Graham Potter paid tribute to Aaron Cresswell, Łukasz Fabiański, Vladimír Coufal and Danny Ings ahead of West Ham United’s Premier League clash at Manchester United on Sunday.
A statement released on whufc.com shortly before the Head Coach’s pre-match press conference on Friday afternoon confirmed the Hammers quartet will leave the Club when their contracts expire at the end of the 2024/25 season.
While reiterating his admiration for each player’s professionalism and service to the Club, that has contributed more than 800 first-team appearances between them and helped deliver the 2023 UEFA Europa Conference League trophy, Potter stressed they still have a big part to play in the remainder of this campaign, with three games left.
Winless in eight, and hungry for a return to winning ways, the 17th-place Irons travel to Old Trafford this weekend, for a fixture against a team who have similarly struggled in the league, and currently sit just two places and two points in front in 15th.
A first top-flight triumph at the home of the Red Devils since 2007 would lift Potter’s troops above their opponents, and as high as 14th if results go their way, while it would also complete the 2024/25 double over the 20-time English champions following October’s dramatic 2-1 success at London Stadium.
Potter himself boasts a strong record against Manchester United, having gone unbeaten in his last three meetings with them, while in charge of Brighton and Chelsea, but the 49-year-old insists he and team are braced for what will be a stern challenge.
United go into the contest full of confidence after booking their spot in the UEFA Europa League final on Thursday night, with a 4-1 second-leg win over Athletic Bilbao inching them one step closer to silverware and a spot in next term’s Champions League.
Now, Ruben Amorim’s men will surely be looking to translate that form back on to the domestic front, while continuing to add to their momentum, and Potter acknowledged that West Ham will need to be at their best to earn the desired full share of the spoils.
Ahead of kick-off in the North West, the boss sat down with members of the press to discuss a range of topics, including the team’s response to last Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham Hotspur, rallying his troops, and the influence of his skipper.
Tribute to the departing quartet
As the Club’s statement said, they’ve all made an amazing contribution and been part of a really successful period for the Club.
They’ve conducted themselves impeccably, certainly from my time here. I can only speak highly of them. They’ve been fantastic professionals on and off the pitch.
They’re all really good people, who have had a fantastic career, and we obviously wish them well in the next stage of their career.
Manchester United carrying momentum
We have no idea how Manchester United will approach the game. It’s a Premier League game at Old Trafford, and it’s always complicated there.
So, we have to focus on ourselves, clearly. The only thing we can control is our performance, so we have to go there and try to get the three points, of course.
Results-wise, we’re in a difficult moment. So, we want to try and win. And it doesn’t matter about the opponent because we can’t do anything about what they do.
I think it was a tough job to go into when he (Amorim) did, with multiple challenges. I think the club is in a position where there’s lots of change, and credit to Manchester United and the supporters there. They’ve supported him through a difficult spell.
And, they’re in the [UEFA Europa League] final now. So, they have a great opportunity to have a fantastic season in the end.
Strong recent record counts for nothing
I think I’ve had a decent run against them, yeah, but it’s a new team, a new club, and a new context.
You don’t get anything for what you’ve done in the past, unfortunately. We have to start again. The players have responded really well again this week, so we’ll go there with belief.
They’ve trained really well, and had a good session today, so we’re looking forward to the game.
Hard work continues
You’re always looking and analysing to see how you can improve and what you can do differently.
At the same time, sometimes the result is the result, and you can end up chasing your tail if you’re not too careful because sometimes there are things you’ve done well that you need to keep doing. As I said, it’s about improving the things that haven’t gone so well.
The margins in this league are so tight, and you can see how competitive it is, but no one’s getting away from the fact that we’re disappointed overall with the season and where we’re at.
But, we have to put that aside for the moment until we play the game on Sunday, and hopefully go there with a good performance and get a good points return.
Learning from mistakes
Mistakes are part of football - they can happen.
It was a mistake against Tottenham. Overall we were solid defensively, but a mistake can happen and that means you concede. That’s the level.
Against Brighton we conceded two potential Goal of the Season candidates. Certainly the last one - if you have that shot 100 times you’re probably not scoring it too many times.
But that’s just life, that’s how it is. You have to go through these moments. As I’ve said before, what we’re going through now gives us great information, and a foundation to go forward from. It gives us a chance to know exactly what we need to do to change the dynamic and to move forward. That’s really exciting.
Bowen leading from the front
He takes responsibility. He’s honest. I’d say he’s like a quiet leader, who leads by example.
He does his best every day. He isn’t one who rants and raves but when he speaks, he speaks with authority. He speaks with intelligence, so he has the respect of everybody at the Club, and for me he’s been a pleasure to work with.
