West Ham’s youth academy is renowned for its greatness and nothing has changed with our new crop starting to show some promise and starting to make its impact on the first team squad. This can only mean good news for West Ham. With the likes of Mark Noble, Jack Collison and James Tomkins having already come through the ranks and established themselves in the West Ham squad, I will take a look at the young Hammers coming through and starting to establish themselves.
Danny Potts – Danny Potts an 18 year old left back was recalled from his loan spell at Colchester United and was thrown into the deep end with a start against Manchester United in the FA cup. During this game he was a revelation, he was solid and full of energy and wasn’t overcome with the atmosphere. He also cleared the ball off the line showing great concentration.
Danny has come back from Colchester United looking physically stronger and a lot more composed, although he did make a mistake against Sunderland in his second straight start for West Ham he is growing as a player.
In 2012 Danny was named Young Hammer of the year. Although Danny Potts made an appearance for USA under 20’s he is currently a part of the England under 19’s set up having made his debut against Finland.
Jordan Spence – At 22 years of age Jordan Spence has found his first team games at West Ham limited, having had loans spells at Leyton Orient, Scunthorpe and Bristol City. However Sam Allardyce has kept Jordan Spence at the club this season and he has been a constant name on the bench and making a start against Manchester United in the FA Cup replay.
Spence is a tall, athletic player who plays right back but can also play as centre back. He has been capped for England from under 16’s to under 21’s showing he has the class. Jordan Spence definitely has the class and ability to become a West Ham first team regular maybe just a run in the team is all he needs.
Elliot Lee – Elliot Lee is an exciting 18 year old striker who came off the bench in the FA Cup replay against Manchester United to make his debut appearance for the first team.
Lee has an excellent goal scoring record for the development squad and youth team. Lee is a powerful striker that is always looking to play off the last man to grab a goal. Maybe a loan spell at a Championship team would do him the world of good to gain a full run in a team and give him a good competitive chance at a high standard.
These are three players that are making good strides in the West Ham team and it is nice to see the youth system and academy still working its magic. There are also other players that are worth mentioning who are making good strides such as Paul McCallum, Sebastian Lletget, George Moncur and not to mention the players like Rob Hall who are already lighting up the Championship whilst on loan at Birmingham.
Lets hope this new crop can be as successful as our past academy graduates.
Carl Bateson
Follow me on Twitter @BatesonCarl.
