westhamfans.org

Official site and it's links in meltdown, this link actually works, but the commentary is by Brazilians who insist on calling Roberto Fabianski!
http://www.hesgoal.com/news/50539/Hertha_Berlin_vs_West_Ham_United.html

Well, it is a 'friendly' isn't it? Hammers penultimate friendly ahead of the beginning of the Barclays Premier League against Hertha Berlin might well be 'the last chance sallon' for certain peripheral players currently at West Ham United.

Having released so many players during their 'cull' at West Ham, Manuel Pellegrini and Mario Husillos set about recruiting players to take the club to that elusive 'next' level. The signings of Pablo Fornals and Sebastian Haller for a combined £69 Million showed real intent, unfortunately their purchase was a real transfer budget buster! It was already common knowledge that Hammers had a measly £35 Million net in the kitty so player sales and loans were going to be the only options.

Yesterday's friendly 1-0 victory against Fulham played at Craven Cottage should have been a 'football festival of fun', indeed the West Ham players will be happy with their performances and by how many Hammers fans turned out to see their team. The balmy atmosphere of early on in the week had dissipated and was replaced with good old British thunderstorms and the occasional torrential downpour, never the less there were officially just over 2,500 Hammers fans in attendance, unofficially the figure was more like 4,000 given the fact that tickets were available on the door.

Fulham: Bettinelli, Odoi, Mawson, Le Marchand, Bryan, McDonald, Cairney, Johansen, Knockaert, Mitrovic, Cavaleiro. Subs: Rodak, Christie, O’Riley, Francois, de la Torre, Kebano, Ayite, Fonte, Kamara.
West Ham: Fabianski, Johnson, Balbuena, Diop, Crersswell, Rice, Wilshere, Anderson, Fornals, Lanzini, Haller. Subs: Roberto, Zabaleta, Snchez, Masuaku, Diangana, Snodgrass, Cullen, Yarmolenko, Antonio, Hernandez.

With so much media speculation as to who will go where and who will arrive, it is easy to forget that the Barclays Premier League season starts in just a couple of weeks from today. West Ham have today's 'friendly' against Fulham at Craven Cottage, a hastily arranged game in Austria and a final match against Atletic Bilbao before the season's opener against Manchester City at the London Stadium on the 10th of August.

The huge sums of money in wages and transfer fees associated with players involved in the Barclays Premier League sometimes lead to 'pound blindness', at least in England. West Ham have recruited wisely, as they did last season, but there is one bit of business that pure logic dictates that the club have to do, and that is sell Javier Hernadez.

Although pre-season games don't always give a true picture of how a team will be prepared to start the new season, one glaringly obvious fact has emerged, namely Hammers are woefully short of defensive midfielder, a situation made more pronounced by the imminent departure of Pedro Obiang from the London Stadium. Declan Rice is the number one choice, but with Obiang gone the only recognised first team player is Carlos Sanchez who's woeful performances have been truly lamentable.

Reports emanating from across the pond are suggesting New York Red Bulls defender Aaron Long has been offered to West Ham this summer, with the 26-year-old available for a bargain £4 Million. Long has been in fine form for the Red Bulls, making 83 league appearances across three campaigns with the Major League Soccer side. He also won the 2018 MLS Defender of the Year award.

If West Ham had played a full strength team against Newcastle in the Asia Trophy Cup and ran out comfortable winners, fans would have said "So What, it's only Newcastle". Paradoxically by playing a weakened team Manuel Pelegrini has been roundly criticised! In case it has escaped the cognosenti, these Asia Trophy matches are warm up games for the Barclays Premier League 'proper'. The games are a focal taster of what the best league in the World can offer, and as such are friendlies with a bit of bite.