One of the most important roles of being a senior member of the squad is to help bring a team together. Whether that's leading by example on the pitch or help setting standards off it, it is part of the job that comes naturally to West Ham United defender Aaron Cresswell.
New Head Coach Julen Lopetegui’s reign at London Stadium is well and truly underway and Cresswell, who is the longest-serving member of the Hammers’ squad, is embracing the opportunity to take on the role of a leader on both sides of the white line.
At the time, when a 24-year-old Cresswell completed a £3.75million move to east London from Ipswich Town in July 2014, no one could have foreseen what his future would hold, little did they know it would turn out to be one of the best transfer deals in the Club’s history.
A model professional, the defender, who has made nearly 350 appearances for the Club in all competitions and has entered his eleventh pre-season as a Hammer, is still as energised as ever to help the next generation by playing his part in helping develop a young Academy of Football full of talent.
“It’s been a long time and it literally feels like yesterday that I was driving to West Ham from Ipswich to sign,” said Cresswell. “It just goes so fast, and when I reflect on my time here, I’ve had some real highs but also some lows as well, but they are part and parcel of the journey and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
“I’ve made some fantastic memories and some fantastic friends, which include both players and members of staff. It’s been a rollercoaster, but it’s one that I have fully enjoyed.”
Cresswell has now worked under five different managers throughout his ten-year spell in Claret and Blue, but despite football having evolved massively in that space of time, he believes little has changed when it comes to pre-season.
New Head Coach Lopetegui brings an interesting footballing backstory to the West Ham hotseat, which has seen him enjoy successful spells at some of the world’s highest profile clubs, and Cresswell is excited at what’s to come under the Spaniard and his coaching staff, having enjoyed the first two days of our intense week-long training camp in Kitzbühel.
“I think with the way players are now, everyone looks after themselves in the off-season,” Cresswell confirmed. “I don’t think it is like it was years ago, where you are off for six weeks, you don’t do anything and come back and you’re unfit. I think those times are gone and the lads look after themselves and come back in good condition.
“I’ve really enjoyed the first couple of days. We’ve come here plenty times before and the facilities are fantastic, and the hotel we are staying in is brilliant as well.
“It’s been brilliant [since Lopetegui came in]. It’s an exciting time for everyone and one we are all looking forward to. Every manager I’ve worked under, which is now five at West Ham, comes with different ideas, their own philosophy and way of doing things, not just on the pitch but off it also. That includes behind the scenes stuff such as the standards, being on time and all the other little things that come with that. He [Lopetegui] has certainly put in place how he wants to work already and I’m sure when we will have a bigger meeting when everyone is back and go through it all again.
“I think if you dive into everything the manager wants and give it everything you’ve got, then you’ll do fine. We are all professionals, so you’ve got to attack it with a positive mindset. I am 34 years old now, but I still want to learn things, and I am sure the manager and his coaching staff have bags of experience, so it doesn’t matter if you’re 18, and it is your first trip, or if you’re one of the senior members like me, you are here to learn, work hard and we all never want to stop on learning.”
Summer signings Wes Foderingham, Luis Guilherme and Maximilian Kilman are all on their first pre-season trip with the Hammers, and Cresswell believes it’s the perfect opportunity to help integrate them into the tight-knit squad.
As well as the new signings, a number of young players from the Academy Under-21 development squad have travelled to Austria, and Cresswell admits he’s been impressed with their work ethic and attitude, and insists the future is exciting for the Club.
“The older I’ve got, the more experience you get, and there are certainly a lot of leaders within the team, but if I can help any of the young lads then I will," Cresswell said. "It’s a great experience for them to come out here and to get to understand what it is like to be part and parcel of the first team.
"The Academy at the moment is absolutely fantastic and is in a great place, so it is certainly exciting for the future and the boys have a bright future as well. We have some fantastic kids who are talented, willing to work hard and the future is exciting. It's a fresh start for them as well, so it's their time to shine and impress the manager as much as they can.
“We’ve also got a couple of new lads here with us, so it is a great time for them to get settled in with the team, get to know the players and the staff because there are no hiding places as we are with each other day and night for a week. It’s a good time to get together but the main thing is working hard and we certainly have been doing that.
“They [the new signings] have settled in really well, and with Wes [Foderingham] and Maximilian [Kilman] being English and speaking the language, it has been slightly easier for them, but Luis [Guilherme] is a young boy who has come from Brazil, and although his English is not great at the minute, you can see he is willing to try his best to learn the language and communicate.
"He’s come with a positive mindset, looks happy and I’m sure the Brazilian lads Emi (Emerson) and Lucas [Paquetá] will look after him. We’re really happy with the way he’s come in and settled.”
The 34-year-old, along with the rest of the playing squad, will be on a flight to Florida for the Sunshine State Tour in America in just under two weeks’ time.
And Cresswell is relishing the opportunity to take on Premier League rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers and Crystal Palace in two exciting fixtures as part of the inaugural Stateside Cup.
He said: “We’re buzzing for it. We’re excited. I’ve done America before when we went to Seattle a few years back and it was an amazing trip. The facilities over there are unbelievable and all of the lads are looking forward to it.”
