There were clear signs of Graham Potter’s style starting to take shape in West Ham’s Premier League Summer Series win over Bournemouth, as one standout performer stole the show.
But it wasn’t all positive as serious concerns remain over the displays of five players who will struggle when the real Premier League test comes around.
There have been plenty of positives for West Ham and manager Graham Potter this pre-season.
Talk that the squad is more united and together than last season is not hyperbole.
That has been clear for Hammers fans to see in matches and footage from training put out by West Ham’s media team.
Like David Moyes, Potter has been making a big point about team spirit and making the squad like one big family again.
That, Moyes said, was the key to West Ham’s rise in his second spell at the club.
West Ham will be hoping the same is true for Potter.
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The only player the Hammers have paid money for since Potter’s arrival is El Hadji Malick Diouf as Kyle Walker-Peters and Callum Wilson have both signed on free transfers.
As yet West Ham have not delivered on the “exciting and interesting” summer transfer window Potter promised at the end of last season.
That has meant a number of players who were expected to leave the club are not only still in the squad but in the first team too.
New star Diouf shines in first signs of Potter-ball at West Ham
But while there have been plenty of positives and some encouraging signs, nobody at West Ham should be lulled into thinking more signings aren’t needed after a winning pre-season.
One star shone in the first signs of Potter-ball against Bournemouth but there are grave concerns over five players.
It says a lot about how the Hammers could and would look if Potter and Kyle Macaulay were given the funds and backing to sign their targets.
West Ham’s 20-year-old new flying left wingback Diouf was one of those and has been a revelation so far.
Not only has he fitted seamlessly into the squad, becoming a popular figure within weeks.
But Diouf is also making a big difference to the Hammers on the pitch too.
The Senegalese has impressed in every game he has played thus far.
And he was rightly awarded man of the match for his brilliant performance in the 2-0 win over Bournemouth.
One of Diouf’s biggest attributes is his crossing ability.
El Hadji Malick Diouf sends in one of his trademark crosses for West Ham
Photo by Kevin C. Cox – Premier League/Getty Images for Premier League
It is a skill that was on full display when he helped Senegal beat England 3-1 in June.
And it is already one of West Ham’s biggest weapons.
A weapon the Hammers fully utilised against the Cherries as both goals came from brilliant Diouf crosses into the box.
There were a number of positives from the victory as Lucas Paqueta starts to look more like his old self, Jarrod Bowen got a goal and assist and Niclas Fullkrug scored again.
The build-up for both West Ham’s goals was also clearly the result of hard work on Potter’s style of play from the training ground.
Crisp, deliberate passing patterns helped open space as the Hammers made their way up the pitch.
It was all geared towards getting Diouf free in space on the left so he could deliver those killer balls into the box.
As the season kicks into gear, West Ham will hope Potter-ball can really take hold.
Make no mistake, though, West Ham rode their luck massively and were fortunate not to be two or three goals down inside the opening 15 minutes.
Grave concerns over five, none more so than Ward-Prowse
If there was an award for miss of the pre-season then Evanilson would win it hands down after somehow hitting the post of an open goal from just a few yards out.
Bournemouth missed several other chances and hit the underside of the bar too.
It was encouraging to see West Ham keep a clean sheet and make the most of their chances.
But when the real competition starts in less than two weeks, there will be no hiding place for some who continue to worry.
James Ward-Prowse simply must be upgraded in the heart of West Ham’s midfield before the season starts.
Potter is clearly a big fan of the sideways passing set-piece specialist.
But there is an argument Ward-Prowse is no longer good enough to be a central midfielder in the increasingly competitive Premier League.
Players in that position are arguably the most important to any team. They must have pace, power, agility and dynamism if a team is to be competing in the top half.
And they must either be excellent shields for the defence or offer craft and guile at the other end.
Ward-Prowse ticks none of those boxes and the age-old question about the midfielder, who turns 31 next season, remains: What does he bring to the team in open play?
Not enough as far as most Hammers fans are concerned.
West Ham have gone from Declan Rice to Ward-Prowse – and it has showed in the last two years.
James Ward-Prowse misses a tackle in West Ham's pre-season clash with Bournemouth
Photo by Robin Jones – AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images
Flapping Areola another major West Ham issue
It is an issue which must be addressed along with another big concern – the goalkeeper situation.
Alphonse Areola looks more flustered and flapping than ever.
Whether it is the fact he knows a new goalkeeper is on the way in and his place is under threat is anyone’s guess.
But Areola is another West Ham must replace if they want to do anything significant this season.
Word is that is now looking increasingly imminent. And it can’t come soon enough.
Areola simply does not command his box well enough and that seeps into the defence – who are Potter’s other major issue.
On paper West Ham should have a fantastic defence.
Jean-Clair Todibo, Max Kilman and Nayef Aguerd have cost the Hammers a combined total of £102m.
West Ham’s £102m trio can’t head a ball
You would not know it when watching them play together, though.
Aguerd finds himself back in the West Ham starting XI despite being shipped out of loan having failed to convince following his £30m move from Rennes.
That is as much down to how poor Konstantinos Mavropanos has been and the fact West Ham have not – as yet – been able to sign a new centre-back than anything else.
Todibo, Kilman and Aguerd are a big worry. Bournemouth got far too much joy out of them and there were worrying signs in other games too.
They share a common problem – none of them can or seem to want to head the football.
None of them get any real height in their leaps and as harsh as it may sound, bravery and concentration are not their strongest traits either.
The jury is well and truly out on all three – both individually and as a unit.
If your centre-backs can’t – or don’t want to – head the ball in the Premier League you are asking for trouble.
Pre-season is as much about identifying these issues as it is working on how a team is going to play.
West Ham must now act on the evidence provided in the games by making improvements while they still can before September 1st.
West Ham player ratings vs Bournemouth:
Alphonse Areola – 4, Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 5, Jean-Clair Todibo – 6, Nayef Aguerd – 6, Max Kilman – 6, El Hadji Malick Diouf – 9, Freddie Potts – 7, James Ward-Prowse – 5, Jarrod Bowen – 7, Lucas Paqueta – 7, Niclas Fullkrug – 8. Substitutes: Kyle Walker-Peters – 6, Guido Rodriguez – 6, Konstantinos Mavropanos – 6, Tomas Soucek – 6, Lewis Orford – 6, Andy Irving – 6, Oliver Scarles – 6, Callum Marshall – 6.