As West Ham United’s longest-serving first-team squad member, it is only natural that Aaron Cresswell takes up a leadership role following the retirement of his friend Mark Noble.
The 32-year-old has played more matches, 293, for the Irons than anyone else and, having joined in 2014, is woven into the Claret and Blue fabric of the Club.
And Cresswell, who has made his home in east London with his wife and two young children, is determined to use all his experience to help the Hammers build on two years of growth and development in 2022/23.
“I’ve been here a long time and if I can help out in any way, shape or form with the younger lads with my experience over the years then I’ll do that,” said the defender, who wore the captain’s armband for Friday’s pre-season opener, a 2-0 victory at Swiss Super League side Servette.
“We’ve still got Dec (Declan Rice) who is a fantastic leader and a fantastic captain and there are a few older senior boys who have been around as well, so if we can all pull in the right direction then we’ll be alright.
“We want to make progression each year. The last two years have been really fantastic, so hopefully we can kick on again this year and keep progressing as a Club.”
With Rice and the Club’s other senior international players not returning to training until next Monday, it was Cresswell who led the Irons in Switzerland, as he has done on multiple occasions in the past.
And, after five days of hard double and triple training sessions in Evian-les-Bains, the No3 felt the Hammers had done themselves justice in Gevena, where they were given a decent workout by Servette, winning a competitive game through goals from youngsters Aji Alese and Divin Mubama.
Meanwhile, the senior players involved all built their fitness levels and came through unscathed as the build-up continues to the Premier League kick-off at home to Manchester City on 7 August.
“That was the most important thing, for the senior boys to get through their first 45 minutes, and the main thing was getting through the game with no injuries,” he observed.
“We’ve had a tough week, so it was all about getting through it and we got a good result as well.
“I don’t think it’s like it was years ago when some of the boys might come back a little bit overweight. I think those days are gone now and all the lads come back in great shape. We had a couple of weeks off but we all did our own individual stuff, so everyone has come back raring to go.
“We’ve had two tough weeks – one in St Andrews and one in Evian – but we’ve had fantastic facilities and the lads have done great.”
Cresswell was also pleased for the Academy of Football prospects who had joined the squad, praising them for their willingness to take on the challenge of training sessions of the intensity most had never experienced previously.
“They have been a credit to themselves, every single one of them,” he confirmed. “They’ve adapted when they’ve not been quite used to some of the runs they were expecting.
“They’ve all shown a great attitude, great commitment and pushed all the senior boys in the runs as well, so it’s been good and great experience for them, and two of them getting on the scoresheet is always nice.
“We’ve got a couple more weeks left, so hopefully they can do it again.”
