Graham Potter puts sycophantic pundits back in their box with brilliant explanation of the ‘West Ham way’. Graham Potter is endearing himself to the West Ham United fans very quickly indeed.
West Ham parted ways with Julen Lopetegui around one month ago, and replaced him with Graham Potter. The 49-year-old has already made a big impact at the London Stadium, especially with regards to the playing style he’s implementing.
Potter is planning a huge squad revamp in the summer, but one of his main priorities will be to get the best out of the players already at the club. Poor squad building and a lack of any kind of identity has really held us back over the past 18 months.
When many Hammers fans were demanding a change from David Moyes, numerous pundits came out of the woodwork with their bland and quite frankly super tepid takes on the situation.
The reaction of the media and pundits alike was largely to chastise and mock those supporters calling for change.
‘What do West Ham fans actually want’, exclaimed Rio Ferdinand, when criticising us for demanding a change from David Moyes. Meanwhile, former Hammer Don Hutchison urged Moyes to walk out on the ‘ungrateful’ West Ham fans, as he put it.
Even Moyes himself criticised the mere idea of a ‘West Ham way’. And that’s why I think Potter has separated himself from everyone else – he clearly just ‘gets it’.
Graham Potter’s absolutely brilliant ‘West Ham way’ explanation. I’m a huge fan of Potter already. And he just keeps going further up in my estimations with every single day that passes. When speaking on the Iron Cast podcast, Potter opened up on what the Hammers fans expect from their team.
And in doing so, he put numerous smarmy, condescending pundits back in their boxes with a superb explanation of what the ‘West Ham way’ really is: “There is an aura about the Club, I think,” said Potter. “I think it’s a massive Club, but it’s still got a family feel as well. I think that’s what struck me at the Club.
“You can see the supporters are so passionate. They’re so loyal. There’s a desire to have a real connection to the team as well. It feels like they’re quite close to you. “I feel really proud is the truth. I’ve got a responsibility because of the history and the tradition and the ambition of the Club, but I know how lucky and fortunate and privileged I am as well, so I have to take both things.”
“The support has been amazing from the supporters to the staff to the players. Everyone has been really supportive and there is a feeling that we want to do something, and that’s one of the attractions here.
“I think there’s a connection that needs to be made. There’s an identity that can be built, and I think that’s really, really exciting from my perspective.”
“You’ve got to understand where the reality of it is now and, step-by-step-by-step-by-step-by-step, build towards where we all want it to be, which is an attacking, possession-based football team that is aggressive when we don’t have the ball, because I think the supporters want to see that as well.
“As much as they want to see attractive football, there’s a desire to see an intensity and a desire to try to get the ball back as quickly as we can [when we don’t have possession].“
How refreshing is that to hear? Finally someone who gets it. As West Ham fans, we don’t demand trophies or continued success.
The ‘West Ham way’ really is a very simple concept. Ron Greenwood nailed it back in 1977 when asked what the West Ham way is:
‘The crowds at West Ham haven’t been rewarded by results but keep turning up because of the good football they see’. We just want to see exciting football played on the front foot with the players giving their absolute all for the badge.
That’s not a lot to ask is it?
The Hammers fans have seen our team win just one major trophy in the last 45 years, yet we continue to follow out club home and away in our thousands without fail.
There are other fanbases of similar sized clubs who are far more demanding than us – Newcastle and Aston Villa for as start.
