There was no claret and blue in sight but at least Danny Ings got a run-out as the Graham Potter era at West Ham kicked off with a 2-1 loss at Aston Villa in the FA Cup third round.
Potter unsurprisingly named a strong starting XI. The only notable change was 19-year-old Oliver Scarles at left-back, with Vladimir Coufal dropping to the bench and Aaron Wan-Bissaka moving to his natural position on the right.
Villa – wearing a black 150th anniversary kit against the Hammers’ white – matched Potter’s line-up by naming several regular starters. Robin Olsen in goal and Tyrone Mings at centre-back were the outsiders drafted in.
Potter ensured he was in charge and made his intentions abundantly clear with his team selection. The front four of Crysencio Summerville, Lucas Paqueta, Mohammed Kudus and Niclas Fullkrug is the best possible attack with Jarrod Bowen absent and the Hammers got off to a flying start.
Paqueta was on form in the opening exchanges and put his side in front with a tidy finish in the ninth minute.
There were two injuries in the first half. Niclas Fullkrug was the first to depart after appearing to pull his hamstring before Ross Barkley was replaced by £50million signing Amadou Onana.
Onana actually hurt himself with an awkward fall, Summerville received treatment from the West Ham physios and Leon Bailey did the splits, which had to hurt. Despite the number of injuries, it wasn’t anything close to being a feisty first half. Yet Summerville was taken off at half-time for Coufal.
Villa did not test Lukasz Fabianski once in the opening 45 minutes but dominated possession and had the visitors sweating, only to mess up the final ball or take too long to make a decision. Their first shot on target came via Ian Maatsen in the 69th minute and that opened the floodgates.
In the first 45 minutes of the Potter era, West Ham looked dangerous in transition, their wide players pressed well and contributed defensively, particularly Summerville, and their defensive shape was fine. Villa under-performing made them look good, mind.
Roy Keane did not hold back at half-time. “Villa have been shocking. Rubbish!” he said.
The change Potter made resulted in an interesting tactical switch. Wan-Bissaka, who has really proved to be an attacking threat at West Ham, moved up to right midfield ahead of Coufal, with Scarles and Paqueta on the left, though the latter was given the freedom to come inside in attacking situations.
That left Kudus up top with, if not just off, Fulkrug’s replacement Danny Ings.
It was a frantic second half at Villa Park as Potter took the shackles off his attacking players and the ridiculous pace of the encounter suited West Ham until Aston Villa started to kick the ball at the bloody goal hole.
Of course, for all of West Ham’s positivity, they bottled it. A scrappy Onana equaliser – from a corner that never was – came before Rogers put Emery’s men in front.
For the second, Ollie Watkins did superbly on the left, sliding the ball into the six-yard box for the former Middlesbrough youngster to convert past Fabianski.
Falling at the first FA Cup hurdle is a kick in the teeth for West Ham, but at least there were positives in defeat, which very rarely happened under Lopetegui.
There was clearly more effort and cohesion in the West Ham team, which is bloody impressive considering how little time Potter has had to work with these players. It was an improvement and while advancing to the fourth round would have been lovely, how they played after one Potter training session is a reason for optimism.
The new manager bounce played a big part in making this an entertaining match. A different face and personality taking training has been enough to give this lot a kick up the backside but not enough to hold onto a lead at a difficult ground.
The bounce from Potter’s arrival has bred confidence throughout the entire squad and with Paqueta, Summerville, Kudus and *checks notes* Wan-Bissaka strutting their stuff, this team can hurt anyone.
This job actually has the potential to be incredibly simple for Potter. That is not to say it will be easy or without high expectations, but Potter has taken charge of a team at their lowest ebb being watched by fed-up fans.
Potter should have been the appointment West Ham made last summer but for one reason or another, it didn’t happen. Instead, they appointed the Spanish David Moyes; Lopetegui’s performance as manager was not a case of ‘be careful what you wish for’, but more ‘be careful who you appoint’.
West Ham and Potter are a good match. Besides the rigid defensive midfielders and Fulkrug, it is a squad full of creativity and guys who cost a lot of money. The former Chelsea boss is the right man to get the best out of them; he is an attack-minded manager and this is a team with some exciting attacking players.
It is simple for Potter because of the talent in this West Ham squad and the fact they are 14th in the Premier League table. The only way is up for the Irons and if the new manager bounce fades after a few weeks, Bowen’s return to the team will be perfect timing.
A trip to Aston Villa was a very tricky first game for Potter, yet he was eager to be in the dugout for it. Having orchestrated a fine performance under the circumstances, he has been vindicated and defeat should not knock the re-emerging confidence in his squad.
They performed better than the officials for that ‘corner’, at the very least.
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