West Ham 'don't Need Drastic Change' To Succeed

West Ham United look recently promoted Sunderland successful nan Premier League connected Saturday, pinch head Graham Potter wished that immoderate improvements this play should look from coagulated foundations.

Potter felt he inherited a messiness astatine nan London Stadium erstwhile he was brought successful to switch Julen Lopetegui successful January.

While he could place what was wrong, nan 50-year-old could not commencement fixing nan issues decently until this summer.

That meant he oversaw conscionable 1 triumph successful his first six games and a tally of 8 without a win, earlier an extremity of play rally took West Ham up to 14th.

It represented a reasonably underwhelming preamble to life astatine London Stadium for Potter connected his return to nan game, 21 months aft being sacked by Chelsea.

Given caller signings person been slow to arrive, it is easy to ideate nan likes of Antonio Conte aliases Jose Mourinho reacting to nan aforesaid script by furiously demanding much bodies, nary matter nan cost.

But that is not Potter's way.

He tin suffer his cool - and he did successful Chicago past month, pinch Potter fiercely criticising nan determination to person cooling breaks erstwhile West Ham hit Everton connected a cold, bedewed and windy nighttime during nan Premier League Summer Series.

But Potter prefers to reside issues successful a much measured, methodical way.

"The coach's occupation is to build something," he said.

"You've sewage to effort and amended your team, amended nan club, amended nan players. That's nan trick.

"I don't cognize what nan cognition of maine is to beryllium honest. I tin person my water-break tirade pinch nan champion of them.

"But everybody's different, I suppose. I've ever tried to do what I deliberation is nan correct point for nan club.

"At nan extremity of nan day, West Ham is nan astir important thing. I'm an employee."

There wasn't overmuch of a transportation fund astatine Swedish fourth-tier outfit Ostersunds, wherever Potter began his managerial career.

Yet his patient, clear-sighted attack brought 3 promotions and a historical Swedish Cup triumph that secured nan club's first European campaign, courtesy of getting done 3 qualifying rounds.

Ostersunds were yet eliminated successful nan past 32 by Arsenal - but not earlier winning astatine Emirates Stadium.

The lessons learned during that clip served Potter good astatine Swansea and Brighton, but it was intolerable to adopt nan aforesaid attack erstwhile he near for Chelsea successful September 2022.

In nan transportation model conscionable earlier Potter arrived, Chelsea signed 10 players and either sold aliases loaned retired 15 - and that was conscionable among those who could beryllium considered first-team squad members.

In that January, Chelsea spent much than £280m connected different 7 players and signed Joao Felix connected loan.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Potter recovered it difficult to instrumentality nan plans he wanted and was sacked aft conscionable 7 months successful charge.

"I've knowledgeable what £300m tin do," he said. "It's not ever positive.

"You conscionable woody pinch what you have, activity pinch nan group successful nan nine and correspond it nan champion way, by staying arsenic adjacent to nan personification I americium arsenic I can.

"I deliberation I've done that beautiful overmuch each my career."

Including striker Michail Antonio - whose exit arsenic a subordinate was confirmed connected 7 August - West Ham person released six elder members of Potter's squad since nan extremity of past season.

Striker Callum Wilson and defender Kyle Walker-Peters person arrived connected free transfers, while nan £55m generated by nan waste of Mohammed Kudus to Tottenham has been spent connected goalkeeper Mads Hermansen and El Hadji Malick Diouf, arsenic good arsenic paying a ample chunk of nan £34.2m it costs to move Jean-Clair Todibo's indebtedness from Nice into a imperishable deal.

Many West Ham supporters deliberation it is not enough.

Potter accepts nan club's recruitment chiefs will support looking for targets but cautions against nan enticement to bargain for nan liking of it.

"I don't deliberation we needed drastic change," he said.

"It's tempting to deliberation that nan solution is going to beryllium outer but, from my perspective, nan attraction should ever beryllium connected nan players you person - pinch an oculus connected improving.

"When we arrived location was, for different reasons, a low-trust environment. When you alteration nan head halfway done nan season, there's a emotion thing isn't rather working.

"If you look backmost complete a 12-month play up to that point, nan squad had conceded a batch of goals which is an denotation that, maybe, thing wasn't rather correct connected a taste aliases instauration level.

"It was thing we started to do a batch of activity pinch past season. We did make immoderate advancement but pre-season gives you a chance to make much of an inroad, which I deliberation we person done."