Just this morning West Ham United posted the ‘Training Gallery | Hammers get ready for Bournemouth’ images live on the club web site. It is a crucial phase of the season with Lopetegui still in a difficult situation, somewhat under siege as a head coach and desperate for three points to make his position considerably more comfortable.
There is one very big difference in these images: I have posted a link to the club web site so you can go and check it out for yourself when you’ve finished this article.
Whether the media department are doing their thing or whether the word SMILE was shouted out during the whole session in some stalinist-style photo staged session, virtually the whole team are pictured smiling. Including Julen Lopetegui. Maybe he read my article from yesterday!
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Good grief, Edson almost cracking a smile too!
So either West Ham are trying to show unity and how much everyone is enjoying life under Lopetegui or there is indeed a different atmosphere from the oh – so serious images of a couple of weeks ago before the first ‘must win’ game against Everton: At that time the faces were serious, Lopetegui was strained.
Perhaps there’s new found optimism within the squad, perhaps not. We’ll see who is smiling after 90 minutes on Monday night. That’ll be the real show of where the squad is at.
You can judge for yourself: check out the photos here