The summer of 2024 could be defining in West Ham’s illustrious history. The changing of the guard is clear, starting with former Real Madrid and Spain coach Julen Lopetegui replacing the outgoing David Moyes.
While the Scotsman had success with the Hammers over two spells – winning the Europa Conference League the pinnacle – there had been frustrations from sections of the fanbase over Moyes’ more conservative style of play.
Attacking, possession-based football is craved by many teams, but under Lopetegui, West Ham are closer to having just that at the London Stadium.
And speaking exclusively to Sky Sports ahead of their opening game of the season against Aston Villa on Saturday Night Football, the former goalkeeper laid out his vision for his new team.
“We are going to try to become a complete team,” he said. “In my mind when I talk about the complete team, it is to be able to be balanced in the attacking and defensive phase, to be able to have different answers for different moments.
“Despite you having good players, sometimes you are not a good team. We are going to try to become a strong team, that is why we have to put all our quality strengths in service of the team always.
“There are no bigger aims than to be able to improve every day, to be better every day, to have a big ambition, a big demand between us, to develop our best and to be able to achieve the more important aims. This is for me the most important thing.
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Julen Lopetegui hopes to improve West Ham as he looks ahead to the Premier League season
“And for sure to be able to understand that after the bad moments, you have a fantastic opportunity to improve and to develop a better team.”
Part of that has come in pre-season, although with less-than-inspiring results. However, with a number of players absent due to international tournaments and a glut of new signings, they perhaps cannot be a measure of the season to come.
“We are trying to put all of them together in the best way and step by step, we are going to achieve this balance,” Lopetegui added. “In the meantime, we try to take advantage of our time with the rest of the players and to be able to translate to them our idea about how we want to develop our work as a team.”
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Transfers: ‘We talked to the club about our ideas’
West Ham’s hierarchy have certainly thrown their weight behind Lopetegui. One of the most active clubs in the summer window so far, the Hammers have signed eight players while letting others like Angelo Ogbonna, Thilo Kehrer and Said Benrahma leave.
Discussing how the transfer process has been since he arrived, Lopetegui explained: “We had one idea and we talked within the club about our idea.
“Sometimes the timing in the market is not the best that you want, but we try to bring the players we want on time. Sometimes we are right, sometimes not.
“While the market is open, anything can happen so we know how the football side is. The most important thing is that the players are working with us.
“We try to talk with the players and know all about them, not only about the football skills and the quality of the physical strength. The personality for me is very important – how is his ambition? We need to put inside the dressing room ambitious players, who are ready to overcome the difficult moments.
“For sure we are going to have bad moments so we have to be able to overcome as a group all these moments and to know that we have to achieve our aims at the end of the season, it is more important and that’s why we have to work very hard.”
Aaron Wan-Bissaka is West Ham’s most recent addition from Man Utd
One of the first arrivals this summer was defender Max Kilman from Lopetegui’s former side, Wolves, for £40m. Their reunion in east London will surely ease the adaptation for both – Kilman working with a manager he knows while Lopetegui has a player in the squad already used to his managerial style.
And Kilman – who was born and raised in the English capital – hopes the Spaniard can help develop himself and West Ham further.
“I think his aim as a coach is to get the best out of the players,” he exclusively told Sky Sports.
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Danny Dyer had an important message for Julen Lopetegui… and the West Ham boss has given his response!
“He’s had such a good managerial career and from his time at Wolves, he did really well for the club. What I’ve learned from him is I want to be the best, and he’s definitely someone that can push me along with all the players to get to the top of their game.
“West Ham is a big club. I think it was probably the right time in my career to move on and come into a club with top, top players. The manager obviously helped me to make this decision, and I’m happy to be here. I just want to push on and do as best as I can.”
Kilman: West Ham has so much ambition
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Take a look at Max Kilman’s 2023/24 Premier League best bits
Kilman comes into West Ham off the back of a impressive 2023/24 campaign. “I really enjoyed last season. I thought it was probably one of my strongest,” he said.
He played in every minute of the Premier League – all 3,420 of them, 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 whole career and it’s something that doesn’t change now.
“My character as a player is calm, composed, quite strong, quite quick, so I try to be as best rounded as I can. But I know I’ve got a long way to go and I want to keep improving as a player.
“I want to carry on staying consistent, keep progressing as a player, do my best, be available and perform at the highest level I can. And as a club, West Ham has so much ambition. You can see it by the stadium, by the supporters, 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 transitional phase now with lots of new signings and everyone wants to get to the top and finish as high as we can in the league.”
Kilman was Wolves’ captain last season too, and is keen to bring his leadership qualities to his new dressing room.
Max Kilman signed a seven-year deal with West Ham (picture courtesy of West Ham United FC/Getty Images)
“Being the captain, I learned so much. It’s a huge responsibility and I had great leaders before, like Conor Coady and Ruben Neves.
“And coming to a club like West Ham, there’s also a lot of great leaders. I’m going to bring my experience as well as everyone else’s to make it a really strong dressing room with a lot of quality, to make sure we perform and reach the best we can.”
‘West Ham fans a big strength’
It will be a new experience for both Lopetegui and Kilman on Saturday as they walk out in front of the West Ham fans for their first competitive fixture at the London Stadium, live on Sky Sports.
And the manager already has a sense of what the club means to those who support it, saying: “The best thing that you can feel is the feeling that the fans have about our club.
Julen Lopetegui has already praised West Ham fans
“The support that they always show for us, it’s very important in the USA [where West Ham went on their pre-season tour] and here in London. It is a big strength for our club.
“We have to use it in the best way to push us up and to be able to have a big ambition, to improve and to be a better team trying to achieve our aims. The most important thing for me is always our fans – their help, their spirit, and the environment that they are able to create in our stadium.”
It will be a familiar foe in Aston Villa too, with Lopetegui and Unai Emery both from the Gipuzkoa province in the Basque region.
“It is important because it is the first Premier League match,” the West Ham boss said of Saturday’s game.
Julen Lopetegui and Unai Emery will face each other again on Saturday, live on Sky Sports
“We get to play against all the teams and Aston Villa is one of the best teams that has been in the last season. They deserve this, they made big work, made a big team with big quality players and I think a big coach too, with one idea that they have developed very clearly. That is why they become a strong team with not only good players.
“But this is about them, we have to try to put the focus in our work, to believe in us, to be able to be ready for this big next challenge that we have.”
Despite a tough opening test, West Ham fans will want to see signs of the new Lopetegui era beginning to take shape as the changing of the guard begins.
