Julen Lopetegui and Max Kilman look ahead to West Ham’s 2024/25 Premier League season after summer arrivals | Football News

The summer of 2024 could prove pivotal in West Ham’s illustrious history. The changing of the guard is clear, starting with former Real Madrid and Spain manager Julen Lopetegui replacing the outgoing David Moyes.

Although the Scot enjoyed success with the Hammers over two spells, winning the Europa Conference League as his crowning achievement, some sections of the fan base expressed frustration with Moyes’ more conservative style of play.

Many teams aspire to a possession-based, attacking style of football, but with Lopetegui, West Ham are closer to having this style of play at the London Stadium.

And speaking exclusively to Vscek before the opening match of the season against Aston Villa Saturday night football, The former goalkeeper has laid out his vision for the new team.

“We’re going to try to be a complete team,” he said. “In my mind, when I talk about a complete team, I mean being able to be balanced in the attack and defense phase, being able to have different answers for different moments.

“Even though you have good players, sometimes you are not a good team. We will try to become a strong team, that’s why we must always put all our qualities at the service of the team.

“There are no bigger goals than being able to improve every day, be better every day, have a great ambition, a great demand among us, develop our best and be able to achieve the most important goals. This is the most important thing for me.

“And definitely being able to understand that after the bad times, you have a fantastic opportunity to improve and develop a better team.”

Some of that has happened in pre-season, albeit with less than stellar results. However, with a number of players missing due to international tournaments and a glut of new signings, perhaps they are no measure of the season to come.

“We are trying to put them all together in the best way possible and, step by step, we will achieve this balance,” Lopetegui added. “In the meantime, we try to make the most of the time with the rest of the players and try to translate to them our idea of ​​how we want to develop our teamwork.”

Transfer Market: “We spoke with the club about our ideas”

The West Ham hierarchy have certainly backed Lopetegui. One of the busiest clubs in the summer window so far, the Hammers have signed eight players, while letting go of others such as Angelo Ogbonna, Thilo Kehrer and Said Benrahma.

Speaking about how the transfer process has unfolded since he arrived, Lopetegui explained: “We had an idea and we talked about it within the club.

“Sometimes the right time in the market is not the best you want, but we try to bring the players we want in time. Sometimes we are right, sometimes we are not.

“As long as the market is open, anything can happen, so we know how the football situation is. The most important thing is that the players work with us.

“We try to talk to the players and learn everything about them, not just their football skills and the quality of their physical strength. Personality is very important to me: what is his ambition? We need to put ambitious players in the dressing room who are ready to overcome difficult moments.

“We will definitely have bad moments, so we have to be able to overcome all these moments as a group and knowing that we have to achieve our goals at the end of the season, it is more important and that is why we have to work very hard.”

One of the first arrivals this summer was defender Max Kilman from Lopetegui’s old club Wolves, for £40m. Their reunion in East London will certainly make it easier for both of them to adjust: Kilman will be working with a manager he knows, while Lopetegui has a player in the squad who is already accustomed to his managerial style.

And Kilman, born and raised in the English capital, hopes the Spaniard can help him and West Ham grow further.

“I think his goal as a coach is to get the best out of the players,” he said exclusively Vscek.

“He’s had such a good coaching career and since his time at Wolves, he’s done really well for the club. What I’ve learned from him is that I want to be the best, and he’s definitely someone who can push me and all the players to get to the top of their game.

“West Ham are a great club. I think it was probably the right time in my career to move on and join a club with top players. The manager obviously helped me make that decision and I’m happy to be here. I just want to move on and do my best.”

Kilman: West Ham have so much ambition

Kilman joins West Ham after an impressive 2023/24 campaign. “I really enjoyed last season. I think it was probably one of my best,” he said.

He played every minute of the Premier League (all 3,420), as did Arsenal defender William Saliba, and ranked in the top five in the league for clearances completed, headed clearances and possessions won in the defensive third.

“To be honest, I’ve always wanted to be available for every game,” he explained. “I’ve always taken it game by game throughout my career and that’s something that doesn’t change now.

“My character as a player is calm, composed, quite strong, quite fast, so I try to be as complete as possible. But I know I still have a long way to go and I want to continue to improve as a player.

“I want to continue to be consistent, continue to progress as a player, do my best, be available and play at the highest level possible. And as a club, West Ham have so much ambition. You can see it in the stadium, in the fans, there’s so much they want to achieve and they’ve done really well in the last couple of seasons.

“The club is going through a transition phase with many new signings and everyone wants to get to the top and place as high as possible in the league.”

Kilman was also captain of Wolves last season and is keen to use his leadership qualities in his new dressing room.

“Being the captain, I’ve learned so much. It’s a big responsibility and I’ve had great leaders before, like Conor Coady and Ruben Neves.

“And coming to a club like West Ham, there are a lot of great leaders as well. I’ll bring my experience and everyone else’s to create a really strong dressing room with a lot of quality, to make sure we perform and achieve the best we can.”

“West Ham fans are a great force”

It will be a new experience for both Lopetegui and Kilman on Saturday when they step out in front of the West Ham fans for their first competitive game at the London Stadium, live on Vscek.

And the manager has already understood what the club means to those who support it, saying: “The best thing you can perceive is the feeling that the fans have for our club.

“The support they always show us is very important in the USA. [where West Ham went on their pre-season tour] and here in London. He is a great force for our club.

“We have to use it in the best way to push ourselves up and to be able to have great ambition, to improve and to be a better team that tries to achieve our goals. The most important thing for me is always our fans: their help, their spirit and the atmosphere they are able to create in our stadium.”

Aston Villa will also have a familiar opponent, with Lopetegui and Unai Emery both hailing from the Basque province of Gipuzkoa.

“It’s important because it’s the first Premier League game,” the West Ham manager said of Saturday’s game.

“We play against all the teams and Aston Villa are one of the best teams there was last season. They deserve it, they have done a great job, they have created a great team with great quality players and I think also a great coach, with an idea that they have developed very clearly. That’s why they have become a strong team with not only good players.

“But it’s about them, we have to try to focus on our work, to believe in ourselves, to be ready for this great challenge that awaits us.”

Despite a difficult start to the season, West Ham fans will be eager to see the first signs of the new Lopetegui era taking shape as the changing of the guard begins.

Watch West Ham vs Aston Villa live on Vscek Premier League and Main Event from 5pm on Saturday; kick-off 5.30pm