With a few months away from the perils of the Premier League, what’s a Hammer to do? Fortunately, this close season is fuller than most with things to keep us all occupied.
First up, the World Cup is almost upon us. It’s a shame we won’t see a modern day repeat of the 1966 West Ham trio guiding the England team to glory, with James Tomkins marshalling the defence, Mark Noble holding up the midfield, and Andy Carroll putting the ball in the net.
However, former favourites including Glen Johnson (England), Valon Behrami (Switzerland) and loan player Pablo Armero (Colombia) have made their respective national sides.
As always, the constant murmurings from the transfer market will also help keep us entertained. With Mauro Zarate having already signed, who else could end up at Upton Park for the coming season?
Will it be young, promising talents from Britain and the continent or aging names from Birmingham and Bolton?
The World Cup may also play a role here: as the world’s greatest footballing shop window, we might catch glimpses of players soon to arrive in the Premier League or even at West Ham.
Lastly, West Ham are heading south for part of the pre-season, all the way to New Zealand.
Many of the supporters here in Sydney, as well as those from elsewhere in Australia, would have loved to have seen the squad come across the Tasman Sea.
Despite that, there are many looking forward to making the pilgrimage to our close neighbour nation to see the Irons take on Wellington Phoenix and Sydney FC.
So it’s all shaping up to offer a bit of a change from the usual winter monotony. The only constant is probably going to be that by the end of it all, we will have been lulled once more into thinking it might actually be a really positive season for us.
Ok people, let’s calm down, and just enjoy what the footballing world has to offer…
