{"id":274830,"date":"2025-07-19T13:36:18","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T13:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/274830\/"},"modified":"2025-07-19T13:36:18","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T13:36:18","slug":"five-top-west-ham-stars-are-all-saying-the-same-thing-about-graham-potter-and-it-piles-the-pressure-on","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/274830\/","title":{"rendered":"Five top West Ham stars are all saying the same thing about Graham Potter and it piles the pressure on"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Five of West Ham\u2019s biggest names \u2013 including captain Jarrod Bowen \u2013 have now shared their honest views on Graham Potter \u2014 and their comments have piled the pressure on.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The message coming out of the dressing room seems to be a positive one but West Ham\u2019s<\/a> star players have made it clear they won\u2019t be made scapegoats this season.<\/p>\n

And the Hammers quintet have each inadvertently explained only one person will be to blame if things don\u2019t work out.<\/p>\n

There is no getting away from the fact West Ham are standing at a crossroads ahead of the new season.<\/p>\n

The last 18 months, under three different managers, have been nothing short of horrendous for the Hammers.<\/p>\n

West Ham have played 57 Premier League<\/a> matches in that time, from December 29th 2023, and won just 15 of them.<\/p>\n

Paul Merson thinks West Ham will struggle to avoid relegation<\/a> from a fiercely competitive Premier League next season.<\/p>\n

It is fair to say Graham Potter<\/a> failed to convince during his first six months in charge.<\/p>\n

Potter has it all to prove at West Ham next season<\/p>\n

From his 19 games, the Hammers won just five \u2013 a worse record than his predecessor Julen Lopetegui.<\/p>\n

There were high points, such as wins at Arsenal and Man United and performances away at Chelsea and Aston Villa.<\/p>\n

But the jury is very much still out.<\/p>\n

The Hammers boss made it clear on several occasions that he inherited a mess from Lopetegui.<\/p>\n

Potter also warned West Ham\u2019s players if \u2018change, or I\u2019ll change you\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After spending \u00a3155m on nine players, criticism for West Ham\u2019s dismally disappointing campaign fell at the feet of sacked duo Tim Steidten and Lopetegui.<\/p>\n

But when Potter struggled to get a tune out of them as well, fans turned on the players too.<\/p>\n

In fact the players even turned on each other with striker Niclas Fullkrug<\/a> blasting his West Ham teammates as \u201cs\u2014\u201d and questioning Potter\u2019s authority.<\/p>\n

It is clear big changes are needed this summer and there has already been a nine-player turnaround and counting.<\/p>\n

\"APhoto by James Gill \u2013 Danehouse\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

West Ham fans have been enthused by the profile of player now being targeted by Potter and head of recruitment Kyle Macaulay for his much-needed rebuild.<\/p>\n

The incoherent, scattergun approach the Hammers often took to transfers seems to be a thing of the past.<\/p>\n

The signing of brilliant 20-year-old wingback El Hadji Malick Diouf is an example of what Potter is trying to do as he looks to drastically lower the age of West Ham\u2019s squad.<\/p>\n

Crucially, the manager is getting back to a key principle of David Moyes in doing due diligence on the character of the players he is signing and making sure they have the desire and personality to play for West Ham.<\/p>\n

As always, though, the proof of the pudding will be in the eating.<\/p>\n

Five top West Ham stars all saying the same thing about Potter<\/p>\n

Potter still has a long way to go before he gets his team together and it will likely take more than one transfer window.<\/p>\n

Hammers legend Tony Cottee thinks Potter has to start well to avoid the sack<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now five top West Ham stars are all saying the same thing about Potter and it piles the pressure on.<\/p>\n

Hammers fans may be demanding but they are also fair.<\/p>\n

While some were calling for the club to make another managerial change this summer, most realised Potter had a difficult task taking over mid-season and deserved time to get his players and ideas in place.<\/p>\n

When the season starts in four weeks, Potter will have had seven months at the helm and a full pre-season.<\/p>\n

Now a host of the club\u2019s leading players have made it clear they too want to see what the manager is made of after his lengthy period of grace. <\/p>\n

\"WestPhoto by Gaspafotos\/MB Media\/Getty ImagesExpectant players pile pressure on Potter <\/p>\n

The most influential voice of all the players in the Hammers dressing is undoubtedly captain Jarrod Bowen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In back-to-back interviews, Bowen has made it clear the players expect to see what Potter can do after having the team together to work on his philosophy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe (Potter) has got a full pre-season now where everyone\u2019s going to be involved, so it\u2019s an exciting time to have a pre-season with this manager and see what we can do,\u201d Bowen told West Ham\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

The skipper reiterated that point in another interview with the club\u2019s site.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the Head Coach to have a full six weeks working with us will be really good, and to have a full pre-season schedule will be beneficial for the players, the Head Coach and his staff as well. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I think it\u2019s an exciting time ahead for the club.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tomas Soucek<\/a>, who has been the subject of intense transfer speculation since Potter\u2019s arrival, showed Bowen\u2019s viewpoint is shared among the squad \u2013 saying they want to see what the manager is all about with a full pre-season.<\/p>\n

No more pre-season excuses say leading Hammers stars<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the first weeks (of pre-season), I am positive that we are heading in the right direction,\u00a0so I just hope that we stay this way,\u201d Soucek said on the club\u2019s official site<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really believe the head coach\u00a0wants to get the best from us and really wants to make the team become one group, and now we have to show the quality\u00a0of the individual players we have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next to make it clear the pressure is all on Potter to lead a West Ham revolution was Jean-Clair Todibo<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The defender says the players are expecting to see a big difference next term now Potter is getting a full pre-season.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we have the opportunity to work as a team,\u201d Todibo told West Ham\u2019s site<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a difficult season last year for everyone, and it\u00a0took me\u00a0some\u00a0time to adapt to the Premier League\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cThis week is good because it gives you the time to work and learn a bit more about what we want next year,\u201d he observed. \u201cIt also gives you the opportunity to stick a bit more together, and there has been a lot of hard work and training already.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think pre-season gives you a lot.\u00a0It creates a big confidence, and it also is a benefit to your fitness for sure.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it also creates a real team spirit, and I think\u00a0because we went through a lot of difficult things together, we\u2019re now going to create something big.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jean-ClairPhoto by Julian Finney\/Getty ImagesFullkrug: The whole club needs to trust Potter<\/p>\n

Another big voice in the West Ham dressing room is Fullkrug \u2013 as Potter will be all too aware.<\/p>\n

He says it is important the board, fans and his teammates trust Potter to deliver after the manager\u2019s difficult start to his life at West Ham.<\/p>\n

And Fullkrug feels a full pre-season under the 50-year-old takes away any remaining excuses in that regard.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, I think it\u2019s very important that we trust the coach and the whole club, and the supporters trust the coach,\u201d Fullkrug told West Ham\u2019s official website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need that confidence that he will make us a better team, a better group, and we all trust that he will do that. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt takes time, and pre-season is very good for that. It was a difficult time when he took over (in January),\u00a0so I\u2019m really looking forward to what we can do after the coach has had a whole pre-season with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finally \u00a340m defender Max Kilman<\/a> added his voice to those saying West Ham must now see what Potter can do after a full pre-season.<\/p>\n

\u2018Now we\u2019ll see what Potter\u2019s made of\u2019 suggest top West Ham stars<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s our first pre-season under the head coach, so it\u2019s exciting that he\u2019s got\u00a0time to really incorporate what he wants to do this season, and we have been able to work on a lot of\u00a0different things,\u201d Kilman told West Ham\u2019s site<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a lot of time, and we\u2019ve been working really hard, so I think we can come off a good week with a positive result and look to progress further into pre-season.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no coincidence the players are all sending the same message.<\/p>\n

The squad are collectively making it clear \u2013 there are no more excuses next season.<\/p>\n

They took a lot of the blame last term, and rightly so.<\/p>\n

But this time they are putting it on the record \u2013 what fans will be seeing is all on the manager.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s hope Potter can start to prove he\u2019s the man for the long-term and not another managerial misstep.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Five of West Ham\u2019s biggest names \u2013 including captain Jarrod Bowen \u2013 have now shared their honest views…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[94,782,15486,1447,103951,20144,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-274830","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-graham-potter","10":"tag-jarrod-bowen","11":"tag-jean-clair-todibo","12":"tag-max-kilman","13":"tag-niclas-fullkrug","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114880170322123843","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274830","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}