Lucas Paqueta, but Iwobi scored for Fulham once again with just 12 minutes remaining to ensure a nervy finish to the game for the home side.
Overall, there were many positives for us to take.
However, the performance against Fulham was obviously far from perfect.
Graham Potter lays down gauntlet to West Ham starters
The Hammers players have all clearly raised their levels since Potter came into the club.
However, what I love about Potter is the fact that he will continue to demand more and more.
The 49-year-old made some really smart substitutions during the clash with Fulham – decisions that won us the game in the end.
Dany Ings, Andy Irving, Aaron Cresswell and Ollie Scarles all came on for the Hammers during the second-half of our clash with Fulham.
And Potter praised all four players, as quoted by WHUFC.com:
“After the game I said to the players who came off the bench that I thought their attitude and application was fantastic.“
“Everybody wants to start the game, but actually the guys that finish the game are so important for us. They need to hit the ground running, they need to pick up the speed of the game, they need to come on with the right attitude and they all did that.“
“So, I’m really, really pleased with that.“
Potter puts man-management skills to the test at West Ham
I absolutely love that from Potter, and it’s clear to see in my opinion what his intentions were with those remarks.
The Hammers head coach was very subtly giving his starters a kick up the backside by letting him know that he has full faith in his substitutes.
It really was evidence of his superb man-management skills – something that Julen Lopetegui desperately lacked.
I truly believe that Graham Potter has the special sauce needed to take West Ham to another level.
The style of play he implements is incredibly pleasing on the eye, and I for one cannot wait to see it all come to fruition at the London Stadium.
However, the other side to Potter is his obviously brilliant approach to man-management.
He laid down the gauntlet to the Hammers starters last night, without actually directly coming out and saying it.
The future is very bright indeed with Graham Potter at the helm.
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